- [Narrator] If you want God's best
you must learn to hear and obey God's voice.
This is not something that comes naturally to us.
In a sense the ancient Adamic nature
is born deaf to the voice of God.
It is not natural for the old carnal nature
to listen to God's voice.
It is something that needs to be studied
and cultivated carefully.
Today's world is full of innumerable voices that blasts us
crowding around us demanding our attention.
But in the midst of all this,
there is this silent small voice of God
who has endless wisdom and authority
and is the key to our wellbeing.
I would like to suggest
that the Bible shows a tremendous motivation
to cultivate the ability to hear the voice of God.
The success of our relationship with God
and our walk with Him depends on listening to His voice.
I will give some concrete examples.
The first concerns the question
of how to receive healing and health from God.
No doubt scripture makes it clear
that the key to healing and health
is the ability to hear God's voice.
This is made very clearly in Exodus 15:26
in which Moses is speaking to the children of Israel.
"If you will diligently harken
to the voice of the Lord your God,
and do that which is right in His eyes
and give heed to His commandments and keep all His statutes,
I will put none of the diseases upon you
which I put upon the Egyptians
for I am the Lord your healer", Exodus 15:26.
The Hebrew text says,
"If hearing, you hear the voice of the Lord your God."
That is Hebraism, a very emphatic form of the language.
It means listening with the greatest care
to the voice of the Lord your God.
God then offers to be your personal physician.
But the basic requirements is to listen carefully
to the voice of the Lord.
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses reveals
that the key to all God's blessing
is to hear and obey His voice.
"And if you obey the voice of the Lord your God,
being careful to do all His commandments,
which I command you this day,
the Lord your God will set you high
above all the nations of the earth.
And all of these blessings shall come upon you
and overtake you.
If you obey the voice of the Lord your God."
Deuteronomy 28:1 and 2.
Remember twice Moses says that the most important condition
is to hear the voice of God and obey it.
He says if you do that all these blessings
shall come upon you and overtake you.
You do not need to seek blessings.
If you cultivate in order to hear the voice of God.
On the other hand he warns a little further
in verse 15 that if we do not hear
the voice of the Lord, our God,
it will be the exact opposite.
Instead of blessing, there will be curse.
"But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God
or be careful to all His commandments and statutes
which I command you this day
then all these curses shall come upon you
and overtake you." Deuteronomy 28:15.
Therefore, if we will not hear the voice of the Lord
nor obey it all curses shall come upon us.
Hearing and obedience bring all blessings.
That is the turning point between blessing and curse.
We can either hear the voice of the Lord and obey it,
or we can neglect to hear and obey the voice of the Lord.
In Jeremiah 7, the Lord lays down the key condition.
He says to Israel,
"For in the day that I brought them
out of the land of Egypt,
I did not speak to your fathers or command them
concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.
But this command I gave them,
obey my voice and I will be your God,
and you shall be my people
and walk in all the way that I command you
that it may be well with you."
Jeremiah 7:22 and 23.
God says here that the ordinances of the law
are secondary in relation to the temple
the priesthood and the sacrifices.
The first thing he demanded of His people
when he led them out of Egypt was not sacrifice, offerings
or a lot of legal requirements.
Rather, he demanded that they listen
to His voice and obey it.
Consequently, He says that the sacrifices
are good when they arise from hearing His voice.
But if the people merely make sacrifices
without hearing His voice,
they would not qualify them to be His people.
They would only be His people
if they listen to His voice and obeyed it.
This is the most succinct statement in scripture
about what it means to be God's people.
"But this command I gave them obey my voice
and I will be your God.
And you shall be my people
and walk in all the way that I command you.
That it may be well with you" Jeremiah 7:23.
This does not change in the new Testament either
where the conditions for belonging to Jesus Christ
are the same.
Jesus puts it very simply in John 10:27.
"My sheep hear my voice and I know them
and they follow me."
Who are my sheep?
These are the people of Jesus.
They are not necessarily Catholics, Protestants,
Baptists Methodists, or any other particular denomination.
The people who belong to Jesus
are the people who hear His voice and follow Him.
If you do not hear His voice, you can not follow Him.
This is always the mark of the true people of God.
They hear His voice,
cultivate prompt obedience.
I would like to give you two important warnings
in connection with this issue
of listening to the voice of God.
First cultivate prompt obedience.
And I want to emphasize prompt.
Abraham is presented in the Bible
as an example to all believers.
And one of the ways in which he is an example
is that whenever he heard God's voice
he obeyed Him immediately and without delay.
