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I get many emails from people asking me about hearing God's voice and about how I get his messages to share with others. It it is not because I have some special gift. Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice." If you are born again then you hear him. Today I will share some tips about how I hear his voice and I hope they help you to hear him better. We will begin in John Chapter Ten.
11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3. To him the porter openeth; and
*the sheep hear his voice:
and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out.*
4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them,
*and the sheep follow him:
for they know his voice.
5. And a stranger will they not follow,
but will flee from him:
for they know not the voice of strangers. *
11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
14. *I am the good shepherd,
and know my sheep,
and am known of mine. *
15. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and
*they shall hear my voice;*
and there shall be one fold,
and one shepherd.
27. *My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them,
and they follow me:*
28.And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30. I and my Father are one.
The first thing is to really read these scriptures over and over until they become part of your heart. Don’t just read them but listen to them with your heart, and as you do imagine that you are standing there when these words were spoken.
This is the way to read all scripture. Don’t just read them with your mind but also read them with your heart and imagination which are joined together. We have been taught that our imagination is evil but it was given to us by our Father to see the invisible.
In the scripture the imagination and heart are in the same place. For instance, Jesus said "if you look on a woman to lust after her you have already committed adultery in your heart." Where does one lust from? Is it not in the imagination?
This is why it is very important to sanctify our imagination and to guard it and not let evil abide there. This is the new heart that Jesus said he was giving us. In the new covenant he writes his laws on our hearts and in our minds. He gives us a holy imagination that only sees purity and not evil. Our imagination is the “eyes of our heart.” Once it becomes single as Jesus said then our whole bodies are full of light. Reading his words and using your imagination to see them will sanctify your imagination and his word will cleanse it and make it whole.
I know it seems strange that the way to hear is to see but that is how it works. God is light so when he speaks, he speaks in pictures and light and your imagination converts it into information that your mind can use. Think about John in the Revelation. He was given visions and the visions were explained to him. Christ speaks this way to us often. We are shown things in our dreams and in our imaginations and thoughts and then explains to us what he has shown us.
Habakkuk Chapter Two says:
This is why it is very important to sanctify our imagination and to guard it and not let evil abide there. This is the new heart that Jesus said he was giving us. In the new covenant he writes his laws on our hearts and in our minds. He gives us a holy imagination that only sees purity and not evil. Our imagination is the “eyes of our heart.” Once it becomes single as Jesus said then our whole bodies are full of light. Reading his words and using your imagination to see them will sanctify your imagination and his word will cleanse it and make it whole.
I know it seems strange that the way to hear is to see but that is how it works. God is light so when he speaks, he speaks in pictures and light and your imagination converts it into information that your mind can use. Think about John in the Revelation. He was given visions and the visions were explained to him. Christ speaks this way to us often. We are shown things in our dreams and in our imaginations and thoughts and then explains to us what he has shown us.
Habakkuk Chapter Two says:
I will stand on my watch,
and set me on the tower,
and will watch to see what he will say to me,
and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
He was looking to see what God would say. Yet he was going to answer with words.
One of the reasons that I failed to hear his voice for so many years is because I was listening for the voice I heard on the Ten Commandments movie I saw when I was a child. I expected a big booming voice and didn’t realize that Father speaks in a still small voice so that he doesn’t frighten us. This voice is usually pictures or vision and sanctified thoughts. In the scriptures we read above Jesus taught us that he is a shepherd. What happens if the shepherd starts shouting? The sheep will scatter.
So one of the first things to know is that if you are his sheep you do hear his voice. He didn’t say maybe. He said my sheep hear my voice and he can’t lie. You hear but you don’t realize that you are hearing or there are so many other voices drowning him out.
This takes us back to Habakkuk. He stood to watch. The same way Jesus said to “watch and pray.” Why would he tell us to watch unless he was going to show us something? Every time we pray he shows us the answer, but usually we just pray and don’t watch. We must focus and stand on our watch. When we pray would should do as Jesus said and go into our secret place so that he can show us the answer in secret.
So you are not just listening for words. You are looking for visions, or pictures or words and sometimes he skips all of those and reveals to us the answer without any of the above. Have you ever been praying about a problem and all of a sudden you just “know’ what to do? That was his voice.
Now that you know how to see, hear, know, feel and taste his voice then it’s time to block out all the other stuff and shut up all the other voices that try to drown him out. That takes us back to the scriptures we studied. Jesus and the Father are just alike. Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father. So they both have the heart of a shepherd.
So one of the first things to know is that if you are his sheep you do hear his voice. He didn’t say maybe. He said my sheep hear my voice and he can’t lie. You hear but you don’t realize that you are hearing or there are so many other voices drowning him out.
