DAY 71

As we now realize that we are in the end times but just don’t know when we are in the timeline, it becomes ever more important that we lean in to Jesus. In these days of counterfeit intelligence, AI, fake news, it is crucial that we are able to discern truth, not from what we see or hear or read on TV, our computers, tablets or phones or even in print. We absolutely must pray for discernment and that relies solely upon the Holy Spirit. Two things are crucial:

We must know the Word of God; we MUST. No more dabbling, we need to study it.

We must know the voice of the Holy Spirit. To know the voice of the Holy Spirit we must know the Word and spend time with Him.

Sheep know the shepherd’s voice because He lives with them day and night. He doesn’t check in with them in the morning and then leave them alone until he tucks them in at night. He walks with them throughout their day, leading them, talking to them, caring for them.

John 10:2-5 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

We need to be sure our lives have this design as well. Our Shepherd is with us 24/7, but are we ignoring Him throughout the day when we get busy? Do we touch base with Him in the morning and then forget about Him until we climb into bed at night?

The counterfeits in this world are already spot on and extremely difficult/impossible to detect with our human senses. We have no time to waste; we have to be plugged in to the Holy Spirit 24/7 so that we have His power to discern truth.

Doing morning devotions and prayer is good, yes, absolutely, but it is not enough. We need to change our thinking. We are not cell phones, we don’t plug in to charge to 100% and then unplug and go about our business until our batteries die. We are branches connected to a vine that is our source of life. We must REMAIN connected to the vine.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Without Him we can do nothing. We have to remain in Him. So, throughout our day we need to lean in and connect with Him, walk with Him through our day. We need to train ourselves to rely on Him in every decision, not on our own minds. We need to train ourselves to think in terms of “we” not “I”, that is, “me and Jesus” not “I.” Such as “We” are going into this meeting, “we” are going to deal with this customer, “we” are going to discipline our kids, “we” are going to have family time, etc. People might think that is going overboard, but the truth is, that is true reality. We are only fooling ourselves if we think we are going into that meeting alone. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit is watching and grieving as we do/say/or believe stupid things or buy in to the things of the world or just simply fall short of God’s best for us.

So let’s start walking in reality, we are NEVER alone, let’s act like it. If you need to set reminders on your phone, do so, or leave notes scattered in places you will see them throughout the day. Let’s do whatever it takes to train our hearts and minds to lean in to Jesus throughout our day. If you do this your day will change, your life will change.

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Jesus, Shepherd of my soul, help me to remain connected to you, my vine and source of life. Help me to realize that you are always with me, every moment of every day and help me to act like that. Help me change the way I think about my life everyday. Help me not to run off on my own but approach everything with you. I need you, I can’t discern without you. Holy Spirit please bring me discernment and the strength to walk in the Truth. Thank you Jesus for making all of this possible.