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NEVER enthrone your own study or supposed knowledge of God. Subjective. Pride. You know nothing outside of Christ! Becoming and remaining humble, teachable, pliable, and correctible are proof you are known of God (Matthew 18:3-4; Ecclesiastes 4:13).

May God tenderize the hearts of His men today (Ezekiel 36:24-26).

Can the LORD still touch our hearts? Is there a tear when He touches?

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

No person who names Jesus as LORD should even begin to be satisfied till their heart is that “heart of flesh,” soft and sensitive to the LORD and others. This happens at regeneration and God ordains us to walk in it (Ezekiel 36:24-26).

YOUR PRAYER: Holy Father, do it in me, do Your deep work. Break me Jesus, please. I love You my LORD. Take away the hardened places in my heart and replace them with “an heart of flesh” that is humble, convicted, pliable, innocent, and teachable. In Jesus’ name, I ask You dear Father. I love You Jesus.

“Yes! We need to let God break us to see there is nothing good in us. That leads to humility and the fear of God! Karen

“We pray earnestly, O God, that we may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Thy voice.” AW Tozer

We can simply, and should ask our heavenly Father to grant us to have a heart of flesh and to remove all the stones, the stony places. Let it be dear Father in the name of Jesus!

THERE’S only one reason God’s Word would not be rocking your whole world today – a hard heart! But GOD has a cure for that! He has the only solution – and that is to replace it with “an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:24-26)! Cry out to JESUS! IF you will REACH, He will RESCUE! There’s not one person reading this that doesn’t need a softer, more pliable heart – which God alone can provide when we cry out to Him with sincere heart! Now!

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” Jeremiah 4:4 

“O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” Jeremiah 4:14

It’s so very important to stop our life, to repent truly before and to our Maker, receiving Jesus as the Savior and Lord of our life before it’s too late. Those who push God away instead of getting right with Him suffer hardness of heart which may be the point of no return. The Bible calls it being seared in conscience (1 Timothy 4:2; Hebrews 3:12-15). | Fresh Start with God

All hardened hearts are going to Hell – because a heart can only be hard by way of sin. When God forgives and restores, that includes taking away the stony places and granting that humble, repentant soul an heart of flesh! God is so good!

What takes the heart away from God? Sin!

“Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” Hosea 4:11 

Anyone not fighting the good fight of faith, choosing to seek the face of the LORD for His overcoming and a pure heart, is hardened in heart, becoming seared in conscience as with a hot iron, and backslidden (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 6:12). Such a person is in desperate need of a touch from God to which he must respond in true repentance and as he does, the “times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the LORD” (Acts 3:19). Heavenly Father, please let the restoration begin. May the LORD touch each of those who name the name of Jesus as their LORD and Savior, causing us to turn from our wicked ways and to “depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19). May Jesus begin His work afresh this hour – the work of taking away the stony places of our hearts and granting us hearts of flesh as He promised to those who are born again and seek Him (Ezekiel 36:24-26).

Every heart made by the LORD repentant and pliable, an heart of flesh, will be with Him now and forever!

“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land (picture of salvation).  25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:24-26

This is a picture of salvation in Christ where He cleanses us from “filthiness” and all idolatry, gives us His Holy Spirit, and takes away the stony heart and replaces it with “an heart of flesh.”

Paramount to knowing and walking with Jesus, is being possessed by “an heart of flesh” which God greatly aggrandizes. The opposite of “an heart of flesh” is a hardened, stony heart which God will not work in without our true repentance.

Is the soil of your heart parched? Is it dry and hardened?

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:5-10

Fallen Man is Deceitful in Heart

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

Scripture tells us that our own heart is wicked and also that the LORD reveals “the thoughts of his heart” to us in and through His written Word (Jeremiah 17:9; Psalms 33:11).

The counsel (written Word) of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalms 33:11
 
In the above statement the LORD equates His “counsel” to “the thoughts of his heart.” Wow!

So which shall we follow?

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Proverbs 28:26

“For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” Jeremiah 4:3-4

Jesus speaks of the only heart soil that will be in glory and He uses the term “an HONEST and GOOD heart.”

“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Honesty goes a long way with God!

God is able saints…..Jacob was a deceiver and Peter had much falsity in him just as all of us …. God is able. I love to cry out to the LORD and ask Him to make me absolutely authentic to the core and to remove every trace of iniquity from my being, in Jesus’ name! (Psalms 51; 139:23-24)

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12

God specializes in restoration. He loves to build those places in our hearts and lives that are/were “ruined,” “desolate.”

“Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.” Ezekiel 36:36 

HOW do Our Hearts become Hardened?

