I'm so excited to share this with you, but I will not be nearly as good as Priscilla Shirer is. This has been a Bible study where I want to write down EVERYTHING she says! All the little nuggets she gives are right on and amazing. I encourage you to buy the book, or even get the videos! If you do, you'll understand what I mean. But for now on, you have me and mostly my illustrations, some hers. But I can't take credit.
Let's go from a personal realtionship with our Savior to an intimate relationship.
Turn off all the voices that are surrounding you, whether it's peers, yourself, TV, etc... and let's focus on listening to the voice of our Sweet Savior.
In Matthew 17:1-13 the Lord took Peter, James, and John with him upon a mountain top where he transfigured before their eyes.
Can you imagine that?
Verse 2 tells us that His face shone like the sun, and his clothes just as white as light. On down, Peter begins talking to the Lord, and as he's talking, the Lord says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
Our God speaks, we just have to tune our minds to actually listening to Him. He can and will speak to you. We must believe, do you believe that He will do what He has promised us? How personal is your relationship if you don't talk or can't hear Him? It's like any other relationship. It takes time. It takes communication and trust.
Think of your closest friends, you talk to them all the time, don't you? You call to see how they are, what they've been up to, how things are going, you want them to keep in contact. That's how God is. He calls on us, He wants us to answer. He wants to know how we are, what we've been up to, how things are going. He wants us to be honest with him. He longs for a deep, intimate relationship with us. It takes communication. If you lose communication, you lose contact.
Don't lose contact with Him.
Anticipate that He will speak. Expect that He will speak.
'My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.' -John 10:27
"My sheep"
We're apart of His flock. He is our shepherd. Just like a shepherd herding his sheep. They have a certain call for their sheep, a call for each individual one. They could call a certain way and that one sheep knows that their shepherd is calling it and wants it to come. Just like our Lord. He calls us each at different times and in different ways. We must listen to Him for instructions. God is our navigation system.
Anyone ever used navigation system? I have and I got lost. Why? Because I did not listen. I did not know how to use it. We must unclog our ears and be willing to listen for direction in life.
He tell us,
"Take a right, my child, keep going, you're doing good, quick left, you'll want to avoid the traffic (being confusion or nonsense) up ahead... when you reach the fork in the road, call on Me, and I'll lead you."
He will direct us and make our paths straight. Trust in Him.
Who do you belong to? Is He your Shepherd?
2) Jesus points out not only a relationship but a result of being His sheep.
"... hear My voice."
'The one who is from God hears God's words.' - John 8:47
Don't doubt what He can do. Don't doubt who He is.
We must expect that He'll speak to us, as I mentioned before.
We must want what He has personally for each of us. We are all different, and we each require different things.
He will prove to you that He has your best at heart and it will blow your mind. He speaks in diferent ways to all of us. We have to learn to know when He is speaking to us.
Take a radio for instance, you have to be where you want/can listen, you have to tune into the station you want to listen to, sometimes it's hard to hear through the static, so you have to search and find that special spot where the voice is so clear, so you can sit and listen. You soak in everything the persons saying.
That's how God is. We must want to listen. We have to be so in tune with Him so we can hear His voice in a clear and intimate way. When we do that, we can sit and soak up everything He's telling us.
3) Jesus points out a relationship, a result, and also a reason for being His sheep.
"I know my sheep."
Intimacy is the foundation for getting to know God.
He knows us, each and everyone of us. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Isn't that crazy to think that out of ALL the people in this world, He knows each of us in such a different and loving way then He does the person sitting next to you... and He loves us all the same? I love thinking about that. Do I have that much love for Him? Do I want to know Him as much as He already knows me?
4) Jesus points out a relationship, a result, a reason, and also a reponse from His sheep.
"They follow me."
Don't doubt Him.
Trust Him.
Follow Him.
Know Him.
'I am the good shepherd. the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.' -John 10:11
'Now may the God of pease... the great Shepherd of the sheep - with the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with all that is good to do His will.' -Hebrews 13:20-21
Clear communication with God begins when I approach God and His Word with anticipation expecting Him to speak.
HE SPEAKS
'I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me' -Habakkuk 2:1
'I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me' -Habakkuk 2:1
HE ANSWERS
'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' -Jeremiah 33:3
'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' -Jeremiah 33:3
HE HEARS US
'My God will certainly hear me.' -Micah 7:7
Be assured. A lot of times we doubt that He hears or that He will answer us. These verses are such a great reminder that He will speak, He will hear, and He will answer us.
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