From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 8/17/2018
Dear Ones,
“Lord speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone . . .” (Hymns of the Restoration, #266). Bakht Singh, foremost planter of Christian congregations of the 20th Century, in India, wrote: “I began to read the book of Genesis in the month of January 1930. I found these words again, and again. ‘God said, God said.’ I found these words repeated 500 times and this very fragment was a blessing to me: ‘God speaks, God speaks.’ So I said, Oh, God, speak to me. I want to hear thy voice. I have no ambition for any other experience. The longing of my soul is that you should speak to me and show me thy way day by day. I believed like a child. Even though it may take some time to learn the lesson that God must speak, the fact remains that when he becomes real (to us) he does speak. A day came when I began to hear his voice every day.” (Brother Bakht Singh of India, T.E. Koshy, Page 86).
The foundation upon which Jesus built his church was, and is, based upon communication between God and man. Jesus asked his disciples; “whom say ye that I am?” Peter answered, “thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven . . . and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” ( Matthew 16:16-18, IV; 16:15-18, KJV). The church will survive as long as it communicates with the Father in heaven. When this communication ceases, the church will soon die.
I received a letter this week, from which I will quote: “I have to confess that I’m sometimes envious of the often fantastic testimonies that others have of hearing God speak to them audibly, or being called by name. I’ve even told my husband on occasion, “God doesn’t talk to me!” Well, I can now say that’s not at all true . . . He speaks, but I need to listen better and pay more attention! In the past month, God has spoken to me at least three times: 1) through an elder, 2) my patriarchal blessing, and 3) by sending me a love letter. During my morning walk, I suddenly stopped, looked down, and there at my feet was a perfectly heart-shaped stone. I felt like He was just saying to me, ‘I love you.’ And so, I picked it up, and said, ‘I love you, too, Lord!’”
The second prophet of the Restoration was Joseph Smith III. He said: “The means by which God reveals himself to men may be said to be infinite” (Joseph Smith III and the Restoration, Page 597). He is very creative in choosing a way to communicate with us. He has often utilized the number 333, as a signal that he has a message for me. After he gets my attention, he delivers a message; a passage of scripture; a word of counsel; a commendation; or a simple, “I love you.”
Upon one occasion I was asked to have a funeral for a young man, 21 years old, who was killed in an auto crash, through no fault of his own. His family, especially his mother and sister, were so filled with grief during the funeral service that I felt they were not being comforted by anything I said. After the funeral I asked if they would come and visit me when they felt better. They came as they had promised. We had a good visit as I made a second effort to comfort them. After their departure I leaned back in my chair and noticed the time was 3:33. And immediately these words of scripture were quoted to me by the Holy Spirit: “Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:28 IV; 10:32 KJV). I was not acquainted with this scripture until the Holy Spirit brought it to my attention!
Moses, the prophet like Jesus (Deuteronomy 18:18), was not the only prophet in Israel. “And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My Lord, Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lords people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them” (Numbers 11:27-29). All the Lord’s people should be hearing and heeding him.
My Love to All,
Francis Harper
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Lord, Speak to Me
The Lord wants to speak to us. Are we listening? “. . . he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out . . . he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers: (John 10:3-5). Are we his sheep?
We need to hear him. We need to hear the Lord every day. When Jesus was baptized, John (the Baptist) saw the heavens open and the Spirit descending like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him” (Matthew 3:45-46, IV).
Later, Jesus invited three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, to accompany him to “. . . a high mountain, apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias (John the Baptist) . . . a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matthew 17:1-2, 4 IV; 17: 1-2, 5 KJV).
After his ascension, Jesus appeared to his “other sheep” (John 10:16), who were descendents of Joseph who had emigrated to the narrow neck of land in the Western Hemisphere. They too, heard a voice from heaven “which did cause their hearts to burn but they understood it not.” This happened twice. Then “again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; . . . and it said unto them, Behold, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name, hear ye him” (3 Nephi 5:5-8).
During the month of May, 1820, a 14 year old youth; Joseph Smith, Jr., went to the woods to pray. He needed to know which church he should join. During his prayer two personages appeared “(whose brightness and glory defy all description) standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other), This is my beloved Son, hear Him.” (Church History, Vol. 1, page 9).
These four nearly identical messages from the courts of glory should be enough to convince us that God speaks and that we need to hear and heed the voice of his Son, Jesus.
We seem to prefer hearing and heeding the voice of strangers, or perhaps listening and yielding to our own inner voice? The scripture says his sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger, “but will flee from him” (John 10:5). We need to be blessed with the gift of “discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10) which will enable us to discern the voice of a stranger and run from him.
Adam and Eve communicated with God, until they heard and yielded to the voice of Satan. . . “and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual and devilish” (Genesis 4:13, IV).
Paul warned: “. . . the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves, teachers, . . . And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Isaiah spoke of the rebellious who say to the seers, “See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speck unto us smooth things . . . (Isaiah 30: 9-10).
We sing: “Jesus, mighty King in Zion, Thou alone our Guide shalt be . . . We will follow none but thee. We will follow none but Jesus, Jesus is the Life, the Way; This the path in which he leads us, This the gate to endless day. Amen” (Hymns of the Saints, #353).
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