Home »
Grace takes you from where you are to where God wants you to be.
And studying the prayer of David, who rose from being a shepherd boy to being a king, all by the grace of God in his life, yields rich insights that remain true even today.
‘Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as Head over all. Both riches and honor come from you and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all’. [1 Chronicles 29:11,12] What David prayed hundreds of years ago, becomes instruction this present day, on God’s grace and guidance in your life and mine. It is God, who is the exalted Head over all, who leads and guides us.
How does God lead you in your every day life ?
The Bible declares that those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. [Romans 8:14] And otherwise by default, you will succumb to being led by your own senses and speculations that arise from the systems of the world, which can easily mislead you.
The Lord’s guidance
It is described beautifully and very simply by David in the psalm that is so familiar to all – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul – He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. [Psalms 23:1-3] The familiarity of it though, should not hinder you from receiving the truth that God is speaking to you through it – the ‘now’ word, that is going to bless and guide you in paths of righteousness.
Guidance begins with a relationship:
The Christian walk is, as the psalm depicts, more than rules and rituals. A personal relationship with God is the foundation, the premise on which the whole psalm rests. The Lord is your shepherd, and you shall not lack. It is in this relationship that He leads you to a place of rest, in green pastures, beside still waters where He restores you. For there can be no restoration without experiencing the rest which comes forth from God. In a position of rest, as you receive from God, He restores and renews your mind. It is then that you know the good and perfect will of God, to be led by His Spirit in right paths – the path of righteousness.
‘The Lord is my shepherd’
A relationship with God that is intimate and personal is the key to receiving guidance from Him. He needs to be ‘your’ God, ‘your’ shepherd, as the psalmist is able to confidently declare. And all that a shepherd does is expressed in the words of a Christian writer thus ‘The shepherd feeds, leads, meets your need, forgives your misdeeds and leads you to succeed’. But more than what he does, it is focusing on who the shepherd is, that is the key to developing intimacy with Him.
‘I am the good Shepherd’
The gospel of John records the words of Lord Jesus, where He portrays Himself as the shepherd of His flock ‘I am the good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know Me’. [John 10:14]
Two very significant aspects of God’s immortal truth are expressed above. They are – (1) ‘I know my sheep’, and (2) ‘I am known by my sheep’. They are words that would lead you to examine and ask yourself.
‘How well do I know Him ?’
It has been rightly said that Salvation has been purchased on the Cross for the entire world, but it is efficient only in those who believe. On receiving the gift of salvation, you need to grow in your knowledge of Him, through His word and His Spirit, in order to develop a relationship of intimacy with Him. And in your relationship with Him, you will be led and guided by Him in righteous paths.
How well does He know you ?
In a world that more and more sees you being reduced to a number, losing your unique significance, the Lord calls you by name. It signifies how intimately He knows and cares about every single detail of your life, both big and small.
‘To Him the door-keeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out’. [John 10:3]
He knew your identity, even before you gained an identity. The Lord’s words to the prophet Jeremiah make it abundantly clear ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’. Before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations. [Jeremiah 1:5] He knew you, and your unique calling and identity even before you were born.
And as you live in this world that is becoming increasingly fast- paced and superficially busy, you can be lonely even when you are surrounded by people. The feeling of loneliness and a lack of intimacy can creep up on you suddenly, leaving you feeling empty and forlorn.
In such a context, one which arises in every body’s life at times, His comforting word is that He calls you by name. Indeed, to Him, you are more than a number. There are millions of stars in the sky. But He calls each one of them by name. And the wondrous truth is that, more than the star in the sky, in the eyes of God Almighty, you are a star !
a) He knows you completely:
‘Even the very hairs in your head are all numbered’ [Luke 12:7] says the Lord to you and each and every person who hears His voice. He expresses to you the truth that He is aware of every minute detail of your life. You may surprise yourself, by doing something that you never thought you were capable of, but you can never surprise God! He knows you completely, inside out. The greatest blessing in your life though, is the privilege that you enjoy of getting to know Him more and more.
b) He knows you intimately:
He calls His own sheep by name. [John 10:3]
It happens even in human relationships, what begins in a formal manner, grows into familiarity as the relationship grows, when you let go of formal titles, to call the person by their name. With God it is immeasurably deeper. It reveals the breadth and depth, in essence the intimacy of His knowledge of you.
