Are you a good listener? Would you consider yourself someone who has good hearing? Are you attentive to the voices and messages that come across your path? If you are a good listener, how do you know what you hear is the true and clear message being delivered? If you hear a spiritual message, how do you know if it is from God or Satan?
Modern books suggest that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, with each gender hearing a different message from the exact same words. How then, are you sure you are actually hearing the right message from a person of the other gender? Or either gender? George Bernard Shaw said, “The greatest illusion about communication is that it has taken place.” In other words, just because the message was sent or otherwise communicated, the message isn’t always “heard”.
As a devotional reader, each day you “hear” from me through the words contained therein. As such, one might predict you are expecting to hear a message from me, but that’s not really the way it works. I am just a man with enough God-given ability (John 3:27) to produce a devotional each day. If you open the devotional waiting to hear a message from me, you will be disappointed. The message in the devotional is not from me, from Mars, or from Venus; the message is from Heaven.
The message you “hear” each day in the devotional is from God. If you come here seeking a message from Him, you will never be disappointed. Any message you think you hear from me is really from God. He is truly speaking and has a personal message for you if you are willing to hear it. In fact, I am convinced that if you are listening and looking for God to speak to you in this message, you will hear from Him in many, personal ways.
One of the most fascinating aspects of His messages is how He speaks to you personally. I do not know how He is applying the words in the devotional to your life and to your relationship with Him. Nor do I know how the Holy Spirit will interpret the words that enter your heart. This is how God works – in secret. He takes a rather generic and imperfect Earthly message and the Holy Spirit interprets it and applies it to your heart in a very specific and potentially life-changing way.
For example, when I give a message to others on Sunday morning, I am amazed at how God works to deliver His message. After I deliver these messages, people sometimes approach me and tell me what they “heard me say”, sometimes adding, “That was just what I needed to hear, God really spoke to me today”. While they are talking, I’m often thinking, “I don’t remember saying that”, and I’m usually pretty sure about what I said because I always speak from notes.
At first I thought that, perhaps, people were just poor listeners who were hearing what they wanted to hear. Now, I’ve come to believe they are really good listeners. They came to hear from God and God spoke to them in their own language, in their own setting, in a way that addressed their own personal needs. It wasn’t my words they heard; they heard God’s words.
Perhaps this is a contemporary example of what God did in Acts 2, through Peter on the day of Pentecost. Peter preached boldly to the masses of people gathered at Jerusalem from all nations and languages to celebrate the holiday of Pentecost. “Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? How then is it each of us hears them in his own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8). Despite an audience speaking a wide variety of languages, God spoke to each of them in their own language so they could hear His message clearly.
It is normal for God to speak to you in your own native language, whether you’re from Galilee, Mesapotamia, Judea, Phyrigia, Venus, Mars, Egypt, Cappadocia, or other place. If you are listening, God is speaking and He has something to say just to you. He has a message only you can hear and apply in the context of your life and your relationship with Him. For those who are willing to open their eyes, ears, and heart, God has important messages today. Hearing Him and the message He has for you is the most important thing you have to do today. Make sure you’re not too busy to be blessed by the opportunity to hear Him speak to you.
In His love and service,
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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