Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to abide in Christ and to have His words abide in you is the right place to begin, and it is good that you want the Holy Spirit to open your understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus opened the minds of His disciples so they could understand what was written, and faith still comes by hearing the word of God. The Bible remains the lamp to our feet and the light to our path, and any impression, counsel, or dream must be tested by the Law and the Testimony. If it does not speak according to that word, there is no light in it.
Prayer is essential for guidance and for life itself. Even Jesus, the Son of God, saw the necessity of prayer and rose early to pray. How much more do we need to seek the Father continually for wisdom, for protection, and for direction. Keep asking, keep abiding in His love and keeping His commands, and trust His promise that He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him and that nothing is impossible with Him.
God has spoken in dreams and visions in the Scripture, both to those who belonged to Him like Joseph and the Magi and to those who did not like Abimelech, Laban and Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel spoke of night visions in which he saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. The purpose of those warnings was to turn people from wrongdoing and pride and to keep them from the pit, as Job 33 describes. The Spirit was poured out as Joel prophesied, and God is still able to save and His arm is not too short. Yet even then, every dream or vision must be weighed against what God has already said in Scripture and will never contradict it.
That is important because there is much confusion today about guidance. Even children are now taught to practice meditation and to look within to find a person inside themselves for direction in difficult moments. That is not how Scripture teaches us to seek guidance. We are not to look within, but to look to Christ and to His Word, seeking counsel that is shaped by the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and confirmed through the Scriptures and through godly counsel that honors the Word.
The sign of true work of God in a life is not simply having a striking experience, but repentance and change and restoration. When Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners who followed Him, the evidence that their hearts had been touched was that they turned from their old way and were made new. In the same way, pray for this husband, for his wife who has wandered, for their children and family and all who minister alongside them, that God would grant repentance, a pure heart, sincere faith and a clear conscience, and that He would keep each of them from temptation, deception, fear and the schemes of the evil one.
Marriage itself shows something of Gods nature. Two become one flesh, a compound unity, one covenant bond of one man and one woman for life. In the resurrection Jesus said people will not marry as they do now, but will be as the angels in heaven, yet in this present life marriage is meant to reflect faithful, unbreakable oneness. Pray that God would guard that covenant, bring conviction where there has been unfaithfulness, and bring healing and restoration where there has been hurt.
So continue to bring your requests to God with thanksgiving, trusting His incomprehensible peace to guard your hearts. Ask Him to speak and to give understanding through His Word, through preaching that faithfully proclaims that Word, through divine appointments and wise counsel, and if He chooses, through dreams that clearly align with His will in Christ Jesus. Above all, stay anchored to what is written, pray without ceasing, and rest in the confidence that no purpose of His can be thwarted and that light overcomes darkness. May the Lord keep you and your household in His love, lead you in His truth, and pour out His Spirit upon you to walk in life and godliness for His glory.
Prayer is essential for guidance and for life itself. Even Jesus, the Son of God, saw the necessity of prayer and rose early to pray. How much more do we need to seek the Father continually for wisdom, for protection, and for direction. Keep asking, keep abiding in His love and keeping His commands, and trust His promise that He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him and that nothing is impossible with Him.
God has spoken in dreams and visions in the Scripture, both to those who belonged to Him like Joseph and the Magi and to those who did not like Abimelech, Laban and Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel spoke of night visions in which he saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. The purpose of those warnings was to turn people from wrongdoing and pride and to keep them from the pit, as Job 33 describes. The Spirit was poured out as Joel prophesied, and God is still able to save and His arm is not too short. Yet even then, every dream or vision must be weighed against what God has already said in Scripture and will never contradict it.
That is important because there is much confusion today about guidance. Even children are now taught to practice meditation and to look within to find a person inside themselves for direction in difficult moments. That is not how Scripture teaches us to seek guidance. We are not to look within, but to look to Christ and to His Word, seeking counsel that is shaped by the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and confirmed through the Scriptures and through godly counsel that honors the Word.
The sign of true work of God in a life is not simply having a striking experience, but repentance and change and restoration. When Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners who followed Him, the evidence that their hearts had been touched was that they turned from their old way and were made new. In the same way, pray for this husband, for his wife who has wandered, for their children and family and all who minister alongside them, that God would grant repentance, a pure heart, sincere faith and a clear conscience, and that He would keep each of them from temptation, deception, fear and the schemes of the evil one.
Marriage itself shows something of Gods nature. Two become one flesh, a compound unity, one covenant bond of one man and one woman for life. In the resurrection Jesus said people will not marry as they do now, but will be as the angels in heaven, yet in this present life marriage is meant to reflect faithful, unbreakable oneness. Pray that God would guard that covenant, bring conviction where there has been unfaithfulness, and bring healing and restoration where there has been hurt.
So continue to bring your requests to God with thanksgiving, trusting His incomprehensible peace to guard your hearts. Ask Him to speak and to give understanding through His Word, through preaching that faithfully proclaims that Word, through divine appointments and wise counsel, and if He chooses, through dreams that clearly align with His will in Christ Jesus. Above all, stay anchored to what is written, pray without ceasing, and rest in the confidence that no purpose of His can be thwarted and that light overcomes darkness. May the Lord keep you and your household in His love, lead you in His truth, and pour out His Spirit upon you to walk in life and godliness for His glory.
