BEFDL 13 (FROM HGM ON 22 FEB 22)

BIBLICAL ELEMENTS FOR DAILY LIVING-13 TEXT:

 "And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." (Acts 8:6) 

 I. A HEARING EAR 

 A. Hearing from God is not dependent on time and natural ability, but on God speaking to us and us having an ear that is sharp and focused upon God's voice. 

 B. This was the case with Simeon in Luke 2:35; "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 2:25-26) 

C. Simeon received a word from God that he would see the Christ. He may have received this word years before, nevertheless, Simeon was still listening and waiting. He was waiting to hear the manifestation of the word to come to pass. 

D. Then, on a certain day, Simeon was "moved" by the Spirit and was in the temple, where he worked, when Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus. Simeon recognized Jesus by revelation knowledge and spoke the Word of the LORD over Him. Simeon had an ear to hear revelation knowledge. "And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." (Luke 2:27-32) 

E. In Ephesians Paul prayed, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1:17-18) This speaks of a knowing that transcends human efforts and abilities, and which must be given from above. 

F. Thus, an openness and sensitivity to the Spiritual realm is essential. Paul also, encourages us, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." (1 Corinthians 12:1) The word "gift" in this verse in italics. Since it is not in the original text should be read without the word "gift." 

G. In the Book of Isaiah we read, "The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." (Isaiah 50:5-6) 

H. After we give our heart to the Lord, which is more than a salvation experience, and we receive the Holy Spirit the Lord opens our ears to be able to hear revelation knowledge. The previous verse tells us how He does this. "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." (Isaiah 50:4) 

I. Our being awakened "morning by morning" (day by day) speaks of our spiritual ear being progressively opened, that we might hear the word of the Lord. And one who hears seek to apply what he hears. 

J. Second, is our response. "I was not rebellious, not did I turn away." These two things are essential to our having a hearing ear. The Lord will open our spiritual ear, but we must listen and obey what we hear. 

K. Hearing is based upon what we do after we receive the word. Jesus shares these thoughts from Matthew; "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side." (Matthew 13:19) This happen when we do not understand what the word of the Lord is for us and we move off-track (our choice) into presumption. The wicked one (Satan) then is able (either God's permission or our disobedience) to move us further and further away from the word of God for our life. 

L. Verses 20-21 concern those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but since they have no roots, there is no outworking. "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." (Matthew 13:20-21) The word offended in the Greek says, "he is inconsistent." Inconsistency keeps us from having a hearing ear. Ever learning, but never learning. We hear, we rejoice, but we make no lasting commitment. 

M. In Verse 22, Jesus gives us number three. "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." (Matthew 12:22) When we are deceived by worries or by riches, we are demonstrating a lack of faith and trust in what the Lord has said. We need to stand firm. 

N. In Verse 23, Jesus tells us that the see sown on good soil (our heart) represents the man who hears. He produces a crop yielding 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown, based not on the sowing but, on the measure of hearing. "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matthew 13:23) At the same measure one hears the word they will be fruitful. 

 II. PARTING THOUGHTS 

 A. A word from the Lord produces revelation knowledge. We hear and do not draw back. As the Lord wakens our ears morning by morning, we become doers of the word. Our lives are changed, and His Body is built. 

B. May each one of us be spiritually awaken, morning by morning that we might hear the Word of the Lord in a way that will change our lives, renew our minds, and give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so we might better know and serve out Lord.

