Monday, January 7, 2019

Who Do You Listen To? a devotion by Ann Broughton



“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10: 27-28 NIV).

Who do you listen to? I know there might be some people who are reading this who listen to an inner voice that says: “You are stupid”, “You are fat” “You will never amount to anything”, “Nobody loves you”, You will never succeed”. If you are a Christian you need to know that these words are not what Christ would want you to dwell on. You are an heir to the kingdom of God. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17 NIV).

You can listen to the voice of darkness, Satan, or choose to listen to the Holy Spirit. Satan is spoken of in the Bible as being the darkness. Jesus spoke to Paul about this. “I am sending you to them (Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-18 NIV). Satan would love for you to wallow in misery and self-condemnation. But the Holy Spirit within you will fill your soul with hope and peace. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NIV).

When you start saying negative things about yourself, you are in darkness. When Jesus was being tempted by Satan, he rebuked him. Jesus said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10 NIV). I would suggest that you say the same thing to the devil.
“Away from me, Satan. The Bible says I am an heir of God. You have no authority over me because I am sealed with the Holy Spirit”. You must be the one to change your thinking. Nobody can do that for you.

Dear Lord,
Please help me when my thoughts are full of negativity about myself. I know it is only the devil trying to convince me I am worthless. I know that he is wrong. Help me to immediately rebuke him, and believe the truth that only you can give me; that I am a child of God. Let your light in me shine before others so that they will see your love through my actions.
In Jesus’ name, Amen


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