Here is an example.
He said, "'Take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love
and go to the land of Moriah
and offer him there as a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'
So Abraham rose early in the morning,
saddled his ass took two of his young men with him
and his son, Isaac.
And he cut the wood for the burnt offering
and arose and went to the place of which God had told him."
Genesis 22:2-3.
The next day Abraham got up early in the morning.
As soon as it was possible.
He set about obeying what God had told him.
The longer you delay to obey God,
the harder it becomes.
The only simple way to obey God is to obey Him immediately.
When he speaks for the first time.
Consider a negative example.
Someone who hesitated in obedience to God was Lot's wife.
She was ready to leave Sodom,
but she came so slowly she never made it.
She looked back and turned herself into a pillar of salt.
One of the shortest verses in Jesus's teaching
is Luke 17:32.
"Remember lot's wife."
In other words, do not delay to obey,
or it may be too late.
Another thing I would like to tell you
is be prepared to seem foolish,
be prepared to seem foolish in the eyes of other people.
In 1st Corinthians 1:25, Paul says,
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men.
And the weakness of God is stronger than men."
If you believe that what people think is wise ignores God.
Paul is very emphatic in his epistle to the Corinthians.
"Let no one deceive himself.
If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age
let him become a fool that he may become wise."
1st Corinthians 3:18.
In order to become wise one must first become a fool.
A lot of people stumble upon this
but there are many examples in the Bible.
Noah built a ship on dry land when no one had seen rain
it was foolish, but it was the wisdom of God.
Naaman the captain of Syria,
went down into the Jordan and bared has leprosy flesh
by dipping himself seven times in water.
How foolish, but he was healed.
Then in John 9,
there was the man who was born blind.
Jesus placed clay on his eyes
and then told Him to wash in the pool of Siloam.
How foolish she must've looked
when he felt himself with clay on his eyes
in the pool of Siloam, but he was healed.
Let us pray.
Welcome to a prayer on Grace Digital.
Is your heart restless?
Are you feeling like the circumstances
around you are out of control
and it's starting to take a toll on your emotional peace?
One of the most difficult parts of understanding peace
is understanding how it has zero to do with control.
If you're having difficulty with trusting God
or obtaining the words to pray
above the howling of the scary storms,
feel free to offer up these words to the Lord now.
When stress and concerns begin to shake the foundation
of your peace and serenity,
the power of prayer can bring us back into comfort.
Father, Lord, help me learn you are Lord of my life.
You have the power to rule all that I think, believe and do.
When I allow my mind to run to places
that destroyed my peace remind me
these are illegal thoughts.
You do not require me to dwell on feelings and affections
that contribute to fears.
I acknowledge my mind will live in perfect peace
as I fix my attention on you.
So Lord Jesus, let your peace govern my heart.
Remind me of the peace I have in your house
and teach me how to be grateful
for those events that make me run to you
center on you and remain in you.
I never need to live with fearful, troubled thoughts.
The truth is you are in control.
Dear father in heaven, I praise you for your steadfastness
and steady presence in our lives.
At times we can feel you right next to us.
However, it is difficult to grasp that you are there at all.
Sometimes life gets so painful
that our minds just cannot feel you through the pain.
Sometimes you take away those feelings
so that we may seek you even more fervently.
I pray now father, that I may rely not on my emotions
but instead on your love for me,
may I rely on your word to be the truth
that governs my life over my understanding.
Help me to recognize you and believe in you.
Even though my emotions may tell me otherwise.
You are good, you are reliable and you are kind.
You are both all powerful and all loving.
You generally care for my loved ones and me.
Be with me as I live out those revelations
no matter what my concerns are today,
Lord as we walk ahead together,
all mighty father we honor you for our lives.
We give you praise for your overflowing mercy
and forgiveness we receive.
Lord Jesus we ask you to give us
all around peace in our minds, bodies, souls, and spirits.
We want you to heal and remove everything
that is causing fear, grief and sorrow.
Please supervise our path in life
and make our enemies be at peace with us,
above all, may your will be done
on earth and in my life as it is in heaven.
Lord, we remember that your word lets us know
that we do not have to worry.
We know that you are with us
and your protection and presence and powerful.
We ask for you to lead us
and remind us that you have placed your angels around us
to defend us in all your ways.
Thank you that you never sleep or slumber.
You are constantly watching over us
constantly aware so we can get some sleep,
choose faith over fear right now
and ask that you would surround us with your peace.