REFINE

Whose Voice Is Steering Your Life?

• Buli Makhubo • Season 1 • Episode 5

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We're in a critical season of shifting where the voices we listen to will determine our direction and decisions. Guard your heart, for out of it flow the decisions that will steer your entire life.

• When things reach our ears, they affect our heart, and our decisions are a result of what we hear
• The voice of distraction pulls our attention away from God's mandate without being inherently bad
• Misdirecting voices lure us away from our God-given purpose, causing us to invest in wrong directions
• Our inner voice (flesh) cannot be trusted until it's fully aligned with the Holy Spirit
• Popular figures don't automatically have sound doctrine—many use Jesus as a brand without substance
• Read a chapter of the Bible daily to ground yourself in God's voice
• Don't despise who God's word might come through—size of following doesn't equal spiritual authority
• Take inventory of current voices in your life and be willing to cut cords with those not leading to God

Take stock of who you're listening to this season. If you unplugged from all your current influences for three months, would you still know what to do with your life?


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Speaker 1:

Surprise, surprise. I'm sure you were not expecting this kind of a setup for this installment or this week's installment of our refined vodcast slash podcast, but I knew this was coming. I just didn't think it would be so soon. I knew I knew the Lord would, and he did say that, yes, you're going to have people, but you're also going to have to have some of these conversations in the form of you know, we're going to share the word. We're going to share the word, we're going to teach the word, we're going to discuss certain things. Essentially, we're going to be teaching, and I don't want to waste your time. I don't want to waste your time. We're going to talk about this topic. We know the season. First of all, we know the season that we're in. Let's start there. We know the season that we're in.

Speaker 1:

We are in such a critical season. A lot is shifting, a lot is changing. You can see it either in your workspace, your relationships, the posture of your heart If anything like minimum requirement, the posture of your heart. We are seeing the changes. We can feel the shift. Something is happening right now in our lives. And then we had that conversation with Nomdeni. Mind you, we already have episodes piled or, let me say, queued and lined up, that we have shot. That will definitely still come out, and how that episode came about.

Speaker 1:

Like I said, we met the one week. The following week we're recording right, um, and I believe it was a message, as most of you guys know and agree that it's the message for such a time as this. But I didn't want to just leave you with that. Remember, I know some of you were saying part two, part this, part that. No, that I think that conversation was great and it played out the way it needed to play. And if you wanted a part two, I said kindly, you know, get into the presence of the Lord. But not only am I encouraging you to be in the presence of the Lord, the Lord also said to me I want you to speak to my people, your brothers and your sisters, about voices and in a season that is so critical, in a season of shift, in a season where we are moving, the voices that we are hearing are so important.

Speaker 1:

And as I talk and as I continue this conversation, as I teach or explain or whatever it is that I'm about to do, the Lord said we're going to talk about how critical the voices are. There are so many voices, so many podcasts, and I was like Lord, but I'm also, please, I'm here, I'm also, I guess, a voice in the season. I've got an opinion. There's so much on social media that is being said You're either left or right, or being told to do this, being told to do that serve, don't serve, leave the church, don't leave the church. Start this, don't start that. It's a lot right. So there are a lot of voices that we are hearing and the Lord wanted us to talk about that. So let's unpack voices and how critical they are in the season. So I have to have my notebook out, because this is where I wrote, so that I'm not speaking Buli's way, right, I'm speaking what God has instructed me and sent me to come and talk about. I'm not speaking about this from a flesh perspective, but definitely word-led and spirit-led and, like I said, the Lord said that we are in a critical season and in order to move well, in order to steer ourselves well and navigate well, I realized I said say the word navigate a lot, but okay, in order to steer ourselves well and to be led well, we need to hear. Well, I need to read this as I wrote it down. We need sensitivity, intention and clarity in the season, and the only way we're going to do that is if we learn how to hear well and hear the correct voice. Right.

