Dear friend
Listen to the voice of your Father.
Listen to the voice of wisdom.
Heed the instructions of Truth and Holiness.
There are so many people who are going through hardships in their life of their own doing.
Of course, we know that there is trouble in this world simply because it is a fallen world. We know that there is heartache simply because of the presence of free will. We know that the devil is on the prowl and causes a lot of grief and suffering.
But if we were honest with ourselves, we would also recognize that a lot of the trouble in our lives is of our own doing.
And God has given us an answer for this.
Listen to his voice. Heed his instruction.
Proverbs 5:12 says “how I have hated instruction and my heart spurned reproof.”
And how true this has been in your life and mine when we have gone on in our own understanding and disregarded the godly instruction that God provided to us.
So let me ask you…
What is God telling you to stop doing?
You know the thing… Every time you engage in it, you feel guilty. Every time. Each time the pastor mentions repentance your mind goes to that thing. Every time you feel pangs of guilt and shame, you know it’s because you have been ignoring the voice of the Lord and what he has told you to stop.
It could be lying, or cheating. Or stealing. (Remember poor or lazy work for your employer is lying and stealing. Remember spending time on your phone and your own projects while at work is also stealing.)
It could be lust or jealousy or greed. Always wanting what others have and not being thankful for what we have been given is a surefire way to become bitter and even self-justifying in our selfishness.
God may have told you to stop abusing your body with gluttony or drunkenness or markings on your body for the dead or for the soul or with intoxicants/stimulants.
God may have told you to stop trying to look like the world in beauty and vanity.
The Lord may have convicted you about your speech, whether cursing or gossiping or being negative.
You may have had a deep conviction about sexual immorality. And what you look at, what you fantasize about or the sexual encounters you have outside of marriage.
God may be talking to you about idolatry and placing other things before God. Or worshiping money and success. Or making yourself the center of your own universe.
Whatever it is that God has told you to stop. Please heed his voice. Hear his warning. Receive his wisdom and his instruction. What He warns us about, He is willing and able to deliver us from. What He commands us to, He empowers us to do.
Proverbs 5 warns about what happens when we ignore the voice of the Lord. We bring ourselves to utter ruin.
My desire for you is that you will be delivered and set free and have victory in Jesus Christ. And as such, I know that means listening to the wisdom of the Lord and obeying his command.
The promise of the Lord is that when we repent (turn away) of our sins and confess them before him, He will abundantly pardon and freely forgive. He will cleanse us of unrighteousness and empower us to walk in his holy ways.
But we have to heed his instruction. We have to listen to the voice of our Father.
Will you?
Before it’s too late?
Pastor Michael Johnson 