Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
11 8 2024
The Language of the Holy Spirit Part 2 of 2
How do you become like a little child and suffer whatever embarrassment is necessary in order to learn how to learn something new? Walking…talking…eating? How about learning to hear the Holy Spirit speak? I’m reminded of the scripture that says we must become like a little child and be born again to enter into the kingdom of God. Matt 18:3
I am reading an old book by Jack Deere – Surprised by the Voice of God, written some 30 years ago. Let me share with you a lesson I learned in his book. He told a story about a group that was trying to experience hearing from God using 1 Corinthians 14:26. They came together, hoping God would give them revelation, a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, a tongue, or an interpretation, a healing, a teaching or anything that might edify some of those that were present.
The group went on for weeks, and they grew mightily, but some people came to the meeting to investigate, and others came to participate. (Isn’t that always the case?) The leader at one point, after a time of worship, asked the group if anyone thought the Lord might’ve spoken to them. And lo and behold, the wackiest lady in the whole group raised her hand. And he thought to himself silently, oh no, please God, anybody but her. (Sometimes, it seems that the strangest people are the first ones to step out. They’ve got nothing to lose. No one ever asked them out to lunch). He hated to think this, but sometimes they’re politely tolerated by the rest of them. Maybe that’s why God has such mercy on them and usually heals and speaks to them first.
But she was the only one who raised a hand. And he said yes. “I just had a vision, she said. He thought…A vision! Did she have to use that word? An alarm began to show on the faces of many people who were there. He asked politely, what was the picture you saw?
She said, “I saw a purple caterpillar crawling in the gutter. He ate four small pebbles and then vomited them up. What does that mean, Pastor?
“He thought, what does that mean? It means you’re a wacky lady! The second thought was it means God hates me. I must’ve done something really bad today to bring this on.
There was a strong tension in the group. I could read their faces saying, don’t let these people be deceived. But when I thought further, they weren’t deceived… none of them thought the vision was from the Lord. They were waiting to see how badly the lady was going to be punished or put in her place for saying something so wacky.
He looked at the students and looked at the wacky lady and said, “You know, the Lord is not giving me an interpretation of what you saw. Let’s wait a few minutes to see if anyone gets an interpretation, and then we’ll come back to your vision.
Some thought that he had gone soft in treating the story as if it was a real vision. (Even though he didn’t think that). But he was treating the lady like a real person.
But the interesting thing was, after that, the rest of the people relaxed. And then the strangest thing happened. All over the room, people began to raise their hands to try out their impressions or visions. They knew they weren’t going to be punished for failing. It is so much easier to learn the language of the Holy Spirit when you have a safe and loving environment. Isn’t that true in all areas of life? Aren’t people looking to be safe and not be called out for misspeaking, stumbling, or saying something silly? What has happened to grace in the world today and loving kindness? Even among Christians?
I have learned over the years that learning to speak the Holy Spirit language is very much like learning to speak any foreign language and that being around people who speak that language, accelerates your growth and learning. Being around people who speaks and understand the language of the Holy Spirit is an invaluable aid to learning to interpret visions, dreams, and impressions in the Bible as well. Make sense? Our children, as toddlers first learning to speak, did a lot of babbling. It was adorable. We worked with them, they listened, we corrected and encouraged, and they learned, and all of a sudden… a complete sentence. A clearly expressed idea was delivered. Do you think that is any different than learning to interpret God’s language in the spirit? I don’t think so. It requires a safe place to learn, study, grow, stumble, and still feel safe and encouraged. If you do not have that, you need a different inner circle. You need a new small group. Start praying for them. Start looking for them. Find one person and pray together to find another person or a group. The Holy Spirit hears you, and I promise he will help you. Get on your knees and start praying for the Holy Spirit’s intervention to guide you forward.
The Bible is a menu like ordering food in a foreign language or in a foreign land. It’s a basic necessity of life. In much the same way, the Bible is a menu of the Holy Spirit and the explanation of his language. The Bible not only tells the various ways in which the Holy Spirit will speak to us, but it also tells us the very things we must eat if we are to live. And it warns us of spiritual poisons. No one who purposely avoids the Bible is ever going to hear God, reliably and consistently.
There are people, however, who devote themselves diligently to Bible study and are still spiritually malnourished. This frequently happens in environments where people make Bible study an end in itself. They’re like people who study a menu with great precision, but they never order anything… they never eat the food. Perhaps they went to schools were major goals were to explain menus? When they graduated, the ones who were best at explaining menus were able to build the biggest menu clubs. Where many people meet regularly just to hear a new and inspiring explanation of the menu. Yet no one grows strong from an explanation of the menu or even from a firsthand study of the menu. Only those who order from the menu and eat, grow strong. The lesson? Don’t mistake the menu for the meal.
Jesus Christ is the bread from heaven. If our Bible study does not lead us to experience Jesus Christ, if it doesn’t lead us to a true and pure relationship with Jesus, then it is leading us to spiritual malnutrition. The Bible is the menu meant to lead us to experience God in every facet of our lives. If we make Bible study our goal, we will end up just like the Pharisees who searched the scriptures diligently but never came to Christ. John 5:39. They studied the menu regularly and religiously. But they never ordered. Never tasted. And that was both the irony and the tragedy. So close to the menu, yet so far from the meal.
Those who become skilled at hearing God’s voice are those who have consistently trained
themselves to listen for him to speak! Hebrews 514. If you really desire to learn the
language of the Holy Spirit, your desire is a sign that the mercy of God has
come to rest on you. He put that desire in your heart and his mercy will remain on you through
all the trials of learning the spirit language.
Through failures, missteps, misspeaks, and the like.
C. S. Louis once said, “if only the will to walk is there, God is pleased, even with our stumbles.”
If that is true, then perhaps if only the will to hear is there, he is pleased even with our errors. I pray this encourages you to journal and ask God questions and expect him to give you answers. I pray you will discover people to help you grow in hearing God…In spending time with God…with praying together, and then waiting and expecting him to show himself in some way that will edify you and your group.
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El Shaddai Amy Grant
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