But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23)
Have you discovered that you no longer need to listen to sin tell you what to do anymore? If you are like the millions upon millions of others who have said 'yes' to Jesus, you likely still have a bit of a struggle in this area. Sin just doesn't 'go away' when you say 'yes' to Jesus - the ability for it to control you does, but the enticement to sin is still presenting itself. The issue is not whether sin still entices, it is really an issue of which voice we will listen to the most frequently!
We can listen to our own inward lusts (desires), or we can listen to the still small voice of God guiding us through those challenging places. The unfortunate thing for many of us is that the loudest voice is oftentimes the one we hear the clearest! The still small voice of God is heard best when we take time to get to know his voice better. We are able to sort out the noise and hear the important message better when we become more familiar with his voice.
Jesus told his disciples that his 'sheep know his voice'. He likened himself to a shepherd watching over the flock of sheep. All manner of 'calls' came in the wilderness, but there was one voice (call) they needed to respond to immediately. It was for their protection and guidance that the shepherd spoke to them. All the other calls were from 'prowling animals' out to disturb the restfulness of the sheep. That is how Satan works in our lives - he comes with different 'calls', trying to disturb our rest in Christ.
The sooner we recognize God's voice above all the other voices that may call for our attention, the better we will be at navigating our own lustful desires, the enticements to sin that the world presents to us, and the pull of 'popular opinion' that tries to dissuade us from walking uprightly. How do we get to know that voice? We have to spend time with him. The shepherd talked with his sheep, so they'd become accustomed to his voice. If we never spend quality time with him, quiet long enough to hear his speak through is Word, times of worship, or in quiet meditation, how do we ever expect to get to know his voice? Just askin!
Have you discovered that you no longer need to listen to sin tell you what to do anymore? If you are like the millions upon millions of others who have said 'yes' to Jesus, you likely still have a bit of a struggle in this area. Sin just doesn't 'go away' when you say 'yes' to Jesus - the ability for it to control you does, but the enticement to sin is still presenting itself. The issue is not whether sin still entices, it is really an issue of which voice we will listen to the most frequently!
We can listen to our own inward lusts (desires), or we can listen to the still small voice of God guiding us through those challenging places. The unfortunate thing for many of us is that the loudest voice is oftentimes the one we hear the clearest! The still small voice of God is heard best when we take time to get to know his voice better. We are able to sort out the noise and hear the important message better when we become more familiar with his voice.
Jesus told his disciples that his 'sheep know his voice'. He likened himself to a shepherd watching over the flock of sheep. All manner of 'calls' came in the wilderness, but there was one voice (call) they needed to respond to immediately. It was for their protection and guidance that the shepherd spoke to them. All the other calls were from 'prowling animals' out to disturb the restfulness of the sheep. That is how Satan works in our lives - he comes with different 'calls', trying to disturb our rest in Christ.
The sooner we recognize God's voice above all the other voices that may call for our attention, the better we will be at navigating our own lustful desires, the enticements to sin that the world presents to us, and the pull of 'popular opinion' that tries to dissuade us from walking uprightly. How do we get to know that voice? We have to spend time with him. The shepherd talked with his sheep, so they'd become accustomed to his voice. If we never spend quality time with him, quiet long enough to hear his speak through is Word, times of worship, or in quiet meditation, how do we ever expect to get to know his voice? Just askin!
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