Hearing God (4)

Hearing God (4)

It is interesting how we tend to call on God only when we are in need like a genie in the bottle of some sorts, that we only beckon upon when an issue arises at our whim, to do our bidding.

This erroneous attitude is actually born out of our incomplete knowledge of who God is an how we ought to relate with Him. While God desires to save us from situations that are beyond our comprehension and ability, His purpose in our lives is far more than the mundane things we usually think about and desire. 
God's desire for all mankind can be understood in the words He spoke to Abram in Genesis 17:1 to 2 and 7, where He said to Abram, 
1. “I am God Almighty ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 
2. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
7. "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you."

God's overwhelming desire with regards to how He wants to relate with His creation, is to have a loving Father to son relationship with us all in which He will be our God and we will be a people that would walk faithfully and blamelessly before Him all our days.

Do you lack the ability to hear God as you would your earthly father? 
Prayerfully work on developing a relationship with Him and learn to fellowship with Him and His word like you would any other human being you are closest to. 
Relate with His Holy Spirit as you would a friend that is closer to you than a biological brother. 

Practice being conscious of His presence and His Almighty ability to guard and guide you through every situation in life by talking to Him concerning everything in life, no matter how seemingly trivial or mundane the issue may be and by all means, take time to listen, and you will definitely see a turn-around in your relationship with Him.

Shalom.

Hearing God (3)

Hearing God (3)

The question you must ask yourself now is, Do you have ears to hear? or better still, How do you qualify to hear what God's spirit says to His church?

In John 10:3 to 5, we are made to understand that the sheep listen to the voice of the good shepherd and that when he calls his own sheep by name, goes on ahead of them, and leads them out, his sheep follow him because they know his voice and that they will never follow a stranger but run away from such because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

The gospel truth is that you must be a member of God's flock to listen to him, to the point of considering what he says like the disciples of Jesus did or you will just be like one of the members of the crowd.

As in Matthew 13:11 and Mark 4:10,
the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given only to his flock, that is, those who choose to follow him as his disciples and ask him about the meaning of the parables but not to those who are part of the crowd, who follow him only for material gain and are not really bothered about understanding what he has to say, talk less adhering to it.

There is only one message that rings out throughout the new testament concerning God's heartbeat, that He desires we fulfil. This message is always the summary of what the Spirit says to His church and the message simply is this: "go and make disciples of all nations,.." (Matthew 28:19).

This message which is God's command to the church, is born out of this resounding desire of Jesus as recorded in John 10:16, which goes thus: 

"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

If you have ears then I believe you have heard what God's spirit says to His church. With the measure you obey it, it will be measured to you - and even more.

Shalom

Hearing God (4)

Hearing God (2)

Hearing God (2)

The most important example of the need for one who has ears to hear what the Spirit of God says per time to His Church can be found in Matthew 13: 1 to 23 and Mark 4: 1 to 20; a Parable of the Sower, which he specifically taught the large crowd that gathered around him by the lake but his disciples were also inquisitive enough to hang around and gain wisdom from as well.

While the story in the book of Matthew only mentioned the warning, "Whoever has ears, let them hear.” the second account found in the book of Mark went further to explain the warning thus:

24. “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and even more. 
25. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
(Mark 4:24 to 25)
The warning given about "whoever has ears let him hear," is actually an admonition that we should carefully consider the word of God we hear, that we may act on it, the reason being that, it is with the measure we consider and not what we merely hear but don't think about with the desire to understand and therefore do something about, that Gods blessings will be measured back to us, as a result of our obedience for taking heed of what God desires of us - and even more.

That is why in Mark 4:25, the verse after it, Jesus explained that whoever has, which means whoever has an understanding of the parables he speaks of, will be given more to ponder over and actualize; while whoever does not have an understanding of what he says, even what they already understood will be lost.

As in John 8:31 to 32, we must believe in Jesus to the point of holding on to his teachings, that we may understand and obey them, so that we may prove to really be his disciples. Then and only then, will we know the truth with regards to how God will have us live our lives per time, that will set us free from sin, the evil and fallen systems of this world and the devil.

Shalom

Hearing God (3)

Hearing God

Hearing God.

There is an adage that goes thus: 
"Many look but only a few see!"
While this holds true for our perception afforded us by our physical eye sight and us being able to discern matters with our spiritual eyes, the same can be aptly said with regards to our sense of hearing. 

In about 14 different places of 4 chapters of the New Testament, 8 of them having to be in the book of Revelation, that relates to the future end of mankind and where we will ultimately spend eternity, a slight variation of this warning as recorded in Revelation 2:7, is sounded, 
"Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

The Warning is one that from time to time perks my attention, for to the average person it would appear as foolishness for a person who had ears not to hear in the first place.

The unfortunate truth is that two people who briefly enter a room may perceive and recount the contents of the room differently, with one probably giving greater detail because he chose to pay attention to detail, considering how important he believed the task was.

A person can actually be aware about what God's spirit is trying to pass across to His people by merely being present when it is said but not listening to the point of paying attention in order to engage his heart and go beyond mere comprehension with ones mind, to truly understanding with his heart so that he can be empowered to obey it.

The truth is that the things of the Spirit cannot be comprehended and therefore understood by a person's intellect but with his heart, and the Holy Spirit's input is also required to understand what the Spirit of God is saying.

If you are asking "why?" the answer is simply because the message of God's Spirit was meant for one particular set of people; those who are His followers (those who hear the Word because they want to abide by it) and the gospel truth is that if one is not a follower, even though he has ears, he won't be able to understand and therefore put to any meaningful use what he heard, apart from God's call on a man to be born again. 

Shalom!

Hearing God (2)