In John 10:27-30(NLT), Jesus Christ said, "27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.” Those that have accepted the love of the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts by believing in his sacrifice and resurrection are his sheep. There is a distinct difference between those that love him and those that do not, and he tells us it is the reality that those who love him know his voice. We can discern it from all other voices, and this is because the Spirit of Christ lives inside us. Now more than any other time, we must be diligent that our spiritual ears are open because hearing the voice of our Lord and Savior is the difference between life or death.
No matter what is going on in our lives, and how troubling and tumultuous our situations may be, God’s Will is that we know Him and that we trust that He is able and willing to deliver us. John 3:16(NKJV) declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Our Heavenly Father offered His most precious treasure, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this for everyone. Years ago, before I knew God the way I do now, I thought that only super religious people could be close to God. I thought they were the ones He loved the most, but I was wrong.
Romans 2:11(NLT) says, “For God does not show favoritism.” God doesn’t have favorites. He loves everyone, regardless of their background, religion, ethnicity, race, culture, social or economic status. He sent His Son to die for the sins of the entire world, and He wants everyone to know the level of love He has for them. He wants them to accept His love by believing in what He has accomplished for us through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Believing in the love that God has for us will transform us from the inside out. We may look at our lives and think they are rather ordinary, but the Lord commands in Romans 12:1 that we should present our everyday, ordinary lives to Him as a living sacrifice. We are not to withhold one drop of our existences from Him, because God wants all of us. Instead of allowing culture, traditions, and society to conform us into a false identity, God tells us to let Him transform us. As we cooperate with God and partner with His efforts by changing the way we think, He will do this work internally through His Holy Spirit.
Changing the way we think is key. We are to fix our attention on God by praying often, reading and studying His Word, and learning to discern His voice. In other words, you and I should think thoughts, express emotions, and have a behavior that lines up with the example of Jesus Christ. He walked in God’s love, and there is no greater power than the love of God. It was demonstrated through the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and as his sheep, we should be using our lives to become the men and women that God destined us to be.
Before we knew of our Savior’s love, we were lost in darkness. We couldn’t see the light of Christ because we were so influenced by the world. Many of us adopted the world’s agenda of anything goes. We idolize those that everyone in society loves and thinks is popular, even though these people have no interest in ever knowing God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We must remember that we become what we focus on, and this is why our Heavenly Father tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 not to lean on our own understanding but to seek Him in all that we do, because He alone will direct our paths. Our focus should continually be on pleasing Him.
When we are ruled by a mindset and attitude that idolizes the world and those that do not honor God through Christ, we will have swapped out God's agenda for the world’s agenda, and that’s tragic indeed. God didn’t put us on this planet to become like everyone else. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” God has set us apart and predestined us to become like our Big Brother, Jesus Christ. His mission is for us to spiritually grow in Christ to the point that we become mature in him and can then help others do the same.
When we follow the world, division and strife creep in, and we lose sight of God’s plan and agenda for our lives. We must recognize that God wants us to allow Him to direct our paths. When we seek Him with all our hearts, He’ll help us get on the right path, and it will lead us to our destinies in Christ Jesus. The world is incredibly confusing and chaotic, but this is not God’s way. His way leads to a peace that passes all understanding. We may think we want what the world has to offer, but our true calling is found in Christ. This is what our souls are crying out for, and all we need to do is allow him to enter our hearts. Jesus Christ is our shepherd and once we allow our lives to be led by his love, we will become one with him and the Father, and we will forever be in his loving hands. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“My Sheep Know My Voice”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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