Will You Become a Voice?

So, I was in my sanctuary reading my bible when the song by Rick Pino comes on.... and... SHABAM! I was writing down as fast as I could, so it’s a bit rough, but bear with me. I’m not sure if it's possible to get a message from a single song, but here it is! And, it’s about voices, which is what God has been hitting me with!

(BTW, this whole thing comes from the Matthew 3 area!)

I am a Voice
By Rick Pino:

The Pharisees could not see this man was sent from God
They asked him, “Are you someone great?”, but he said “I am not
You brood of vipers; don’t you see that I am not the Christ?
I am one who’s gone before to lay down my life”

[Verse 2]
Your pride and gift alone will not make you His choice
He’s looking for the ones who only want to be a voice
So keep on climbing, climbing all your ladders to the top
But don’t you know that in the Kingdom, down is the way up?

[Verse 3]
He’s looking for the ones who do not care about the cost
Denying earthly pleasures, finding pleasures of His heart
So lay down your life, become the highway of the King
The narrow path will be your crown, authority your ring

[Chorus]
I am a voice, I am a voice
Crying out in the wilderness

How to become a voice: I’m not sure if you were here when Curt Landry spoke, but one of the main things he said that hit me was, “God, Let me be a voice.” He didn’t ask God if he could be a preacher, or a teacher, or even a rabbi. He simply said, God, let me be a voice. This hit me because so often we find ourselves wanting to be something, a preacher, an evangelist, but when was the last time we asked God to simply be a voice? 
But… How do you become a voice? I think Rick Pino explains it pretty well! 

“The Pharisees could not see this man was sent from God
They asked him, “Are you someone great?”, but he said “I am not””

The Pharisees represent the opposing church in our lives, those deeply-rooted by tradition and practice. While, they may mean well, they are absolutely opposed to anything remotely different from their “style of religion”. When you become a voice, you have to be prepared to face even “church-members” trying to shut you up, because they are so deeply set in “religion” that they cannot see that you were sent from God. They’ll try to drag you down, and make you prideful of who you are, but you have to be careful to stay humble and to focus on the task at hand. 
“You brood of vipers; don’t you see that I am not the Christ?
I am one who’s gone before to lay down my life”

In some ways, we are like John the Baptist, we have come before (Christ’s Return) saying, “Repent, for the time of the Lord is at hand”. To become a voice, you HAVE to be willing to lay down you life, to completely die to self EVERYDAY, and to destroy your flesh. 

“Your pride and gift alone will not make you His choice
He’s looking for the ones who only want to be a voice”

To become a voice, you have to WANT to be a voice. Your motives have to be pure and holy; you must want to be a voice because you desire to change the world, to raise up a generation who will seek God’s face, and to glorify him. You have to do it out of pure love for the father. Just because you have amazing God-given talents, will not make you a voice. Talents and achievements mean nothing until you have pure intentions towards God.

“So keep on climbing, climbing all your ladders to the top
But don’t you know that in the Kingdom, down is the way up?”

To become a voice, you must seek after his heart more and more with each and every day. Your love for him has to grow deeper every time you meet him. We have to seek, seek, seek, seek, and SEEK for him, more and more.

“He’s looking for the ones who do not care about the cost
Denying earthly pleasures, finding pleasures of His heart”

To become a voice, we must be completely willing to forget about the cost of following him. We have to deny ourselves “earthly pleasures”, but when we find his pleasures, they are so much more worth it. There will be a cost; you’ll lose friends, romances, Music, things in the pursuit of being a voice. But, the pleasures HE gives to you will be so much better 

So lay down your life, become the highway of the King
The narrow path will be your crown, authority your ring

Self-explanatory, I believe! 

“I am a voice, I am a voice
Crying out in the wilderness”

Notice, it says “crying out in the wilderness”. First off, crying. It didn’t say; cried or will cry or have cried, it says crying. You have to continue to cry out no matter how hard it gets. Also, the wilderness part. You’re not going to be crying out in the comfort of your own home, with your own people. You will be in the wilderness, a place full of danger, temptation and pain. I understand that’s a bit harsh, but its reality. But, God has given you the authority to go into the wilderness and claim victory! If you’ll become a voice, God can use you anywhere, you’ll see countries changes, people delivered, and God’s glory manifested upon the earth. 

Will you become a voice?

-Emma