My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:27,28)
In this passage of scripture from John 10:22-30, Jesus asserts His deity to those Jews who would question Him. If fact they asked Him "plainly" in verse 24 saying, "If you are the Christ, just tell us" And of course it was never the motive of Jesus to keep them in suspense however, His statements are clear: "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these bear witness of Me." and then he states that they do NOT believe because they are "not of My sheep."
When Jesus speaks to me, I can hear him very plainly. It's not as though there is an audible voice ringing in my ears, but rather my heart becomes impressed with His message and I try to comply to His will and requests. That's why He say "My sheep hear My voice..."
Another thing is the relationship with Him in my heart. He says He knows His sheep and they follow Him. This is not a "blind, spiritless" following that I believe I have. In my heart, I truly believe that He commands my life and naturally it is of my "own free will" that I follow and try to obey. I say "try" because as we all know, we are not always children of obedience. Yesterday I was outside with my grandson and his shoe was untied and I told him to come to me and allow me to tie his shoe. And of course, the more I prompted him, the farther away from me he would go. To him, a little game, but to the Son of God, a request (command) intended to be followed without question. We do, as Christian men and women, "follow" Christ and obey His commands as He speaks to our hearts, because we ARE His sheep and He knows us.
This to me, is probably the greatest and most comforting feeling I can have in life. "He knows me" and therefore He knows that I will eventually follow His desires for my life.
Finally in verses 29 & 30 He says such a comforting statement even to those who would be plotting to kill Him when He says "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Oops! There He goes again, claiming to be God. How cool is that?
Do you hear His voice deep within your heart? Do you try as best as you can to follow Him? We all fail Him, naturally and that in and of itself was the reason for the Cross at Calvary. But are you one of those sheep that follow at His command? If not, you need to search within your heart and find out why not. I remember an old saying I heard from Pastor Greg Laurie a long time a go. "Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger." Our churches are full of people who have been deceived. Can you hear his voice? Do you desire to follow Him? These are the question you need to answer from within.
Romans 10:9 says "if you confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you SHALL be saved (SHALL emphasized by all caps), and he goes on in verse 10 "for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Is salvation yours today? Only you can answer that question. And if it is still a question go to the 4 Spiritual Laws (written 4/26/09) within this blog for more help.
Listen, listen, He is trying to speak to you,
Dave
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