Scripture Reading:

John 10

Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.

You can answer the following:

1. What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?

2. What part of this chapter did you most resonate with?

3. What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?

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Chapter Notables:

1. Jesus, the Door - verses 1-10

2. Jesus, the Good Shepherd - verses 11-18

3. The Jews were divided some saying Jesus had a demon while others can’t get over His miracle working - verses 19-21

4. The people continue to debate who Jesus is—some believing and some unbelieving - verses 22-42

Can You Hear? | Lemuel Ayudtud

There are many voices in the world we live in today some of them louder than others and some more significant than others. Who we hear and how we hear can show us where we stand.

Here are the four major voices in our lives:

1. Our own voice.
   The voice of our wants, concerns, dreams and expressions of our will. It’s normally self centered, ego driven and pleasure sensitive.

2. The voice of the world.
   With its fashion and fads and lusts, it lures us to be consistent with the mainstream and be compliant and complementing of current norms and societal standards regardless of God’s ways or word. It plays itself as glamorous and invited us to join the world by playing on our pleasure seeking selves, with emphasis on our self importance.

3. The voice of the devil.
   It’s accusatory, evil minded seeking to destroy others by lifting our own needs and wants above others. It can also be accusatory in it’s constant belittling of ourselves. The voice speaks in half truths to deceive. It encourages us to be independent from God by following our own whims and wants, inconsistent with the will of God yet consistent to the world at large. It tells us we are gods and ruler of our own lives, we know enough and therefore there is no need to submit to God.

4. The voice of God, the Good Shepherd.
   It is the voice of the Holy Spirit, leading us to be sons and daughters of God. It is mission minded and service centered. It leads us to deny ourselves for others and to submit our body and spirit as the temple and dwelling place of God. It lifts us up not in pride but in confidence for us to be able to perform the work of God in the world. It leads us to abase ourselves before God, acknowledging that we are nothing without Him.

Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd and His sheep hear His voice. He also said that He gives His life for the sheep willingly. (This He did at Calvary.) As the Good Shepherd, He protects us from the wolf and keeps us from the thieves.

Jesus tells us that the sheep hear His voice. As the sheep of His pasture, He leads us in the paths of righteousness and into lush feeding grounds. He is not a shepherd for rent, or a hireling, but He’s connected, committed and concerned about His sheep; and they follow His voice.

How can we, His sheep, be more keen to hearing His voice?

1. Being in His Presence.
   When we are always by Him, we become comfortable with His voice. Other voices cannot interfere because His voice is so distinct. Being always by His side, we become highly familiar with His voice. We get to know His breath, His whispers and His inflections. We’ll know exactly when He speaks because we can discern His voice from the rest of the voices because we are away from the other voices.

2. Reading His word.
   When we are knowledgeable of His word, we can discern between the voices because we are aware of how the Good Shepherd speaks. He will not contradict His written word, so no matter if it’s a vision or a dream or a “prophecy”, because we have knowledge of His word we will not be swayed by a hireling or a thief.

3. Being consistent in prayer.
   When we are constantly communicating with him then we can tell right away if the other voices are trying to encroach. Asking Him for guidance, submitting ourselves in humility through prayer, and having conversation with Him through supplication and thanksgiving gives us a grasp of the way He speaks to us—how He responds to our voice of need and submission.

4. Honoring His under-shepherds.
   God leads us to a flock whom He has left in the care of His anointed pastors, elders and teachers. By His anointing, His under-shepherds lead us to greener pastures and deeper understanding of His word—encouraging us to higher heights and deeper depths.

5. Engaging and ingathering with the flock.
   Being around other sheep in His sheepfold helps us become better sheep. By hearing and knowing how God speaks to others, we can become more sensitive to the voice of God. All alone a sheep is vulnerable to wolves and thieves, but when they’re in the flock they are safer, warmer and more joyous. We harm ourselves when we are not part of the community or the sheepfold of God in our local church. Let’s not fool ourselves thinking we can live for God on our own without others.

Understand this, God is constantly speaking. Can you hear Him?

If we are His sheep, we will hear His voice. If we have difficulty hearing Him above the rest of the voices in the world, and if it’s important for us to be in His sheepfold, it’s time for us to practice what is listed above.

Lord, give me the ears to hear You and the heart desire You. May every voice be silent before Your Presence. Teach my ears be keen to Your voice, so help me to love and cherish Your word. I want to be a good sheep as you are the good shepherd, so teach me to love my time with You in prayer. Give me the heart to submit to my pastor and those You have anointed to lead me. Thank You for keeping me and protecting me. Thank You for giving Your life for me, conquering: death, hell, the grave, and the devil by Your sacrifice at Calvary. Give me the boldness to walk in submission to You no matter where I am or who I am around. Give me the grace to submit to Your voice so that I may overcome the noise of the world. In Your Name Jesus I pray, amen.