Speaker 1:

Let's kick off with scripture, because I don't want to do things in J Ngaman Jawami. We're going to be reading our key scripture. It's from Proverbs 4, 20 to 23, but I want to start with this one Proverbs 4, verse 23. It says Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. Now I remember this I was dating my husband and we were getting married.

Speaker 1:

It was the year we were prepping to get married and we used to meet, even during our relationship and dating relationship as a whole. We used to meet every Tuesday with a via phone call, but usually I'd like to say like 90% of the time it would be face to face, where the Lord led us to just do devotions together. We were not praying for marriage, we were just learning about God's word together. That was our instruction, so that's what we did. The one time my husband I was. I was shocked. I was like from you, brother. I was like from you, um, where he came and he was sharing about this particular scripture and I'll never forget it.

Speaker 1:

So the word says, like I said, guard your heart. Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. Now, I know that you've heard the scripture before, but listen, we're going somewhere. The word of God says Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues. That word issues actually means decision. It doesn't mean problems, no, it means decision. So let's read it again. It says again it says guard your heart, for out of it flows the decisions of your life.

Speaker 1:

So if you're not protecting your heart, you will make decisions that will steer your life in a certain direction and, depending on what is in your heart, it could either go left, it could either go right, it can either go the right way. So if you are upset and you don't guard your heart, you will make decisions that are rash. Are they rash? Or you'll make rash decisions or uninformed decisions because you're making them from a point of emotion and not clarity or not truth. Let's say you're angry. You might want to, for example, you know, lash out physically, and that is a decision. Or cut someone off because you're upset. I'm just making an example, right, whereas the truth is maybe you shouldn't really cut them off, for example. I'm not saying you should or you shouldn't Hear me out, I'm just okay. So there are decisions that we make when we are not in the right state of mind, because we haven't learned how to guard our heart.

Speaker 1:

So how do things reach your heart? Through your ears, through your eyes? But we're going to focus on our ear gate. Things reach your heart through your ears. Whenever things reach here, they affect here. Whenever things reach your ears, they affect your heart, and then your decisions are a result of what you hear. That is how critical it is for us to watch what we hear, to watch the voices that we hear this season, because those voices will literally steer the entirety of our lives.

Speaker 1:

And Unomdeni spoke about this in that video. She just randomly threw it in there to say it matters who we listen to. She had someone so senior, probably like a prominent figure, a ceo or whatever the case may be, tell her do this, do this, do that. And that led her in the wrong direction. That decision, her listening to that prominent voice, led her to stay in a place where she should not have stayed.

Speaker 1:

You know, we listen to people who tell us to hustle, hustle, hustle, but the Lord is telling us your season is not to hustle, your season is something else. We might have voices telling us to build in a season of rest. We might have voices telling us that you know, we are in a winter season, gear up, but we're not. What if the Lord is saying this is your harvest season? So this is the issue with us, and I do really pray that you receive this well, that when we do listen to figures or find ourselves in certain community or spaces, online, for example, you join Refine and the word of the Lord for Refine, for example, I don't know if we'd ever get there, but maybe the course that we must do is a course on fruitfulness. How are we going to be fruitful if we're not talking about sowing? But also, that word might not be the word for everybody.

Speaker 1:

So anybody who comes as the ultimate authority and doesn't want to acknowledge that guys, this is what I'm bringing forth you can join, but first seek of the lord and see if this is something you should join. No, some of us just blindly join because we we have I idolized people. I'm talking influencers. I'm talking leaders. I'm talking um prominent figures. I'm talking influencers. I'm talking leaders. I'm talking prominent figures, I'm talking communities, sometimes even our churches, our spiritual churches or whatever the case may be.