‘You know my thoughts from afar’
The psalmist eloquently personalizes how the Lord knows you and I ‘O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;You understand my thoughts from afar off; You comprehend my path, and are acquainted with all my ways. [Psalms 139:1-3]
He knows your thoughts from afar, knows how you are going to think and respond to a situation; it is the depth of His knowledge of you. The Lord is intimately acquainted with all your ways. And He is your good shepherd who leads you !
He goes ahead :
‘And when He brings out His own sheep He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice’. [John 10:14]
He leads you as the Shepherd who goes ahead of you. He never forces you, or drives you from behind. Therefore, it is in the freedom of your free-will that you choose to willingly follow Him.
How does it reflect in your everyday life ?
Having experienced the Lord’s goodness and love in your life, you are in a position where you can prioritize the place of God in your life. You can choose to come and worship Him in adoration, and can echo the words of David, saying ‘I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord’. There is a willing desire and inclination in you to spend time in prayer and studying God’s word.
He goes ahead and you follow.
How do you follow the Lord, your Shepherd ?
The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. [John 10:4]
His sheep recognize His voice and follow the Shepherd, the Breaker, who goes ahead removing all hindrances. In your Christian walk, the key is to know the Lord’s voice in a revelation knowledge that leads to an intimate relationship with Him. Where there is no revelation knowledge, there can be no relationship with God. What happened in the life of the prophet Samuel as a young boy illustrates the truth.
‘And the Lord called yet again’
Then the Lord called yet again, ‘Samuel’. So Samuel arose and went to Eli saying, ‘Here I am, for you called me’. [1 Samuel 3:6]
The word of the Lord was rare in those days. And Samuel was not yet in a relationship with God. But what sets a person free is not going to people, however godly they may be, but Lord Jesus, the one Mediator between God and man. It is not by knowing people of God; it is by knowing God Himself. And then, when you are in a personal relationship with God, in your need you will go to Him first, not as an afterthought. It becomes more and more possible, as you get to know Him more and more in a revelation knowledge that leads to a relationship of intimacy and trust.
The word of God goes on to clarify and explain the reason for Samuel’s action. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of God yet revealed to him. [1 Samuel 3:7] You can know God primarily only through His word. And the boy Samuel had not yet received the revelation word of God in order to know God, and be in a relationship with Him.
‘The Word was God’
In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God; the Word was God. [John 1:1]
The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth, and today He comes to dwell in your heart when you receive Him as your Lord and Savior. He then proceeds to reveal Himself to you through the written word. For even as you read God’s word, His Spirit in you begins to enlighten you. And you behold as you read, not black letters in white pages, but the very colors, the splendor of the Almighty God Himself.
The voice of God in the verse:
People can hear from God in dreams and visions; but it has to add up to the word of God. Experiences can sometimes be very subjective, vary according to the person’s personality. Focus on the word of God therefore, for it is unchanging forever. The God who knows the uniqueness of your personality, knows how exactly to deal with you- to make you understand that it is His voice you are hearing in the written word.
You are His testimony
In the church, it is the preacher who gives voice to the Word. And in your workplace, you are called to be a testimony. Therefore, God will use your voice to speak out the saving grace of His word to the people around you. And as you study God’s word, it is in the verse that you will hear His voice. It happens when a thought from God is birthed in your spirit through a particular verse. And you will also have the knowledge and the confidence in your spirit that it was God who spoke it to you.
For in the life of Samuel, when he recognized the voice of God and obeyed, it was the beginning of his prophetic calling. And as he grew in his relationship with the Lord, in revelation knowledge, the glorious intimacy that he enjoyed at the end of his life is revealed in the truth of God’s word. ‘None of his words fell to the ground’ for every word that he heard from God to speak forth, came into fulfillment. What happened in the life of the Samaritan woman, as she came face to face with the Lord, was a revelation knowledge of Him too – one which progressed step by step to know Him as her Messiah.
‘Could it be the Messiah ?’
Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that you being a Jew ask a drink from me, a Samaritan ?’ [John 4:9]
It began with racial connotations. But as the conversation progressed, and she heard the word from the Eternal Word, her knowledge of Him grew in revelation, and she perceived Him to be the Messiah, who was to come. And her miraculous encounter ended with her personal testimony, through which an entire village came to the saving knowledge of Lord Jesus being the savior of the world.
