These are my personal notes from the message “The Voice Of God” by Apostle Joshua Selman at WAFBEC 2023.
WAFBEC 2023 – (The Voice Of Many Waters) –
6th January, 2023
Message Title – The Voice Of God by Apostle Joshua Selman
✍️ Longevity is the product of wisdom. Anything that lasts, does so because it is founded on wisdom.
Psalm 29:3-9, Ezekiel 43:1-2
? “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters.”
Psalms 29:3 NKJV
? “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.”
Ezekiel 43:2 NKJV
? Scriptures make it clear that the advancement and progress of the believer principally depends on the believer’s ability to be led by the Spirit of God.
? There is no possibility for meaningful progress and growth outside of the voice of God. The believer was designed to continually depend on the voice of God for leadership and direction.
? Even Jesus Christ, when He came as flesh, was very vocal about His dependence on the leadership of God (John 5:19).
? “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”Psalms 23:1-3 NKJV
? Failure to understand the voice of God and the nature of His leadership will stunt your spiritual progress and affect every area of your life.
⛸ Understanding the voice of God is an important pursuit for every serious believer.
? “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 KJV
What is the Voice of God?
?The concept of the voice of God is not limited to His vocal communication or speakings only. The voice of God represents all the spiritual channels and pathways God uses to communicate His will and intent.
?The aim of the speakings of God is to communicate His will and intent.
?God’s power only finds expression within the jurisdiction of His Will.
?Since the power of God ONLY goes where His will and intent is, to access God’s power, you must be able to know his will and intent (hear His voice).
?If you can not perceive, receive, or discern the intent of God (hear His voice), you may never be able to experience His possibilities (His power).
?This is why the voice of God is so important – because His power follows His voice.
How does God speak?
? God speaks in different ways as recorded in scripture. (Heb 1:1-2)
? “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV
Some channels for God’s communication :
I) Scripture (The principal channel). The Bible we have in our time, represents the voice of God.
II) Dreams, visions and supernatural encounters. (As with Abraham, Joseph, Pharaoh)
III) The prophetic (Hos 12:10)
IV) The witness/knowing of the Spirit
? In whatever way you hear God, the end of your hearing should be that you now know and understand His will and intent.
?The proof of accurate hearing is a life that transforms into God’s will and intention with exactitude and precision.
What is the language of God?
✨ The language of God is LIGHT✨(1 John 1:5, Psalm 119:130). ?
? “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5 KJV
? “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Matthew 17:5 KJV
? God does not exactly speak any earthly language. His language is not the language in which His vessel communicated His intention through. His language is LIGHT ?.
? We have different/unique perspectives and will only accurately interpret God’s speakings to the degree to which we grab/understand His intention.
? God’s language is ?
❓What then are the dynamics of spiritual communication? How does the light become understanding to man?
?To know this, you must understand the design/spiritual composition of man.
✏ Man is Spirit hosted in a body. While the body is from the earth (dust), the spirit is from above, so both are incompatible.
?It is the mind (soulical component made up of the will, intellect, and emotions) that creates the bridge between both the body and the spirit.
?The body is the instrument of execution that carries out what the spirit intends as interpreted through the faculty of the mind.
? God communicates His intent as light. Your spirit receives that light and keeps it but it can not be profitable to you in that state until it is converted.
? God’s speakings as light has to be converted for you to understand it and act on it.
?There are times you know that your spirit has received something from God but you are unable to interpret / convert it.
❓How do you interpret God’s language (light)? – Your mind is the instrument.
? Your mind has a vital role to play in interpreting the speakings of God. Growing your spirit and ignoring the mind will limit your ability to hear God.
?Your mind, through learning and environmental conditioning has associated certain words and expressions to certain feelings.
? The healthier/richer your mind is, the more it can create the words and expressions that interpret the light you have received from God (God’s language).
? You can hear the voice of God (light) but because your mind is limited (you have ignored the place of transformation), you are unable to accurately interpret the speakings of God. This can lead to all forms of error in carrying out that word due to misinterpretation.
? Jesus (The Word) had to study the Word (scriptures) when He came to earth, to be able to interpret it well (He was at the temple from age 12, learning under the elders and Pharisees & discussing scripture – Luke 2:41-52).
