LEARNING DAILY

 

John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Jesus

 

The tenth chapter of the gospel of John is about Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd, the true shepherd in contrast to false shepherds. Those who have given their lives to Him are called His sheep; they need a shepherd to watch over them and be protected from enemies who would mislead and kill them. Sheep would be put in a pen – often mixed with other sheep – for the night.  The next morning the shepherd would call out to his sheep; hearing his voice they would come to him to be led to a pasture for the day. 

 

“Jesus Christ is the ‘door to the pen’ and all who enter through Him will be saved and will have abundant life.  That means they will have all they need to be delivered from sin, guilt, and condemnation.  Jesus is the only door for salvation; none other that exists” (LSSB).  Jesus declare that He is the Good Shepherd to explain how tender and caring He is for those who follow Him.

 

If you have followed the Lord for very long you know that there are a lot of voices that are trying to get you off the narrow way in order to follow them.  Their words are deceitful and false but with just enough “truth” in them to cause the hearer to be misled.  These are the false shepherds that you and I need to be aware of.  God’s people need to know the voice of the True Shepherd in order to not be deceived. How many times have you been about to do something and you have known it was not the right thing to do?  Was it the voice of the Lord prompting you to stop or not go there or to think before you speak?  Have you ever recognized that something is not right or not true when someone is speaking? God wants us to know truth from deception.

 

God wants us to know His voice whether audible or through His Word and in that small still voice. I believe He wants each of us to know His voice so we can do His will. That may require us to find a quiet place where we can be alone with Him and shut out all the other stuff that we allow to interfere with our hearing Him.  In doing so, I believe you should have His Word with you because a verse or passage in it might come to you to read. But you must do this in faith believing that God desires for you to hear His voice and to be obedient. David Wilkerson has written, “God is not a tease. He wants you to be convinced that he desires to talk to you and tell you things you have never heard before.  He will not allow the enemy to deceive you.” Go back and read John 10:1-5.  Here is an important thought to remember.  When God speaks to you, peace will always follow.  Philippians 4:6-7 gives us the promise that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” when we make our requests known to Him. There is no copying or counterfeiting the peace of God!

 

There are a lot of voices in the world today.  Their desire is to mislead, destroy and even kill those who follow Jesus Christ. Know the voice of God and He will guard you, protect you as a shepherd does his sheep. The Good Shepherd knows each of His sheep, they follow Him!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB