Tag Archives: Spiritual ears

Who Will Lead the End-Time Church #14

Posted on 11/12/2023 | Comments Off on Who Will Lead the End-Time Church #14

Protecting our Spiritual Ears

         I remember the Lord asking me a peculiar question some years ago. He asked, “How does faith come?” I immediately said, “Faith comes by hearing, Lord.”  (quoting Romans 10:17). The Lord then asked me, “So then, how does hearing come?”  I didn’t have a quick answer for Him, but I was immediately reminded of all the scriptures that state: “he who has ears to hear let him hear,” and many other scriptures that said, “They had eyes that see and could not see, they had ears but could not hear.”

After some study, I began to see why people who have the “appearance” of faith and declare that Jesus is their Lord are having great difficulty in their Christian walk. They don’t have a hearing ear, so faith never comes.

A typical teaching is that faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing, etc. And there is some truth to that line of thought. The thing that has not been taught much is that there are different ways to hear, and there is a difference between natural and spiritual hearing.

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

Let me give you a more accurate translation of this verse to make it clear.

ROM 10:17 (my paraphrase): Faith comes by what we hear, and hearing comes from the Word of God that we act upon.

Just because we have ears does not mean we can hear the Word. Our spiritual ears, our hearts, can only be opened by obedience to the word of God. That word will come from the written Word and the spoken Word by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us as believers.  

Only the word of God we act upon will develop our spiritual hearing. Obedience opens our spiritual hearing so we can receive further instruction.

Throughout the bible, it is the disobedient and rebellious people who “had ears but could not hear.”

Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Jeremiah 5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

Ezekiel 12:2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.

Spiritual ears are opened by the word of God we act on. If we are in a place where we feel we cannot hear God’s voice, we should humble ourselves before Him and ask Him where we have been rebellious and disobedient. If God has spoken to us about something and we neglect or ignore it, he is not inclined to talk to us about anything else until we acknowledge and act on what He has already said.

There are vast realms of understanding and revelation that we willnever acquire if we are not doers of the word. If we do not act on what we have heard, the Bible says we are deceiving ourselves. If we hear the word and do nothing about it, we become spiritually deaf. 

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Once we obey the word of God, an extraordinary cycle begins. Acting on the Word gives life to our faith and increases our ability to hear more from the Lord, which gives us more opportunities to act on what we hear, which gives life to our faith, and the cycle repeats. This is the never-ending cycle of spiritual growth.

If the Word of God is sown in our hearts and we refuse to act on it (rebellion), the devil has the right to steal it from us. This is the condition that we see in the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

There are too many “wayside” Christians in the Church today. The spiritual condition of the Church as a whole is poor, in part because of the inability to hear what the Lord is saying to this generation.

As leaders, we must live a life of strict obedience and teach those following us to do the same.

Matthew 13:9-13 He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

When Jesus called the twelve disciples, He said to them: “Come.” They acted on that word and continued to follow Him.Because they acted on the word, they had ears to hear more.

Every time God speaks to us, corrects us, or even rebukes us, He is saying, “Come follow Me.” If the disciples did not follow when Jesus said, “Come,” Jesus would have kept right on walking, and they would not have been close enough to Him to hear further instructions.

Every time God speaks to us about anything, He is asking us to pursue Him. Let’s look at the rest of this passage.

Matthew 13:14-15 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Lack of spiritual hearing is a heart problem caused by unbelief. Unbelief can be manifest in many ways: rebellion, disobedience, lack of understanding, spiritual laziness, pride, or selfish desires. No matter what form it takes, obedience is the cure.

John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

God has already spoken many things to us in His written word. Why would He be inclined to say anything else if we are not interested in what He already said? Find out what God has already spoken and act on THAT. This will give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.

Question: What causes Christians to become dull of hearing?

Question: What is the difference between Natural and spiritual hearing?

Question: Why is spiritual hearing so important?

Question: How do we develop and maintain clear spiritual hearing?

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Why You Struggle with Sin

Posted on 10/30/2023 | Comments Off on Why You Struggle with Sin

          Most Christians are familiar with the phrase, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” This statement is true. We know it is because it’s God’s holy written word. Then why are so many Christians living in obvious bondage to sin? The problem is, we don’t actually know the truth, we just know some things about it.

          Let’s look at that scripture in context.

John 8:31-32  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

          The problem here is obvious. Those who struggle with sin do not abide in God’s written word. To abide means to remain constantly, to dwell continually. We are to live our Christian lives with constant exposure to, and intake of the word of God. If we do not, according to the above scripture, we are not even considered a disciple. We definitely won’t be free.

I have observed animals raised in captivity all their lives. When the chains are removed and their locked cages are opened, they freeze. Instead of stepping out, they choose not to leave the confines of their captivity. Freedom is strange and unfamiliar to them, so they return to the chains and the cage that binds them. They find comfort in the familiarity of prison.