GOD REAL BLESSING

For a time our Home Group Meeting (HGM) would meet at the local every Sunday. After awhile the people who said the LORD wanted us to meet on Sunday started to drop off.  I will be honest I was never 100% onboard, but there was another brother who was convinced this was the LORD so I marched on. Well, as we can see now this was not what God was looking for with our Home Group Meeting.  In the summer of 2020 when Black Lives Matters and others reared its ugly head my friend who kind of helped me with the HGM and ministered with me at Craven Prison in Vanceboro, NC just lost it one day and started yelling at me, "you do not know what it is like to be a black man in America" and said some other nasty things.  Well of course not, God made me a white man. You know I may be white man, but I am a Believer first and all of what I am in God must transcend color, race gender, status, etc. I guess that was not the case with my friend. Now I shared this embarrassment with you to talk about his wife. Every time we would see her and make small talk asking how are you doing she would always reply, "blessed."  One time I said are you only blessed? She looked at me funny and I told her "blessed" just means "happy" it comes from the word "happenstance" which is situational dependent, physical in nature, and has nothing to do with the spiritual realm, and God's real blessings. Like her husband she was very ungrateful, down-right angry at times, and an undependable person, but she was "blessed" in her eyes.  God knows my heart, but as much as they hurt us I still hope and prayer there will be a time for coming together again.  But, I wonder why we most often think of God's blessings are physical? You know a good physical blessing does not get us too far in God, but have God allow a good blessing like sickness or troubles stand in our way I promise you my friend it will get us to our knees.  One of the greatest blessings of God is His silence.  Now I like that so much  I am going to say that again, one of the greatest blessings of God is His silence was brought in the past by the LORD into an intense and pleasant prayer pattern.  The Holy Spirit always flooded me with the LORD’s presence and power.  The personal joy was so great that three hours in such an atmosphere seemed like merely 30 delightful minutes. It lasted only several short weeks. Then, the LORD left it. What a disappointment! I attempted to force its reinstatement by forcing myself to be on my knees daily for long periods of time, but the LORD was no longer interested in continuing this past pattern. He wanted to bring me into another prayer pattern. After some days in my attempt to get the old prayer pattern moving the LORD came and stood behind me and asked, “What are you doing on your knees?”  He certainly did not want to be involved in what I was doing. Isaiah writes, And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it when you turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left,” (Isaiah 30:21) No voice behind you is a good sign. Some Believers are distressed over the fact that they never hear God’s voice.Do not be too concerned.In disobedience and out of the will of God the Word says, “you shall hear.” Now that is true and that becomes necessary, but what about a walk of obedience? God’s speaking may be very infrequent or even nonexistent in a walk in His will.Once we are in God’s will there is no need for His speaking unless there is a change in His will. We simply continue to follow in obedience. He goes before us as we follow in obedience. We have heard His direction.On the other hand we may not have been conscience of His leading, but  fear not something got us going on the right track.  We may hear His voice in front of us as we go in obedience or we may not hear His voice as we continue on the proper path.  Do not be overly concerned about His silence, but rather focus your attention on Him going before you. The LORD goes before us.  The LORD is there.  That’s a fact.  If He goes in front of us then He arrives before we arrive.  He goes before us.  This is a needy and valuable anchor. We should recognize feeling or no feeling that the LORD is present and He got there before we did. This is a tremendously valuable truth to the person who finds himself in the difficult situations and circumstances.  Silence is a most precious blessing in our lives.Did you know God's silence is His answers? Can God trust you with His silence or are you still asking for a visible answer? God will give us the "blessing" we ask if we will NOT go any further without it.  Often times God will give us what we ask for (even if it is not the best for our lives) so He can keep us on the string.  He knows if we do not get our way we may stray and get off track so God will make us happy, feel blessed, and give us what we think we need, but of course what we need is more of God. His silence often is the sign that He is bringing us into a marvelous understanding of Himself if we have the spiritual wherewithal. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response?  If so you may find God has trusted you in the most intimate way possible, with His absolute silence not of despair, but of pleasure because He saw that you could stand a bigger revelation. Surely a sign of spiritual growth and development is when we are content with not getting our way.  We see that with our earthly kids.  When our kids are content and do not make a fuss when told no, the next time they ask for something we remember their reaction and probably will reward them.  You know this silence of God can really go deep into our spiritual being. We can so relate to the rulership and dominion of God, so live in Him so that we can live in tranquility, even through a storm. Now that is not denying the storm.  We can have peace in time of war and we can have war in a time of peace.  We can be in a storm when everything is calm or we can be calm when everything is stormy. We can even be alone in a crowd.  It all depends upon where you are in your spiritual life.  It all depends upon which is gripping your heart, the storm or the faithfulness of God. There is a place of silence in God that brings us to nothingness.  A place where we have nothing to say.  There are three types of silence:  a silence of words, a silence of desires, and a silence of thoughts.  The first is perfect.  The second is even more perfect and the third is the most perfect. In the first, the silence of words, there is virtue (strength) that is acquired.  In the second, the silence of desires, quietness is obtained; and in the third, the silence of thoughts . . . this is our goal:  the internal recollection of all of our senses.  To lay hold of the silence of thought is to arrive and abide at the center of our being where Christ dwells. Not by speaking, desiring, nor reasoning do we reach the central place of our inward walk, that place where God speaks to our inward man.  It is there that God communicates Himself to our spirit; and there in the inner most depths of our being.  He teaches us Himself.  He guides us to this place where He alone speaks His most secret and hidden of His heart to us. We must enter into this through all silence if we would hear His divine voice within us.  Forsaking the world will not accomplish this, nor will renouncing our desires.  No, not even if we should renounce all things created.  What then?  Rest is found only in this threefold silence, only before an open door where God may communicate Himself to us.  It is in that place He can transform us into Himself.  This transformation of our soul consists not in speaking to God nor in thinking on God, but in loving Him greatly.  And how is this love acquired?  By means of a perfect resignation to God's faithfulness to us and this threefold silence. This tremendous truth of the faithfulness of God can carry us through the wilderness.  This anchor can hold us steady through life’s storms.  This enlightenment can take us safely through the darkness.  Knowing of His care and concern can lift our heavy load and bring us comfort.  The real blessing of God is His silence.  Can you hear it? Written by David Stahl>