? Even though Jesus was the Word incarnate, He paid the price to equip His mind with the requisite vocabulary that interprets the speakings of God with accuracy. This is what we must do too – have a rich WORD-BASED construct to be able to accurately interpret God’s speakings (Phil 2:5). ?
??♀️ The assignment of the mind in this context is to give the light of God that you have received in your spirit, vocabulary expression so that understanding can be established (for you and even others).
? It is possible to understand the will of God (accurately interpret the language / speakings of God ?)
and this is made possible by your level of wisdom. –
?“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:17 KJV
? Sometimes, your disobedience or laxity in action to God’s Word is not willful or intentional. It is just a revelation that you do not understand or are unable to interpret God’s speakings. So you do not know what to obey.
?You can not manifest faith (obedience) without accurately interpreting God’s speakings.
?Your obedience becomes easier when your understanding is fruitful.
? Your mind is an important part of this equation because, the wiser and more intelligent you are, the more intellectual and meticulous your interpretation of God’s speakings will be. This is why scriptures instruct us to be transformed. (?“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 NKJV)
? Transformation gives you an array of scriptural options to accurately interpret the light you have received in your spirit.
? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:5 NKJV
?Just as the quality of a device can misinterpret the text or message sent to it because it does not have the software to interpret it, the quality of your mind can distort or misinterpret the speakings of God.
? Even though Jesus was the Word incarnate, He paid the price to equip His mind with the requisite vocabulary that interprets the speakings of God with accuracy. This is what we must do too – have a rich WORD-BASED construct to be able to accurately interpret God’s speakings (Phil 2:5). ?
??♀️ The level of transformation of your mind by the Word of God will determine your ability to interpret light (God’s Voice/speakings). It will also determine the level of accuracy with which you interpret It.
☘️ For as long as you ignore the supremacy of God’s Word by failing to contend for transformation, there will be gaps in your perception and interpretation of God’s speakings (His will).
?The more you immerse yourself in the Word of God, the more you equip your mind with healthy scriptural tools to interpret the speakings (light) of God.
? This is the reason why it is a risk to trust a person who does not respect and study the Word but claims to hear God and communicate the speakings of God.
? Do not trust the hearing of a person who claims to hear the voice of God but does not study the Word. They are prone of high level misinterpretation and error because the Word of God is not the basis of their vocabulary composition.
? Such a person may receive the light of God in the place of prayer (His speakings) but due to faulty hearing (inadequate transformation), their interpretation ends up deviating people from God’s intention.
? For people called into the Apostolic and Prophetic ministry, pressing in the place of prayer will expose you to the realm of the spirit and the many voices therein, ( 1 Corinthians 14:10 KJV) thus, there is a need to verify if what you actually heard is God’s voice and a need to see how it was interpreted.
? “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.” 1 Corinthians 14:10 KJV
? Even Satan can appear as an Angel of light so there is a need to verify.
? You can not verify that a person’s speakings are from God just by the pleasantness of what was heard but by vetting the richness of the Word component resident in the vessel at the time that they heard the “voice.”
⚱️We live in perilous times when there is a heightened need for discernment.
?You do not discern by superstition. Discernment happens at the instance of your stability through the Word (Being grounded in the word). It is on the basis of this stability that you can decipher by the character of scripture and distinguish what is of God from what is not.
? “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” 1 Timothy 4:1 KJV
??♀️ Discernment will help you immediately detect seducing spirits that come to mimic God and try to deceive you.
?♀️ The character of seduction (seducing spirits) is that they make you desire what they are offering.
? People can come (even from the place of prayer) with prophecies and those prophecies are still not of God because when judged from the lenses of the authority of scripture, they are found wanting.
Taking steps based on such prophecy is dangerous. The result will not be the glory of God because it was not the will or intention of God.
❤️? As a believer, you must be discerning even when a person who claims to be communicating the voice of God speaks. You discern by your stability in God’s Word.
? When you fail to contend for transformation, you stand the risk of aborting longevity (you will not last).
