“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
If you keep walking forward now with Me, I can give you so many days of beauty and joy. It all depends on your thoughts and words. Once you are determined to do My Will and walk wisely, I run to meet you and take you along the path.
“I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.” Psalm 73:23-24.
And to enjoy our walk together, you must make the determination that you are pleasing to Me where you are and in what you have done for I have made it all good in My Son. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. With you I am well pleased for your decision to follow My Son.
Stop thinking you are in the wrong place, know that you are where you should be if you are drawing closer and closer to Me. And you draw close not in crying and lamenting but in joy with thanksgiving that you are living in My Will by seeking Me. Do the best you can do where you are, doing all you do unto Me.
“With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.” Ephesians 6:7-8.
I will reward you and I will renew you and you will know the Way. Words of prophecy will come—words of healing and of wisdom and of grace, but only if you step into that secret place of ascent where you see My face and I see yours, for you are lovely and your voice to Me is sweet. Know that and rejoice in it.
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” Song of Songs 2:14.
I am mindful of you. My eyes are always upon you. I know when you sit and when you stand. Before a word is on your tongue, I know the whole of it.
No depression, only confession of My Word. Jesus is not the High Priest of your depression but of your confession, that is your “homologia” in the Greek language in which it was first written, which means speaking in agreement with Him, using the same words. And He only speaks My Words for He is My Word.
To live days of Heaven upon the earth, you must know My voice, you must be able to discern My direction to you. You must not confuse My voice with that of the enemy. Too many have done so and come to ruin. And that is today’s Life Lesson, “Knowing the Voice of the LORD above all others.”
When you know a person well, you immediately recognize his or her voice, even in a crowd, even without turning around and actually seeing them.
“Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21.
I have given each person a unique sound to his or her voice. And Mine is unique as well.
Jesus is the good Shepherd that I give you and He told you, “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:4-5. And again, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24.
First, to qualify to hear Me, you must have a desire to hear and obey Me. Next, you must have a solid grounding in My Word. And finally, you must have common sense so that you are not driven by fear to do strange things, like the devil was trying to make Jesus do, such as jumping from the parapet of the temple to the ground, but love, knowing Me as wisdom and love and as your Helper who is on your side.
Do you remember that when the apostles made a decision about the new gentile converts they first consulted Me, and then, in giving their conclusion, they said, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.” Acts 15:28-29. The Holy Spirit witnessed with their spirits and it seemed good what they were hearing. When I speak to you it will be good, filled with goodness, that will rest upon you as good as well. Homologia.
So when it is from Me, it will have goodness in it and it will increase you, never take away from you. Never demean you or shame you.
And there will be joy connected with it. For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12.
I give you a good checklist for hearing My voice in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Here it is and then we will break it down:
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
It begins with where you set your mind to be assured of hearing, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I tell you this is My Will for you in Christ Jesus. When you are born again from above, I anoint you with the anointing of your head as the body of Christ and if you are in Him you have access to that anointing. And I tell you that I anointed Christ with the oil of joy. Receive that by faith and then act on it by faith by speaking joy, singing, and shouting, dancing, and testifying to joy.
And I have given you the mind of Christ, that is, of the anointing and the anointed one. Rejoicing is a decision. And it is a command, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” You may be thinking you do not feel like rejoicing in your present situation, but it is the way to deliverance and blessing. If you do not rejoice in Me and My great promises to you, then you simply either do not know My magnificent promises which are all “yes” to you in Jesus, or, if you know them, it means you have determined they do not work for you. But this is not true, My Word is the perfect law of liberty and laws operate the same for everyone. You must simply believe that and act accordingly. If you are only a hearer and not a doer, you deceive yourself.
And if you desire to hear from Me and fellowship with Me, you will call upon and talk to Me. You will ask Me questions and consult with Me. You will intercede for others and ask help for yourself. And this is prayer and I tell you to keep up a constant line of open communication with Me. If you do this I can instruct you and tell you the way you should go.
And do not be worried and anxious once you have handed things over to Me in prayer, or you are still trying to work it yourself because you do not trust Me to come through. Instead, once you have asked and handed the care over to Me, just keep reminding Me that I am taking care of it by thanking Me that I am working on it even now and the it will all work out according to My Word. Remain in My Word and let My Word remain in you and then ask what you will and I will do it. And that is worth thanking Me for.
Next, I tell you not to quench the Holy Spirit. You do this when you go into worry, fear, doubt, unbelief, and ignore His promptings and guidance. You essentially are putting out the lamp that He has lit in your heart—quenching it down to a sputtering wick. These are unclean spirits that will block your faith receptors from connecting with what I am speaking to you by My Spirit and will effectively block the gifts of the Spirit He is trying to distribute to you. They will seem foolish to you and you will ignore them. Many people do this with speaking in tongues and receiving words of knowledge and wisdom. I tell you to desire earnestly the gifts of the Spirit, to pursue them and love.
You also quench the movement and lead of the Holy Spirit in your life when you despise prophetic utterance. It is true that not every word people say I said them is worthy of your attention, but if what is being declared witnesses with your spirit examine it in line with My Word to see if it is in agreement with My written Word. It is one thing when someone prays for or over you when you have requested them to do so, it is an entirely different level when someone addresses your need in prophetic utterance. For example, you are experiencing pain or illness in some part of your body, and a word of knowledge combined with gifts of healing is called out, you should receive that.
Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah turned their eyes to Me in heartfelt prayer when three enemy armies were approaching to wipe them out and I raised up a prophet to address their need and tell them My Word on how to win the battle with Me fighting for them. And they received that prophetic Word immediately and rejoiced and praised Me with thanksgiving before anything had changed in the natural. And Jehoshaphat counseled the people: “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” 2 Chronicles 20:20. They did not despise the prophetic utterance but ran with it and had a tremendous miracle occur before they very eyes. But they had already agreed with and seen it in their hearts when the prophetic utterance was given.
I tell you to “examine everything; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22. Be clever as snakes but innocent as doves, and by that I mean to outsmart the devil (the snake) by examining every word or thought that comes to you to see if it seems good to your spirit, if it lines up with My Word, if it gives you peace or causes fear, and if it answers something in your life that you have been praying about or is completely contrary to sound judgment. I did not give you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (sophronismos in Greek, which means sensible behavior that fits a situation aptly setting out My Will by sound reasoning, it has to do with self-control (never panicking and running off in every direction), self-discipline, prudence, and wise discretion). Never indulge or justify behavior contrary to My written Word by saying that a thought or word that came to you is from Me. I never tell you to do anything contrary to My written Word by My Spirit, My Word is Spirit-breathed and inspired by My Spirit, so My Spirit will always address you in line with the Word He has breathed out of My deepest depths. Most often He will directly quote a Scripture to you that fits your present need and give you a new revelation on it to fit what you are seeking to know or do.
And this passage finishes with the assurance that I am there to help you in this and finish the good work I have begun in you, you are not doing it all alone, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. You have nothing to fear, I am with you to guide you and make sure that you are preserved complete, washed by the Blood of My Son and released from all your sins, and are ready when Jesus returns for His glorious church. Of which you are a member, so He cares for and cherishes you as one does his own body.
I love you. It is not hard to hear from Me but you must truly desire to do so and be willing to take to heart and obey the things I speak to your heart.