Focus: John 10:4-5 - KJV
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.
John 10:1-6
There are many who claim to be Christians but know not the voice of Christ and therefore are amenable to responding to the voice of anyone who claims he is of Christ or sent by Him. Meanwhile, the Lord is clear about His sheep. For the criterium for knowing the sheep is the knowledge and recognition of the shepherd’s voice. Pretenders to be sheep cannot lay claim to knowing the shepherd’s voice. Incidentally, the shepherd knows His sheep by name. The pretenders answer to every voice as they do not sound strange to them. Once the same comes and claims to be from the Lord, then he must be the shepherd. This has led many into the trap of the enemy and their lives have been so messed up for listening and hearkening to the voice of strangers.
How do we know when the voice belongs to a stranger? The stranger is an anti-Christ. Even though he claims to be of Christ, he is forever teaching things that do not conform with the teachings of Christ. Whatever is not of Christ is not true and therefore crafted to deceive and derail the sheep. It is the voice of the stranger. Those that yield thereto were never the sheep of Christ in the first place in that they do not know the voice of Christ. His voice speaks through the Gospel. He leads His sheep as He goes before them through the instrumentality of the Gospel. It is possible to join Christ’s fold by first learning to appreciate His voice. He is the one appointed by the father to shepherd God’s flock. Like the sheep of Jesse knew David’s voice to hearken to him, when the lion came and the bear, those who know the voice of Christ will hearken only to Him and none other.
The Lord is reiterating to us the way to salvation. Many are preachers today who do not even have understanding of what they preach themselves. For instance, what precisely does it mean to give one’s life to Jesus? Why is it that we cannot give our lives to other characters in the Bible and live by them: after all they are contained in the Bible like the story of Christ is also contained? Taking our eyes away from Jesus and shifting gaze to others will end up railroading the person to a place far away from God. To get to God, the only way is to follow Christ and be part of His fold. That, as against following every other actor, is the mind of God. So, giving our lives to Him is about forsaking the ways of every of the other actors, because their ways are not absolutely true of God; and leaning on Christ and His teaching which is the only way to God.
SOLUTION: Take time to learn more of Christ; spend quality time in fellowship with Him per day and very soon, when He speaks, you will start to recognize His voice clearly as you would become conversant with it. Strangers are wont only to mislead and destroy.
Please pray:
· Give thanks to God for He is good and His mercies endure forever to give you room to get acquainted to Himself so as to appreciate His voice
· Ask God to please start speaking to you from now even as you spend time in fellowship with Him
· Ask God to silence the voice of strangers before you so that you do not even hear them at all
· Pray God to please keep you acquainted so that you may never lose the knowledge and cognizance of His voice, your Shepherd
· Ask for your daily bread
If you are blessed by this post, kindly share with your contacts, as well as others, that they may be blessed also. Thank you and may God bless you abundantly as you do so, in Jesus’ name.
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