The quality of your life, your peace of mind, and your spiritual freedom all come down to one crucial factor: whose voice you’re listening to. In a world filled with competing voices, opinions, and internal dialogues, learning to tune into the right voice can transform everything.
Why God Loves Your Struggles
Here’s something that might surprise you: all confrontations between the flesh and the spirit are a source of joy to the Father. Before you think that sounds blasphemous, hear me out. It’s not because He enjoys your pain, but because He loves being your deliverer.
God loves to help set you free. He’s going to help you go up against your flesh, against those habits you’re struggling with. Whether it’s an alcohol addiction, victim mentality, porn addiction, or any habit that’s taking you out of your new creation identity, He wants to help. But you have to give Him permission.
Think about it this way: who do you think is more grateful to God? The person who never had any chains, never had any addictions or big issues, or the person who had serious addiction and God set them free? The person who was set free is always more grateful. This is why it’s a source of joy to Him. He loves being your deliverer, your chain breaker.
He’s not helping you fight the flesh to condemn you about anything, but to release you from the tyranny of it. He’s passionate about your freedom.
The Divine Exchange of Isaiah 61
In Isaiah 61, the first seven verses talk about remodeling your life through divine exchange. Jesus was anointed by God to bring good news, heal the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty and freedom to captives. This passage uses the keyword “instead” five times, showing God’s heart for transformation:
- A garland instead of ashes
- Oil of gladness instead of mourning
- Mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting (what we call depression today)
- Joy instead of humiliation
- Double blessing instead of shame
Everything God is doing in your life is about your freedom, not condemnation. It’s about your release, not your punishment. It’s about your upgrade and your blessing. There’s never going to be a situation that isn’t about your freedom.
Real-Life Deliverance Stories
Let me share some personal examples of how God has been my deliverer. Recently, I lost 35 pounds, and it’s been one of the easiest things I’ve ever accomplished. Why? Because I gave God permission to make me excellent in every way, including my body and eating habits.
I used to be addicted to food, especially Reese cups. On Christmas, my birthday, or Easter, my mom and wife would get me giant bags of Reese cups, and I’d eat them all in one sitting. I’d stop at gas stations just to get more. It was silly and unhealthy.
When I went to God and said, “Lord, I give you permission to make me excellent in every way,” He started easily guiding me. He blessed me with foods I like to eat and steered me clear of things that would mess me up. I used to have stomach issues a couple times every week. Now? All gone. The inflammation? Gone. He’s helped me so much.
Finding Purpose Through Confusion
Before I accepted Christ in 2022, I was lost and confused despite achieving worldly success. I had generated over $30 million, spoken on major stages, and shared platforms with amazing people. But none of these accomplishments made me feel the way I thought they would. I was still searching for something more.
When I accepted Christ, I knew I’d found what I was looking for. God loved delivering me out of that confusion too.
Later, about 14 months ago, I faced a different kind of confusion. I was wondering if I was being called to ministry because I loved scripture so much. Should I stay in the marketplace? What did that look like? Honestly, I started losing desire for business because I wanted to bring souls to Christ and dive deeper into ministry.
Two things changed everything. First, I was introduced to Graham Cooke’s teachings and learned how to do crafted prayer. Second, I altered my company so that anyone who buys anything from my training company gets a bonus webinar on increasing profits while putting God first. The first 20 minutes focus on profits, the last 17 minutes share about God and how to accept Christ.
Now I can draw the conclusion that anything I do in business has the possibility of drawing someone to Christ. Suddenly, I didn’t have negative feelings toward my business anymore.
The Two Voices Fighting for Your Attention
According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, those who are in Christ are new creations. The old has passed away. But there are still two distinct voices competing for your attention:
The Old Nature’s Voice:
- Condemns and says you’re not enough
- Asks why God would even want to talk to you
- Calls you trash and reminds you of past mistakes
- Says you’ve blown every opportunity
- Declares you’re too far gone, so why bother
The New Nature’s Voice:
- Focuses on who you are in Christ
- Causes you to rejoice and give thanks
- Helps you discover God’s heart and affection for you
- Sounds like the Holy Spirit
The voice of your inner man, the Holy Spirit, has specific indicators found in Galatians 5:22-23 (the fruit of the Spirit). God’s voice is loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, edifying in its goodness, faithful to your identity in Jesus, and full of gentleness.
This is the voice you should be listening to. All of these aspects empower you to live in self-control, partnering with your new self against the old self and the stress it provokes.
Choose the Voice That Builds You Up
Some of you have developed a habit of listening to the old self that’s condemning, fearful, doesn’t trust God, and is more controlled by money or outside indicators than by trust in your Lord and Savior.
There’s one voice you want to pay attention to: the voice that makes you feel good about yourself and good to be alive in Jesus. This isn’t about false positivity or ignoring reality. It’s about aligning with God’s perspective on who you are and what He’s doing in your life.
When you’re facing struggles, ask yourself: whose voice am I listening to right now? Is this the condemning voice of the old nature, or is this the loving, empowering voice of the Holy Spirit speaking truth about my identity in Christ?
Remember Where You’ve Been Delivered
It’s easy to forget all the times God has helped, blessed, saved, rescued, and uplifted you. Take time to remember those moments. Where has God delivered and rescued you in your life? These remembrances build faith and help you recognize His voice more clearly.
Your freedom depends on whose voice you’re listening to. Choose to tune into the voice that brings life, hope, and truth about who you are in Christ. When you do, you’ll find yourself walking in greater freedom than you ever thought possible.
The voice you listen to shapes your reality. Make sure it’s the voice of the One who loves you most and has already set you free.