Speaker 1:

Any man or woman of God who says listen to me and doesn't encourage you to go back to the word is problematic. And I have to say that with my chest, that we are in a season where people have made themselves the ultimate authority and not God, and that is very dangerous for the time that we're in, because we forget that at the end of the day, we're going to kneel before our master. We're going to stand rather or kneel. Whatever you're going to do, probably kneel, probably pass out, because God is so sovereign and stand before him and have to account to him. But, lord, you know, I followed this program, this 90 day program, this challenge, this, this and this, that, and the Lord will probably ask, I don't know, like, how did that benefit? What his instruction was for you during that time? Do you get what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:

So we really need to listen to the voices. So let's talk about the different voices, and there's not a lot of them, there's about three or four, I think I'll narrow it down to three, but bear with me. The first voice that you need to watch out for this season is a voice of distraction and I'm going to be looking down because I have them in my notes but this voice is a voice that obviously distracts you. If the enemy cannot derail you, he will distract you and this distraction will cause a delay. Whatever we give our attention to may not necessarily be bad. You see, things that distract you are not necessarily bad, but they stop us from focusing on what actually matters. Okay, so when we listen to voices that have us focused on the wrong thing, they pull our eyes away from God's mandate and folk help and have us focus or hyper fixated on something else.

Speaker 1:

Not every program, I have to say it, guys. Not every course, not every program. Not everything is for you. Learn to sit out on certain events, I have to say it. Learn to miss certain things. I mean especially even with the event culture, and I was awakened to this last year, actually, when I went to the Sisters of Africa, but there was nothing wrong with that, by the way, I'm not talking about that.

Speaker 1:

But the Lord said how many events do you need to go to to feel good, to be led to finally feel encouraged to do what I'm telling you to do? Is my word not enough so you can hear God's word. There can be an event and I'm not saying again, don't go. I'm saying sometimes, let's be honest, as Christians, we see one another at these events so much that it is, yes, a good thing to gather as saints, but a lot of us replace the ultimate word of God for these events, gatherings, challenges, communities that we are signed up to, and that is where the problem is. These things may not ultimately be bad, but what we're doing is that we're going to end up losing time instead of hearing well and doing what God ultimately says.

Speaker 1:

So you need to take stock of what is actually distracting me. You need to get to that point. Where is this thing that I'm giving myself to, that I'm signing up for in line and fueling me to where I need to go? Does that make sense? Is it distracting you? Let's get into the next one. We need to be careful about the voice that misdirects. This one is a step up from distraction, because you can be distracted.

Speaker 1:

Once something has your attention, it has the possibility to sway you completely into a different direction. It lures you and removes you from a place that you should actually be and moves you to a place that you should not be in. And the issue with being in the wrong place is that either way this is what I wrote down and I have to say it you will invest. Being in the wrong place, you'll invest, you'll put money, you'll put time, you'll put resources. Your whole purpose might shift, your whole identity might shift because you've been deceived to believe that this is actually for you. This is why I'm saying it matters how we hear from the Lord Now, how we work in this life.

Speaker 1:

Is that not all of us, some of us, in fact, some of us guys? There's so many of us. Some of us are meant to pioneer stuff and start stuff. Some of us are meant to support. Some of us are really good like really really good at backing certain projects. Like I'm one person. You can give me a project, right, you might not have started or come with that idea, but if you bring that idea to me, I can. I can make it work. I can help you start it and finish it. That's how my brain is. I think of details or certain things in ways that other people start it and finish it. That's how my brain is. I think of details or certain things in ways that other people may not have thought about. That's just how God has wired me.

Speaker 1:

So imagine a person like me hooking onto a vision that I'm not supposed to, or a purpose or a thing or a whatever that I'm not supposed to, and I'm trying to. I'm spending so much time, money, resources in that wrong thing, building something that I'm not necessarily supposed to be building, and not to say that that thing is bad. This is so. It's about us really. It's really not about the other person, it's about us. It's about is Bully supposed to be putting all that time there about? Is Bully supposed to be putting all that time there, whereas I am neglecting my God-given purpose right now in the season and this is why voices matter we should get to a point where we're able to say I like it, but I don't think I can be a part of that right now. This is a cute place to go to, or a cute thing to sign up to, or a challenge or a whatever, but I don't think that this is for me right now and we're going to get there.

