Good Morning Sunshine! The Word Spoke And Before It Was On Pages, It Was In Their Mouths!

Hebrews 1:1–2 (KJV) ~ “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 words…”

2 Peter 1:20–21 (KJV) ~ “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Yesterday we went all the way back to the beginning and discovered something that must become the foundation for this entire series; before anything was, the Word was. Before creation had form, before humanity had breath, before Scripture had chapters, and before there was a Bible that could be placed in your hands, the eternal Word was already present. Today, we move forward from that revelation and discover something equally powerful. Before the Word was preserved on pages, the Word was spoken. Before people could read it with their eyes, somebody had to hear it with their spirit. Before there were Scriptures to turn to, there were men and women who had learned how to recognize when God was speaking.

Hebrews opens by telling us, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” That means God has always been a speaking God. He did not wait for the invention of paper to communicate with humanity. He did not wait for printing presses, publishing houses, Bible apps, commentaries, devotionals, or study guides. God spoke. He spoke in different times, through different people, and in different ways, but throughout Scripture there is one consistent truth: God has always desired to reveal Himself.

Before Moses wrote, God spoke to Moses. Before Samuel became known as a prophet, he had to learn the sound of the voice calling his name in the middle of the night. Before Isaiah wrote, “Holy, holy, holy,” he had an encounter with the Lord high and lifted up. Before Jeremiah recorded prophetic words to nations, God told him, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” Before Ezekiel wrote about wheels and visions, he encountered the glory of God. Before David gave us Psalms that generations would pray, sing, and weep over, he knew God in fields while tending sheep. The written Word that we treasure today came through people who first had encounters with the God who speaks.

That should change the way you approach your Bible. When you open Scripture, you are not simply reading ancient words from religious history. You are reading the preserved record of divine revelation. Somewhere behind the ink was an encounter. Somewhere behind the verse was a moment when heaven touched earth. Somewhere behind the sentence was a person who heard, saw, experienced, or received something from God and was moved by the Holy Spirit to preserve it.

Second Peter says that prophecy did not come “by the will of man,” but that holy men of God “spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” I love that word moved. They were not simply sitting around attempting to create something inspirational. They were being carried, directed, and influenced by the Spirit of God. The source was not human imagination. God was revealing truth, and human vessels were being trusted to carry what He had spoken.

This is why we have to understand the sacredness of the Word. The Bible did not begin because a group of people decided the world needed an inspirational book. It is the written witness of God’s dealings with humanity, His covenant, His commands, His promises, His redemptive plan, and ultimately His revelation of Jesus Christ. Long before Scripture became something you could hold, God’s Word was something people had to hear, receive, obey, remember, and repeat.

Imagine living during the days of Abraham. Abraham could not turn to Genesis 12 and read, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country.” He was living Genesis 12. There was no chapter and verse for Abraham to study. He had to recognize the voice of God and obey what he heard. When God told him to leave what was familiar and go toward a land God would show him, Abraham did not have centuries of biblical history behind him confirming that God had done this before. He had a Word, and he had to decide whether the One who spoke could be trusted.

Think about Noah. Noah did not have the story of Noah to encourage him while building the ark. He was the story. When God warned him about something he had never seen and instructed him to build something others did not understand, Noah had to live by the Word he had received. There was no devotional available titled How to Build When Nobody Understands Your Assignment. There was simply God speaking, and Noah obeying.

Think about Moses standing before the burning bush. He could not turn to Exodus 3 to understand what was happening because Exodus 3 was happening to him. God was revealing Himself as the great I AM, and Moses was receiving words that generations would eventually read. That puts something in perspective. We have access to what earlier generations had to carry through memory, oral transmission, scrolls, handwritten manuscripts, and teaching. We can reach for a Bible at almost any moment, yet sometimes the accessibility of Scripture causes us to forget its value. What previous generations protected at great cost can sometimes sit unopened on our nightstands.