The living waters:
Thirst and water was the common denominator as the conversation began. And then the Lord’s words to her were, ‘If you only knew the gift of God, and who it is, who says to you, ‘Give me a drink’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water’. [John 4:10] He says the same words to you today that you may thirst no more.
The question is How well do you know Him ?
The only Word that matters:
There will always be other voices that bombard you as you live in this world. They could be the wrong things spoken by other people that linger in your mind to trouble you. But only what God speaks to you matters. And when you are confused or anxious, He speaks to you through His word, to bring strength and clarity. He will bring to remembrance in you, what He has already spoken concerning your troubling situation in His word. Therefore, it is by knowing the word, that you hear His voice. And by habitually and steadfastly hearing His voice, your intimacy with Him will grow more and more.
Abundant life:
‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’. [John 10:10,11]
On the Cross, the good Shepherd laid down His life for you. And now, He gives life to you in all its abundance, through every life giving word. And it is the word of God that leads you to increasing intimacy in your relationship with Him.
The disciples path to a deepened relationship:
‘For I have given to them, the words which you have given Me, and they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that you sent Me’. [John 17:8]
In this momentous and powerful High Priestly prayer of the Savior, the Eternal word, He establishes the truth that it is the words that come from Him, that lead to revelation knowledge of Him. ‘I have given to them the words that you have given Me’, the Lord says here, referring to His disciples. And it does not end there; the link continues in the closing verses of the gospel of Mathew to include all of us; for the disciples are entrusted with the glorious privilege of going into all the nations, to teach unto others what He Himself had taught them.
Now therefore, it is the word that you read and meditate upon- in order to hear the voice of God. Read until you hear His voice speaking to you through a particular verse of scripture concerning your circumstance. It is how you can overcome, and not undergo whatever that is troubling you.
It pleases God – when you hear His voice:
Hearing His voice will direct you in the right path in your life. And even if you happen to be going in the wrong direction, it will turn your life around, pointing you in the right direction, towards your godly destiny. It happened in the life of the Pharisee who was vigorously pursuing the wrong direction in ignorance and misplaced zeal.
‘I am JESUS’
Paul was a Pharisee. He knew the scriptures, but he did not know whom it was pointing to. He had heard the name of Jesus spoken many times by people around him. But now, on the road to Damascus, the same name ‘Jesus’, spoken to him by Jesus Himself, changed the direction of his life – pointing him towards his divine destiny.
Even today, God loves to speak to people who love to listen to His voice in His word. And it will point you in the right direction to overcome and be more than a conqueror in life’s journey. It is what God speaks to you through what you know, to what you do not know, that sets you free. As the revelation knowledge of Him leads you to a relationship of intimacy with Him in which you find your rest, you will be led in paths of righteousness.
To know Him more and more:
The apostle Paul as he neared the end of his life on earth had grown immeasurably in his intimacy with the Lord. But he still had the thirst and longing to know Him more, and the power of His resurrection. And you will not experience power without knowing the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, knowing Him is itself power. And knowing Him more and more, you will press on towards the goal, as Paul expresses with clarity.
‘I press on:
Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead- I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:12-14]
The more you know Him, the more you will let go, forget what lies behind to move forward, press on to lay hold of what Christ has laid hold of you.
The goal of every Christian:
Though individual goals may vary, even in serving the Lord, in a different dimension, every Christian has the same goal. The highest goal in life is- in the midst of challenges, to pursue Christ, and in the process of knowing Him more and more, becoming more like Him. Being satisfied with anything less is not the ultimate, the maximum in your life.For, you are called to press on, run the race appointed for you, fixing your eyes on Jesus.
Fixing your eyes on Jesus:
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us – Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. [Hebrews 12:1,2]
Picture Jesus at the finish line, and run your race. He is your goal. Becoming like Him is your ultimate prize. Led by the Spirit, hear His voice in His word, as you press on to the place He has set for you. Focus on God’s word to know Him in revelation knowledge that leads to a relationship with Him that you may hear and know the voice of the Good Shepherd who leads you in paths of righteousness. In the Name of Christ Jesus, Amen.
