ARE YOU LISTENING TO GOD?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. When God went out against Egypt, He established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Hear me, My people, and I will warn you — if you would only listen to Me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”

“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to Me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”

“If my people would only listen to Me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their punishment would last forever.

But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 81

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Take any class on communicating and you’ll discuss the subject of active listening.

Essentially, active listening involves the technique of providing feedback to the sender to let them know you have understood what they have just said to you. For example:

If you tell me that you would like me to blog more from the New Testament than the Old, then I could say back to you, “So you would like more blogs from the New Testament?” or “So you would rather see me blog less from the Old Testament and more from the New?” Either question would result in a “yes” answer and both relay back to the sender that I have heard and understood what they just said.

As we consider active listening in our regular life of interacting with others, we should also consider it when we think about our relationship with God. It’s critical to first listen to the Lord intently and then return our feedback to Him via the prayers we speak. Unfortunately, we’re not real good at this I’m afraid and as we look at the 81st Psalm, we can see that exercising proper listening skills was something the Israelites did too, much to God’s lament. Look at the words He spoke regarding listening:

Hear me, My people, and I will warn you — if you would only listen to Me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me. I am the Lord your God.

God has direction for us. He is ready to tell us what behaviors we should avoid and He does so in the way of warnings. The Bible is full of them if we would only read it and then receive and apply God’s guidance.

One of God’s most prominent commands was for man to have no other gods in their life. Mankind’s worship was to be unto God and God alone.

But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to Me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

Where did the people of Israel get into trouble with God? They failed to listen to Him. Instead, they chose to worship false gods and make them more of a part of their life than the God who granted that life to them. Israel refused to submit themselves to God and unfortunately, we have repeated their mistakes from the past. And so God, as He did with Israel, turns us over to our own devices since we would rather follow our will instead of His.

This has only led us down the path of sin or as Jesus would describe it, the wide path of destruction (Matthew 7:13). Israel’s apostasy led to eventual punishment and exile. We would be well served to learn from their mistakes and start listening.   

If my people would only listen to Me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes!

It doesn’t need to be hard. Israel could have just as easily been saved from their enemies instead of being turned over to them. All they had to do was listen and heed God’s orders. But we know they didn’t and God acted accordingly.

So what will it be for us today? Will we be a people who, like the Israelites of old, decide to not listen to God and suffer His correction and consequence? Or will we learn and become obedient to Him, entering into a personal relationship which displays faithfulness and trust and loyalty?

One thing is for sure. We need to start exercising active learning.

Let me go back to today’s scripture and show you how this can be done. Consider these examples:

The Bible tells us to:

Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.

Our response in prayer can be:

Dear Lord, we hear Your command and lift our voices to You in song for indeed You are our strength. We will not only sing but play our instruments to show our devotion to You, the Lord of our lives. Amen.

Again, the Bible gives us direction:

You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me. I am the Lord your God.

Our response:

O God, You are God alone. There is no other god so we will only trust and serve You. Lead us Lord and light our path so we know the way we should go. We long to live so that You are glorified and honored in every way. Amen.

You get the point. So the question is: Are you listening to God?

If so, make sure you let Him know it in the way you pray and most definitely in the way you live.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com