Accidental Or Intentional Listening?

ACCIDENTAL OR INTENTIONAL LISTENING? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

Matthew 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Kind of famous words! To hear is a very complex action involving the ears and the brain.

Hearing is a great everyday miracle that we just take for granted… seems sound waves enter the funnel of the outer ear and turn into the auditory canal and strike the EAR DRUM. The three smallest bones (THE HAMMER, ANVIL AND THE STIRRUP) in your body are behind the ear drum, and they vibrate and hit a small snail shaped fluid filled structure called the COCHLEA. The cochlea has small hair like nerve endings that move and detect sound waves. The brain translates the sound waves into meaning…

WHAT CAN WE HEAR? SEEMS WE TEND TO HAVE SELECTIVE HEARING? ARE WE TRAINING OUR EARS?

Many years ago my Grandmother Hughes had hearing aids. When there was a crowd around her, she would turn her hearing aids off. Mom said Grandma could hear a whisper if it was something you did not want her to hear? CAN YOU HEAR? WHAT CAN YOU HEAR?

Seems there can be 20 babies around and the baby momma can detect her own baby’s cry? A mechanic can hear something wrong in a car? A heart doctor can hear something abnormal in a heartbeat? A lung doctor can hear lung issues? SEEMS WE CAN TRAIN OUR EARS TO HEAR WHAT WE DESIRE TO HEAR?

We may not hear it but there are all kinds of listening waves all around us. Humans can hear certain sound waves. We know dogs can hear high sound waves that we cannot hear. Whales, dolphins and other animals can hear sound waves from over 100 miles away. There are TV signals, radio signals, cell phone signals, WI-FI signs, GPS signals, Bluetooth signals, even micro-wave ovens send out signals.

WHERE IS THE QUIETEST PLACE IN THE USA?

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Do you want to guess where the quietest place is found in the USA? Ok, I can tell where the NATIONAL RADIO QUIET ZONE IS… The quietest electronic area in the USA is: GREEN BANK, WEST VIRGINIA. The population is small, the mountains seem to shield the radio waves away, so Green Bank, West Virginia is known as the QUIETEST AREA in the USA. This makes GREEN BANK the perfect place for the GREEN BANK OBSERVATORY.

THE GREEN BANK OBSERVATORY TELESCOPE HAS TO HAVE A QUIET ZONE FROM SOUND WAVES TO LISTEN TO THE MOVEMENT AND PULSARS OF GALAXIES IN DEEP SPACE. So the government has established a 13,000 square mile area to prevent radio wave interference. There is a sensitive instrument that is larger than a football field that allows scientist to listen to the sounds millions of miles away. TO HEAR IN THE DISTANCE ONE MUST HAVE A QUIET AREA FROM WHICH TO LISTEN CLEARLY.

DO WE LISTEN TO GOD? DO WE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORDS? FAITH COMES BY HEARING… Can we find time to get alone and listen to God? His Holy Spirit has lessons to teach us.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

CAN WE HEAR GOSSIP AND TEMPORAL SOUNDS AND REFUSE TO LISTEN TO ETERNAL SOUNDS? DO WE HAVE A LISTENING PLAN… ACCIDENTAL OR INTENTIONAL LISTENING?

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We must realize how important it is to focus our ears and eyes on ETERNAL ISSUES… To listen is best accomplished when we make room to hear and listen carefully.

*ACCIDENTAL: NO PLANS, UNEXPECTED, CHANCE.

*INTENTIONAL: DONE BY PLANS, DELIBERATE, VOLUNTARY AND WILLING.

Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

THE CHURCH IS IN A SICK, SAD AND HOPELESS CONDITION. ELI THE PREACHER WAS OLD AND OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY. SEEMS WHEN THE PREACHERS REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOD THE CHURCH BECOMES BACKSLIDDEN.

ELI HAD 2 PREACHER SONS THAT WOULD NOT LISTEN TO GOD.

HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS KNEW WHAT WAS RIGHT… THEY REFUSED TO LISTEN TO THEIR PREACHER- DAD AND THEY REFUSED TO LISTEN TO GOD’S CORRECTION. They were stealing offerings that did not belong to them. They were having secret meetings with women. HOW SAD THAT HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS REFUSED TO LISTEN? Eli knew he should correct the sinning preacher sons but his hearing was distorted because they were his sons.