More than once I’d have heard Pastors/teachers speak about how when we believe we’ve heard something from God, we need to stick absolutely to the purity of what He said, but that we have a tendency to add.
A year or two back, I listened to a message where the teacher spoke about how when something drops into our spirit from God, we then tend to interpret it, add to it, seek to understand it – by the filter of the soul.
Now when it comes to delineating what belongs to spirit, soul and mind, it’s easy to get bogged down. The body seems clear enough… yet looking at brain function and chemistry perhaps not so.
However – the spirit is the portion of us that communes with God. It’s where He speaks in that still, gentle voice, and the bit that gets renewed when we meet Him in the now rather than the later.
Several times in my life I’ve felt something from Him drop into my spirit. I’ve come to confidence in this statement partly though seeing certain things come to pass and partly though by the mistakes I’ve made when interpreting through my soul – my filter of emotions/understandings/experiences/connections.
Most of these things have been either a kind of preparation.
Twice about ladies activities I’ve loved and been involved in, I’ve heard Him say “This is the last time” – the first time I was making the bed in the morning when that fell into me and I stopped in my tracks having a total ‘Huh?!?!’ moment. I didn’t decide it was the last time I’d go – the meeting were cancelled and it was the last time.
Another time was some Scriptures I concentrated on through the day one of our kids was born. At the time I thought He meant I was to do/be/behave a certain way, but it simply turned out to be a statement of what was to come.
Other times I’ve picked up something from another person (via God that is, not ESP or anysuch) but my soul attached other meanings like a magnet draws paper clips, and then it didn’t look the same… and then it took time to see how I’d added to the original impression God had given.
I’m still in the process of learning to listen to the pure message. But I’m excited when I look back over years and see patterns emerging that show me He’s been instructing all along the way.
My prayer is tonight for us each to learn to discern the purity and simplicity of His voice.