Can Jesus talk?
My three-year-old told me today that βJesus cannot talk.β We tell him Jesus will not be happy with him when he gets into full-blown mischief, and he seems to understand. He says it often that Jesus will not be happy with him when he does something wrong. But He just cannot wrap his head around the fact that Jesus can talk. As an adult, how do I explain to this three-year-old that Jesus can talk?
I tried a very long theological explanation that, yes, Jesus can talk. Of course, that ended nowhere. Coincidentally we had just studied the story of Mary and Martha that week. Mary was sitting quietly at Jesus’s feet, listening to Jesus talk, while Martha was busy cooking, cleaning, and doing all the more “appropriate” stuff. But I still couldn’t relate how the Jesus that spoke to Mary and Martha was the same Jesus that could talk to my little boy.
As adults, how many of us listen to Jesus when he talks? How do we even hear his voice?
This generation has gotten so busy with everything else but listening to what Jesus has to say. We claim we want him to show us which job offer to take, but we secretly know precisely which one we want. We ask him to lead us, but ultimately, we follow our own paths and then blame Him when things go wrong.
This is a story I am sharing with permission from a very close friend of mine about a time Jesus spoke to her personally, and it changed the trajectory of her life. Before she got married, we all knew exactly what kind of man she was attracted to. When she was approached by a friend, who is now her husband, with a marriage proposal, she promised him she would pray about the answer. Yet, there was one problem. This guy was the exact opposite of all the things she wanted in a man. She was willing to listen to what Jesus would say, she prayed about it, but in her heart, the answer was already a no. She planned to say no to his proposal, not because Jesus spoke, but because he did not fit the characteristics she wanted in a man. Fortunately for her, against her wishes, she felt God’s leading to say yes to this proposal when she had planned to say no. They’ve been married for almost two decades now, and in her own words, “I am the luckiest woman on earth for saying yes to this man”!
Most of us are like my friend. We claim total surrender and abundance to follow God’s will to the latter, yet we will time and again choose those options that favor us. Then we find a verse from the Bible to help us “feel good” about our choices. Shame on us all.
When we get to the crossroads, Isaiah 30.21 tells us, βYour ears shall hear a word behind you, saying this βThis is the way, walk in it,β whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.β For all significant life decisions, let us endeavor to seek the Lordβs will before taking the step. Moses was not willing to go anywhere without the presence of God. Let us be like this patriarch of ours, to be determined not to do anything without the absolute leading of God; βThen Moses said to Him, βIf your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from hereβ Exodus 33.15 (NIV)
We may think we only need to hear God on the mighty big things like marriage, career choices, ministry decisions, etc. But let us engage Him in the seemingly βlittleβ things in life- like what outfits to wear, what foods to eat, which school to take our children to, etc.
Letβs ask ourselves these three questions:
- Are we seeking God with all our hearts or only half-heartedly? Jeremiah 29.13 says, βYou will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heartβ Jeremiah 29.13
- Are we claiming to seek Godβs will for our lives but secretly know exactly what we want? Psalm 44.21 says, βWould not God search this out? He knows the secrets of the heart.β
- When we spend time reading the Bible, do we listen to Jesus talking, or do we read our Bible ceremoniously? But Samuel replied: βDoes theβ―Lordβ―delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying theβ―Lord? To follow is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15.22
So next time your three-year-old asks you if Jesus talks, how would you answer?
Or if you have older children, teenagers, young adults, how do you emulate to them that Jesus talks? Do you have personal examples that you can boldly tell your children of times when Jesus spoke to you directly and helped changed the course of your life in that area? Or of times when you disobeyed the Lordβs leading and faced the consequences?
Jesus is always talking. How well are we still listening?
Very True and inspiring, we as believers need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and show us the right way in all we do. God richly bless and continue to increase you.
Amen Daddy. Thanks for availing yourself as a mouthpiece for our generation ππ½ππ½ππ½
Jesus indeed talks. We can hear Him talk when we read the Bible (John 1:1), He spoke to the young boy Samuel in 1 Samuel, he talks to us in our dreams too like He did to Joseph.
Honestly, I discuss this with my children and tell them when they continue to pray and study their Bibles , always telling GOD how they yearn to see and hear Him, He would surely reveal Himself to them.
That’s wonderful Irene.
Let’s keep teaching the kids Gods ways. So crucial especially for their times
Thought provoking and inspiring message. β€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
Thank you Duchess π
Jesus is proud of you.
Amen. Humbled ππ½ππ½
Awwwww, this truly floods my heart with Joy… to know Jesus is not only listening to us but also always Talking to us… God bless you Hannarich!!
Thank you Joellen. May we hear Him more than we talk to Him
What an amazing piece!
Hannarich, God bless you for sharing these precious nuggets of wisdom with us. I am greatly inspired to start teaching my children these truths and to start having such conversations at home. I just love it and am grateful to God for leading u to share this with us. Our children will be blessed as much as we the adults have been blessed.
Let’s start such conversations at home! I can’t wait to do it tonight πππͺπ.
More Grace to u Hannarich.
Yes please let’s continue the discussion π
Thank you Aunty Vic ππ½ππ½
This is beautiful! Thank you love!
Thanks Karen ππ½ππ½
Wow …. never thought about this. Hmmm we have indeed become sooo busy with other things and have forgotten about hearing His voice.
Yes Jesus does talk and will always. We therefore need to have the attitude and the listening ear. I really love this Hanarich. Please keep writing
Thanks for the encouragement Harriet. Yes we’re so busy now. God help us all ooo ππ½ππ½ππ½
Bless you for the giant step.Keep on precious one.
Thanks big bro ππ½ππ½ππ½
This is very interesting. Jesus always talks to us and we sometimes miss his voice and directions because of our busy lives.
He speaks always through his word, our hearts and his creation around us including people.
For a 3 year old, one of the best ways to let him know Jesus talks is through his father and mother because they have Jesus in their hearts. It’s funny how kids ask some questions but we try our best to answer them and as they grow will understand it better.
As believers also let us always take the time to hear Jesus talk to us and the Holy Spirit who is our helper, teacher, counselor, reminder and everything will help us through this journey of life.
I love your answer Joana. Lettingthat when we talk, we’re Jesus talking to them is a good one. That means we as parents have to be connected to God always so we can adequately speak Gods mind to the kids. Thanks Joanna
This is a wonderful piece. May we always be willing and ready to do what God tells us to do regardless of how we feel. God bless u for this.
Amen sis. Sometimes it really is hard. But obedience is always better than sacrifice
I love the part that says we want to pray and ask God to lead us but we already got the answer in our Hearts before we even go forward to pray. As True Believers we should involve Jesus in every area of our lives if we really want him to leads us in all we do. This is something Iβm working on the most in my life now to always be in the presence of God so I wonβt miss what he has for. God bless you Sister.
Exactly bro, my main challenge too. May we hear His voice when He speaks.
Thanks RANDSSSSS π€
Jesus is indeed always talking but are we always listening? Do we only hear what we want to? Does our actions portray us to be wise in putting into practice what Jesus tells us to do? An honest reflection is needed and we need not kid ourselves.
So true bro, sometimes it seems we are all kidding ourselves in this Christian walk, thank God His mercy abounds ππ½ππ½ππ½
Jesus talks indeed! Bless you Sis and keep up the good work.
Thank you brooooo π€π€π€π€. May we hear Him when He talks