Protect Your Relationship With God

Your riches are what you value the most. Riches are kept where thieves do not break through and steal. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20 KJV), but how and with what? A disciple listening to the voice of God in their thoughts, the “fear of the LORD is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Like Enoch walking with God, he was continually laying up the treasure of the fear of the LORD until “he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Your relationship with God is your communion with Him in your thoughts. Protect it, for Satan desires to separate you from the source of your strength and riches, as he separated Samson from his hair. Keep the conversation with God going. Think on these things. 

Obey My Voice

“Obey My voice [Hebrew, qôl, voice, sound, noise], and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 7:23 KJV). The NET and NIV just as correctly translate this as “obey Me,” since the emphasis is on the command. But, do we obey the voice of God? Is that righteous thought in your head the voice of God, which should be obeyed? We have come a long way since we have confined the voice of God only to the inspired, canonized Scripture. We are rightly concerned that anyone can claim God spoke to them in their thoughts; but, are we so biblically illiterate that we cannot discern the false from the true? “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). Let us again be a people sensitive to the voice of God, though it be a small voice, in our head. 

Is That Really God’s Voice?

Why all of a sudden this discussion about God’s voice? Because we need to rethink what has always been setting before us. If God is really speaking to us in more ways than we thought, we would behave differently. For example, in the OT, the young child Samuel heard someone’s voice at night. He thought it was Eli the priest calling to him. This occurred two more times, until “Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child” (1Samuel 3:8 KJV). The next time Samuel heard the voice, Eli instructed Samuel to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth” (3:9). We are like Samuel, when we adjust our thinking about God’s voice. But, this means God is preparing us for something special. Amen? 

Voice of the Good Shepherd

I was always taught that the Voice of the Good Shepherd was simply listening to the Word of God to direct me. But, I didn’t think God was audibly speaking to me. I still don’t think He has to audibly speak to me, but He can. The important point is listening for His voice. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 KJV). God does not need sound waves to carry His voice. If it comes from God, it will not contradict His Word. It may sound basic, but we should not stumble, if someone tells us, “God said this to me.” We are His sheep, aren’t we?

Good Thoughts: Only From God

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17 KJV). Substitute “thought” for “gift,” and it becomes clear our “good” and “perfect” thoughts come from God alone. What about all the other thoughts? We choose to whom we subject our thoughts — all of them. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16). Thought warfare is Total Warfare for God. 

Conscience: God Speaking in Our Thoughts

Conscience is God communicating with everyone’s thoughts. Of course, we can stifle and overrule conscience, but not without injuring ourselves and becoming less able to hear God. Perhaps the best way to understand the voice of God speaking to us is the promised Holy Spirit quickening our conscience. “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on Me; Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11 KJV). The Holy Spirit admonishes us about sin, righteousness, and judgment through our thoughts. Because we are loath to admit ourselves to be of so tender conscience, we resist. Thus, ourselves, our families, our churches, and society become hardened and jaded to our own hurt. 

Voice of God: In Our Thoughts

We need to quit treating our thoughts as if they were our own creation and comprehend they come from God. “The thoughts of the righteous are right” (Proverbs 12:5 KJV). It may startle us to think this since often in the past we have stifled good thoughts and replaced them with idle thoughts, which serve only as the springboard for temptation then sin. But, the “thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness [Hebrew, môthâr, profit, abundance]” (21:5), because they flow from the mind of God. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end [Hebrew, literally, ‘a future and a hope,’ the future you hoped for, ‘future filled with hope’ (NET)]” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV). If we want to keep the conversation going with God, we must acknowledge and honor God in all our thoughts. Amen?