Hearing God's Voice And Doing His Word
Our pastor’s sermon this week has triggered some thoughts in me that I will be sharing with you over the next several days.
Today we are going to talk about the voice of the Lord, which, of course, is His Word. And we are the Lord’s voice in this earth, His mouthpiece, speaking forth His Word that His Kingdom may be established not only where we live but also in the whole earth.
In John 10:1-5 Jesus talked about us as God’s children hearing His voice. He compared us to sheep who follow the voice of their shepherd. Jesus is called the Good Shepherd. We hear His voice when He calls and we follow Him. We do not follow a voice we don’t know. How do we become familiar with someone’s voice? We spend time with them. We know their voice because we are in their presence to hear their voice all the time. I know my husband’s voice in a crowd. Why? I have spent so much time with Him that I not only know Him personally but I recognize his voice when he is speaking. The same is true for us as God’s children. The more time we spend with Him, the quicker we recognize that it is He Who is calling us.
When the Lord called Samuel in the Old Testament, he did not recognize the Lord’s voice, even though he was in the temple. He thought it was Eli’s voice. This demonstrates to me that we can even be people who are in the house of the Lord, who are in church and we do not necessarily recognize God’s voice just because we are in the sanctuary. Eli told Samuel that it was the Lord’s voice. I like the way Samuel responded. He said: “Here am I, Lord.” That is the way we must respond to the Lord’s voice. “Here am I, Lord. I am listening for Your command. What is Your desire?”
In Psalm 95:7,8 we read: For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
In the New Testament in Hebrews 3:7-12 we read: Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
What are we being told in these verses? He is God. He is our God. And we are His sheep. This is the same meaning as John 10 in the New Testament. If we hear His voice, we are not to harden our hearts. According to the Word of God, a hard heart is an evil heart of unbelief. So the next time you think unbelief is no big deal, think about the way God sees unbelief. How do you feel when someone doesn’t believe you and you are telling the truth? God is Truth. He is all Truth. There is no lying in Him. When we do not believe that His Word will work for us personally, we are essentially saying to Him that He is lying. Everything in this Bible from the first chapter in Genesis to the last chapter in Revelation is the Truth of God Himself. He is a God of Truth. Unbelief is a very serious thing to God and His Kingdom. It stops His word from going forth and doing what He intends for it to do.
God has a voice and we have a voice. We are His voice in this earth, bringing forth His Word to change those things which are temporary with the eternal Word of God from the eternal God Who does not change and does not alter that which has gone out of His mouth. We call those things that need to be established in this earth. We call them forth with the voice of the Word, which is the voice of the Lord. Even though we don’t see them in the natural realm, we call them forth from the spiritual realm into the natural realm. God’s Word will produce what it is sent forth to do. His Word will not return unto Him void or useless, without producing effective results.
Where are you today? Whose voice are you following? Whose word are you speaking? Are you speaking your own ideas and what others have told you they think or are you speaking God’s Word, His thoughts? What you give voice to is what will produce in your life.
Let me add one more thought here. Not only are we to respond to the voice of the Lord. The angels also respond to the voice of the Word, which is really the voice of the Lord. Psalm 103:20 reads: Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
The angels have an assignment. They are to hearken to the voice of God’s Word. How much more we as God’s children, His offspring, should be hearkening to the voice of His Word, doing what it says, being doers of the Word of God that He has spoken and then speaking in agreement with Him. Let’s get in line today with the voice of the Lord, the voice of His Word.
Today we are going to talk about the voice of the Lord, which, of course, is His Word. And we are the Lord’s voice in this earth, His mouthpiece, speaking forth His Word that His Kingdom may be established not only where we live but also in the whole earth.
In John 10:1-5 Jesus talked about us as God’s children hearing His voice. He compared us to sheep who follow the voice of their shepherd. Jesus is called the Good Shepherd. We hear His voice when He calls and we follow Him. We do not follow a voice we don’t know. How do we become familiar with someone’s voice? We spend time with them. We know their voice because we are in their presence to hear their voice all the time. I know my husband’s voice in a crowd. Why? I have spent so much time with Him that I not only know Him personally but I recognize his voice when he is speaking. The same is true for us as God’s children. The more time we spend with Him, the quicker we recognize that it is He Who is calling us.
When the Lord called Samuel in the Old Testament, he did not recognize the Lord’s voice, even though he was in the temple. He thought it was Eli’s voice. This demonstrates to me that we can even be people who are in the house of the Lord, who are in church and we do not necessarily recognize God’s voice just because we are in the sanctuary. Eli told Samuel that it was the Lord’s voice. I like the way Samuel responded. He said: “Here am I, Lord.” That is the way we must respond to the Lord’s voice. “Here am I, Lord. I am listening for Your command. What is Your desire?”
In Psalm 95:7,8 we read: For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
In the New Testament in Hebrews 3:7-12 we read: Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
What are we being told in these verses? He is God. He is our God. And we are His sheep. This is the same meaning as John 10 in the New Testament. If we hear His voice, we are not to harden our hearts. According to the Word of God, a hard heart is an evil heart of unbelief. So the next time you think unbelief is no big deal, think about the way God sees unbelief. How do you feel when someone doesn’t believe you and you are telling the truth? God is Truth. He is all Truth. There is no lying in Him. When we do not believe that His Word will work for us personally, we are essentially saying to Him that He is lying. Everything in this Bible from the first chapter in Genesis to the last chapter in Revelation is the Truth of God Himself. He is a God of Truth. Unbelief is a very serious thing to God and His Kingdom. It stops His word from going forth and doing what He intends for it to do.
God has a voice and we have a voice. We are His voice in this earth, bringing forth His Word to change those things which are temporary with the eternal Word of God from the eternal God Who does not change and does not alter that which has gone out of His mouth. We call those things that need to be established in this earth. We call them forth with the voice of the Word, which is the voice of the Lord. Even though we don’t see them in the natural realm, we call them forth from the spiritual realm into the natural realm. God’s Word will produce what it is sent forth to do. His Word will not return unto Him void or useless, without producing effective results.
Where are you today? Whose voice are you following? Whose word are you speaking? Are you speaking your own ideas and what others have told you they think or are you speaking God’s Word, His thoughts? What you give voice to is what will produce in your life.
Let me add one more thought here. Not only are we to respond to the voice of the Lord. The angels also respond to the voice of the Word, which is really the voice of the Lord. Psalm 103:20 reads: Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
The angels have an assignment. They are to hearken to the voice of God’s Word. How much more we as God’s children, His offspring, should be hearkening to the voice of His Word, doing what it says, being doers of the Word of God that He has spoken and then speaking in agreement with Him. Let’s get in line today with the voice of the Lord, the voice of His Word.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 7:51 AM
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