We have more access to the Word than many generations before us, but access does not automatically produce transformation. You can own ten Bibles and still live disconnected from the truth inside them. You can have multiple Bible apps and still never allow God’s Word to govern your decisions. You can highlight passages, underline verses, post Scriptures online, and still avoid obeying what you read. God did not preserve His Word merely so that we could admire it. He preserved it so that we could hear Him through it.

There is a difference between reading for information and reading for revelation. Information asks, “What does this passage say?” Revelation goes deeper and asks, “Holy Spirit, what are You showing me about God, about myself, and about how I am called to live?” Information can fill your notebook. Revelation begins transforming your heart. That does not mean every verse becomes a private message detached from its biblical meaning. God’s written Word remains our foundation and authority. We do not manipulate Scripture to make it say whatever we want to hear. Instead, we prayerfully seek to understand what God has revealed and allow the Holy Spirit to apply that truth faithfully to our lives.

Sometimes what God says through His Word will comfort you, but sometimes it will confront you. Sometimes it will reassure you, and sometimes it will correct you. Sometimes the Word will tell you that you are going in the right direction, and sometimes it will stop you in your tracks and tell you to turn around. If you only want a Word that agrees with you, you do not really want God’s Word; you want confirmation of your own desires.

The prophets learned that carrying God’s Word could be uncomfortable. Jeremiah described the Word as a fire shut up in his bones. There were times he wanted to remain silent, yet the Word within him demanded expression. Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll, symbolizing that the message had to become internal before it could be spoken outwardly. Isaiah’s lips were touched before he was commissioned. Samuel had to learn to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” Maybe that needs to become your posture again; “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.” Not, “Speak, Lord, but only tell me what I want to hear.” Not, “Speak, Lord, but do not disturb my plans.” Not, “Speak, Lord, but let me first decide whether I agree.” Simply, “Speak, Lord. I am listening.”

There is a sacred discipline in learning to listen to God through Scripture. The world is filled with voices competing for your attention. Every day opinions are coming from television, social media, podcasts, friends, family, culture, influencers, experts, critics, and people who may know nothing about God’s purpose for your life. If you are not careful, you can become so full of everybody else’s words that there is little room left for God’s Word. You can wake up and check social media before checking your spirit. You can read everybody’s posts before reading Scripture. You can know what the world is discussing before asking what God has said. Then we wonder why we are anxious, confused, overwhelmed, and spiritually scattered.

You have to become intentional about protecting what enters your ears and settles in your heart. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If faith can increase through what you hear, then you must pay attention to what you continually allow yourself to hear. Some voices are feeding faith while others are feeding fear. Some words strengthen your confidence in God while others magnify circumstances until your problems seem greater than your God.

This is why Scripture must become more than a Sunday experience. You need the Word on Monday morning when reality starts talking. You need the Word Tuesday afternoon when something unexpected happens. You need the Word Wednesday night when your emotions are tired. You need the Word Thursday when waiting becomes frustrating. You need the Word Friday when temptation tells you to compromise what God said. You need the Word Saturday when the week did not turn out the way you expected. You need a Word-filled life. And there is another side to today’s lesson. The Word was not only placed into people’s ears; eventually, it came through their mouths. God trusted people to speak what He said. That means there is responsibility attached to being someone who says, “God said.” Those two words should never be used casually.

If you are going to tell someone, “God told me” you should carry reverence for the weight of that statement. Your personal preference is not automatically God’s voice. Your emotions are not automatically prophecy. Your opinion does not become divine simply because you attach God’s Name to it. The written Word protects us here. Whatever we believe we are hearing must be tested against what God has already revealed in Scripture. God will not contradict His character or His written truth. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Word does not compete against the Word He inspired.