It is a sin to serve self daily and not the Savior. Idolatry.

If you are not living in fervent fellowship with Jesus today, you are backslidden. You are living in sin. It doesn’t matter if you think you are saved or not. The fact is, that if you aren’t seeking the face of the LORD daily, diligently, you are reverting back to type – the sinful nature of the flesh.

God’s Word informs us that our hearts become hardened “through the deceitfulness of sin.” ….

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” Hebrews 3:12-15

The condition of men’s hearts are of extreme importance in the eyes of God.

IF I am not truly seeking the face of the LORD, engaging daily in the life-giving abiding relationship He desires, I am simply going through religious motions, have a hardened heart, and a mere “form of godliness” (1 Chronicles 16:11; Psalms 27:4, 8; Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 3:5).  Seeking God 

“God renovates us from the inside out, he isn’t an exterior decorator..that would be like putting pearls on swine. God looks on the heart: therefore that is where the sinner must start to cry out from for mercy and salvation from their own wickedness. Praise and worship come after that he creates in us a pure heart. (Matt. 7:6; Ps. 51:1-10; Ezek. 36:26)” Jon Crane

“The LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

The LORD spoke this to Samuel His servant, who like most of us, are prone to view things from a physical perspective instead of a divine perspective. Jesse had some very handsome, strong sons and yet they were passed over. When it was time to anoint a new king among God’s people, David, still young and raw, yet obediently serving the LORD out of a pure heart, was chosen. David was the youngest son of Jesse. See 1 Samuel 17.

God told His servant Samuel to not look on the outer man but rather observe how He judges, qualifies men – by their hearts. We should never judge things by the flawed whims of sinful men but rather through the lens of God’s Word which informs us that the LORD looks on the hearts of men, not the outward appearance of things. To see things as God sees them, we must have purified, cleansed, pure hearts.

Memory Verse:

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

Sinful religious men appraise themselves and others by the outward, by what things look like on the outside. Such a man is deceived into thinking that the vain show of church attendance, charitable works, giving, etc., make him pleasing to God. No. Through the hand of the beloved Paul, the Holy Spirit puts His divine finger on such that we see being played out today among many who profess to know Christ who have but a mere “form of godliness, but denying the power (authority) thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5). This passage seems to indicate that many professing believers deny Christ the power of authority over their lives. This would mean they are not submitted to the lordship of Christ in the daily cross but rather have a mere outward religion, making a fair show among mere men.

“For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:43

“And rend (open) your heart, and not your garments (outer form of godliness), and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” Joel 2:13 

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalms 34:18

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalms 51:17

Our Daily Walk with Jesus is Vital to a Pure, Pliable Heart!

Sister Debbie shares:

“‘Seek’ the Lord came through as a recurring theme while reading the Word as the Lord led to various Scriptures. This particular theme had come to my attention a few days ago – and was highlighted again today. Have determined to set myself to seek Him and look up the related Scriptures and write them down. I think I’ve known for awhile that this would be a season dedicated to seeking the Lord – seeking His face, when it all started with 1 Chronicles 16:11 ‘Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.'”

The recipe for a hardened, calloused heart is simply neglecting to seek the face of the LORD continually.

Only God can purify our hearts and He does this as we seek His face.

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11

So, you aren’t perfect? Join the club! And, yet we serve the only One who is divine perfection and who is working in us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” – as we work out our “own salvation with fear and trembling.”

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:  … 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. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13

Being corrected is “the way of life” and not just here and there, not just once in a while. Have you noticed this?

Are you in God’s Word daily? If so His Word will light His way for your life and you will continue to learn of Jesus through His blessed reproofs, corrections, chastisements.

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” Proverbs 6:23

We ALL have the same iniquities which are evil and if not daily crucified with Christ, if we are not full of the Holy Ghost daily, the fruit of the Holy Spirit will not be present (1 Corinthians 9:27). And the works of the flesh will be in full operation (Galatians 5:19-23). This is why rising up early to spend quality moments with Jesus are so very foundational, so essential and such a blessing! God is working in the lives of all who truly put Him first in their lives (Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13).

PRAYER: Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, please melt and grant this heart You gave to be truly a heart of flesh, pliable, teachable, and full of Your love. Please remove the stony places that came by way of my sin and pour into my heart the oil of Your Holy Ghost dear LORD. In the name of Jesus, Father, please do this now!

Fresh Start with God

MESSAGE RECEIVED:
“Can God make it so a believer doesn’t feel Him in them any more as a test to seek after Him? I think that might be the case for me :)”
 
REPLY:
I have been exactly where you are. Exactly.
I simply moved toward and not away from the LORD
And He made it so I had no feelings of His love at first
But then…..He broke through…. sin had put my heart into a place of hardness so that I couldn’t sense Him.

Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalms 30:5

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Abiding

The Eternal Danger of Trusting Mere Men [podcast]


Idol Shepherds Abounding!

The LORD is Holy and will not share His glory with any other.

“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” Isaiah 42:8

Your favorite pastor, evangelist or teacher among men is “at his best state … altogether vanity” (Psalms 39:5). God be thanked for the life of every true servant elder and yet they are mere men. God did not send His only begotten Son to die and be buried and raised again to make you a good church member or fan of a mere man who is supposed to be a servant leader. Jesus came to take away our sins, make us new creatures so we could know Him and His Father – and serve them and not man (John 1:29; 17:3; 1 Corinthians 7:23). We are each called to “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). Let’s read the whole verse: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10).

RAVI ZACHARIAS is just another pawn of Satan whom gullible dupes clung to, they hung to his every word. He rarely even mentioned the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith – the holiness of God, the precious blood of Jesus, the crucified life, repentance, etc.. Why did they cling to him, a mere man? They were unrepentant and therefore weren’t choosing to truly worship, seek the face of, love and obey Christ. The vacuum left by their idolatry facilitated their delusion. Then Ravi died in sin. When you love the LORD, truly, you love and devour HIS Word, daily. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.

“LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. 5  Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. 6  Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. 7  And now, Lord, what wait I for? MY HOPE IS IN THEE.” Psalms 39:4-7

When O When will we truly repent and genuinely follow JESUS, pouring over and hanging on HIS every Word – from Genesis to Revelation? Isn’t that why He gave us HIS Word, the Bible? (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3

“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” 20:31

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5

The ministries of mere men are not an end in themselves.

They are called to simply teach God’s Word itself – and to get you into God’s Word daily for yourself.

Notice how the apostle Paul reveals how the disciples at Thessalonica “received the word of God.”

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when YE RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

“Ye received the word of God – Ye received the doctrine of God, not as any thing fabricated by man, but as coming immediately from God himself, we being only his messengers to declare what he had previously revealed to us. And ye have had the fullest proof that ye have not believed in vain; for that doctrine, under the power and influence of the Holy Ghost, has worked most powerfully in you, filling you with light, life, and holiness.” Adam Clarke

They were “taught of God”, not men (1 Thessalonians 4:9).

The ministries of the servants of God are merely designed to get you to discern ….. and to get into God’s Word FOR YOURSELF – to study to show your own self approved unto God! (Acts 17:10-11)

” And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:10-11

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 

YOU do it.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

The lazy, those who don’t truly love the LORD are being eliminated as goats. This all comes on the heels of their refusal to seek God…. and study His own Word.

No, instead the idolaters of mere men will read and listen to endless messages by mere men, their favorite preachers, mere men. They then bond with those mere men, there is an unnatural soul-tie created.

“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Isaiah 2:22

“Isaiah 2:19-22 People will seek for shelter wherever they can hide. It will be clear then that fleeting man is unworthy of trust. Only the Lord is worthy of the undivided confidence of His people.” Believer’s Bible Commentary

“Cease ye – Never admire or place your trust in man. Breath – Whose breath is quickly stopped and taken away. Wherein – What excellency is in him, considered in himself, and without dependence on God?” John Wesley

“Cease ye from man – Trust neither in him, nor in the gods that he has invented. Neither he, nor they, can either save or destroy.” Adam Clarke

The church world is full of wolves in sheep’s clothing. The list of “idol shepherd(s) is long…. Here is but a sampling:

See all shorts videos here on ministry youtube channel.

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Abiding

“Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith” [podcast]


Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith and He requires our personal participation both initially and ongoing, as we “endure to the end”, abiding in Him (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; John 15, etc.).

“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” John 6:66-67 

WHERE O WHERE are we going to go if we depart from Jesus? …. does He, the eternal God and Creator of all things not hold the future of every living soul in His holy hand?

FB Meyer on John 6:60-71

“THE SIFTING OF JESUS’ FOLLOWERS
Christ’s pathetic question-Will ye also go away?-elicited from Peter a reply which proved that the inner meaning of His words had already broken upon their souls. ‘Thy words give us and nourish within us the eternal life.'”

“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” John 6:66-67

There are many today, who like the 5,000 who departed from Christ, leave when they hear the cross message – the divine command to be crucified with Christ. Jesus asks us today: “Will you allow He who authored your faith to finish it?”

