October 8th, 2024
Especially in this hour, there is nothing more important than knowing the voice of God. Every child of God has the ability to hear His voice, and we have to tune into that sound above every other. Jesus said in John 10:27-28:
“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.”
A sheep knows the voice of its shepherd and if we are part of God’s flock, we will recognize the sound of His voice. Romans 8:14 says,
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
Hearing His voice and being led of His Spirit are the defining marks of being a child of God. When you were born again, you were given ears to hear Him! To be led of the Spirit is to choose to obey that sound. Many people ascribe situations to the will of God that He had no part in. Many things happen that are not the will of God. God gave Adam and Eve a choice, but it was not His will that they ate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. The consequences of their decision were based on their action, not God’s purpose. God will always give you direction as you listen and obey!
The choice to live for God is the choice to surrender to the greatest love you’ll ever know. He leads by love and peace when you choose to follow Him. He does not lead by control, fear, or anything negative. He’s a good Father! The choice to follow Him is the first step to walk according to His voice and the leading of His Spirit.
The greatest freedom we’ve ever known is on the other side of our decision to surrender our will to the One who will never force us to do so.
Following His voice will always lead you to freedom. His voice always brings peace, and it always agrees with the Bible. John 16:13 says,
“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”
I say all of this to emphasize the importance of discerning the sound of God’s voice, because there is so much noise in the day in which we live. The enemy, the world, and even the busyness of life will try to drown out the clear sound of His voice and keep your heart focused on things that don’t matter. However, you were created to hear Him.
In these last days, there is especially a great deal of noise about what to expect. Even those who aren’t believers are talking about the end of the world. You could find thousands of different opinions on how, when, and why the world will be ending, but in Matthew 24, Jesus gave us some very clear instructions about what we need to understand about the end times. I’m not an expert on eschatology, but every believer needs to be grounded in the Word of God and know His voice, especially in this area! We must understand that Jesus will return for His church and every day takes us closer to that day. The disciples asked Jesus how they would recognize the end of the age. Matthew 24 contains His powerful response, and I just want to highlight a few parts of it.
First, He said in Matthew 24:4-8,
“See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
He told us not to be alarmed, but to ensure that we are not deceived. Again, there is nothing more important in this hour than being grounded in the Word of God and recognizing the sound of His voice.
He went on to say Matthew 24:10 -14,
“At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
There is so much truth in that passage of scripture. It says many false prophets will arise and the love of many will grow cold. We must keep our hearts burning hot with the fire of God and let our spirits be tuned to His heart. What does He say is the sign of the end? The Gospel will be preached to all nations! We don’t need to spend our days trying to figure out when He’s returning but preparing for that day and trying to win as many people to Him in the meantime. There will be no doubt on the day Jesus returns. We will not have to figure out if it’s Him. Matthew 24:30 says,
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”
His return will be glorious and He’s coming soon (Revelation 22:12)! Every nation, tribe, and tongue will see Him and every knee will bow before Him. Every soul that’s ever lived will recognize the glorified Messiah come to reign. As that day draws nearer, let our hearts be consumed with passion for the Gospel, passion for souls, and passion for Him. That alone will keep our hearts burning! That alone will keep our love from going cold! That alone will keep us from being deceived. You know the voice of your Shepherd and as you stay near to Him, you will not respond to the voice of another. As it says in James 5:8,
“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.”
A sheep knows the voice of its shepherd and if we are part of God’s flock, we will recognize the sound of His voice. Romans 8:14 says,
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
Hearing His voice and being led of His Spirit are the defining marks of being a child of God. When you were born again, you were given ears to hear Him! To be led of the Spirit is to choose to obey that sound. Many people ascribe situations to the will of God that He had no part in. Many things happen that are not the will of God. God gave Adam and Eve a choice, but it was not His will that they ate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. The consequences of their decision were based on their action, not God’s purpose. God will always give you direction as you listen and obey!
The choice to live for God is the choice to surrender to the greatest love you’ll ever know. He leads by love and peace when you choose to follow Him. He does not lead by control, fear, or anything negative. He’s a good Father! The choice to follow Him is the first step to walk according to His voice and the leading of His Spirit.
The greatest freedom we’ve ever known is on the other side of our decision to surrender our will to the One who will never force us to do so.
Following His voice will always lead you to freedom. His voice always brings peace, and it always agrees with the Bible. John 16:13 says,
“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”
I say all of this to emphasize the importance of discerning the sound of God’s voice, because there is so much noise in the day in which we live. The enemy, the world, and even the busyness of life will try to drown out the clear sound of His voice and keep your heart focused on things that don’t matter. However, you were created to hear Him.
In these last days, there is especially a great deal of noise about what to expect. Even those who aren’t believers are talking about the end of the world. You could find thousands of different opinions on how, when, and why the world will be ending, but in Matthew 24, Jesus gave us some very clear instructions about what we need to understand about the end times. I’m not an expert on eschatology, but every believer needs to be grounded in the Word of God and know His voice, especially in this area! We must understand that Jesus will return for His church and every day takes us closer to that day. The disciples asked Jesus how they would recognize the end of the age. Matthew 24 contains His powerful response, and I just want to highlight a few parts of it.
First, He said in Matthew 24:4-8,
“See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
He told us not to be alarmed, but to ensure that we are not deceived. Again, there is nothing more important in this hour than being grounded in the Word of God and recognizing the sound of His voice.
He went on to say Matthew 24:10 -14,
“At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
There is so much truth in that passage of scripture. It says many false prophets will arise and the love of many will grow cold. We must keep our hearts burning hot with the fire of God and let our spirits be tuned to His heart. What does He say is the sign of the end? The Gospel will be preached to all nations! We don’t need to spend our days trying to figure out when He’s returning but preparing for that day and trying to win as many people to Him in the meantime. There will be no doubt on the day Jesus returns. We will not have to figure out if it’s Him. Matthew 24:30 says,
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”
His return will be glorious and He’s coming soon (Revelation 22:12)! Every nation, tribe, and tongue will see Him and every knee will bow before Him. Every soul that’s ever lived will recognize the glorified Messiah come to reign. As that day draws nearer, let our hearts be consumed with passion for the Gospel, passion for souls, and passion for Him. That alone will keep our hearts burning! That alone will keep our love from going cold! That alone will keep us from being deceived. You know the voice of your Shepherd and as you stay near to Him, you will not respond to the voice of another. As it says in James 5:8,
“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
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