Speaker 1:

We're going to get there, but we need to focus on the fact that there is a voice of delay. Sorry, there's a voice that distracts you and the voice that misdirects you. Next voice that we need to watch out for and this one the Lord kept bringing I was going to leave it out, but I have it here on my phone is the voice of self, or our inner voice, or let me say the voice of our flesh. Right, I'll say inner voice because that's what clicks automatically, but essentially this is the voice of the flesh Because, remember, we are spirit, right, we are children of God, but we also still have this mind that still needs to be what the Bible says saved. We are still working, you know the soul needs salvation. We are still working and renewing our mind. Our minds still need renewing, our souls still need renewing and work right. Our spirit man is saved when we accept the Lord, jesus Christ, as our savior, but it is our mind that the enemy still has access on even ourselves.

Speaker 1:

So another voice of distraction sometimes can be our inner voice, and the dangerous thing about this is that sometimes it feels safe but we can't trust it. And Proverbs 3, verse 5, says we need to read it. Proverbs 3, verse 5, says trust and we quote it, we quote this, we quote this all the time. Proverbs 3, verse 5, says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Why would God put this in there if our own understanding was always correct? It's because he knows that the heart of man will often fail him. He knows that the heart of man will lead us astray. This follow your voice. You know what to do.

Speaker 1:

Know there's times where that gut feeling is rather the Holy Spirit leading us somewhere, and then there's times where what I would like to call the seat of our emotion, that is the part that is the most misleading at times, because have you ever done something that you felt was right in a certain moment? It was right today, it was so right today and then tomorrow, when you wake up, you're like it was so right today. And then tomorrow when you wake up, you're like maybe I should have not. Maybe I should have not. I'll tell you why.

Speaker 1:

There is, for example, I'm still working on I'm really working on myself, but there was something that I had received, a particular message that I had received on social media. I guess, due to the nature of me being on social media, people do feel opinionated or feel that they have access to DM me and tell me what they think or feel that I should do about my life or about whatever. So this person had an opinion about something and I was like and I wasn't rude I think I should have and I wasn't rude. I responded to them in one way. But then my next human response was block. And the Lord was like and I was fine that day. You know, the next day is like that was not right. Yes, you can tell them what to do. Or you can tell them look, that was not okay and let them be, you didn't have to block.

Speaker 1:

I'm not saying that the Lord says I must not block, and this is where we get it wrong. He's not saying don't block, don't do this, but there is a way in which we respond to things that we think is right. Right, so I respond to them and then I'm like net for loco, blocked, young bor, like, but that's not how the Lord wanted me to respond to the situation. Correct, yes, correct in love, which you did Check, maybe a little spice, but after that there was no need to go further. And this is why I'm saying sometimes our inner voice and our emotions cannot be trusted and this is why I'm saying sometimes our inner voice and our emotions cannot be trusted. Our inner voice we need to guard and be careful. That is this me, or is this the Lord? Sometimes it's not even the enemy. Sometimes the enemy is just waiting for you.

Speaker 1:

Your inner voice is your own downfall. It has nothing to do with the enemy, it has nothing to do with the devil. Your inner voice, because, remember, your inner voice is made out of, or your inner man, is made out of, your thoughts, your feelings, your traumas, your history, how you grew up, and those things have now shaped the way we think, the way we respond, the boundaries that we have, the walls that we have built up. We cannot trust ourselves like that. God has made us incredible beings, my goodness. That's why the enemy is after us, because we are great.

Speaker 1:

But up until we learn how to fully yield the flesh and be in line and be one with the Holy Spirit, that is then when we can trust our voices. So we can't trust even our voice unless our voice. You know we have partnered with the Holy Spirit, and we agree, you know, and we partnered with the Holy Spirit, and we agree, you know, and we are with the Holy Spirit. You know, unless to agree, then they can walk together. This is what the journey of salvation looks like as partnering with the Holy Spirit and always being on the same page. So we can't always trust ourselves because we come from a place of trauma ourselves. Because we come from a place of trauma, we come from a place of people have hurt us so much and I will never let you do that to me, and sometimes that's not what the Lord wants for us. So let's wrap this up.