This takes us back to Habakkuk. He stood to watch. The same way Jesus said to “watch and pray.” Why would he tell us to watch unless he was going to show us something? Every time we pray he shows us the answer, but usually we just pray and don’t watch. We must focus and stand on our watch. When we pray would should do as Jesus said and go into our secret place so that he can show us the answer in secret.
So you are not just listening for words. You are looking for visions, or pictures or words and sometimes he skips all of those and reveals to us the answer without any of the above. Have you ever been praying about a problem and all of a sudden you just “know’ what to do? That was his voice.
Now that you know how to see, hear, know, feel and taste his voice then it’s time to block out all the other stuff and shut up all the other voices that try to drown him out. That takes us back to the scriptures we studied. Jesus and the Father are just alike. Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father. So they both have the heart of a shepherd.
So what kind of words and pictures would a shepherd speak to his lambs? We just read how he loved us so much that he laid down his life for his sheep so do you think he would be saying mean things to us or nice things? He said we are so safe in his hands that no one can snatch us out of his hand and then said Father was his backup and no one could take us out of their hands.
This is very key in learning to hear. You have to settle it once and for all in your heart. He loves you and in his eyes you are already perfected and you are holy and blameless as it says in Ephesians. So what would he say to a lamb that he is so much in love with that he laid his life down for and now he sees as holy and blameless? Would he criticize or encourage?
This you must learn. He will never belittle you in any way. He doesn’t speak to you concerning your faults. He only speaks about your righteousness.
This is very key in learning to hear. You have to settle it once and for all in your heart. He loves you and in his eyes you are already perfected and you are holy and blameless as it says in Ephesians. So what would he say to a lamb that he is so much in love with that he laid his life down for and now he sees as holy and blameless? Would he criticize or encourage?
This you must learn. He will never belittle you in any way. He doesn’t speak to you concerning your faults. He only speaks about your righteousness.
I’ll give you an example: A few months ago a person was trying to start an argument with me and pushing me to my limit. Just before I began to lose my temper Father’s voice came to me and said “you are so patient and kind and loving” you are made in my image and in my likeness. You are forgiving and you know that you don’t wrestle against people but against spiritual wickedness.” Immediately I realized that there was no use to be angry. It wasn’t going to help anything. But did Father condemn me when I was about to lose it? No, he encouraged me to be who I really am. There really is no condemnation in Christ.
So when listening for his voice the first thing to do is to silence any voice that accuses, condemns, belittles or does anything that is contrary to who you are in Christ. It sounds like a hard thing to do but it just takes practice.
So when listening for his voice the first thing to do is to silence any voice that accuses, condemns, belittles or does anything that is contrary to who you are in Christ. It sounds like a hard thing to do but it just takes practice.
Imagine if you had five radios on in your house on different stations and your favorite song came on one of them. You would turn off the ones except for the one that you wanted to hear. It’s the same way with his voice. Once you turn off the wrong stations then the perfect one is loud and clear.
I’m not saying that he will never correct you but when he does it is in so much love that you will be blessed by the correction and not feel guilty about it.
I’m not saying that he will never correct you but when he does it is in so much love that you will be blessed by the correction and not feel guilty about it.
Usually when I am doing something contrary to my new nature he speaks to me the same words. He says “Who are you my beloved?” That doesn’t condemn me for slipping instead it encourages me to get back on track.
Do you remember in the garden of Eden, he knew that Adam and Eve had sinned but the most important thing wasn’t “what have you done?” it was, “where are you so we can fix it.”
Think of your own children. If one of them did something bad and ran away, your first thought is not find them and punish them. Your first thought is get them to safety and then we will deal with the problem.
So to hear his voice we must be like sheep. We must know that we are helpless without our Shepherd. He is our everything and he loves us more than we can ever comprehend. We must know that our Shepherd is so kind that we shall not want. He will make us lie down in green pastures. He only has our best interest in mind.
Think of your own children. If one of them did something bad and ran away, your first thought is not find them and punish them. Your first thought is get them to safety and then we will deal with the problem.
So to hear his voice we must be like sheep. We must know that we are helpless without our Shepherd. He is our everything and he loves us more than we can ever comprehend. We must know that our Shepherd is so kind that we shall not want. He will make us lie down in green pastures. He only has our best interest in mind.
So we are listening for the voice of a loving Shepherd, not an angry God. So many people today say they hear God's voice and say he is yelling and screaming and angry. They are not hearing the voice of the shepherd.
Your Father wants you to hear him more than you want to hear him. He longs to have long intimate conversations with you. You are his sheep and you hear him. You just need to know how you know. Please be blessed and encouraged and know that I am praying for each of you. If I can do anything to help you hear him better please contact me.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael
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