          Most Christians do not understand the value or importance of reading and listening to the word for themselves. They attend church faithfully. They read many books and listen to many teachings about the Bible. They watch Christian television and listen to Christian radio. However, they only read a chapter or two of the Bible for themselves daily, if that.

          If you spend only fifteen to thirty minutes a day in the Bible, you will not grow much spiritually. You will remain a baby Christian all your life.

Other passages in the Bible tell us to keep the word before our eyes, meditate on it day and night, keep it in our mouths, attend unto God’s word, and keep it in the midst of our hearts.

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

          It is the supernatural power in God’s word that sets us free. God’s word is alive! It imparts grace and truth to us in ways that we can’t begin to understand. Truth is the one unchangeable constant in the universe. It is the only thing in existence that has the power to set us free and keep us free.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

          God’s word is a sharp, surgical instrument that can operate on our soul and spirit, separating and removing anything that would keep us bound. Some surgeries take longer than others, but if we abide in God’s word, staying under the knife so to speak, we will soon be free of the things that keep us bound.

Do you really love Him?

          In our minds, I think we all do. But what does Jesus have to say about it?

John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.

          That seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it?

John 14:21-24 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

          Loving God’s word, and keeping God’s word is how we express love for God. If we do not love God’s word enough to read it for ourselves and stay in it continually, then we cannot claim to love God according to scripture.

James 1:21-25 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

          In verse 21 we see the word “implanted.” Some translations read “engrafted.”

What does implanted, or engrafted mean? The Greek word is “emphutos” pronounced “em’-foo-tos” and this word is only used once in the New Testament. If you are familiar with a surgical implant, a skin graft, or a tree with a grafted branch, then you have an idea of what implanted means.

An implant takes living tissue and grafts it into another living tissue to make both one. If grafted properly, the thing being grafted becomes a living part of the thing it is grafted into.

Spiritually speaking, the living word of God is fastened, or grafted into our spirit until the living word becomes a part of us and we become one. To receive the implanted word, we must be doers of the word. If we are not a doer of the word, we have not received it, we have only heard it.

The self-deception that James is talking about in the above verse is hearing the word and thinking we know it. Until we practice what we have heard, we don’t know it, we don’t fully understand it, yet we move forward thinking we have learned something when we have not.

Abiding in God’s word gives us the strength, faith, and courage needed to obey His word.

Hunger for the Word like a Baby

1 Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

          Even though abiding in God’s word will cause us to grow into maturity in Christ, we should always maintain a spiritual hunger for the word like a newborn child.

          I have raised three children, and without fail, every one of them demanded to be fed eight to twelve times a day when they were newborns. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night, they would wake up crying for a meal.

          When was the last time you woke up in the middle of the night and just had to read God’s word, had to hear it, had to taste it? How many times a day do you visit the scriptures?

Spiritual hunger, unlike physical hunger, is stimulated by eating, not starving. The number one discipline Christians should establish in their lives is abiding in God’s word.

There is a reason God spent over 1500 years and used 40 different people who spoke 3 different languages putting together this wonderful, recorded, historical, and anointed document called the Bible. It is our blueprint, our manual for life, our spiritual food. It is God’s thoughts, feelings, instructions, and ideas that He has made readily available to the children He so dearly loves. Let’s not take that for granted.

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Spiritual Warfare #17 ~ Exposing the Itchy Ear

Posted on 05/04/2022 | Comments Off on Spiritual Warfare #17 ~ Exposing the Itchy Ear

John 8:31-32 So, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

          Freedom comes from knowing the truth, and that comes from abiding in a relationship with God through the truth of His written word. It does not come from abiding in the teachings of men, the sermons of men, the doctrines of men, the interpretations of men, the latest revelations of our favorite bible teachers, or any other way that seems right to man. (Proverbs 14:12) This only comes from a personal, intimate relationship with the Father and constant exposure to His written word.

Listening to other teachers is important, but this should be a supplement to our spiritual diet. Our primary nourishment should come from the Bible alone. Through reading, study, and meditation on the Bible for ourselves, we consume the unleavened bread of Christ, the pure living word. If we primarily listen to others teach about the Bible and read very little ourselves, it is like taking vitamins and supplements and eating almost no real food. This is not healthy. It makes Christians weak and vulnerable to false doctrines and doctrines of devils.

We MUST pursue Him through His word for ourselves.

2 Timothy 4:3-5 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

          The time isn’t coming folks, the time is NOW!

Like it or not, we have become the church with the itchy ears.

There are almost 300 Christian denominations in the U.S.A. alone and all are arrogant enough to believe they have it right. The lack of humility is mind-boggling.

It is very easy to slip into an itchy-eared mindset. All we have to do is pick all the scriptures, teachers, and doctrines that make us happy, and gravitate toward those while neglecting the ones that challenge us and demand change.

