Spiritual Domestication

Psalms 95:7, "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice."

For a couple of days now I have had this thought of, why are we born spiritually domesticated? Void of spiritual instincts and the necessary tools not only for spiritual survival but spiritual thriving.

Domestication is the process of taming an animal through selective breeding. It is a taming to human control, and need for provision. And in fact sheep and dogs were the first animals believed to be domesticated. So what is God saying when He calls us His sheep? What is the Holy Spirit saying in this negatively connotative term of "spiritually domesticated."

Somehow my thoughts are that we as a nation have become spiritual domesticated to man's control. That our "religion" has dumbed us down spiritually to the point that we have lost all thriving instinct. That as a people we are slow to respond spiritually because we have become too use to the hand feeding us. Have we lost the spiritual desire to go and find our own feed, to react on instinct to the wolves, to avoid pits and pitfalls.
Perhaps we have just been domesticated to the wrong source. Jesus said my sheep hear My voice. (John 10:27)

To me the thought conjures up additional lessons in the kingdom of God. That we are domesticated to His kingdom, or to the other kingdom of Satan - - the kingdom of human thought, initiative, and capacity. Or perhaps being spiritually domesticated is living outside the perfect design of God. Programed to follow a routine, but not living liberally under the Master's guidance. Domesticated to man's control and ideas, instead of tamed by God Himself.

I think Oswald Chambers would say this spiritual domestication is a reliance on intellect and the effects of redemption instead of relying on the Redeemer. He said, "When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do."

Allow Christ to tame you spirituality, not man and his definition. Spiritual domestication to man is to be a goat, while Christ makes sheep. (Matt 25: 32-33)

Shepherd's Voice

John 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;"

The other day an acquaintance was complaining of sorts about people who say, "God told me..." And perhaps complaining is the wrong word, but certainly there was a significant degree of disbelief. Disbelief caused by a reliance on the scientific method, and dismissal of the miraculous as happenstance, or coincidence.

It made me laugh inside (I hope not out loud) because for me it was God using this person to confirm the need of the book I have written called God Speaks. A book designed by the Holy Spirit to fostering communication with God. It is biblical truths combined with real world examples so that more of us, not less, can say, "God told me..."

But for this person and those who share her disbelief that God does not communicate very often, then I would say that perhaps they just don't know what His voice sounds like. Perhaps it is not the hearing that is the issue, but rather not knowing the sound of the Shepherd; because the sheep "know His voice." (John 10:4)

It is this learning His voice that God Speaks addresses. It is never an issue of a lack of communication. It most often an issue of us not listening. We all have to learn more how to listen to not only the still small voice inside us, but all of the ways God communicates to us His children.

Yes, this post sounds a bit like an infomercial, and I guess it is. But more so this post is a pointing device to a resource all of Christianity could use-- enhanced communication, better hearing the voice of God.

For those interested in ordering a copy it can be found at www.propel.co