The Voice of the Lord
1 Corinthians 14:10,11 tells us that there are many voices in the world; in other words, there are many languages in the world and none of them is without meaning or without expression to the ones who understand the language. But if you and I do not know the language, we are as strangers and foreigners to the one who speaks and the one who speaks that language will seem as a foreigner to us. Why is that? If we don’t understand what one another is saying, how can we communicate with one another or learn of one another’s ways.
Do you see where I am going with this? We must know and understand the voice of the Lord. We must learn His language, to communicate with Him, to learn His ways of doing things. Jesus tells us in John 10:1-5 that He is our Shepherd and we as His sheep hear His voice. He calls us by name and leads us. He goes before us and we follow Him for we know His voice. And a stranger we will not follow but will flee from him for we know not the voice of strangers.
We are told here in John 10 that as God’s child, we do know the voice of our Lord; we do hear His voice and know His voice. Some of you may be saying right now: But I don’t hear His voice. Are you making Jesus out to be a liar? He says that you do hear His voice. So what do you do with that? By faith, you say that you hear His voice, even when you think you don’t. Many times His voice is an impression inside you that you are to do a certain thing. If that impression lines up with the Word of God, step out on that and do it. It takes practice. There will be times in the beginning when you may miss it, but you know that the more you practice hearing His voice, the clearer you will hear Him. I use one thing as my gauge. Let peace be your umpire. Where is your peace regarding what you have heard? Don’t respond because you want to so desperately hear His voice and anything will be counted as His voice. Practice being still and quiet before Him without any outside distractions which are called noise. You will hear His voice.
He speaks to me so much through His Word. There will be a scripture that will pop out at me like a neon sign. That is God speaking to me. I love His Word. And He knows that He can talk with me with His Word. But in order to hear Him speak through His Word, I have to know His Word; I have to spend time in His Word; I have to spend time with Him. Aw, time! There is the key. Lately, the Lord has been telling me that tithe not only involves money. It involves my time. A tithe of 24 hours is over 2 hours a day. Sometimes I look at the clock and say, but God---------.
I am sure none of you have ever done that. Time is a gift from God just like everything else we have. He asks us for a portion of time every day. The time we spend with Him as a tithe will be multiplied back to us many times over. I am experiencing that in my own life.
In Deuteronomy 28:1,2 we are told to diligently hearken, listen to the voice of the Lord our God, being watchful to do all He commands us in His Word, and His Blessing will come on us. What does hearken imply? Do what He tells us. Do what He says to do. Be alert to do what He tells us to do. That’s why it is so important to learn to hear His voice. He tells us what to do and helps us to avoid traps, to do the right thing that will bless our lives.
In Hebrews 3:7,8 we read that when we hear God’s voice, we are not to harden our hearts. What is that saying? If God continually tells us something and we ignore it, each time we ignore it, our heart becomes a little bit more accustomed to not doing what He tells us. If we do this often enough, eventually, we will not even listen to, much less heed and do what He is telling us. And do you know it does not necessarily have to be a big thing? It can be something as simple as going next door to your neighbor’s house and asking them if they need prayer. There are times when God speaks a simple thing to us. He may tell you women to go to the clothing store, and it may not have a thing to do with buying a piece of clothing. There may be someone in that store who is hurting and you have the answer for them.
Hearing God’s voice is not an isolated entity. It is connected to doing what God tells us to do. We must not only hear; we must also obey; we must do what we hear Him telling us to do.
Say this: I do hear the voice of the Lord my God, and I do obey what He tells me to do. I don’t hear the voice of a stranger (satan) but I clearly hear the voice of my Lord and do what He says.
Do you see where I am going with this? We must know and understand the voice of the Lord. We must learn His language, to communicate with Him, to learn His ways of doing things. Jesus tells us in John 10:1-5 that He is our Shepherd and we as His sheep hear His voice. He calls us by name and leads us. He goes before us and we follow Him for we know His voice. And a stranger we will not follow but will flee from him for we know not the voice of strangers.
We are told here in John 10 that as God’s child, we do know the voice of our Lord; we do hear His voice and know His voice. Some of you may be saying right now: But I don’t hear His voice. Are you making Jesus out to be a liar? He says that you do hear His voice. So what do you do with that? By faith, you say that you hear His voice, even when you think you don’t. Many times His voice is an impression inside you that you are to do a certain thing. If that impression lines up with the Word of God, step out on that and do it. It takes practice. There will be times in the beginning when you may miss it, but you know that the more you practice hearing His voice, the clearer you will hear Him. I use one thing as my gauge. Let peace be your umpire. Where is your peace regarding what you have heard? Don’t respond because you want to so desperately hear His voice and anything will be counted as His voice. Practice being still and quiet before Him without any outside distractions which are called noise. You will hear His voice.
He speaks to me so much through His Word. There will be a scripture that will pop out at me like a neon sign. That is God speaking to me. I love His Word. And He knows that He can talk with me with His Word. But in order to hear Him speak through His Word, I have to know His Word; I have to spend time in His Word; I have to spend time with Him. Aw, time! There is the key. Lately, the Lord has been telling me that tithe not only involves money. It involves my time. A tithe of 24 hours is over 2 hours a day. Sometimes I look at the clock and say, but God---------.
I am sure none of you have ever done that. Time is a gift from God just like everything else we have. He asks us for a portion of time every day. The time we spend with Him as a tithe will be multiplied back to us many times over. I am experiencing that in my own life.
In Deuteronomy 28:1,2 we are told to diligently hearken, listen to the voice of the Lord our God, being watchful to do all He commands us in His Word, and His Blessing will come on us. What does hearken imply? Do what He tells us. Do what He says to do. Be alert to do what He tells us to do. That’s why it is so important to learn to hear His voice. He tells us what to do and helps us to avoid traps, to do the right thing that will bless our lives.
In Hebrews 3:7,8 we read that when we hear God’s voice, we are not to harden our hearts. What is that saying? If God continually tells us something and we ignore it, each time we ignore it, our heart becomes a little bit more accustomed to not doing what He tells us. If we do this often enough, eventually, we will not even listen to, much less heed and do what He is telling us. And do you know it does not necessarily have to be a big thing? It can be something as simple as going next door to your neighbor’s house and asking them if they need prayer. There are times when God speaks a simple thing to us. He may tell you women to go to the clothing store, and it may not have a thing to do with buying a piece of clothing. There may be someone in that store who is hurting and you have the answer for them.
Hearing God’s voice is not an isolated entity. It is connected to doing what God tells us to do. We must not only hear; we must also obey; we must do what we hear Him telling us to do.
Say this: I do hear the voice of the Lord my God, and I do obey what He tells me to do. I don’t hear the voice of a stranger (satan) but I clearly hear the voice of my Lord and do what He says.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 6:28 AM
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