Whose Voice Are You Listening to?
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“God doesn’t want you,” the voice says. “Who would want someone like you?” “God will never forgive you,” the voice chides. “Think about the horrible stuff you did.” “God’s given up on you. You keep messing up, and He wants someone who is perfect,” the voice plows on. “Don’t bother going back to Him for forgiveness. There are better people out there. He doesn’t want someone like you.” The voice goes on and on. The voice is Satan’s, our arch enemy, the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), the father of lies (John 8:44), the ultimate deceiver, the one who will do anything and play as dirty as it gets to get us to never come to God in the first place or to get those who have come to God and placed our faith in Him to fall away from Him. Satan’s mission is to destroy us. He knows his final destination is the lake of fire to be tormented forever (Rev. 20:10), and he wants to take everyone he possibly can with him. And if we’re listening to and following his voice instead of God’s voice, we’re headed for hell forever apart from God unless we repent, believe in Christ, and learn to follow the voice and ways of the Lord.
How many of us are listening to and falling for Satan’s lies? His lies never sound like lies. They sound like truth. But they are deadly lies because if we believe them, we are missing the voice and will of God which is a relationship with Him now and forever. The Truth is God does love us, does want us, will forgive us if we repent, believe in Christ and turn to Him, and doesn’t expect us to be perfect but will perfect His love in us as He teaches us His ways. How do I know? The Bible says so!
How can we tell the difference between God’s Truth and Satan’s lies? By being able to recognize God’s voice and Truth. His Word, His will, His ways. But how? Not by relying solely on others to preach sermons to us, though there is a time and place to hear God’s Word being taught by sound biblical teachers. Do we learn about people we know and love only from others speaking about them? No! We learn most of all by spending time in fellowship with them, right? We learn to recognize God’s voice and Truth and to discern and rebuke Satan’s lies by spending time alone in fellowship with God, loving and worshiping Him, seeking His face in prayer, studying His Word with hungry hearts, sitting at Jesus’ feet, growing in our own personal relationship with God as He teaches us by His Spirit to walk in His ways. We need to cleave steadfastly to the Lord and His Word as we learn to listen to and follow the voice of the Lord.
Are you listening to and following God’s voice?