A friend asked me the other night if I have been calling things into being lately. Quite frankly, not as much as I should be. He challenged me on the spiritual growth that is happening in my home.
Because we both know that my being home is to walk in authority and stir that up in myself and those around me. As awkward as it feels sometimes, it is part of why I am here. For such a time as this.
Same with the bible study I go to. God has brought me back to this group for a reason. I know it because I didn’t want to go back. But Holy Spirit is stirring something up. I even felt it physically in my body last week.
Reading John 10. My stomach started radiating heat. A feeling I’ve only experienced with my ears and hands (a refining fire). Something I know is Holy Spirit working. Just before that I had been freezing. Then all of a sudden the only warm thing on my body was my belly. Like it was an oven heating up. I felt the fire in waves. And I knew it was something, I just didn’t know what. So I asked, but I was too distracted to hear.
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| let it all burn away |© Taren Maroun |
Stuff is building and there is going to be a breaking point. The spirit of religion in our group is being targeted with there being an even split of those who have grown up in the church and those who are just learning a biblical foundation. (Tonight I felt especially in understanding the difference between justification and sanctification is part of it; and understanding what it means to go from glory to glory as well).
By participating and engaging we can partner with the will of the Father and challenge it. Which means I have to speak, too. Holy Spirit is waiting on me. I know that I hear things God is saying. But sometimes I let fear of inadequacy and judgment cause me to second guess and say nothing.
When I look back on it. I noticed a lot that I could have said. The more I discussed the night with my friend the more things clicked. Even just going back to the subject at hand in John 10:
The first paragraph is speaking about sheep and a shepherd. Something that in context of the people it was written to was common and normal. These days, that is not the case.
I cannot say that at first glance I understand the nuances that Jesus was trying to communicate through a picture people of that day could relate to. The only sheep I see are packaged in the grocery story. And I can’t readily think of anyone who knows a shepherd. So, we have to first talk about what this picture meant to these people and then reconcile what is should mean to us in present-day for one.
Next thing is Jesus is stressing the importance of Him being the shepherd versus hired hands and thieves. “What voice are we listening to?”
"After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. The won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice." Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: " I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them."- John 10: 4-8
Am I listening to my Shepherd’s voice?
And if I am not, then who’s voice am I listening to?
There are two alternatives: Satan’s or my own (man’s).
"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. "- John 10:11
I know the voice of the Enemy. Scary thought: he is not a stranger to me. Therefore, when I hear his voice my natural instinct isn’t to run. And there is a possibility that I will listen.
So, as much as I need to tune my ear to voice of Holy Spirit; I also want to distance myself from my enemy. I don’t desire to know him, because he means to steal from and kill and destroy me. No part of him is worth my time.
The bible teaches that once I was a slave to sin and my father was the ruler of the kingdom of the air- the Enemy. When we walk in sin, we listen to Satan’s voice. Once we submit to the saving grace of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, however, we are free. Free to forget the voice of deceit and live under the authority of One who speaks life, abundantly.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand."- John 10:27-29
John 10 also speaks to the authority that Jesus is given in life and over death. That same authority is given to us as children of God and co-heirs with Christ. My friend reminded me that we have the power and responsibility to speak things into existence.
I have had opportunities in the past, but chose to be blind to a degree. [Forgive me Lord, help me to be obedient. To trust the fire you have placed in me.] I may not have known what to speak or how to present it exactly, but I felt fire. I like fire. I am familiar with it. And now I know what this kind means.
The prayers of my friends that night confirmed that God is doing a new work in me. One that will bring freedom . One that I was made for. One that I can’t afford to run from or hide.
I am called to great things (and it seems the next 5 years is my time to get busy). I hear and listen to the Lord’s voice. Whatever happens is His will. There is no need for me to be weary or afraid. I can walk confidently in who He says I am, because of who He says He is.
The Word says that many followed Him after what He said in John 10. They listened. And they went. May I do the same with every single day of my life.
I am grateful that God has given me like-minded souls who know the status quo won’t do. It’s onward and upward. Glory to glory! That’s the life we were destined for and it’s worth fighting for. Not the memories of before, but the hope that lies in our dreams.
I am blessed to have had my eyes opened over the past couple years of traveling the world and doing missions. Now, I am getting even more opportunity to live the life I have yearned for. I don’t need to know all the details, but I know God’s got me. What I need and desire is to walk accordingly.
