I have heard people dread the fact that the devil could speak to a believer and make such a believer do things he should not have done. This belief system is of the opinion that a believer must be very careful not to do things that may have been motivated by the devil and also eventually when things don’t go the way expected it is assumed the believer had obeyed the voice of the devil thinking it was God.
The good news is that a believer is not configured to obey any other voice other than that of God! Yes, I mean as a believer you cannot obey the voice of the devil; if you do, it is a choice or out of sheer ignorance. That sounds too good to be true? Let’s get into the scriptures. When you have a full grasp of this, your confidence in handling the things of God will increase exponentially.
“For a shepherd comes through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice. They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice” John 10: 2-5
The Shepherd is Jesus. He is the door through which all men get to God. He says here now that those who come through Him to God hear Him when He calls. This means when He prompts the heart of the sheep, they hear and understands the voice of the Shepherd. They don’t just hear it, they recognize (know) His voice.
These are two concepts, hearing and knowing. There is ability in you to hear every voice, but there is access to knowing just one voice and that is the voice of the Shepherd. Knowing means ability to have a relationship, connection or association with the word. And that is what makes you do. You cannot do what you don’t recognize (know).
So, Jesus is saying here that when the sheep hears the voice of a stranger, every other voice contrary to that of His, they will run because they don’t recognize the voice of the stranger, not because they didn’t hear the voice. This is just as seeing the word “sit” written in a language you don’t understand, you can see it but cannot recognize what it is, so it becomes as ineffective as not seeing it at all. That is the same way the voice of the stranger (devil) is to the heart of a believer who has come into the fold.
You can hear the suggestions of the devil but there is no ability in you to process whatever the devil is suggesting to you. The corresponding action to the voice of the devil is running because it is a strange voice. You have been regenerated by His blood and the blood is the centre of life, there are things not in accordance with the blood you now carry. It is a natural repellant.
This is what Paul was describing to the Romans that there has been a reconfiguration of your soul by the works of Christ.
“It seems a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank you God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.” Romans 7:21-25
So, you see, the ability to completely obey the voice of the Shepherd has been given to the man in Christ. It is no longer correct to be afraid of if you may do that which is against the will of God. You have been configured to do His will without any effort required. It is your natural place. Yes, you can hear the devil but you cannot recognize it. It is what you recognize you respond to. You are now in heavenly places; all you see and know is of the Lord.
The voice of the Shepherd is only what you do!
Hope you understand this?
Be Innovated
Olufemi Ibitoye
No comments:
Post a Comment