On a hill in a dreamland of grassy hills with scattered forests.
Standing about 20 feet away from me is Apollyon (Greek) or Abaddon (Hebrew). Different names, same fallen angel. You might have heard of him as the angel of death. Anyways, he was following me around for a while when I was younger...
Oh, and he's talking to me. Well... More like yelling at me. I couldn't pick up so much on the words he was speaking as much as the tone of voice he was speaking them in. Violent. There is no other way to describe it. I imagine if he could create your spiritual atmosphere you would end up thinking thoughts full of self hatred and condemnation. In fact, condemnation is the exact word I'd use to describe his tone.
Then from the left of me comes a man walking, he is about to walk between Apollyon and me. I am drawn to him, mainly because he exudes gentleness, meekness and kindness.
As he got closer and closer to me, I could hear him speaking as well. His tone was very different though; he was speaking softly and gently and his words were very tender and reassuring.
I decided to walk alongside him, and as I did, Apollyon began to yell with his violent words louder and louder, trying to get me to pay attention to his voice instead of the soft and gentle voice of the Master. It didn't work.
Those gentle words ministered deeply to me. They healed and restored my soul...
This prophetic dream that the Lord gave me emphasizes a struggle that I had in the past, a struggle that perhaps many of you have had as well...
The battle of the voices is something that I think all of us have to fight at one time or another. We are trying to follow God with all of our heart, but we notice how short of perfect we really are. This isn't a bad place to be, but what comes next often times, is a sort of frustration with ourselves. A self hatred that eats to the core of us. Pretty soon all "God" is ever talking about is our own sins or the sins of others.
Beloved, know for certain that this is not the voice of the Lord. And when you hear this voice, gently ignore it and keep pressing into God your Savior. Yes, He will convict us of sin, but it is always gentle and restorative in nature. God isn't in harmony with the Accuser of the brethren, they will never sing a duet together...
This is the same spirit that got a hold of the Pharisees and made them take on the ministry of the accuser as well...
But the voice of our good Shepherd is gentle and healing. He brings life and new horizons! He isn't in the habit of trying to make people dislike themselves any more than they already do, because He doesn't want to spend the next 10 years of your life working on your self esteem...
He is gentle. He is calm. He is life!
The voices contend, and it is very important that you learn which one to follow...
