from the 6th chapter of my second book:

“in 1 kings 19:12 the lord addressed elijah in ‘a gentle whisper.’ elijah heard the voice and responded. mark batterson discusses how the holy spirit communicates with us in our time in his book, Whisper: how to hear the voice of god. why would the holy spirit communicate in such a manner? when one whispers to us we lean close to hear, and it is a personal interactive intimacy that our lord wants. batterson describes how the human auditory mechanism processes sound waves received through the ear as transmitted nerve impulses akin to the morse code in the auditory cortex. there pitch, volume, tone, distance, direction and meaning are translated into actionable information by the mind. though it is possible for the holy spirit to communicate audibly with us, from the neurosciences we have inferred that meaningful neural codes can also be generated directly by the power of the holy spirit and transmitted through synaptic networks. but to hear the gentle whisper of the holy spirit it is important that noise or inattention do not block perception. batterson asks if it is possible that relational, emotional and spiritual problems are actually hearing problems - ears deafened to the voice of god so that we lose our way in life.

“the author also addresses bibliolatry when one believes that god only speaks through scripture. batterson notes the ultimate importance of the bible in transmitting the word of god and god’s holy spirit ‘will never say anything that is contrary to his good, pleasing, and perfect will as revealed in scripture.’ but there are other ways in which we can receive and perceive the gentle whisper of the holy spirit, including dreams and visions. ‘creation was god’s original gesture. the cross is his merciful gesture. the resurrection is his grand gesture. and he is still accomplishing his plans and purposes via dreams and visions through the working of the holy spirit.’”

[calvin] “miller addresses the holy communion of prayer, emphasizing that it is ‘two-way.’ meaningful communion with god through the holy spirit is not only a voice but also an ear. listening is the most valuable part of prayer. our focused silence is key to blocking out the inner and outward chatter (noise) . . . that surrounds us so we can commune with god and perceive his communion with us in the several forms it takes, such as dreams, visions, words, intuition and discernment. the holy spirit wants us to be open to him. our silence is a door for him to enter into our souls. our silence is an ear for us to hear. . . . it is important to understand that god permeates all that surrounds us, including our very selves, so that he hears every word we speak or think. miller points out that all of life becomes communion, ‘for he fills the very crannies of our minds and bodies.’ . . . by his indwelling holy spirit god continuously accompanies us, pervading the entire world of cognition. miller states that we should not ‘act as though he is somehow ‘out there’ and that we must ‘go’ to talk to him.’”

“Jesus said in john 14, ‘on that day you will realize that i am in my father, and you are in me, and I am in you.’”

In the 6th chapter of my book I discuss our hunger for communion with the Holy spirit in our time. It is a two-way communion, consisting of prayer as well as listening which calvin miller addresses. i begin with this excerpt from my book:

“it is the soul of man accessed through the human spirit that serves as the place of rendevous, of intimate, personal interaction with the holy spirit. we cannot escape the pain and pressures of life in our space-time, and we are yet fallen, but the holy spirit infuses our life with meaning, purpose and hope. we understand that the present is a preface to the ‘not yet’ eternal to come. the spiritual life wAS PROVED BY JESUS DURING HIS MINISTRY ON eARTH TO BOTH INDWELL AND EMPOWER HIS NATURAL LIFE AS IT SHOULD OUR OWN. MAN WAS CREATED TO BE RECEPTACLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WE LONG AND WE THIRST TO BE FILLED WITH CHRIST’S INDWELLING.”

i INCLUDE A SECTION FROM CHAPTER 5 OF MY BOOK:

“in the word of god and the mind of man ronald nash explored the extent to which the human mind can receive and understAND DIVINE REVELATION OF TRUTH. THE HUMAN MIND IS UNIQUE IN PARTICIPATING INTERACTIVELY WITH THE ETERNAL lOGOS OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST. BY HIS RESURRECTION AND GLORIFICATION HE PROVIDES FOR THE INDWELLING AND COUNSELING OF REPENTANT PEOPLE AT THE LEVEL OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND SOUL’S MIND. NASH ASKED IF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HUMAN MIND AND THE DIVINE MIND EXISTS THAT IS SUFFICIENT TO GROUND THE COMMUNICATION OF TRUTH FROM GOD TO HUMANS. HE CITED CARL F. H. HENRY WHO STATED THAT MAN WAS CREATED IN THE DIVINE IMAGE FOR AN INTELLIGIBLE, INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION WITH GOD. HE FURTHER IDENTIFIED THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE REALITY OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THE MIND OF GOD AND THE MIND OF MAN, THE ETERNAL LOGOS, JESUS CHRIST. HE ‘MEDIATES ALL DIVINE REVELATION AND GROUNDS THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE DIVINE AND HUMAN MINDS.’ THE CORRESPONDENCE ENABLES A HUMAN UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIVINE COMMUNICATION OF TRUTH. GOD CREATED MAN AS A RATIONAL CREATURE WHOSE FORMS OF THOUGHT CORRESPOND TO THE LAWS OF LOGIC SUBSISTING IN THE MIND OF GOD. THAT GOD ENDOWED HUMANS WITH HIS IMAGE INCLUDES A STRUCTURE OF REASON THAT REFLECTS GOD’S OWN REASON. FURTHERMORE, HUMAN BEINGS AS RATIONAL CREATURES POSSESS INNATELY AND UNIQUELY THE CAPACITY TO THINK CREATIVELY AND TO USE ADVANCED LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE IS A GIFT THAT FACILITATES THE PERSONAL AND COGNITIVE COMMUNION BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANS.”

“paul further taught that spiritual gifts are given to believers for the benefit of the whole church. these are supernatural, spirit-given abilities that are addressed in 1 corinthians 12:1-11. although there are a variety of gifts, they are given by one spirit for the common good, the spirit of jesus christ. these include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, service, teaching, encouragement, sharing, leadership and showing mercy.”

i offer for consideration that god instantiates gifts as linguistic neural codes within memory accessed and applied by a believing, ‘sealed’ individual when following the leading of the holy spirit. this concept is derived through the research discussed in detail in both of my books. the proposal reflects concordance between applicable scripture and current findings of neuroscience.

“paul admonished believers to walk by the leading of the holy spirit. in doing so they manifest fruits of the spirit. these include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. the source of these effects is the character of jesus christ. the desire of the flesh reflects an attitude of defiance to god. but believers who live in obedience to the leading of the holy spirit are ‘sealed,’ signifying that god has ownership of them, that the lord is their shepherd as identified in psalm 23. the indwelling by the holy spirit is the first installment of all the coming benefits of eschatological salvation [already but not yet], and it functions as a guarantee that the benefits will come.”

in the fourth chapter of my book i include a discussion of the meaning of ‘heart’ in the bible:

“to what the word ‘heart’ refers can be confusing. it is a word used over 1000 times in the bible. . . . ‘heart’ refers to the center of emotional, intellectual and moral activity, of will and of reasoning. ‘the heart in scripture is variously used, sometimes for the mind and understanding, sometimes for the will, sometimes for the affections, sometimes for the conscience, sometimes for the whole soul. generally, it denotes the whole soul of man and all the faculties of it, not absolutely, but as they are all one principle of moral operations, as they all concur in our doing of good and evil.’. . . for the purposes of this book ‘heart’ will refer to the soul, which includes the mind, will and emotion, and the conscience interactive with the human spirit.”

In chapter 4 of my book i wrote the following:

“romans 8:11 states, ‘and if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit, who lives in you.’ . . . this verse shows that the holy spirit can live within a person. likewise, 1 corinthians 3:16 states, ‘don’t you know that you yourselves are god’s temple and that god’s spirit lives in you?’ this verse provides further confirmation that god does live in a believer.”

“‘the impression is everywhere in acts that the normal and expected condition of christians is that of being men and women under the spirit’s control.’ the holy spirit reveals god’s truth and will and speaks to and through people to guide them in their service to god.”

my research reveals that the indwelling of the holy spirit has been restored to repentant believers in our time by god’s grace through the sin sacrifice of the resurrected and living jesus christ. he is our counselor and helper.

“that the fulfillment of the kingdom will occur in the future is an ‘already but not yet’ concept developed by the princeton theologian gerhardus vos early in the 20th century. in the letter to the hebrews it is said, ‘yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. but we see jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of god he might taste death for everyone.’ the kingdom of god has ‘already’ been entered by the giving of the holy spirit to church believers. ‘but not yet’ refers to the kingdom to come described in 1 john 3:2-3, ‘dear friends, now we are children of god, and what we will be has not yet been made known. but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.’ we will be glorified.”