According to John 1:12, a disciple is a son of God. The Father-son relationship can be deepened in quality through constant fellowship with God. You are a son of God. A son can get closer to the Father. Some sons are closer to the Father than others.
In James 4:8, the Bible says, if you draw nearer to God, He will draw near you. It is up to you, how close you want God to draw to you.
In John 4:28, Jesus Christ said, “My Father is greater than I”. But by developing His relationship with the Father, He came to a measure of intimacy with His Father where He was able to say, “My Father and I are one,” one in interest, one in motivation and one in will (John 10:30).
In the same manner, the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd normally develops, first, from the sheep hearing the voice of the shepherd and then later on to knowing the shepherd. And the shepherd also always begins by ‘calling the sheep’ and then moves on to ‘leading them?’ We have a kind of development in relationship.
In John 10:3, the Bible says, the sheep hears the voice of the shepherd. In verse four, the Bible says, the sheep follows the shepherd, after knowing the shepherd, he is able to identify, this is my shepherd, that is the voice of my shepherd’.
The Bible says in John 10:14, the sheep knows the shepherd and they begin to follow the shepherd. Jesus Christ said “I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep, my sheep knows me. The sheep will not follow a stranger, If a stranger calls, the sheep will not follow”. Many people assume that the sheep is stupid. They are very clever. They know the voice of the shepherd. They hear the voice and they recognise and follow correctly.
In John 17:3, there is something more important than knowing God’s voice. That is knowing God Himself. That is what eternal life is all about. Jesus said, “that they might know thee the only true God”, that is eternal life.
We are going to look at Samuel and David, as examples of people who started by hearing God’s voice and then moved on, to knowing Him.
Example of Samuel: In I Samuel 3:3-7, when Samuel first heard the voice of God, he did not even know that God was the one speaking. Later on, from verse 8-10, he began to hear God’s voice clearly and began to recognise it through the assistance of Eli. By the time he got to I Samuel 8:6-9, he now knew the voice of God, without the assistance of Eli.
And then he moved on. In I Samuel 10:1-10, he could hear God clearly. Not only did he recognise the voice of God, he was also able to prophesy. By the time he got to I-Samuel 16:7-12, he had moved on to revelation knowledge. God can now reveal things to him.
When Samuel first heard the voice of God, he did not recognise it and then Eli helped him. Then he graduated to recognising the voice of God without Eli’s assistance and he moved on to prophecy and then he moved on to revelation knowledge. I pray, that like Samuel, you will progress in the knowledge of God, in Jesus’ name.
Example of David: David was a great prophet. He gave an accurate summary of the entire ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that Jesus would do when He came to the world, when He went back to heaven and when He would return again, were recorded in detail for us by David one after the other.
(i) In Psalm 22:1, David prophesied about Jesus as the Lamb of God who was going to hang on the cross and cry out, My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me’?
(ii) In Psalm 23:1, he gave us the picture of Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, supplying all our needs according to his riches in glory, Philippians 4:19. In other words, in Psalm 23:1, he gave us the ministry of our Lord Jesus for today; a good shepherd, looking after the sheep and supplying all their need.
(iii) And then in Psalm 24:7-10, he talked about Christ the soon coming King of glory, to whom the everlasting doors must open, as it is written in Revelation 19:14, 16.
In other words, he was talking about Jesus Christ of to-morrow.
Thus in Psalm 22:1, David told us of Jesus of yesterday. Psalm 23:1, he told us of Jesus of today and in Psalm 24: 7-10, Jesus of tomorrow.
Everything about the Lord Himself was given to Prophet David, so you can talk about Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
HOW DID DAVID DEVELOP HIS PROPHETIC ABILITY?
It is through progressive intimacy with God.
There was a time when he said, morning, noon and evening, I will praise the Lord. That is to say three times daily, I will praise the Lord.
In Psalm 119: 164, He had progressed. He said, seven times daily, I will praise Him.
He moved on to say seven times may not be enough in one day. He said, my praise shall continually be of thee, Psalm 71:6.
He moved on to say, more and more will I praise thee, Psalm 71:4. And then he moved on and said, at all times, I will praise thee (Psalm 34:1). When I’m sleeping, waking up, sitting, hungry, on the battle field, on my throne, at all times, I will praise thee.
David developed from three times daily, to seven times daily, to continually, to more and more, until all the times. He kept on moving closer and closer to God.
You too can also grow in spiritual activities from hearing God’s voice to knowing God’s voice, to knowing God Him-self, by closer walk with God, studying and not merely reading the word of God, to meditating on the word of God, to absolute obedience. You will then be able to say, like Jesus Christ said, “My Father and I are One”.
You will notice that when you begin to spend time with God, you will find it enjoyable. The more time you spend with Him, the more time you will want to spend with Him. May God give us grace to move closer and closer to Him.
Why don’t you practice it now, praise Him for about five minutes. Tell Him, this is just the beginning. From now on, more and more will I become one with thee, O Lord.
Action Point
Get A Professional Account In Your Business Name. Go Moniepoint.
PS: I know you might agree with some of the points that I have raised in this article. You might not agree with some of the issues raised. Let me know your views about the topic discussed. We will appreciate it if you could drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.
Fact Check Policy
CRMNuggets is committed to fact-checking in a fair, transparent and non-partisan manner. Therefore, if you’ve found an error in any of our reports, be it factual, editorial, or an outdated post, please contact us to tell us about it.
Adeniyi Salau is a highly dedicated and committed Blogger of repute. He likes sharing his IT knowledge with others. My desire is to impact as many lives as possible with my IT skills. You can download my mobile APP. Download the ICTLOAD APP on Google Playstore. Thanks.
Leave a Reply