Consider this; It only takes a slow reader approximately 90 hours to read the Bible from cover to cover, and yet few Christians have ever read the entire Bible, even leaders in the Church who have been saved for decades. Furthermore, it only takes about 75 hours to listen to the Bible by audio recording. Currently, we have resources available like Biblegateway that we can read, or listen to God’s word in almost any translation we choose and in multiple languages as well.

There are 1189 chapters in the Bible. Reading an average of 3.25 chapters a day will take you through the entire Bible in one year. Read 10 a day and you will have read it three times in a year.

This reveals two important things to us.

  1. How diligently Satan has worked to keep us out of God’s word.
  2. How little we esteem God’s word.

We must stop trusting the opinions of men and allow them to spoon-feed us their opinions. We are in a very dangerous season in the history of the Church. The end of this age is upon us and we don’t have a clue who we are, what we believe, or why we believe it.

I know there are men and women of God that have not fallen into this deception, but I would venture to say that they are very few. It is time that these few stand up and begin to lead others into a relationship with the Father that births a hunger and desire for the manifestation of the kingdom of God.

The Parable of Revealed Light

Luke 8:16-18 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Most of us are familiar with the first part of this parable, but verse 18 has the word “Therefore” that ties hiding the light that is in us with how, and what we hear. When we are constantly exposed to wrong doctrine, the result is that strongholds of wrong thinking and wrong believing increase, (we get more added) and our light gets progressively hidden. (what we seem to have is taken away) No one intentionally does this, it comes from the deception of the enemy and catering to selfish desires.

We must all ask ourselves this question; What is the primary way that I learn about God and His word? Through the teachings of other believers, (leavened bread) or through reading and listening to the Bible for ourselves? (unleavened bread)

Only by the two-edged sword of the living word can we rightly discern and divide truth. If we avoid the portions of God’s word that cuts, pierces, prunes and separates, we quickly slip into error and deception. Our light gets hidden and our witness to the world becomes diminished.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Many would say, “It is hard to read the Bible, I don’t understand it.” I would say to those people, “walking and talking was hard too, until we learned how to do it. Now it comes natural.” Our pastors, or favorite teachers cannot walk or talk for us. Neither can they feed us anything more than leavened bread. We need the unleavened bread, and the sincere milk of God’s word. and we need to learn to feed ourselves.

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Notice that Peter said, “as new born babes?” He isn’t pointing out baby Christians, he is saying that our hunger and desire for the word of God should be like an infant that cries for the life giving milk every few hours. Mature and immature Christians alike.

Ask yourself, “what am I hungry for? Am I hungry for God’s holy word, or for the latest preaching and teaching from my favorite ministers?” They are not even close to being the same.

Matthew 23:9-10 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 

That may seem to be a contradiction since the Lord Jesus Himself gave us teachers in the form of the “five-fold ministry gifts” mentioned in Ephesians 4, but it is not. All of the five-fold ministry gifts have one purpose, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. All five teach and equip in different ways, but those teachings must be filtered through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and our personal relationship with God and His written word. God is telling us to lean heavily on the Holy Spirit within us to rightly divide His word.

1 John 2:26-27  These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

The Lord showed me recently that if we abide in false doctrine, even out of ignorance, we partner with the adversary, building strongholds of wrong thinking and wrong believing in our own hearts and minds. We actually assist the enemy in his plan of deception by building the strongholds that bind us. Unfortunately, it is an evil deception that most of us fall for at one time or another.

These strongholds are not just reinforced belief systems, they are encampments in our mind that the enemy hides behind. As we speak about, and act on the things we believe we reveal to Satan the best strategies to keep us in our deception. One of the ways he does this is to keep us running in the same circle of believers and despising the beliefs of other denominations. We know from 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 that denominational divisions are considered sin, and were never God’s plan. Now it is an effective tool that the enemy uses against us.

To live truly free, we must be very selective about what we are hearing and what are we beholding, who we are listening to, and how much we are doing it. Without the filter of our own personal relationship with God and a love for the truth of His word, we cannot properly discern sound doctrine. Truth becomes obscured with the leaven of religious doctrine that appeases the carnal mind and satisfies our selfish desires. Self is the very thing we need to be freed from and freedom from self will not come until we die to it by renewing our minds to the holiness of God’s word.

Again, are we really abiding in Him? Are we adding in His word or just reading the latest books and listening to the latest sermons? Do we really desire the sincere milk of the word, or do we lust for the next teaching, the next revelation, or the next great sermon?

Itchy ears blind us from the truth. There is a reason the apostle James wrote, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment..” (James 3:1)

Let us abide in His word, seek Him when no one is looking, and cultivate a love for truth and the sincere milk of God’s word. It is the only way we become everything the blood of Christ has paid for us to be.

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