In this beginning post  (and the ones to follow) about the value of the Word of God in developing the ear of your spirit to hear, I will be sharing both the practical side of this issue and the spiritual aspects ……. because it requires some of both in order to live a victorious Christian’s life.

You and I can set and listen to,  or read the Word of God – that’s practical –  it’s “our part,”  but because it is “spirit and life” (John 6:63) you will need to hear what the Spirit of God is saying even as you read – in order for faith to come.  That is because faith is a gift and even “a part of God” that is  resident in His word.  With a careful reading or study of John 14 and John 16 you will easily see that God intended our primary teacher of His word to be the Holy Spirit (aka the Spirit of Truth). Without Him as our teacher, we have dry letter of the law…. but Jesus came to give us something much better – a new covenant – a living word – “full of grace and truth”  (John 1:1-17).  What we hear may bring a much needed miracle to our life – or it may simply be instruction about which way to go with something.  One is supernatural….one is practical.  Sometimes we need both!

Do you recall the account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus – which I shared with you in the March 26 post?  (Developing Your Capacity to Hear and Recognize God’s Voice)…..  When was it  that those two realized that it was Jesus Himself who had joined them as they walked and wondered aloud about all the things that had come to pass since they had seen Jesus taken and crucified?  When did they realize it was indeed Jesus whom they listened to as He walked with them and opened the scriptures to them?

Verses 30-32 (Luke 24) tell us that it was in the”breaking of bread together” that their eyes were opened and they knew Him. The “breaking of bread” represents the Word of God broken for them……  Several times in John 6:47-51 Jesus refers to Himself as the “bread of life”….. ” I am that bread of life……. which come down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die”  (spirit food for spirit life) …..  I am the living bread which came down from Heaven”…..  And their hearts “burned” they said – as He shared the scriptures concerning Himself to them….. and then as He “brake the bread” and gave of it to them – that was when they realized who Jesus was…..  A quickening took place in their hearts – and revelation came as they were finally quiet enough to get past their own reasonings about seeing Jesus die -and now to listen to what was in their hearts as they had spent time listening to Him.

…… And so it is much the same with you and I as we draw aside to spend time in the Word of God with Him…..  We have His Word – and God is eager to speak to us – to show and tell us the things that we need to hear.  He gave us the Spirit of Truth to quicken the words to us that He wants us to hear – and with that quickening we “hear” and we see (by revelation) what we did not see  before.  This “quickening” of the Word has to do with “life” – for when the Spirit of God quickens something from God’s Word to us there is an “imparting” of the life that is in God’s Word into our spirit – and with that quickening there is revelation – a revealing of things in our spirit.

The revealing of these things brings in God’s light on the matter…… Does not Proverbs 20:27 tell us that “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord” – through which He intends to give us light to see by…….  and  Psalm 112:4 says  “Unto the upright there arises  light in the darkness – because God is gracious and full of compassion for us.”    He wants us to hear what He has to say – so we can see what we need to see.

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In the next posts about the value of God’s Word, I would like to share some things concerning the character and the supernatural effects of God’s Word in the ordinary affairs of life as we come to understand the practical application of what He has given us.