God Did Not Say So

The Morning Glory Devotion is about recognizing the voice of God amidst the many voices in the spiritual world. The scripture reading from Matthew 4 shows Jesus discerning the voice of the devil and rebuking him. Believers can recognize God's voice by reading the Bible daily and building a strong relationship with the Holy Spirit. The goal is to be able to discern and rebuke opposing voices. The memory verse is John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me." Indeed, O Lord, our Heavenly Father, Your steadfast love and Your care for us are renewed every day. Lord Jesus, we thank You for the beginning of a brand new day and every grace that comes with it. We thank You for this time in Your presence and fellowship in Your Word. We give You praise for all the partners and believers who are connected in this hour to be blessed in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you so much, beloved, for connecting with us here at Harvest Chapel International Kumasi, first for our Just Ended Prayer startup and now even for our Morning Glory Devotion. We trust that as we continue to do this together, we are growing together and we are getting closer to our blessed destination where we will become the men and women that God has said that we should be. Let's take our confession together from Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but I shall meditate in it day and night, that I may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then I'll make my way prosperous and then I will have good success. Amen. God bless you. The topic for our Morning Glory Devotion is God did not say so. God did not say so. Our scripture reading shall be taken from the gospel according to Matthew chapter 4, read the verse 1 through to 11. Matthew chapter 4, the verse 1 through to 11. I read from the New Kings James Version. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every way that proceeds from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, sitting on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. May the Lord add his blessings to the hearing and the reading of his word. Amen. God did not say so. In this physical world, there are many different voices. This truth is the same also in the spiritual world. And even though you and I may not have eyes to see what goes on in the spiritual world, the reality is that behind every voice in that realm is a person or some kind of force that backs the voice. Being able to discern the right voice to listen to and to obey is a great struggle for many Christians and has become the reason why many of us have become confused. These many voices come to us in dreams, visions, impressions, and through our consciences. Beloved, as a student of the supernatural, you must be aware that there are two voices of authority in the spiritual realm. The voice of God, which is the voice of love, life, and light. And then there is that counter opposing voice of deception, darkness, and death, which is the voice of the devil. These two voices do not want the same thing for the child of God. Whilst one seeks to guide the believer into victory, the other seeks to cut off the believer from this path of victory. The first example of how these voices oppose each other is seen as Elias in the Garden of Eden. We read how it was when another voice, apart from the voice of God, was introduced into the lives of Adam and Eve in the garden. That was when we saw the deception that led to the destruction of the beautiful empire that God had made. The scripture reading for this morning, Matthew chapter 4, the verse 1 through to 11, also highlights this battle of voices even in the life of Jesus Christ whilst he was on earth. We read the dialogue between Jesus and the devil and we clearly see the devil's intentions. The same intentions that were in the garden. The same tricks, the same tactic, the same strategy. The first example in the garden ended in disaster, but the second example of Jesus Christ ended in victory. Jesus knew who he was dealing with. He could discern which voice of authority came to him after his fast. He could see through the lies and the deception the devil intended to trap him with. Jesus was courageous enough to rebuke the voice of the devil by making it clear that God did not see the things the devil came presenting to him. He was able to do so because he knew what the mind of God was concerning the things the devil came to say. In our own lives beloved, we battle with these voices every day. Which voice do we follow? Which voice to obey? Which voice even to trust? Many of us are struggling because even though we genuinely want to obey God, we cannot even recognize his voice when he speaks. So the big question is, how do you recognize the voice of God? As a believer, first is by reading the Word of God every day. The Word of God, which is the Bible, contains the mind of God. The Word of God describes who God is in detail. It is in reading the Word of God and as a believer, you get to know about how God speaks to his children. In the Bible, there are many examples of God speaking and directing his children. And all these are the right examples for us to learn to help us appreciate how God speaks. The more you spend time with God in his Word, the more you familiarize yourself with the person and with the voice of God. And that is why beloved, your quiet time and your devotional time are crucial. We also need to build a stronger, robust relationship with the Holy Spirit to be able to recognize the voice of God. God gave us his Holy Spirit to convict us and to teach us. The Holy Spirit trains our spiritual senses for us to be able to discern and to test all spirits. Without the Holy Spirit, none of us can understand what we read in the Bible. We must stay away from sin in order to grow closer to the Holy Spirit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to fully renew our minds so that we can be led and be inspired by him. Remember beloved, the goal of our walk of faith is for us to be able to discern the right voice of God and to know it when God is speaking to us. We must get to that point as maturing believers where we can also stand and rebuke all the other opposing voices to the voice of God. We must also be able to say like Jesus Christ did, that God did not say so. In summary, reading the Word of God and growing our relationship with the Holy Spirit will help us do these things. And if you haven't started beloved already, start now because God's voice is the only voice you need to direct you in your faith walk. Amen. God bless you. We'll take our memory verse from John chapter 10 the verse 27. John chapter 10 the verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Amen. God bless you. Let's share a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for your Word that has come to us in this timely manner. We give you praise because oh God we know that after hearing this Word you are going to give us the grace we need to be able to know you better, know your voice better, build a stronger relationship with the Holy Spirit in Jesus name. We thank you for your grace that continues to abound toward us. Amen. Amen. God bless you beloved so much for connecting with us and for staying tuned for this morning glory devotion. As you go throughout the day, may you be able to recognize the unique voice of God as he speaks to you in Jesus name. Continue to stay connected to Radio HCI today. There's so much available on this platform to nourish and to bless you in Jesus name. God bless you.