450. Celebrating God's Grace, Competing Voices

Join us today for Celebrating God's Grace where host Rusanne Carole explores the competing voices that vie for our attention. In our current days, we have an overload of information right at our fingertips! Let's reflect on the time of the crucifixion of Christ and explore the many voices that Pontious Pilate, the Roman Governor, heard and finally prevailed to. We have a choice each day to decide whose voice we will listen to. Jesus tells us His sheep will know His voice - may we stop and learn to seek it, hear it, and be obedient to it  **** Welcome to Celebrating God's Grace, a Women World Leader's Podcast, I'm your host today, Rusanne Carole. We are grateful you are here and it's such a privilege to come together and delve into God's Word and teachings and I pray today's message will touch your heart and mind. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live our a courageous, purpose-driven life! Don't forget to join us each Monday where our founder & Co-CEO, Kimberly Hobbs, interviews women from all over the world – women of God who have a story to share – and how God has shown up in their life. And Wednesdays, where our Co-CEO and Bible Teacher, Julie Jenkins, brings us a study of God's Word and its application to our lives. Today, let's have a peek into a subject that would affect us all – there are things all around us competing for our time and attention. We are living in an Information Age. When I was growing up and you had a question or wanted information you went to the library and did research. It could take hours, days or longer – depending on the research and what you were looking for. Today, with a smart phone you can look up any question or acquire information in seconds. So much information/ talk of "disinformation", so-called conspiracy theories – the descriptions can go on & on. But one thing is for sure. TRUTH is TRUTH. And the source of Truth is JESUS. John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Where will we turn? When we have serious questions about life? We may need wisdom, guidance, or comfort in any given situations in our lives. We have a choice. We turn to the peddler of poison (Satan) or the Prince of Peace? Somehow most of us linger somewhere in the middle, walking a tightrope with lots of distractions and voices vying for our attention. Even well-meaning Christians who love and follow God are having to choose daily – "Lord, is this You speaking to me?" We yearn to hear Him. Spending time in the Word and Prayer and Stillness desiring to hear His Voice. Let's have a look at Pilate in the Bible as an example of so many voices to choose from: It was days before the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. At every Passover festival the Roman governor could set free a prisoner chosen by the crowd. The choice was presented "shall it be Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?". Barabbas, mentioned in all four gospels, was described as a robber, a murderer and a rebel who spoke openly against the Roman authority and was condemned to die. The crowd, along with the Chief Priests, shouted, "crucify Jesus!". Luke 23:22, "A third time Pilate said to the crowd, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him." But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. AND THEIR VOICES PREVAILED. Their voices certainly did prevail. And Pilate's fear, Pilate's pride and his hunger for power prevailed too! Sound familiar. I think we could all relate to how we have listened or been subjected to every other voice but God's – either before we accepted Christ or even as we follow Him there are voices vying for our attention. Gods' or those contrary to His voice, they appear! The crowd's voices were not the only voices. Most importantly, there was the voice of Jesus.. Five times he postponed the decision hoping to gratify the mob with polices or lashings. Three times he stood right in front of him, eye to eye, face to face with the Nazarene who had come to reveal the truth. "What is truth?". Jesus' silence was so much greater than the crowd's demands, but Pilate didn't listen. Then there was the voice of his wife. She sent a message to him to not have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him". (Matthew 27:19) One might pause to wonder or ponder the origin of the dream. But Pilate didn't. Then there was his own voice, his conscious. Surely, it was speaking to him. In Luke 23 he told the crowd he had not found any crime to deserve death. Surely, he could see through the façade. But he didn't listen. The crowd's voices and his fear prevailed. We have all had times where that little voice presents itself: One time won't hurt. He'll never know. She'll never know. Other people do much worse. I will never do it again. It's just a little "white" lie We will rationalize, make excuses, and justify. We have all done it. And Satan's voice can be louder than all the rest at times. So that leaves us with a choice. Who do we listen to? Jesus tells us His sheep (us as believers and followers) will hear His voice. We must position ourselves to hear Him . Psalm 46:10 teaches us to "Be still and know that I am God." So stillness – removing the other voices as much as possible and seeking Him through prayer and petition is where we will hear Him. We hear Him in His Word. What voices will you choose to listen to? The voices of men & women or the voice of God?  Let us pray: Father, let us hear You above all the noise we live with. Let Your Word, Your teachings, Your promises and yes even Your correction ring in our ears and drop into our minds and our hearts to be obedient to You and Your desires – for Your desires for Your people are only good. At times when there isn't a direct and immediate answer teach us to wait upon You, Lord. There are over 100 references in the Bible to wait upon You and Your Word in Isiah 40:31 tells us those who wait and trust upon the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grown weary. They will walk and not faint. Help us to choose purposefully and intentionally to seek to hear You! And when we miss the mark, may we ask for forgiveness and continue our walk with you – being strengthened each day as we get to know You more and become more like Your Son. Amen Thank you for listening to WWL's podcast. Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God's extravagant love & your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event & support the ministry. We'd also love to support you in finding for your God-given destiny. Check out our quarterly magazine, Voice of Truth and there are  several ways to join us online where we come together to pray and meet with women all around the globe where we are taught, inspired and encouraged!    From His heart to yours, we are WWL. All content is copyrighted by WWL and cannot be used without written consent.