How's Your Hearing?

1Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

People who know me and have read my books say that they "sound" exactly like me. It is like talking to me in person. My wife and kids would understand them best since they have lived with me. The best books you could ever read are those that are written by people you know really well or have had least met.

I use the illustration that if we were stationed overseas, you might let me read your letter from home. I would recognize people's names, street or town names, but there would be many things I might not understand because you and that person experienced things I have not or there is an allusion to an event or joke that I do not get at all because I had to be there to understand.

I read the Bible very infrequently before I was saved in '75 and really did not get it. I attended church now and then. I could quote creeds and such, but they had no real impact on my life because I just didn't get it. It was like reading a biography of some one that I was forced to read in school. It was just words and a few stories that I knew.

In '75, I went to church to get a guy off my back and ended up with Jesus in my heart. Then the light turned on. The Bible literally became alive. I could sense God's presence guiding me through it and even telling me to back up and park on a passage or two that I apparently really needed to understand.

What made the difference? I was now related to the author and it was meaningful to me because it was like being at a book signing where the author explains the background and answers questions of people who have read the book.

My spirit was now alive and the Holy Spirit could now teach me because I was able to learn. He was building my spiritual discernment so I understood things that were just vague concepts and nice stories. I was now a child of the author and could understand Abba/Daddy when He spoke.

Do you find the Bible difficult to understand? It may be that it is because it is not a letter from home like it is now for me. You get names and some stories but the rest is like reading an unknown language. It may well be that you are not related to the author and need to be adopted into the family. You may also be new in the family and just need to be patient and allow Him to teach you.

A man may read my mail and not be interested in the topics or because he has not experienced what the writer and I have experienced he may not believe them. That does not invalidate or change my mail in any way. It is his issue. The same is true with God's letters. They were written for His people. Others will not understand. They do not have His Spirit to teach them,

Be saved today, by putting your faith/trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. When you are born again and the Holy Spirit moves in He will teach you.

Be careful not to get so wrapped up in the teachings of a denomination that your ears cannot hear the Spirit. After all, He was highly involved with writing the letters so He can best explain or interpret them.

Men sometimes get their spiritual ears full of wax made up of sin or pride so that they no longer hear the still, small voice of the Spirit thus making mistakes and their own doctrines that divide the family. If your earthly teachers are not lining up with the Master Teacher then you need to find new earthly teachers. Listen closely to Abba and you will hear the truth. Maranatha!