My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me Is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. John 10:27-29 I am teaching Revelations in our Sunday Night Women’s Bible Study. I spent about two months to lay down the foundation for Revelations and teach the first chapter, three weeks ago we started the second chapter of Revelations. Jesus gave John a message for each of the seven churches in Asia Minor and told John to write it in a book and send I to the seven churches. The letters to each of the church were addressed to the angel of each specific church and Jesus commends the churches for things they have done well, then He says, “Nevertheless, I have this against you.” (Paraphrased) Jesus clarifies the sin that has crept into each church, then He states “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Finally, He gives a promise of a reward or blessing they will receive if they do all that He commands. For that phrase to be written seven times, it emphasizes to the reader the importance of hearing what the Spirit is saying. Then in John 10, Jesus explained that He is the Good Shepherd and how His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. One of the tricks of the enemy is to get us to become complacent and think we have walked with God for a long time and we know what He wants us to do and to distract us from hearing the voice of God. Sadly, several denominations have gone so far as to teach that God no longer speaks to His people. I believe that God wants to fellowship with us daily and He has secret hidden things in Him that He wants us to search out and learn from Him. He also has clear instruction for the battles we are facing and plans to help us to accomplish the calling of God on our life. Too often we do not have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to our individual situation, and we face frustration and defeat, shrinking back from obeying the voice of God. As I have been thinking this week about the phrase “He who has an ear let him hear,” I believe God is calling us back into in intimate relationship of hearing Him speak again. Jesus said in John 10:4 “And he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.” Verse 27 “My sheep hear My voice and O know them, and they follow Me.” It is really hard to Follow Jesus if we do not hear Him clearly. Personally, and Nationally we are still in a very treacherous part of the journey of fully taking our lives and families back, and to succeed in all that God has called us to do, we have to hear and obey all that the Spirit is telling us to do. I believe our generation will welcome Jesus back. Matthew 24:14 clearly states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.” It will take the whole church fulfilling the great commission of “Go ye into all the world.” Each of us are given a spiritual field to plant the seeds of the gospel in, to water, and nurture into a harvest of souls for the kingdom of heaven. God is calling us to have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to us as a cooperate Church and as individuals and there are somethings, we can do to improve our hearing.
I heard this saying last week, “To have the knowledge and wisdom of God we must read our Bible, to have connect with God, we must pray, and to have the power of God, we turn our plate over and fast.” As I thought about this truth, I realized this is the beginning steps to better hearing, and I will explain and add some more things we can do to fine tune our hearing. It is imperative that we spend time in the word. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 10:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Time in the Word is time with God. David wrote in Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Earlier in Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I do not sin against You.” The Word is powerful, Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.” God’s word accomplishes everything He ends it to, “Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God always keeps His words; it is our responsibility to know His word and to stand on His word. The Word of God should be the foundation of our lives, we should not try to build anything that contradicts His word, but to know the truth of His word and to make our lives conform to it. Prayer is the way we connect with God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 commands “Pray without ceasing.” We should be so connected to God all day that we are sharing our needs and thoughts with Him all the time and listening to His instructions and words of promise and correction. I wonder how many heavy burdens and mental struggles we carry because we fail to “Cast all our cares on Him.” 1 Peter 5:7. Science has proven the power of prayer, they did brain scans on people before and after people spent 12 minutes every day in focused prayer for 8 weeks, proving that prayer will alter the brain enough to be measured on a brain scan. The opposite is also true, unchecked fear, anxiety and unforgiveness can also be shown to change the pathways in the brain. How many miracles and blessings have we missed out on because we did not pray? James 4:2 “You have not because you ask not.” The more time spent in prayer, the more connected we are to God I heard a missionary talk about the children in the country they served in, and she said it is common for them to see Jesus and hear His voice. She said they believe the reason our American children do not experience the same connection with Jesus is because they are distracted with videos, games, and activities, they are not quiet mentally enough to hear God’s voice. If that is true for children, I think the same can be said for their parents. For those who have hearing issues, it is frequently because they cannot distinguish between what they are trying to hear and background noise. It is not always easy to be around people and have noise playing and distinguish between the noise and God’s voice. How often do we get away from the rat race, and all the noise to just sit quietly at His feet? The Bible records on several occasions that Jesus went alone to pray, and since Jesus needed to get alone with God, I think it is safe to say that we must have the same discipline to regularly find time to get alone with God.
Fasting is a difficult discipline that is not practiced much in the church today. Fasting is turning your plate over and spending time with God instead of eating. Fasts can be partial like a Daniel fast when certain foods are not eaten for a period of time or they are days spent without food at all. Fasting was a discipline practiced in the Bible, John the Baptist’s disciples asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Matthew 9:14. Jesus said fasting was a sign of mourning and that as long as He was them, they did not need to mourn, then He stated, “When the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Mark 9 tells the story of a boy that was filled with an evil spirit and the spirit would try to kill the boy by throwing him into fire and water. The boy’s father brought him to the disciples and they were unable to cast the demon out, so he took the child to Jesus who commanded the spirit to come out and the boy was delivered. When the disciples were alone with Jesus later that day, they asked why they did not have the power to cast the spirit out and Jesus answered, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29. Jesus told us in Mark 16:17-18 “These signs shall follow those who believe n My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” Sadly, modern American Churches are teaching that these gifts died with the apostles instead of teaching the discipline of fasting where we could experience all Jesus paid for on Calvary for us. 2 Timothy 3 tells us that in the last days perilous times will come… “men would be lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of Godliness but denying its power.” I am guilty of having a form of Godliness, but lack the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through me every day. If we are going to win our world for Jesus and usher in His coming, we must get serious even if it means fasting on a regular basis where we can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and see lives changed. The signs are for the non-believers to witness the power and glory of Jesus. Will you join me on the challenge of making 2025 the year of a new level of anointing and power in the Holy Spirit? It will take a deeper consecration in the word, in prayer and the discipline of fasting.
Cathy Nesmith