nov2000


	"Dr. Lovett, I am confused about "voices" and it's hindering my Christian walk. Jesus said His sheep would know His voice. How can I distinguish between Jesus' voice and the devil's words to my mind? I've made bad decisions because of Satan's voice even to the point of giving up on serving the Lord. Can you help me?" (Mrs. C.R.—CA)

SHE ALMOST HAD THE ANSWER


	That lady had half the answer when she quoted the Lord's words. Going on a bit further in that passage, she would have reached the key to her dilemma. It reads like this:


	"... his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the stranger's voice." (John 10:4b & 5 NIV)


	The key words are, *"They will never follow a stranger."* That's the answer. The safety of the sheep depends upon knowing the shepherd's voice. There's a big difference between knowing a Scripture that talks about our Shepherd's voice and knowing that voice so well you recognize it immediately.


	Obviously, our lady didn't know her Shepherd's voice. Had she, there'd be no way she could have been misled by Satan's voice.


	THERE IS A GENUINE VOICE, ISN'T THERE?

Indeed. There is that "still small voice" which says... "This is the way, walk ye in it" (Isa. 30:21).

Ah, but there's another voice that also says "This is the way, walk ye in it." That is Satan's voice. He's a skilled counterfeiter with centuries of practice in fooling God's people. Unless a person quickly recognizes the difference between those voices, he'd better not listen to any.


	Let's say you'd like to buy a new car, but to do so means going into debt. The devil will whisper, "Other people ride in this car with you. Should you put them at risk with this older car? In fact, buying a new car would be a proper use of your tithe money." The devil has thousands of ways to present such ideas to your mind, one of which will match your thinking perfectly.


	By suggestion alone, he can put you in debt, add extra pounds to your body, get you to take chances with your life on the freeway, and keep you from serving the Lord.


	I watched him do this to my dear friend, Ray.


	POOR RAY


	Satan sold him on the idea of making money before going full time for the Lord. He figured he could serve the Lord better with $100,000 in his pocket.


	Now Ray was no ordinary man. Brilliant and gifted, he knew the Word inside out. In spite of that, he listened to Satan's money suggestion and it became his primary goal. All along he believed he was following God's counsel to his spirit.

There are lots of ways to use the Lord's money (offerings), but not all are fruitful. Many Christians give blindly, not knowing where their money goes or what it's used for. They don't realize they're ACCOUNTABLE for what it produces for Christ.

Jesus dealt with this in the Parable of the Pounds (Mina) in Luke 19:12-26. The master was furious with the servant who failed to invest his money wisely. How we have handled God's money will weigh heavily at the judgment (Luke 16:11-12).


	Ray never made the $100,000, so he never went full time into the Lord's service. 30 years later when he was around 55, cancer caught up with him and he died. Satan's idea sounded practical, but it put the Lord in second place—and you know how Jesus feels about that (Matt. 6:33). My friend thought he was in God's will, but it was Satan's voice he was heeding.


	So making a mistake about "voices" can be costly.






			ONLY ONE THING TO DO



		Get familiar with God's voice! How? There is only one place where you can hear His voice—the Bible. You can't hear it in the woods; you can't hear it at work; you can't hear it in the marketplace; nor can you hear it on television. You may hear the Word, but you won't hear the VOICE. That takes time alone with the Word of God.

God gives us only two things in this world to bring us close to Himself—His Word and His Spirit. One is on the outside, the other on the inside. There is nothing else. As we read God's Word, His Spirit speaks to us...but it is with that "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12b). This is why we need quiet moments—alone with Him. We have to stay at this until we become familiar with that voice. I mean until it becomes powerful.


	In the military service, I remember getting radio checks before taxiing our planes for takeoff. "Tower this is P 241. Radio check please." If everything was OK the tower would come back... "Loud and clear 241." That's the way it must be with the voice of the Spirit—"loud and clear." Ah, but how does one read the Word so as to achieve such clearness?

DON'T GULP YOUR FOOD


	Remember when you were little and your mother would say... "Don't gulp your food down, chew it 27 times!" Of course no one ever chewed his food 27 times, but you get the idea.


	The same is true of Bible food—it has to be chewed. How? Not by gulping down passages. Trying to cover so many chapters in a certain amount of time won't do. You won't hear God's voice. You've got to take small bites.


	At first, the voice will be faint. You must listen closely. It takes practice. Everything learned well in this world, comes only with practice. No one can be good at the piano without practice—you know that. It is equally true of hearing God's voice. Practice makes perfect.

PRACTICE ON WHAT?


	I have developed a daily devotional titled... LET YOUR SPIRIT SOAR. This is not the usual "Thought for the day" type of devotional, such as those that take you from one story to another. First, you read a few Scripture verses. Then your eyes see a paragraph marked by a little lamp.


	This paragraph sheds light on the passage you've just read. As the meaning of the passage opens to you, your imagination goes to work. You can do all this in about FIVE MINUTES!




	CLICK the book for more information


		Spend the next few moments CHEWING on what you've read. Close your eyes. Let your spirit soar and your imagination will do what it was designed to do. THAT'S WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR THE SPIRIT'S VOICE. To me, this is the ideal way to develop spiritual hearing.

	The lights give you something to CHEW ON. Then—as you chew—the Holy Spirit will insert ideas into your thinking. Watch for them. See if you can spot them as He inserts them. Now you're listening for God's voice. From this point on, it will be a matter of practice. In time you'll hear God's voice...loud and clear.

We have an exciting help for developing your ability to hear God's voice. By that I mean, it gives you a specific way to develop the ability. Click on the book and you'll see more about LET YOUR SPIRIT SOAR —my daily devotional. The book provides 365 practice sessions, one for each day of the year. When you have gone through it for one year, start over and go through it again the following year. These flights are great exercises in listening for God's voice and it only takes about FIVE MINUTES a day!


	It makes a great gift for a birthday or Christmas. The rephrased text is easy to read, the lights present hidden meanings and mysteries and explain them in simple language. It's fun to learn how customs and certain words affected the early Christians and learn what they mean today.


	DON'T PUT THIS OFF

With the last days approaching, Satan knows his time is short. His attacks against God's people are accelerating. The bulk of those attacks are INTERNAL. That means God's people must be able to distinguish between the devil's voice and God's voice. We are truly at the emergency stage. So I urge you to start taking these practice flights and learn to recognize God's voice as quickly as you can. You have no other protection against "the stranger." I guarantee that as soon as you're able to do this, no false teacher or shepherd will be able to deceive you, for...


	A STRANGER YOU WILL NOT FOLLOW.




	MORE INFORMATION ON LET YOUR SPIRIT SOAR


	This article is Copyright 2000 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com