Voices

Perhaps you've seen the quip on Facebook that says something like, "I know the voices in my head aren't real but they come up with such good ideas."  Actually, not.  The voices, may not be real in an audible sense, but they have a real source.  The source may be evil or good, Satan or God.  And the ideas planted may be good or may be terribly bad - it depends on the source. 

We not only live in a spiritual war zone - a spiritual war zone exists within us. The apostle Paul is quite clear about this in Romans 7:22-23, "...in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind..."

Abraham was "...called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance...even though he did not know where he was going" (Heb 11:8).  Can you imagine the competing voices clamoring in his head, telling him how crazy this idea was, how foolish to head off into parts unknown, how much he was leaving behind...?

We have those voices saying, "I know I should but," "I know I shouldn't but," "It's time to act," "It's my fault," "I'm no good," "I am loved," etc.  Which ones should we listen to?  The obvious answer is the ones from the Spirit of God.  But how do we know which voice is His?

Testing - "...test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil" (1 Thess 5:21-22).  We must ask the Spirit to train our ears to distinguish His voice. We must be in prayer daily, communing with the Spirit of God. We must daily be reading the Words of God's Spirit (The Bible). We must be in regular communication with God's children (Christians). 

When we regularly pray, read the Bible and assemble with other Christians, we learn His language, His message, His voice. And knowing His voice, we know what is not His. Jus' Sayn.