Greetings to you, dear friends!I would like to believe that „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification” enriches your life daily. Please, tell us how these messages have been a blessing to you. We will be encouraged by knowing that our work is not in vain. Today we will continue talking about the importance of hearing God’s voice personally. God desires to communicate and reveal His secrets to us. Let us turn to the Holy Scripture at once:
“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (..) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me» (John, 10:3, 27). The word “hear” in the above passage is a translation of the Greek word «АКОУО» which means ‘to understand or to comprehend what has been said’. When we fellowship with God we learn to understand or comprehend the following things:
- God’s presence:
«I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own» (John, 10:14).
- God’s holiness:
«I am the good shepherd» (John,10:11а)
- God’s love:
«The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep» (John, 10:11б); «And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them» (John, 17:26).
- God’s will:
«…and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (..) Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep”» (John, 10:3b, 7)
- God’s sovereignty:
«Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father» (John, 10:17-18).
- God’s faithfulness:
«My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand» (John, 10:29).
If we want to know God’s will for our lives, we need to learn to hear His voice. God speaks to us in order to give us particular assignments or instructions. He is the only One Who knows what plans He has for you. God talks to you to reveal to us His plans:
«For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart» ( Jeremiah, 29:11-13).
Call upon God personally and He will answer and show you what you need to do:
«Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know» (Jeremiah, 33:3).
Jeremiah’s example «Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the LORD said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD. Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant»(Jeremiah, 1:4-10).
God spoke to Jeremiah and told Him that He had a plan for him which had existed before Jeremiah’s birth. And Jeremiah submitted to that plan.
Example of Moses Moses was given a serious mission from God to deliver the nation of Israel from the power of Pharaoh. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace, so he knew this power very well. He also knew how big Pharaoh’s hatred towards Israel was. So Moses needed supernatural confidence in order to fulfil this mission. Unlike Jeremiah, Moses tried to find different excuses to avoid answering the call of God in his life. It is possible that God has been speaking to you for a long time and trying to show you your calling and what way you should go. The question is: are you going to submit to this calling or will you argue with God? What are you concentrating on – the abilities of God Who lives in you and is Almighty or on your personal limitations and all the things you are not able to do? God know all about them and that is why He has chosen you. Submit to God right now and you will see how He is going to use you! God bless you! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
