Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep.
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers:
but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved,
and shall go in and out, and find pasture. vs 7-9
I am the good shepherd,
and know my sheep,
and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me,
even so know I the Father:
and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. vs 14-16
My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them,
and they follow me: v 27
How does God talk to us?
A good way to hear from God
is when you are reading His word,
some things are made alive to us
when we read the scriptures
Some scriptures we can read multiple times
and they never really mean much or jump out at us,
or at times, we understand them as they are revealed
or opened up to us by the Holy Spirit
Gods word is alive
Jesus is the bread of life
If you have ever been reading along in the bible
and found something that just clicked,
that just made sense to you,
that became real to you,
that is most likely the Lord opening His word to you
Jesus spoke in parables
He did not want all to understand what He was saying
He said, But blessed are your eyes, for they see:
and your ears, for they hear. Matthew 13:16
None of us understands everything
None of us understands all of the mysteries of the word of God
The fact that we understand some things is a marvel
He reveals His word to us in His way, at His time
Learning from someone else is not good enough
Even if they are the best teacher on the planet
and their lips drip wisdom and knowledge,
Jesus wants us to learn directly from Him
and He is right here to teach us directly
We can be taught logical understandings of the word,
truths in the word,
but always go to the well yourself
Sit at Jesus’ feet to learn
and encourage others to do the same
Do not build for yourself pinnacles of doctrine,
or follow after a person to hear the next greatest teaching
for then, without knowing it,
you will become like the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and you while you are concentrating on
learning from a man and
hearing and learning what is seemingly perfect,
you could then be relying on that teacher
and you may be missing out
on what the Lord is trying to teach you
I never heard of the disciples studying the law
They learned directly from Jesus
and when they had a question,
they asked Him and He explained to them all their questions
Good teachers are valuable and used of God
However, each of us still must have
our own relationship with Jesus
He desires to commune with us
and longs for fellowship with us
The unsaved do not understand anything
The gospel is foolishness to them
They are blinded and deaf to the things of God
It is a hard truth but Jesus said:
All things are delivered to me of my Father:
and no man knoweth who the Son is,
but the Father; and who the Father is,
but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
Luke 10:22
Jesus has to open their eyes
There is no other way
In Matthew chapter 16,
Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was:
And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. v 16
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. v 17
It is the same when we gain the living word as Jesus teaches us
You can listen to a preacher,
learn from teachers,
but until that word is spoken from the Holy Spirit to you,
you won’t understand the word in its fullness
The other day a lady was afraid
she was going to fall away or reject Jesus
Many people came to her rescue
telling her not to be afraid and that God loved her
While that is true, she has to know it from God herself
it won’t matter how many people tell her
unless she learns it from the Holy Spirit, it will not benefit her,
except perhaps for the moments they are near
or to learn it intellectually
I suggested she take her fears to the throne of God herself
We have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling
It really doesn’t matter much how many times someone tells you
Do not Fear is written in the Bible
We can know it’s commanded, that Jesus spoke it many times,
tried to get the idea across to those who would listen,
until it means something to you,
until God has spoken it to you,
made it real to you,
you won’t be able to absorb it,
to fully take it in into your spirit so that you truly will not fear because you know He is caring for you
We can tell someone else the scriptures
but it is up to them to find and persist with God
to hear from Him
so that it is solid in our hearts,
similar to the wrestling with God that Jacob did
Hold onto God until you get that blessing
Scriptural References:
And Jesus said unto them,
I am the bread of life:
he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
For the word of God is living and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart..
Hebrews 4:12
And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more:
for every man’s word shall be his burden;
for ye have perverted the words of the living God,
of the Lord of hosts our God. Jeremiah 22:36
But he answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
I Corinthians 1:18
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2:12
And Jacob was left alone;
and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him,
he touched the hollow of his thigh;
and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint,
as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.
And he said,
I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him,
What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said,
Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel:
for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men,
and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said,
Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.
And he said,
Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?
And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel:
for I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved.
And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him,
and he halted upon his thigh.
Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day:
because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh
in the sinew that shrank. Genesis 32:24-32