ICS Daily Devotions
In the Presence of God
John 10:27(NKJV) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
The Great Shepherd is a good shepherd who protects His sheep from the predators. He leads us to green pastures and still waters. There are too many voices clamouring for our attention including well meaning suggestions from colleagues, friends, and different medias, but unless we listen to the voice of Jesus, we will tend to stray, go on our own ways and leave the sheepfold. There is no protection when we are away from the Shepherd and it opens us to the evil one, so what we want to do is to tune in to that one voice—the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
It is only when we tune into His voice that we will follow Him. There is protection in the presence of the Good Shepherd who will lay down His life for us, and we have to learn to trust the Good Shepherd who will not harm us but have our best interest at heart.
The thoughts from our mind is analytical, whereas God’s voice comes as intuitions in our hearts, spontaneous thoughts that are dropped into our hearts or spirits. It literally lights up our mind from the heart when He directly impresses His thoughts and ideas upon it.
It will help if we have a fixed time and place to be with the Heavenly Father. Some people like to have the cross as a visual aid to help them focus on God when they enter into this room, while instrumental worship music played in the background can also act as a preparation for us to be still before the presence of God.
Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
The experience of being silent before God is more about His presence besides hearing His voice. We can soak in His love just like a child in the presence of a loving Father, and it is during the period of silence that warm communication takes place. It is not a vocal, busy, or sometimes manipulative or over achievement-oriented prayer.
It is in the stillness that we reflect upon God, His omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. Listening to God is so natural when we are in the presence of God because we come as a child of God—we have left behind the role of a husband, wife, employee, parent, child of our parents, business owner….and just be in the presence of God as a child of the living God.
Sermon Series: From the Closet to the Board Room (Part 1) – Listening to God
