Hearing His Voice

John 10:27  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

I am learning how to hear my Shepherd's voice. As long as I've been in Christ you would think it would be easy by now. I do hear from him, but not nearly as much as I would like to. Sometimes I hear it and don't heed it. Mostly because, I will second guess it or try to rationalize it with my own human reason. Which is always a mistake. I could probably avoid a lot of headaches if I listen and obey. However like any other discipline it takes practice and for me,  that always mean trial and error. I learned that it's not that he doesn't speak, it's the fact that I don't listen. I sometimes allow the clamor and distraction going on around me block out his voice.

The Lord is faithful even when we are hard-headed and full of what we think we know. He told me to repeat the scripture, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not unto your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. I thought it's hard not to lean to my own understanding, but that's not the real problem. The real problem is I listen to the mind of the flesh, which is always with enmity with the voice of God. It's always a war going on between the spirit and the flesh. If a thought makes you comfortable and fit the wisdom of the world, 99.9% of the time it's the flesh. No, scratch the latter part of that last statement, 100% flesh. Who doesn't want to feel comfortable and in charge? Who wants to be misunderstood and called crazy?

Since God started showing me things in the spirit I have been looked at as a fanatic, unstable person that sees a demon in every situation. People I used to think I had a spiritual connection with stopped talking to me. Some of them refuse to return my calls. One well meaning family member went as far as to say, "our family has a history of mental illness, I think we all have a slight problem." She was willing to pretend she was talking about herself as well. I knew better, I had just told her about a certain situation that involved witches. These are not nonbelievers. These are people that read the bible, go to church and study the scriptures. I told her I'm not crazy anyone that don't heed the truth of the bible today is crazy. She was telling me the story of Paul casting out the spirit of divination in a woman following him around. I told her of a true and more recent story involving me, some witches and the holy spirit. I guess it's easier to believe Paul.

They, like I used to do ignore the fact that Jesus whole ministry was healing the sick, casting out demons and setting free all that are oppressed of the devil. Jesus even went as far as to say, these are the signs that follow those who believe, in my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with other tongues and pick up serpents and lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. God's people use to believe in the scriptures, now we have this water down doctrine of demons preaching that God no longer has power to endow his beloved with. And  hell, demons and devils are not real, only crazy religious fanatics believe they are real. On the other hand there are books and movies and the media continually glorifying the works of witchcraft, wizards, and satanic powers.

How long will God's people refuse to see the truth when it's staring them in the face? The wisdom of the world wants to distort the truth of God. They paint him as weak and powerless, ancient and old fashion. The wisdom of this world is the real foolishness. It's sad but it looks like the devils are very effective in their deceptions. I guess they have had a lot of practice. That's why it's so important that we learn to hear God's voice and obey. He knows what's before us, what's behind us, and what we fight against daily. I started a prayer journal. In it I write to Abba,  and I wait to hear his reply as I hear I write it down. It's like taking dictation from the Most High God. So many days his reply to me has left me crying, gave me direction and rebuked me, and encouraged me on in my path. It has been a blessing to me and I encourage anyone reading this to start a journal. Learn to listen, we are in the eleventh hour and we have to learn to trust the Lord with all of our hearts.

Fearless