Discerning God’s Voice from the Voice of Condemnation
I hope you are having a great week so far! It was on my heart to share with you something truly special – because you are special to God, and I know He wants you to hear this.
You were designed to fellowship with God. That means you can spend time with Him, talk to Him, and in turn hear His response. Genesis 1:27 in the NLT says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God made us to be like Him, giving us the ability to communicate and to make decisions using our own free will. In Genesis 3:8, we can see that God made it a point to walk in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were, even though they had made some mistakes. While we do have to deal with this fallen world, it has always been the Lord’s intention to dwell with us. That’s why He sent Jesus to take our place on the cross. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NIV)
We can rejoice knowing that it is God’s desire to always be connected with us! However, we also must be aware that we have an enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 in the NKJV says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The Bible clearly tells us that the devil is our adversary. The enemy knows that God wants to fellowship with us. As a result, he will try to bring confusion and disconnect between each of us and the Lord, trying to cause us to doubt whether or not we really have the ability to hear from Him in the first place. My goal today is to encourage you that you can hear God’s voice. I will also share some scriptures that can help with discerning between the Lord’s voice and the voice of the enemy.
In John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (NKJV) If Jesus says we can hear His voice, then we can. The question that many of us may have is, “How?”
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” - John 14:26 NLT
The Holy Spirit has already been sent to us. He is Jesus’ representative and will remind us of everything that Jesus has told us. Have you ever been doing or thinking about something and suddenly you remember a scripture? It is important to take note when that happens.
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” - John 16:13 NKJV
Not only will the Lord remind us of things He has said before, but He will also tell us things to come. This can be through dreams, visions, or simply a thought that comes to mind, similar to how He reminds us of things. (Acts 2:17) He may also send someone into your life to confirm what He has been speaking to you.
Something to consider is that not every thought that comes up is from the Lord. This is why 2 Corinthians 10:5 in the ESV says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”. So how do we discern what thoughts are of the Lord and which ones are not?
Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)
We have to renew our minds. Part of this is to stop copying the behavior and customs of this world. When we participate in worldly things, we are feeding our flesh, which can be resistant to the Lord. (Romans 8:7) When we stop participating in things that are in opposition to the Lord’s will and set ourselves apart, we put distance between us and the worldly things that have been influencing our thoughts and actions.
Part of being able to discern God’s voice from the enemy’s is knowing God’s character. Have you ever been told that someone did or said something and you thought, “That seems out of character.”? That’s because you know them, and you know what they are likely to say or do in a situation. We can know more about God’s character and what He is more likely to say or do by reading His word.
Jesus shows us the stark contrast between what we can expect from Him and from the enemy in John 10:10. “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” (AMP)
Revelation 12:10 shows us that the enemy is constantly accusing us, trying to keep us trapped in a place of guilt and shame. “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (ESV)
In contrast to the accusing voice of the enemy, Romans 8:1 in the Passion Translation says, “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One.”
The Precious Blood of Jesus paid for all of our sins. There is no deficit left to pay. If you are hearing condemnation in the thoughts that are coming up, that is not Jesus. There may be times when the Lord has to bring us correction because we have gotten off, but there is a difference between condemnation and conviction. The enemy will try to condemn us in an attempt to keep us bound in cycles of shame with no way for reconciliation. When the Lord convicts us of something, He is doing it out of love because He wants us to be set free from those cycles. If we continue in a way that does not facilitate what He is doing, we can block our own freedom. The Lord needs us to choose to make changes where necessary, so He will bring us conviction. Surrender is the best response.
Getting to know God’s character and growing your relationship with Him takes time. It is something we all must be mindful of and intentional about daily. As we walk with Him and read His Word, our thought life will naturally become more aligned with His ways. I encourage you to search out scriptures that describe God’s personality and how He conducts Himself in different situations. Meditate on those scriptures and ask the Lord to bring you a little more revelation every day.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” - Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
May God bless you and keep you!
With you in Christ,
Truly Living Team