I Know Them

John 10 says,  My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.

What a great passage to read and believe!

One of the most peaceful paintings I’ve ever observed is that of a shepherd guiding his sheep out on a green pasture, rod and staff in hand, a pool of clear water nearby, on a blue clear day.

When we belong to Him we are his sheep, and we recognize his voice.  You know how we do?  When we choose to believe and accept Christ as our Savior, we are acknowledging him and he then takes us, cares for us, lead us, and instructs us into paths we must follow.  And no one, nothing…nada…can removes us from his hand.  What security that is!

I’ve heard it said, and I’ve said it myself, that it’s sometimes hard to distinguish God’s voice over the voices in our own heads.  And sometimes that’s true, until…we walk with him for years and years, we read his word and about his character, and we observe the workings of his spirit in our lives.  It’s then that we begin to recognize even the rocky paths we have to sometimes climb as being his leading up to a higher plain where more beauty awaits.

Listen for his voice of love and tenderness, and respond to that one.  He doesn’t accuse, he doesn’t berate, and he doesn’t condemn.  He’s the other voice calling to you, the one you need to listen to, the one that speaks only what his Father tells him to speak, that which leads you to a better place than the one where you currently are.