Voice

today pastor shawn craig was talking about revelation 1
verses 9-18
he spoke so confidently about the person of Jesus
and about what that means for man
that Jesus died and is alive forever and ever
and that He holds the keys to death and hell.
if we want life,
[and i remember larissa saying this too]
we need to live out of real encounters with Jesus
like john did on patmos
because if we're regularly encountering Him,
we'll have a sense of wonder at God's greatness,
we'll begin to see recognize His voice
we'll experience a shift in vision, viewpoint
we'll experience power to change

what you encounter often will transform you
[for emphasis, note that "often" in this sentence modifies "encounter"]

and the point that he made that really grabbed my attention
was under the topic of learning to recognize His voice
"and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." john 10.4b
and He echoes this further
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father" john 10.14,15a
shawn pointed out that the emphasis is on the relationship and the trust and the "knowing"
and i've discovered
that the word "know" in the greek, ginosko,
is the same word (Strong's 1097)
that paul uses in philippians 3
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection..."
and that is used in matthew
"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son." matthew 1.24-25 (esv)

so this word, ginosko, carries with it this understanding that
this relationship between us and our Savior
is rich with intimacy.

to know Him,
to really, genuinely know Him-
knowing about Him is not sufficient
memorizing every word in His Word will prove inadequate-
He didn't say that His sheep know His doctrine,
but His V O I C E.
but until we ginosko Him, like a husband and a wife know each other
we'll never fully grasp what He's holding out to us
relationship
strength in weakness
unconditional love that has no expectations for us except for steadfastness
all power, wisdom, peace, maturity, love, faithfulness, wholeness, rest...

so please, dear friend,
live in the fullness of really knowing Him,
rather than seeking the doctrine and the academic knowledge,
ask Him
(i've been pleading for this for you too)
to open your heart,
to give you the strength to trust Him
so that you can possess experiential knowledge of Him.
this alone will change you,
your family,
your future.
it will heal your past,
make sense of your failures,
and place you in safety and peace at the feet of
your Good Shepherd.