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--- jn_en_2019_02_27 [2019/02/27 07:52] – potthast
+++ jn_en_2019_02_27 [2019/02/27 08:03] (current) – potthast
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ======  Listening to the Spirit ... ======
-Wednesday, Feb 27, 2019.
+Wednesday, Feb 27, 2019. How can I listen to God? If you think you cannot listen anyway,
+probably you should go to another website or book. But if you are interested, you might
+join us thinking about how we listen to God, how we hear what he says.
+The biblical view is quite clear: God is has spoken through the prophets. He has spoken
+through the son - that is through Christ Jesus. He has spoken through his apostles and
+evangelists, recording the words of Jesus, and writing letters to the churches and to other
+Christians. Also, God is speaking through the spirit, until today. Listen to the spirit.
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@@ Line 18: / Line 24: @@
 ** He who has an ear, ... **
-Before we go further into the discussion, let us recall the text we look at currently:
+Before we go further into the discussion, have a look at the following repetitions in the book of
+revelation:
 <color #aa0000>
@@ Line 27: / Line 34: @@
 Re 3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’\\
 Re 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’\\
-Re 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
+Re 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”\\
 </color> (from Revelation 1-3)
+God is speaking through the spirit. We want to discuss the relationship of the words of
+God throught the spirit with the words of God through the prophets, the son and
+the evangelists and apostles. Is there any difference? Are these different ways?
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 ** ... let him hear ... **
+I think that God will usually not talk to you by letting you hear a clear voice - except
+for the voice of your pastor or preacher on Sunday morning, or the voice of a friend who
+is giving you encouragement or advice.
+I think, though, that God IS talking throught the spirit all the time. He is talking through
+the spirit when we read the bible. He is talking when we listen to songs or sing songs of
+worship. He is talking when we talk to other Christians. He is talking and talking.
+God can point our attention to particular bible verses. He can clarify things. There is
+this phenomenon that suddenly things are very clear. You understand passages from the bible
+you have never understood before. I think it is God speaking to you, it is the holy spirit
+opening the word of God for you, to listen and to guide your path. This can happen in silence.
+It can happen throught images which come to your mind. It can happen through you own
+thoughts, which get into resonance with God's spirit.
+Look at the prayer book of the bible, the psalms. They sing. They listen. They bring all
+their trouble to God. And then, they turn. They can hear. They make decisions to walk the
+path of trust and faith. God has spoken to David, and to the other authors of the psalms.
+And the same way he is talking to us today, when we bring our trouble to him, when we turn
+to him to learn from him, to hear him speaking to us. He speaks words of truth, words of
+love, words to correct us, words to encourage us and our faith.
+We want to develop ears who hear. We want to be among those who have an ear. Lord, give
+us this ear to hear and to follow you!
 (Roland Potthast)
 [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/topics_collection_ix|... further texts]]