? If you never hear God’s audible voice but respect the authority of God’s Word (The Bible), it is accurate enough to lead you with precision, even with prophetic precision. The Word of God (the Bible) has been tried seven times. It is a more sure Word of prophecy (Psalm 12:6, 2 Pet 1:19)
? Respect a person’s administration of spiritual gifts only to the degree to which they respect the authority of God’s Word (Scripture). ?
?The margin of safety for the believer is dwelling with the Word. ?
??♀️ Obtain grace from God to settle down with scripture and let it dwell in you richly.
? “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 KJV
? The degree to which the Word has dwelt in you richly is the degree to which you will access His possibilities. (Acts 20:32, Eph 4:18)
?“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Acts 20:32 KJV
?“having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:” Ephesians 4:18 KJV
Wrapping Up
? The voice of God represents every spiritual channel that God is able to use to communicate His will and intent.
? The most important component in the voice of God is not His speakings but the safe transference of His intent from His heart to your heart.
⚙️ For that to be safely done, every channel that midwives the process will be enhanced by the health of your mind.
?Remember, the power of God is responsible for the manifestation of all the possibilities found in the life of the believer and that power only functions within the will of God and to be in His will, you must be able to accurately interpret His voice. That is the relevance of this teaching.
PS: whenever the Word of God functions outside of His will, the aim is to bring the person or situation into His will.
? Everytime God’s speaks, it is to the end that His will is established.?
? It is important to respect the authority of God’s Word.
? While you are waiting to hear God, dwell in scriptures so that when God speaks, your mind won’t interpret in error.
?Ways To Know God (Side Note) ?
- Through Scripture: Scripture reveals the character of God. By studying, we know the modus operandi of God.
- Through His names: God’s names capture His various dimensions.
- By studying Jesus Christ: He is the express image of the invisible God (Heb 1:3). Everything the prophets of old said about God can be vetted using Jesus as reference. Anything attributed to God can be debated if it wasn’t found in Jesus. It can be that they interpreted wrongly, were limited, or were in error. (E.g “a lying spirit went out from God (1 Kings 22:22)” but scriptures say of Jesus that “he was full of grace AND TRUTH (John 1:14)” so using the reference of Jesus, lying is not in the character of God. ?
- Through our experiences: (?“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: But now mine eye seeth thee.” Job 42:5 KJV)
Contd.
??♀️ Your focus should not be on getting God to speak because God definitely speaks. Your focus instead should be on getting prepared and building capacity to receive His speakings and interpret them well. That way, you will know how to reject the speakings of the devil if it comes.
?♀️ Being desperate to hear God’s voice without being prepared will leave you vulnerable to different speakings.
? God speaks ?
? Your duty is to work on your ability to accurately perceive His communications.
⚠ You must be careful not limit God’s speakings to certain ways alone just because those are the channels you are familiar with.
? God is a father and can honor the simplicity of your heart and faith and speak to you through the channels you’re familiar with but He is not restricted to those channels only. God is King and has the authority to use from a plethora of options.
? Your assignment is to make sure your spirit is robust enough to discern.
? Fasting and prayer helps you ascend and builds your spirit to the point where you can resonate to the frequency of the speakings of God. ?But it doesn’t end there, you must dwell in the Word to be able to interpret what you hear with precision, balance, and exactitude.
? The basis of our remaining in accuracy and precision as we minister the Word and guide believers to higher spiritual experiences will not be based on spiritual gifts or agelong (limited) mentorships but on the accuracy of God’s Word.
? We must return to the Word of God and obtain grace from God to bring accurate & healthy perspectives to spiritual speakings.
This is the only way God’s people will be built holistically. ?
? Copying God’s instruction to one person without understanding the intention of God for that instruction will leave you frustrated. Because what worked for them can become a limiting factor for you.
Prayer: ????♀️??
- Father, I obtain grace to contend for transformation by the Word.
I submit all my spiritual experiences no matter how great or spectacular to the authority of scripture for proper interpretation and vetting so that I do not walk in error. - Father, grant me the grace to be a student of scripture. Plant a hunger for the Word in me so that I can contend for transformation and give you the tools to accurately interpret the light that comes upon my Spirit.
