God Speaks: To Me, through Me, for Me

By Junior A. Rhodes

God loves all his children. He has been speaking directly to us since he created Adam and Eve. The God who has never changed--and never will--is your loving Father who wants and will always want to speak to you. Through this book, I pray that you will become attuned to God's voice through reading and meditation of his words and that you will seek and expect to hear God through his various methods of communication. I trust you will experience God through his amazing process of speaking to his children.

Every believer must listen and let God speak to and through them to the saved and the lost. The body of Christ is advanced, strengthened, and victorious only when we stay connected to hearing and delivering messages from God on a consistent basis.

God speaks to us through dreams, numbers, visions, his written Word, the preached Word, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, and revelation knowledge. Listen to him in your dreams. Pay attention to numbers in your dreams. Read God's words because he speaks through his words to you, for you, and for you to speak to others. Pray often because he also speaks to you in your time of prayer. Allow God to use you as he speaks through you to others. You are a channel, a messenger, God's mouthpiece, God's prophet, God's visionary and dreamer. God will not keep silent because he is a relational God who loves his children even when we are not deserving. He will speak to you, through you, and for you.

God speaks for you to show you favor and to make provision even in death, through death, and after death. God wants to communicate directly with you in various ways. It is time to ask yourself: Are you listening?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685170660

Book preview

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God Speaks

To Me, through Me, for Me

Junior A. Rhodes

ISBN 978-1-68517-065-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68517-101-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-68517-066-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Junior A. Rhodes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

God Speaks to Me

Through His Word

Through Prayer

Through Dreams

Through Numbers

Through Visions

Through Our Circumstances

Through Others

God Speaks through Me

Through Me

God Has No Favorites

Go Over the Fence

God Speaks for Me

To Protect My Destiny

To My Enemy

For My Well-being

Even When I'm Not Worthy

Beyond This Life

Conclusion

References

About the Author

I wish to dedicate this book to my mother, Iona Carnegie-Satchell, who dedicated her life to lovingly raising her children, always caring, supporting and imparting Christian values to us, and whose strength and perseverance have played an enormous role in who I am today.

Acknowledgments

Embarking on this journey was very challenging for me, but I have much to be grateful for. I give honor to the Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth and Father to Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior. To the Holy Spirit who has guided me every moment through this process. To my wife, Beverly, who showed support and understanding whenever I had to go off with my team who assisted me with preliminary editing. To my two daughters, Kayan and Judane, who expressed confidence in me and cheered me on.

I wish to note that I could not complete this work without Catherine Rhodes, my daughter-in-law, who is a daughter to me, whom I entrusted with the task of typing and editing. To T'Aisha Henry, who was also instrumental in editing and gave constant support. To my son, Paul, for his time and suggestions and Shoshanna Hall for support with editing. Lastly, to Carlene Crumbie, who stood with me and my wonderful team to prepare meals and refreshments so we could pray and focus on the editing.

I must also mention my six-year-old granddaughter Jenesis, who was with me each time we came together for major editing. Her constant childish laughter, humor, questions, and playful exuberance provided energy. She was a constant reminder for me to leave a legacy for her and my other grandkids. May the gracious hand of our God bless every one and cause all grace to abound upon their lives.

To God Almighty be all the glory, honor, power, dominion, and majesty. Amen! Amen! Amen!

Introduction

Have you ever had a persistent feeling that there was something you needed to do? The feeling becomes so overwhelmingly intense that you begin to feel like Jeremiah with fire shut up in his bones. I write to you as someone who can relate to that feeling. For some time, thoughts of writing a book have flooded my mind, constantly crashing into me like the forceful waves of the ocean. Although these thoughts persisted, I could not figure out what topic God wanted me to share with others. That changed on December 17, 2020, at approximately 12:30 p.m. It was then that God reminded me of a word he had given me the previous year while in prayer: God speaks to me, through me, and for me. From then on, I was persuaded that that was the word God wanted me to pursue and to share. Therefore, today, December 18, 2020, at 9:00 p.m., I embark on this journey, unsure of how long or difficult it may be. However, I know that before I get to the end of the journey, I must first begin.

