IN OUR OWN SIGHT: THE PORTAL OF THE EARS…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
GUARD THE LOINS OF THE MIND…. HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO GET PEOPLE TO UNLEARN IMMATURITY? SEEMS THERE ARE MANY BABY, CARNAL CHRISTIANS BECAUSE THEY LISTEN TO THE WRONG CROWD.
Life has a way of teaching invalid and incorrect opinions. Some teach Christianity as warm fuzzy everything goes? Others teach life is about success and money? Still others are very judgmental and mean spirited? If we listen to the wrong messages you may find DETOURS away from the balanced truth. WHAT IS HINDERING YOU FROM DEVELOPING ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN? Is what you are saying and listening to pleasing to God?
Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Some people say you are what you eat (diet)? Others say you are what you wear? Perhaps both of those are true? Often we pay more attention to what we eat and what we wear. We need healthy, emotional, physical and spiritual words. I need to tell you a physical and a spiritual truth --- YOU ARE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO… We must learn to discipline our mouths and our ears to feed our minds properly.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO…. YOU BECOME WHAT YOU LISTEN TO…
Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Take note of what JUAN CARLOS ORTEZ penned in “LIVING WITH JESUS TODAY”
WE HAVE A PHENOMENON IN THE CHURCH TODAY WHICH I CALL “ETERNAL BABYHOOD OF THE BELIEVER.”
WE HAVE MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCH WHO AFTER YEARS OF HEARING MESSAGES ARE JUST THE SAME.
THEY CONTINUALLY NEED A MINISTER TO KEEP AFTER THEM, CHANGING THEIR DIAPERS, PUTTING TALCUM ON THEM.
CHECKING THAT THEIR MILK IS NOT TOO HOT. THE CHURCH SEEMS MORE LIKE A HOSPITAL THAN AN ARMY.
SOMETIMES WE FOOL OURSELVES, BECAUSE WE GROW NUMERICALLY. WE THINK THAT THIS IS GROWTH.
BUT TO GROW IN NUMBERS ALONE IS NOT NECESSARILY SPIRITUAL GROWTH. CEMETERIES ALSO GROW NUMERICALLY. TO HAVE 100 PEOPLE WITHOUT LOVE, THEN 200 PEOPLE WITHOUT LOVE IS JUST TO GET FAT.
1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
No perpetual milk bottles of elementary behavior. No prolonged infancies falling for every wind and wave that comes and goes. You become a sum total of your daily choices… One of the greatest choices that influences our attitudes could be the words we listen to and the words we speak.
FROM WHERE DOES A GRASSHOPPER SPIRIT GROW? LISTENING TO “I CAN’T, YOU CAN’T, OR WE CAN’T!
COMMUNICATION SKILLS MUST RECOGNIZE WE NEED UNDERSTANDING AND COMPREHENSION OF SPIRITUAL REALITY.
Do you tell yourself: I am a no body? I am a has been? Or I am GOING TO MAKE IT! Grasshoppers communicate with other grasshoppers by vibrations and chirping sounds… WORRY, FEAR, PANIC ATTACKS, TERRORISM are easily communicated.
Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
LISTEN: WE HAVE GOD’S PROMISE AND WE HAVE GOOD NEWS… GOOD NEWS… YOU CAN USE IF YOU CHOOSE.
Numbers 13:20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
Numbers 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
LISTEN: SHUT UP AND LISTEN…GOD’S PROMISES ARE TRUE: WE CAN DO THIS… LET US GO RIGHT NOW…
Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
WE ARE LISTENING TO OUR OWN NEGATIVE OPINIONS… WE BELIEVE OUR FEARS AND WORRIES… WE ARE IN OUR OWN SIGHT… LEAVE US ALONE. AS WE SEE OURSELVES IS HOW OTHERS WILL SEE US… PROJECTION… AURA.
*LISTEN TO YOURSELF: AURA THE SURROUNDINGS GENERATED BY A PERSON. WHAT EMANATES FROM A PERSON, WHAT RADIATES FROM YOU? --- IF I SEE ME AS A GRASSHOPPER? EVERYONE ELSE WILL SEE ME AS A GRASSHOPPER?
Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
You can feel the negative vibrations. Your ears can hear, then your mouth will release a spiritual trap.
WILL WE LIISTEN TO THE NEGATIVE PROJECTIONS THAT WE OURSELVES HAVE CREATED? NEGATIVISM IS SELF FEEDING.
WHAT IS THE VALUE, THE PRICE AND THE WORTH OF NOT LISTENING…
Numbers 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
THOSE THAT LISTEN SHALL BE REWARDED… THOSE THAT REFUSE TO LISTEN SHALL PAY DEARLY.
Numbers 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
John 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
CONCLUSION: GOD IS A GOOD LISTENER, ARE YOU? What makes a person a good communicator? Frozen communication lines seldom occur because someone is not talking. A good talker can kill communication. Good listeners open their ears with compassion and love to discern and understand more than the spoken words of an individual. LISTENING IS A SPIRITUAL GIFT FEW EVER SEEK. To listen can bring us closer to the heart of God. Many have the grasshopper aura because they refuse to listen. Moses spoke. Joshua spoke. Caleb spoke. But they learned to listen. The focus of the negative crowd refused to listen. My friend it is not what I can do? Nor is it what you can do? IT IS WHAT GOD CAN DO!
Seems we will pay $85 an hour and go on national TV just to get someone to listen to us? Can your spouse get a word in edgewise? If you shut your mouth you are reloading your guns to take revenge? We speak with more than words. Try some kind deeds. Pay it forward. Speak with a hug. Speak by giving. Listening is a rare gift that will tear down division and barriers. Exercise compassion and understanding.
One of the greatest obstacles to listening is ALWAYS INTERRUPTING and JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS. Why not try to master the lost art of listening. Be honest, are you trying to DEVELOP GREATER LISTENING SKILLS? There is power in listening. Few leaders ever listen. Identify non-verbal signals.
LET US CLOSE WITH THIS THOUGHT: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING AND HEARING? PLEASE HEAR ME.
THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN HEARING AND LISTENING… DO YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU LISTENING?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
WILL YOU PRACTICE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS?
