Protect the Voice of God in Your Life
For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, "You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came."
1 Kings 13:9 (NKJV)
The Lord once said to me, "Be careful to follow My voice, and judge all other voices by the voice of God in your spirit. The young man of God suffered death because he preferred the voice of the old prophet to the instruction the Spirit of God had given him."
Never betray God's voice in your life; protect it by all means. At the end of the day we must all answer to God for what He told us to do, and we must decide whether we will listen to the voice of God or to the voice of men. It is the challenge of the times: many saints and young men of God have betrayed the voice of God in their spirits because of pressure from senior voices in the church. Brethren, God's voice is your prosperity. Protect it. Never let a man's voice overcome the voice of God in your spirit. God's voice through a man must always confirm, and bear witness with, His voice in your spirit.
And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:4 (NKJV)
And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."
Acts 21:10–14 (NKJV)
It is interesting that even though they were telling Paul by the Holy Spirit not to go, he insisted on going. The only thing that could have convinced him was the voice of God within him, which went against the voice of the Spirit through them.
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:22–24 (NKJV)
We must not find that we have altered our destinies because we heeded the voice of God in others without consulting His voice in us. Both may be right, but like the Apostle Paul, we should follow the voice within.