As a young Christian, I was anxious to be used by God. Like many new Christians, I expected
God to speak to me through “impressions” or “feelings.” And like many who follow these
impressions and feelings, I often found myself far from God’s true purpose for my life. Sometimes
the results were devastating.
Although I do believe God can and does at times, speak directly to us, more often He
chooses to speak through His Word, the Bible. And when He does speak directly to an individual,
it is only to confirm what He has already written in the Bible. In fact, as you’ll read, it was through
just such a supernatural experience of God speaking to me that was to effect the changes that
saved my life and restored my ministry; but that supernatural experience was given to me to bring
my own life back to being centered in God’s Word.
In my early days as a Christian, if I wanted to do something or go somewhere I would ask
God for a “word” of confirmation. Oddly enough, an inner voice, usually speaking in Old English,
would say something like this: “Arise my son and go forth! Behold I will be with you and bless you
mightily! I will go before you and prepare your way! You shall prevail! And then when I am finished
with you, I will bring you in peace again to your house!”
After several failed experiences like this, I gave up listening to these inner voices. Gradually, I
began to understand some of the problems Christians can have when they are led by such
feelings and emotions. This began my understanding of the importance of discerning between a
man’s spirit and his soul.
I wish I could say that instantly I matured as a Christian and had no more problems
discerning the voice of God. In fact, I went even farther astray before finally grasping what would
become a great illumination that would forever change the way I looked at the Christian life.