Speaker 1:

We have the voice that distracts, the voice that misdirects, that we need to be careful of, our inner voice. That we need to be careful of and I think I'll just leave it there. We really need to scrutinize, really scrutinize and take stock of what we are listening to this season. So I'm going to ask of you to go through the list of people that you are allowing, even me, even me. You have to go through the list of the people that you are listening to this season. Go through the people that you are following. What are they actually adding onto your life? It is a feat for a reason. They're adding something. What are they actually saying? Are they inspiring me to wake up and keep going at it. Are they inspiring me to wake up and keep following the Lord, or are they, when I wake up, are they dictating what my to-do list looks like Because it fulfills their agendas? I hope I'm making sense.

Speaker 1:

You need to ask yourself, especially for us who follow platforms, if I unfollow this platform, this community, because also, community is a great thing, but it can also be a distraction. If I unfollow this community and there is silence around me, will I know what to do with my life? If you could say, for the next three months, if I unfollow or, let me say, mute, if I don't hear from this person, even if they're a good sound voice or a negative sound voice, if I unfollow them, will I know what to do? And if the answer is no, that's where you know that. That's the loophole, right there. We need to be able to first hear from the Lord and then, when we follow these communities or join with them, it's because they are working hand in hand. They are in alignment with the voice of God and the authority of God for that season. So, if I hear from the Lord that, buli, you are in a season of I don't know planting, I can then align myself with other things that will encourage me and coach me and mentor me in that season appropriately, until the Lord says okay, your planting season is done, I need you to rest and then I can disconnect and plug into the next thing, because God's voice should be the ultimate voice and the ultimate authority. I don't care who says what, it doesn't matter at this point, the way this thing is so critical who it is. God has to be the ultimate authority. So how do I hear from God? Maybe there are those of us who are not too sure yet.

Speaker 1:

Practical steps on how you follow the voice of God for those who want a hard reset. Number one you have to read the word. I know we say it very vaguely and the word is overwhelming, but the beauty about it is, if you are, there are books in the Bible like Psalms or Proverbs, or Joshua or Genesis. I think it's a beautiful place to start, but it's fine. Genesis or even John, matthew, mark, luke. Certain books have certain themes and if you want, maybe a certain theme that will help you, you know, navigate certain things in your life or being practical, or whatever the case may be, search and see a book about love. It might take you to Ecclesiastes or Psalms or whatever the case may be, or it might even lead you to the love of Christ for the church. Start with the word of God. Whether you read a book, a chapter, a verse is too small. Now we are not babies anymore. Read a chapter a day, just read a chapter a day. Give yourself 30 minutes morning, afternoon, night, or play the audio thing and learn to read the word.

Speaker 1:

Number two don't assume only popular people hear from God. This one is very important. I'll tell you why. There are amazing children of God who might not look like they have a huge following and unfortunately, this generation, if you don't following, seems to be like your credential, like if you have like 200,000 people. Yes, sound doctrine, but no, that's not the case. And we see it. We see it Doesn't matter how much Christ they push or preach or announce, because also, we need to be aware, guys, that people are using the name of Jesus as a brand. They can tell that this season Christ is popular, so I just need to align myself with it, brand myself with Christ, but not have the substance thereof. So we need to be careful.

Speaker 1:

There are people, big or small, that you may or may not even be aware of Powerful women and men of God who might even only have 800 followers, but you want to follow a bully who has what? 70,000 followers? And because she just says Jesus here and there, you think it's sound. No, there are amazing women of God. For example, journey to Purity, ob example, journey to purity, where she'll share a word not not every word might be for your season, but it is so sound that so you don't listen to it. You know. I pray that god will allow you to find people who are not dabbling in in or playing around with demons and other spirits, but are leading you and teaching you truly the word of God, unadulterated. But don't despise who the word of the Lord can come from.

Speaker 1:

Like John the Baptist, people despised him because of how he looked. He looked like this crazy man in the wilderness, dressed in leopard print or whatever animal print and fur and all the only. And he fed on what wild? He only ate wild honey and locusts. And when you judge, imagine someone like that these days you'd be like. But all he kept, all he kept saying, was basically announcing the coming of the Lord, jesus Christ. And he was accurate. But if you looked at him from the outside he was going to look a little crazy. He actually probably did look crazy, but the accuracy. He was so in tune with the Spirit. Guys, he was so in tune with the Spirit, oh man, and we, I know. Probably I would have side-eyed him twice if I had to see him these days.

Speaker 1:

So don't go for people who only have a huge following, because even them, they know they're doing it for their brand. Let's be honest People are pushing their brand these days, even if it's about the Lord. They will push it because to them it's gratifying something that they haven't dealt with in the flesh. Okay, let me move on. Don't look down on people, so read the word. Number two find people who are teaching the word of God and don't look down on who that could be. Number three take stock of your current voices and be willing to cut the cord. There are people, groups, platforms that you need to put on ice or on pause for the season, groups, platforms that you need to put on ice or on pause for the season. I'll keep saying that. Ask yourselves are they really? And the way you know this is that are they really leading you to God? Is it their post that tells you what you're doing next month. That's filling your calendar. Are they leading you to God? Are they truly leading you to God or to themselves, or making you rely on them so much that you wouldn't know how to fast, what word to read, if it wasn't for them? Guys, no, these are people who brand themselves with the cross, but they have not been crucified with Christ.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, as we wrap, create routines that will help you to hear worship, prayer, listen to good teachings and focus on things that matter to you, particularly in this season, if God is calling you to be separate. Listen to teachings that talk about consecration and being separate. Take stock, unfollow, mute. Do whatever you want to do, because in this season it is so, so critical you want to do because in this season it is so, so critical. I do not want you to miss out on what God is going to do in you this season, maybe even through you or to you, because we are so misdirected and misaligned because of the voices around us.

Speaker 1:

So that is today's vodcast podcast. That's today's episode Very different, but I's episode very different. But I had to be obedient, I had to do what I needed to do and, can I be honest, sometimes you assume that the numbers will validate that this is of God. You know so. Okay, I got a hundred thousand views. Okay, at least I know that is of God. But it also reminds me of Bully sitting in my mom's bedroom taking a video and saying that even if this is for the one, we're going to do it. And geez, I'm thinking it's almost 10 years later. I don't know how many years later, but that video is still there where it was, B talks, but this looks like it and it's still like this today. The Lord allowed me to go and do other things, but yet we are still here and doing this today, which is so bizarre, so crazy.

Speaker 1:

So hope that you guys have enjoyed that episode, this episode. You've learned a lot. Listen to it, take stock, do the homework. I'm asking, that's all I ask. I would not have bothered you on this tuesday, um, and put this episode out there if it was in vain. I myself would have not put makeup on and sat in my bedroom you know, I'd rather be because it's an off day kind of rolling on my couch, you know, watching tv, I don't know.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, anyway, my loves, um, don't forget to comment below, please, please, please. Like I said, we're on Spotify, um and Apple. Those are the two platforms that were on um, so comment below, share this with the friend and thank you for those who have been sharing, who have been commenting, and I think it will do us great on apple or spotify to keep rating the podcast. Um, yeah, because it will. It will do us good the more rates we have. I I want this to grow because it is magnifying the name of jesus. I think that's that that I can say with my chest. It is magnifying the name of jesus. So, yeah, we did this and I'll probably see you on the next one, because, hey, this is what we do around here and the sorry for a good shout if being in shouta, hey, sorry, sorry for a good shout. This is refined bye.