Considering Our Future with Christ

Nov 16 – Nov 25

Listening to the Spirit

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  11/22/20

In Revelation 11, God has John measure the temple and place boundaries around the temple. I believe this is not talking about walking around a physical temple with a tape measure but about God placing protective measures around the people of God, who are His temple. Here God is assuring all of His children that Satan and his demons cannot touch us because we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.

Even our enemies who persecute us cannot touch us; they may destroy our bodies, but they can never touch our souls. They may destroy the outer temple, our bodies, but they can never destroy the inner sanctum, our souls. We are safe in God’s sanctuary. We are safe in His protective boundaries.

However, we must be vigilant against the enemy still. One of Satan’s cruelest strategies is to masquerade as the Holy Spirit and accuse us in our thoughts. Because he is a counterfeiter, we must learn to distinguish between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the accusation of Satan. If you want to live in victory, you must be able to make the distinction.

The Holy Spirit urges you to repent and turn to God; Satan beats you down and tries to keep you away from God, saying, “Well, you’ve sinned. You might as well stay in sin.” When you hear the voice of Satan, change the channel. Begin to praise God for His salvation. Begin to praise God for His redemption and grace. Go to God in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to send Satan scurrying, and He will.

Prayer: Father, thank You for protecting me and sealing me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me to discern Your voice and to turn to You and repent. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20).