How Can God Speak to Me? - GlobalReach.org

90G o d ’ s D e s i g n - Yo u r C h o i c eIf the principles of Scripture are going to help us followGod’s design, then we should understand how they are givenin the Bible. The Bible is not simply a collection of ideas aboutlife. It is the record of God’s speaking to people and theirresponding to Him. Principles are presented, and we understandtheir meaning by examining the record of their effect onpeople’s lives. This record shows us how principles are appliedand keeps us from becoming unbalanced in our view of them.For example, Christ taught the principle of the final victoryof meekness or humility: “Blessed are the meek, for they willinherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).But what is humility? We understand how it works inbalance with other qualities through studying the life of Moses(Read Exodus 12.).We understand the difference between repentance andsorrow by looking at the lives of David and Saul, two kings ofIsrael. It was not the greatness of Saul’s sin that caused him tolose the kingdom. It was the fact that he reacted with sorrowbut never truly repented and changed his ways. In contrast,David repented with his whole heart. (Compare, for example, 1Samuel 13:8–14; 15:17–25; 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51.)Application3 Read Acts 5:40–42 and the verses referred to below. Theevent described in Acts is an example of the principle given ina) Matthew 5:7.b) Matthew 5:11.c) Luke 6:37.We may say, then, that the Holy Spirit applies the Wordto guide us within principles that are both consistent and alsounderstood as we see how they have operated in people’s lives.