John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
You don’t have to be a prophet to hear God. You just have to be a sheep that belongs to God’s sheepfold. God speaks to ordinary people like you and me. John, the disciple of Jesus, was on the bosom of Jesus and he could hear the heartbeat of the Saviour. “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). As John’s heart was close to the heart of Jesus, he mustered all the courage he had and brought himself to Golgotha to stand alongside Jesus while He was suffering on the cross. John was the only disciple who was at the cross as he was able to discern the threats of the demons with the thoughts of his spirit. All other disciples cringed in fear of the Jewish authorities and cowered in their secret chambers except for John. The teachings of Jesus were deactivated by the threatening voices in their souls, but John listened to the voice in his heart not in his head.
In times of crisis, the voice in our heart is the gentle still small voice of the Holy Spirit that imparts courage, confidence and clarity, but the noise in the head would be intimidations and toxic insinuations.
“The Lord God speaks to us in our heart not in our head. The devil messes with our mind and injects toxic thoughts in our head.”
Later, John was able to hear the voice of the Saviour while he was incarcerated in the Island of Patmos, (Island in Greece), by the anti-Christian persecutor, Domitian, the Roman Emperor. The Book of Revelation is “The Revelation from Jesus” revealed by Jesus to John, as John was able to discern the voice of the Blessed Saviour.
The disciples were ordinary men and women like you and me who took time to listen to the heartbeat of Jesus.
Discern the voice of the Master:
1. Convicting: The voice of the Holy Spirit in our spirit will convict and not condemn. The Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin, but will never tell us that we are worthless or useless because of our failure. Condemnation comes from the soul which is constantly attacked by negative, pessimistic and condemning thoughts from the demonic realm. The Holy Spirit convicts and lifts us up; the demonic condemns and drowns us in guilt.
2. Compassionate: The voice of the Holy Spirit is compassionate, but the demonic will be condescending, comparing and compromising. The Holy Spirit will say, ‘Doing that will harm you’, but the demonic will say “God does not want you to have fun”.
3. Concern: The voice of the Holy Spirit is caring and considerate, but the noise of the demonic will say ‘You are not good enough to be noticed by God’.
The tone and touch of the voice of God will be full of compassion, conviction and concern, but the demonic will be condemning, condescending and cruel.
Deuteronomy 4:36 Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you.
Prayer: Dearest Holy Spirit, give me the discernment to silence the reproachful voice of the demonic, and tap into your compassionate voice in my heart. Amen.
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