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4 

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:   knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness”? Romans 6:1-16


“In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” Colossians 2:3-10

The Gospel, the Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Christology | The Cross

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Abiding

“My Sheep Hear My Voice, and I Know them, and they Follow Me” [podcast]


There are 7 portraits of Jesus in the Gospel of John. One of those seven portraits is Jesus our “the good shepherd.” (John 10)

The first thing the good shepherd of the sheep did was give His life to purchase the sheep with His own blood.

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

Jesus who created us, then came to die to buy up back to the Father and Himself.

The Bible, God’s Word, is full of illustrations of who God is, and who He is to us. He is our shepherd….the shepherd of His true sheep. How do we know who His remnant saints, sheep truly are? How do we know if we individually are truly His?

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29

“John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice – But ye will not hear: – my sheep follow me; but ye will neither follow nor acknowledge me. Any person who reads without prejudice may easily see, that our Lord does not at all insinuate that these persons could not believe, because God had made it impossible to them; but simply because they did not hear and follow Christ, which the whole of our blessed Lord’s discourse proves that they might have done. The sheep of Christ are not those who are included in any eternal decree, to the exclusion of others from the yearnings of the bowels of eternal mercy; but they are those who hear, believe in, follow, and obey the Savior of the world.” Adam Clarke

We know He is our shepherd if we are reading, listening for, and walking out the voice of His Word. That’s why He gave us His Word. The voice of His Word is His voice. This is why God gave us the Bible, His Word, the “voice” of His Word. Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice” and the “voice” of Jesus is with us, is God’s written Word. We have the “voice”, the very words of our LORD on record. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The primary way God’s voice is heard by His sheep is the Holy Scriptures….. reading God’s Word is hearing the voice of God.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:13-14

Our LORD, the good shepherd of our souls, told us that His sheep are those who hear His voice, the voice of His Word. Those not in the Word are not hearing the voice of God.

“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” John 8:47 

Those who are “of the truth” hear the voice, the words of Jesus Christ.

“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” John 18:37 

Jesus made it clear who His true sheep are ….

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21

Jesus’ sheep hear His voice, He knows them, they follow Him. They don’t listen to nor follow their own feelings, human reasoning, their own wicked heart, nor any mere men … “follow your heart”? No.  That’s a lie from hell. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)  Jesus died to save you so you would be His, and that you would follow Him, His voice and none other.

Jesus, on record in John 10:27-29, is telling us that it’s only those who are hearing His voice, the voice of His Word, and following Him, who are going to be kept in His holy hand. After being saved, only those who abide in Christ to the end will be kept by Him and with Him eternally. Read John 15:1-6 where you will see that any whom Jesus saves and yet then they don’t “abide” (remain, continue) in Him will be cast into the fire of hell (v6).

Take a closer look at John 10:27-29. Anchor the promise in verses 28-29 on verse 27 where Jesus identifies who His sheep are—those who hear and continue to hear His voice and continue to follow Him (present tense). The divine promise here to be kept is a conditional
promise requiring the individual recipient of the gift of God to continue to hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27-29). If you are born again, a sheep of Christ’ pasture, and you cease hearing His voice and following Him, you are no long His.

Many today detach, separate our LORD’s words in verse 27 from verses 28-29 of John 10. In doing so, they perpetrate their “eternal security” mythology which is Satan’s first lie (Genesis 2:17; 3:4). Beware as this was the first lie Satan told mankind, which led to the fall (Genesis 2:17; 3:4).

The LORD saved you to be His – to hear the voice of His Word and to follow Him, to walk with Him.

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5

To be kept you must live “through faith” – to hear and believe the voice of His Word, and walk with Him accordingly.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

“Eternal security”, otherwise known as “once saved always saved”, is a lie from hell. Run from any and all wolves peddling this, Satan’s first lie (Genesis 2:17; 3:4).

To be “kept” by Jesus, the saved sheep must live his life “through faith.”

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”   Luke 17:5

The recipient of salvation must “through faith” be “kept.” God never removes man’s free will and requires not only initial but also continued faith. Jesus foretold that some would be saved and then not continue with Him and “fall away” (Luke 8:12-13).

“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:9

Prayer: Father, I know You are holy and require my faith to the end of this life. Make sensitive my conscience, quicken my spirit to repentance and to be holy as You are holy. In Jesus’ name.

Jesus Christ our LORD is “that great shepherd of the sheep.”

“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21 

“For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,” Psalms 95:7

“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalms 100:3

“To hear His voice, we submit to the pruning of the Holy Ghost in our heart. The fruit of righteousness can only be produced in an ABIDING relationship with Jesus and cultivated by the Holy Spirit given to them that OBEY him. (John 15:3-5; 14:15-17)” Jon Crane

Moments with Our Master [book] 365 Day Devotional book available at  and amazon. English and Spanish.

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