Hearing The Word of God

It’s the way we perceive sound.

Listening is different. It expands on hearing when we pay attention to the meaning of what we hear. For example, say a truck just rolled by on the road in front of our house. I (Jim ) heard the noisy rumble, knew what it was, and after that paid no attention whatsoever.

Many do that when we’re merely hearing the words we hear from the pulpit. They’re just vibrations in the atmosphere. We nod, smile, perhaps even respond, "Amen", but are we listening? Hardly. Listening requires that we open to the meaning of the words of God being spoken, that we — in a very real way — enter into the experience those words are meant to convey.

It’s no longer just about sound but about the thoughts, feelings, point of view, expectations, thoughts, the sensations, beliefs — the whole of the message being conveyed — or at least as much of the whole as is available in the moment it is being spoken.

James 1:19-25 (KJV)

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

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

This message from scriptures is written to those who are, baptized, blood bought, members of the body of Christ. It is meant as a reminder to those who hear God's word, but don't fully grasp, by listening intently to the message being delivered, whether from the pulpit or while reading alone. The Spirit speaks expressly, through God's word, to challenge us to do as the word of God requires us to do.

One simple way to understand listening, is to ask yourself — what do I want to gain from the message at hand, and am I open to receive it? What we should want most is to understand, and appreciated what God is wanting us to take from the message, and apply it to our everyday lives. Not just heard.... technically, but to feel what the love of God has for you, in the message at that very moment in time.

To fully trust and believe every word of God, is to understand it so well that you fully absorb it into your inner most thoughts, and desires, and become a doer of the work, and not a hearer only. You know it through and through, and you get it. You respect it. You reverence it. You live it! It will change your life, and challenge you to follow and keep it's precepts as part of your everyday living.

If you can remember how you felt when you first obeyed the gospel of Christ, that saved your soul. You can realize the importance of every message shared from the pulpit, and how we can use it to edify each other. We even sing it, and teach it, through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, as the words of Christ dwells within us reachly, filling us with the Spirit.. Therefore there’s every need for every word to be established, because when we hear and listen — with all our souls, body, and being -- because it becomes food to our souls, and nourishment for our spirit.

When we get it, listening becomes automatic.

When we get it, doing it becomes automatic.

When we get it, sharing it becomes automatic!

When we get it, living it becomes a part of our everyday lives!

The most important christian quality that comes from listening to God's holy and inspired word is that it allows you (fleshly man) to step aside and be mindful of the inner man, to which the word of God, through the spirit, is intendng to have experience the spiritual things of God. That means you have to abandon your own points of view (will), according to the outer man (flesh), and fully embrace the spirit-man, when becoming totally engaged, while God's word is being preached, so that your soul can be feed.

All things are made new! Your life is changed forever for the better! You have learned to deny yourself, when you are fully submerged, and engaged in the spirit of the word, as it speaks to the inward man. When you are hearing (listening) to the word, you then become spiritually available to what the word wants to communicate to your spirit man, and then you become spiritually capable of carrying it out. Not of your own will, but by the will revealed through the word by the Spirit.

When we listen, (truly listen), the rewards are immediate, as the Spirit deserns the thoughts and the internet of your heart. The more we are engaged in hearing, the more we can fully receive and appreciate the message as it is being delivered by the messenger. This is why God's word will only benefit us in this way if we are totally willing to surrender ALL to His will. The better we receive and appreciate the message, the better we are connected to God, and the power of His word, and the blessings that are being freely laid before us. The better our relationship to God, and His word, the better we can apply it to our lives, and the better will be the out come as it effects our lives. As we learn how to walk in the Light, as He is in the Light; we also began to circumspectly, walk more by faith, and not vicariously, by sight (flesh), and the better will be our fellowship with one another as we fight the good fight of faith together. Amen!