That is why you have to become a student of Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15), if you desire to recognize God’s voice (John 10:27). The more familiar you become with His Word, the more sensitive you become to what sounds like Him and what does not. You learn His character. You learn His patterns. You learn His heart. You learn what He loves, what He rejects, what He promises, and what He commands. It is similar to knowing the voice of someone you love. They can call you from an unfamiliar number and may not even need to identify themselves. They say, “Hello,” and immediately you know who it is because you have spent enough time listening to their voice.

Time with God develops recognition. And sometimes God will bring a Scripture back to your mind at precisely the moment you need it. You may have read it years earlier and thought nothing extraordinary happened. Yet the Word was being stored. Then you enter a season you never expected, and suddenly the Holy Spirit reaches into the treasury of your heart and brings the Word back.

That is one reason you keep reading even on days when you do not feel overwhelmed with revelation. You are storing truth. Some scriptures you are reading today may be bread for tomorrow. Some Word you are receiving now may become strength in a season you have not reached yet. Some verse you are memorizing today may become the sentence you have to speak over yourself in the middle of a future storm. Keep putting the Word inside you. Because eventually life will squeeze you, and whatever has been stored within you will come out.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” When pressure comes, what is abundant in you begins to surface. If fear has been filling you, fear speaks. If bitterness has been filling you, bitterness speaks. If frustration has been filling you, frustration speaks. But when the Word has been filling you, something different can come out.

Instead of saying, “I can’t make it,” the Word reminds you that God’s grace is sufficient. Instead of saying, “There is no way,” the Word reminds you that with God all things are possible. Instead of saying, “I’m alone,” the Word reminds you that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Instead of saying, “This is going to destroy me,” the Word reminds you that God is your refuge and strength. The goal is not to pretend pain is not real. Faith does not require dishonesty about what you are experiencing. The goal is to refuse to let pain have the final word. What God has spoken must become greater than what circumstances are saying.

So today, remember this: before it was written on pages, the Word moved through people who listened. They heard. They received. They obeyed. They spoke. And eventually God allowed those words to be preserved so generation after generation could know Him. Now the Word is in your hands. The question is not whether God has spoken. The question is whether you are listening. Slow down today. Open your Bible without rushing. Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding. Read until something catches your spirit. Sit there for a moment. Let the Word confront what needs confronting and heal what needs healing. Write down what stands out. Carry it with you. And then ask yourself one more question; What would change if I actually obeyed what I just read?

Because the Word was never meant merely to travel from God’s mouth to a prophet’s mouth, from a prophet’s mouth to a page, and from a page to your eyes. The journey is incomplete until the Word reaches your heart and your life. Yesterday, we learned that the Word was. Today, remember; The Word spoke. And God is still speaking through what He has already spoken.

