One of the many Scriptures that helps my daily walk is Deuteronomy 28:1-2, “Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the LORD your God." (AMP Version)
Think of it, The Creator of the universe has promised to surround us with His supernatural favor and all we must do is listen for His voice and obey His Word.
Every day we hear thousands and thousands of voices talking to us in this over-communicative world. The question is, whose voice are we listening to?
Imagine being in a room with hundreds of people and all are talking to each other at the same time. Suddenly, from somewhere in the room you hear the voice of a loved one rise above the loud clamor. Instantly, you tune out all the ambient noise and focus on the one voice you have a relationship with.
It is the same in the spirit life. Daily, we are bombarded with hundreds of voices pulling us in different directions and many leading us into paths we should not travel. Sadly, these are the words we listen to the most. Instead, we must become familiar with God’s Word so that we can recognize His voice and hear it above all others.
Remember this truth, words are important, and we will eventually define our self-worth by the words we listen to. Many of us are allowing the opinions of the world to influence how we perceive ourselves; these wrongly defined perceptions are expressed through godless ideas found within irregular relationships, depressing music, violent movies, graphically brutal video games, and intimidating social media.
As believers, we should hear the Word of the Lord and use it as the absolute measuring rod of how we perceive ourselves. Once we do, we will become a living testimony of God’s glory.
The glory of God’s presence is called the Shekinah. Years ago, Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg, of blessed memory, taught that the written Word is alike cloven tongues of fire. He said that the Shekinah “inhabits or dwells” the space between each letter and like flames of a fire, every Word is dynamic, it is in constant motion, never stagnant.
WHAT DOES THIS IMAGE SIGNIFY TO THE BELIEVER? It means that we can read a passage of Scripture today and it ministers to our present need, yet we can read that same verse another day and it provides the perfect answer for the need we have at that time. The Word transforms itself to meet our needs, yet it does not change, it is always the same, just like its Author. The Word is God and God is the Word.
The Word of God has supernatural power, when proclaimed in faith, it will save the lost, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)
The Word of God redeems the sinner, He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:14NIV)
The Word of God delivers the oppressed, He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, (2 Corinthians 1:10 NIV).
The Word of God heals the sick, He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. (Psalm 107:20 NIV)
And the Word of God defines who we are. In the Song of Solomon 4:7, God says we are beautiful. 1 John 4:10 states we are loved by God. 1 John 3:7 affirms that we are righteous. And Proverbs 28:1 declares that “the righteous are as bold as a lion!” Yes, the Lord sees us as courageous and vigilant.
Think on the lion’s traits for a moment. They act like the kings and queens of the jungle and they walk with that majestic confidence. Lions are strong and are keenly aware of their surroundings in order to effectively provide for their family. And in order to protect their pride they intimidate their adversary with their valiant roar.
It’s the same in our spiritual life as a believer, we are to see ourselves as God sees us. The Word of God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14). Genesis 1:27 tells us that we are made in His image, and we are to adapt our minds to the mind of Christ as mandated in Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3:2. We are God’s workmanship, created for a good purpose (Ephesians 2:10).
We are to walk upright as stated in Proverbs 14:2. The Word declares that God chose us to be His royal representatives (1 Peter 2:9). We are the sweet aroma of Christ to the world (2 Corinthians 2:14). The Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are overcomers through Christ Jesus (1 John 5:4). God’s abundant power works in us (Ephesians 3:20). We are more than conquerors and victorious over our enemies (Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15:57).
Once we discover who we are in Christ, we will walk in bold confidence as we fulfill God’s Divine purposes for our lives. The more we build a relationship with Him the more we can distinguish His voice above all the others. The more we know His voice the more we desire to honor and obey it. We are to live in the certainty of who we are in Christ as declared in Philippians 3:3 and speak the Word of God with bold confidence as that of a roaring lion. And like Winston Churchill said, “I WAS NOT THE LION, BUT IT FELL TO ME TO GIVE THE
LION’S ROAR.”
