People often wonder if it's possible to have a dialogue with God. Christians who pray and sing praises daily may not believe that the deity will answer verbally. Others attest to conversations with the Lord, and we might trust their accounts if we are sure of their godliness and integrity. Is there a way to find out the truth?
For answers of this kind, Christians should turn to the scriptures. Those who believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God can pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit when searching for truth. We all need and appreciate the enlightenment that we get in godly discourse, sermons, and teachings, but the final word is always what the Bible tells us.
At the very beginning, when God made Adam and placed him in the garden, the Bible tells us that God told them (Adam and Eve) to be fruitful and fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over all the fish, birds, and animals. The Bible does not tell us Adam's answer to this command. God also told him to eat of every tree in the garden but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Again no reference is made to Adam's answer.
However, we do find a true conversation when Adam and Eve are hiding after their disobedience. When God called, 'Where are you?', the man answered. Later God talks to Cain about his rejected offering and again about his crime in killing his brother Abel. Cain also answers the Lord.
Enoch had a close relationship with his Lord as he walked with him for three hundred years. Enoch was the first man not to die; the Lord simply took him away. It seems safe to assume that conversations guided Noah to spend one hundred years making a boat and collecting animals, and Abram to leave his home for unknown regions. We do know that the Lord appeared to Abraham (his new name) in the form of an angel and they talked together.
Moses is the man who perhaps talked to the Lord more than any other. The Bible says that this humble man was the greatest of the prophets and that God knew him face to face. Since then, the account tells us, there has not been his equal. The Lord called Samuel in the temple at night; both Samuel and Eli heard His voice and Samuel answered Him.
New Testament accounts include Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Paul later says that he spent the next three days blind but in the company of the Lord, who he got to know in the same way that the other apostles did - which infers seeing and speaking to Jesus as well as being appointed to the work of the kingdom.
In the Bible, we are told that God does not change. It seems reasonable that He will speak to men and women today. Anyone who hears from the Almighty will 'know' His voice, and the scriptures are there to give us a way to evaluate any experience of this kind. God will never violate His Word, so a dialogue with God will align with that holy standard.
For answers of this kind, Christians should turn to the scriptures. Those who believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God can pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit when searching for truth. We all need and appreciate the enlightenment that we get in godly discourse, sermons, and teachings, but the final word is always what the Bible tells us.
At the very beginning, when God made Adam and placed him in the garden, the Bible tells us that God told them (Adam and Eve) to be fruitful and fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over all the fish, birds, and animals. The Bible does not tell us Adam's answer to this command. God also told him to eat of every tree in the garden but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Again no reference is made to Adam's answer.
However, we do find a true conversation when Adam and Eve are hiding after their disobedience. When God called, 'Where are you?', the man answered. Later God talks to Cain about his rejected offering and again about his crime in killing his brother Abel. Cain also answers the Lord.
Enoch had a close relationship with his Lord as he walked with him for three hundred years. Enoch was the first man not to die; the Lord simply took him away. It seems safe to assume that conversations guided Noah to spend one hundred years making a boat and collecting animals, and Abram to leave his home for unknown regions. We do know that the Lord appeared to Abraham (his new name) in the form of an angel and they talked together.
Moses is the man who perhaps talked to the Lord more than any other. The Bible says that this humble man was the greatest of the prophets and that God knew him face to face. Since then, the account tells us, there has not been his equal. The Lord called Samuel in the temple at night; both Samuel and Eli heard His voice and Samuel answered Him.
New Testament accounts include Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Paul later says that he spent the next three days blind but in the company of the Lord, who he got to know in the same way that the other apostles did - which infers seeing and speaking to Jesus as well as being appointed to the work of the kingdom.
In the Bible, we are told that God does not change. It seems reasonable that He will speak to men and women today. Anyone who hears from the Almighty will 'know' His voice, and the scriptures are there to give us a way to evaluate any experience of this kind. God will never violate His Word, so a dialogue with God will align with that holy standard.
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