Let’s Pray,

Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, thank You for being a God who speaks. Thank You that You have never desired to remain hidden from Your creation but have continually revealed Your heart, Your character, Your will, Your truth, and Your redemptive purpose. Thank You for every prophet, servant, apostle, writer, and faithful vessel through whom You preserved Your Word so that generations later I could hold Scripture in my hands and know what You have spoken. Father, forgive me for the times I have taken Your Word for granted. Forgive me for the times my Bible remained closed while I searched everywhere else for direction. Forgive me for listening to countless voices while giving little attention to Yours. Forgive me when I have allowed social media, news, opinions, fear, and the expectations of people to fill my ears until Your truth became difficult to hear. Create within me a renewed hunger for Scripture. Let my desire for Your Word become deeper than obligation. I do not want to read simply because I feel guilty if I don’t. I want to read because I recognize that Your Word is life to me. Let me hunger for truth. Let me thirst for wisdom. Let me desire Your presence and Your revelation more than the noise that surrounds me. Father, teach me how to approach Your Word with reverence. When I open my Bible, help me remember the cost at which Your truth has been carried through generations. Remind me that I am not casually reading another book; I am encountering the preserved revelation of the living God. Give me understanding when passages are difficult. Give me patience when revelation does not come quickly. Teach me to study instead of rushing. Teach me to meditate instead of merely skimming. Holy Spirit, illuminate the Word for me. Open the eyes of my understanding. Show me what the Scripture reveals about the Father. Show me what it reveals about Jesus. Show me what it exposes in my own heart. Show me where I need to grow, where I need to repent, where I need to forgive, where I need to surrender, and where I need to believe You more deeply. Lord, do not only speak words that make me comfortable but give me the grace to receive correction. When Your Word challenges my thinking, let me change my thinking rather than attempt to change Your Word. When Scripture exposes something in my character, help me surrender instead of becoming defensive. When You reveal an area where I am walking contrary to Your will, give me courage to turn. Father, teach me to say like Samuel, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” Give me a listening spirit. Slow me down enough to hear You, and quiet the anxiety that makes my mind race; silence the distractions that compete for my attention and help me to create room in my day for Your Word and Your Presence. Father, guard me from becoming dependent upon other people’s voices. I thank You for pastors, teachers, prophets, mentors, and wise counsel, but do not allow me to substitute another person’s relationship with You for my own. Teach me to know Your Word for myself. Let me become so familiar with Scripture that I can recognize when something does not align with Your truth. God give me discernment concerning the words spoken over my life. Do not allow me to receive everything simply because someone says, “God said.” Teach me to test what I hear according to Your Word and Your character. Guard me from deception, manipulation, emotionalism, and anything that attempts to use Your name without carrying Your truth. And Father, guard my own mouth. Let me never speak carelessly in Your name. Give me reverence for the words “God said.” Do not allow my emotions, preferences, assumptions, or desires to masquerade as Your voice. Make me responsible with what I speak to others. If You have not said it, give me wisdom not to attach Your name to it. Lord, fill me with Your Word until Your Word begins shaping my speech. When pressure comes, let faith rise from within me. When fear tries to take control, bring Scripture back to my remembrance. When anxiety begins speaking, remind me what You said. When circumstances tell me there is no hope, let Your promises rise up within me. Store Your Word deeply in my heart. Let the Scripture I read today become strength for tomorrow. Let the truth I study in a peaceful season become an anchor when the storm comes. Let Your Word become so rooted in me that I do not have to search frantically for truth when trouble arrives because truth has already taken residence inside me. Father, replace the words I have spoken over myself that contradict what You have spoken. Forgive me for declaring defeat, hopelessness, inadequacy, fear, and impossibility over my own life. Teach my mouth to come into agreement with Your truth. I will not deny what I am facing, but I will refuse to make my circumstances greater than Your authority. Let my home be filled with Your Word. Let my conversations reflect Your Word. Let my decisions be governed by Your Word. Let the way I love people reflect Your Word. Let the way I forgive reflect Your Word. Let the way I handle disappointment reflect Your Word. Let the way I wait reflect Your Word. Let my life demonstrate that I have heard from You. And Lord, when You speak through Scripture, give me courage to obey. Do not let me become someone who knows many verses but follows few of them. Move the Word from my eyes to my mind, from my mind to my heart, and from my heart into my actions. I do not want merely to know what You said. I want to live like I heard You. So, speak through Your Word, Father. Correct me through Your Word. Comfort me through Your Word. Direct me through Your Word. Heal me through Your Word. Strengthen me through Your Word. Mature me through Your Word. And transform me through Your Word. Thank You that before the Bible was placed into my hands, You were already speaking. Thank You that the voice that called Abraham, instructed Moses, awakened Samuel, commissioned Isaiah, strengthened Jeremiah, and revealed Jesus Christ is preserved for me in Scripture today. Father, help me never take that gift lightly. Give me ears to hear, a heart to receive, faith to believe, courage to obey, and wisdom to speak only what honors You. In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, the Living Word, Amen.

Nugget ~ Before the Word reached the page, somebody had to hear God. Don’t become so familiar with carrying a Bible that you forget to listen to the God who speaks through it.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…