Through this book, I set out to share my testimony of how God has spoken to me throughout my many years of Christian experience and pastoral life. It is vitally important for me to share these experiences and observations through a biblical lens because my intentions are to help you and others in the kingdom of God to understand that God wants to have a personal and unique relationship with each of his children. What better way to understand that than through his word? In fact, in Luke 15, Jesus uses a series of parables to illustrate just how excited God gets each time a new person comes into a right relationship with him. In the parable of the Lost Sheep, he states,

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7 NIV)

God does not merely want a relationship with you. He wants to maintain the relationship in various ways. He wants to speak to you, one on one. He wants to speak through you to others. He wants to speak for you to bless you and to oppose those who stand against you. When you know that God is speaking to you, through you, and for you, you can have unimaginable confidence in God and your relationship with him.

God loves all his children and has been speaking directly to us since he created Adam and Eve. In Genesis 2:16–17 CSB, God speaks to Adam:

You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.

The passage shows that Adam was not just left to his own devices. Like the good Father he is, God did two important things that all fathers should do: consider what their children will eat and set boundaries for them. He told Adam what to eat and gave clear instructions as to what not to eat. But perhaps, the most important thing to note is that God spoke to Adam. Genesis 2 indicates that there was constant communication between God and Adam as animals were brought to Adam to be named. However, that communication takes a turn when they sin against God (Genesis 3:1–9). The Word of God tells us that they heard God approaching and were afraid. But despite their flawed actions, God was still their loving Father who had come down to speak with them. Aren't we fortunate that God never changes? Instead of leaving them in a state of utter desolation, he tells them the consequences of their actions and shows them that one day, the level of communication that they once had with him would be restored through the seed of the woman. Guess what? The God who has never changed—and never will—is your loving Father who wants and will always want to speak to you.

When you finish reading this book, I pray that you will become attuned to God's voice through reading and meditation of his words and that you will seek and expect to hear God through his various methods of communication. Hearing him and knowing that he speaks to you can—and hopefully will—become part of your relational journey with God. He is constantly speaking to you in so many ways. When you listen and act upon his words, you will experience immense growth in your walk with him. I invite you to come with me on this journey of knowing how God speaks.

Part 1

God Speaks to Me

Through His Word

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

—Isaiah 40:8 NIV

The Bible tells us that all scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16a NIV). This shows us that the Word of God has been revealed to man by God himself. Based on God's relationship with Adam, we can see that God has always directly communicated with man since the beginning of time, and man has engaged in the oral tradition of passing on the wondrous works of God from generation to generation. About 3,500 years ago, man began to write down the word of God, and from then until now, it has endured and stood the test of time.

People are drawn to God's Word for various reasons. For some, it provides hope; for others, truth. Some use it for selfish ambitions, yet others share it with the world. However it is used, when we earnestly seek and pursue a relationship with God by engaging with his word, our thirst and hunger for him are quenched.

John 4:13 NIV states,

Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Matthew 4:4 ESV says,

But He answered, It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

Therefore, it is quite evident that we establish a relationship with God by fully immersing ourselves in his Word.

We engage with God's words by listening to them being preached, reading his written Word, hearing a personal testimony, or even listening to a song. I can attest to that. In fact, my Christian journey began when I heard a choir singing a song entitled It's Beginning to Rain. As the choir sang, I heard the Lord saying, Come, you will never thirst again. I could not contain myself as tears began to stream down my face. I immediately got up, walked to the altar, and gave my life to Christ. My walk with the God, who communicates constantly to his children, began that night. I assure you that whatever form God's words hold, he is the One speaking to you.

I am confident that God spoke to me indirectly through the words of that song. However, he sometimes chooses