Listening to the Voice of GodНамуна

Day 1 – RECOGNIZING JESUS’ VOICE

It is important to recognize Jesus’ voice so that we are not seduced or led astray by the devil or by our own human nature.

REFLECTIONS :

Read John 10:1-16 and Revelation 3:20 and  take a moment to answer the following questions: 

➤ Try to resume as briefly as possible what you have understood from the text above.

➤ Based on the above text, as well as the verse from Revelation 3:20, describe the way that the devil uses to speak to us, as well as how Jesus speaks to us. 

➤ In your opinion, what methods does God use to speak to you?

CONTENT :

Hearing the voice of God is an important subject for every disciple of Christ because we cannot be obedient to God’s will and become the person that He has called us to be if we don’t know how to recognize His voice. It is equally necessary to admit that many errors have been committed under the pretext of “God told me”. That is why it is fundamental that we learn to hear God’s voice and recognize it because what we sometimes believe it to be, is simply our own desires and thoughts.

Through the course of the following daily meditations, we are going to pose some foundations that will help you to know if what you have heard comes from God, yourself or the devil. We will also develop some wisdom principles so that we don’t categorically affirm “God told me” because this type of declaration opens the door to error while closing off dialogue. To start with, we need to remember that hearing the voice of God is simple and it is for everyone!

God wants to speak to us much more than we could ever want to hear His voice, and just as intense as our desires can be. Don’t forget that He created us to be in a relationship with us, and the foundation of every relationship is dialogue! This text from the Gospel of John is in harmony with Psalm 23: He is our shepherd and He desires to call us and lead us in His ways (His green pastures, His still waters, etc.). The first thing that we discover in these verses is that Jesus’ voice is unique and that we, His children, have the heart and ears to recognize Him. It also talks about a thief who doesn’t enter by the sheep pen gate and only comes with the single aim of stealing, destroying, and killing, which shows us that it is imperative to really recognize the voice of our Lord so that we can avoid any carnage.

The enemy’s voice is suspicious in the sense that it doesn’t ask for any permission to come and seduce or trick us, while Jesus, the Good Shepherd, respects our freedom and waits at the door of our hearts. He doesn’t force His way in, no. He knocks so that we open up the door and are able to talk to Him. Our responsibility is to know how to open up the door to Him and invite Him in (cf. Revelation 3:20) to start up a dialogue with Him. It isn’t about something that we do once and that’s it. It’s a daily decision because our relationship with God is living and is renewed day after day. When He speaks to our heart, we recognize His gentleness, but above that, the fact that He speaks into the depths of our lives, into our spirit. 

The devil on the other hand will try to seduce us through different methods, often using our feelings and also using flattery.

When God speaks to us, He always tells us something personal, because He knows us and is interested in us. He can, for example, call us by our name. There will always be love in what He is going to say to us. His message will always be positive and motivated by love because He wants to allow us to blossom and to always become more like Him. You see, what Jesus came to give us was life and life in abundance. We can therefore make the distinction between God’s voice and the devil’s, but there is also a third possibility, that is our human nature which speaks to us on a regular basis. It is quite easy to recognize because its objective is to keep us in our comfort zone, to avoid any type of sacrifice. In short, our human nature will always speak to us in favor of our personal trinity: “I, me and myself”. In reality, when we talk about hearing the voice of God, first of all, it is about quieting our own voice which is speaking too loudly, or changing the frequency of our ears which pay too much attention to ourselves instead of being tuned into God.

I’d like to encourage you to take some time simply to pray, not to have a long discussion with God, but to take some time to meditate and declare the verse from Isaiah 50:4 for your life. Then, stay still for several minutes, solely to hear what God has to tell you because He wants to talk to you!

MY DECISION:

➤ What I have understood for my own personal life: 

➤ What I am deciding to do in my life based upon what I have just learned: 

➤ What you decide to do today will determine who and what you will be tomorrow!

Adapted from "un disciple en marche" copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse.  All rights reserved.