How are Your Ears? How are Your Eyes?

How are Your Ears? How are Your Eyes?

by David Brenneman

'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

with their ears they scarecely hear,

and have closed their eyes, 

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

hear with their ears, 

and understand with their heart and return,

and I would heal them.' - Matthew 13:14-15 NASB Isaiah 6:9-10 NASB

One of the worst types of people I've ever had the opportunity to either work with or train with are those who put up a hand, not even half-way into being told or taught something and stop me by saying "I got this!" and won't take instruction any further. It's both aggavating and saddening at the same time.

I imagine it easily enough when God's Spirit is trying to tell me something and this is my unfortunate reaction and action.  

Is what God wants, what the Spirit tells you of yourself, of your life, what He shows you, important enough to you to hear and see all of it or do you cut Him off?

Do you in any way, shape, or form, hinder the work of the Spirit of God in your life because you look around at your possessions, or even your health and success, maybe even your education, and essentially are putting up a hand to stop God from doing anything HE wants in you?

Are the things of God, the Will of God more important to you than what's in your life, those things and activities, you surround yourself with?  

Look at Matthew 19:27-30 NASB "Then Peter responded and said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms on account of My name, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.".

Can you read into this from Peter and the 11: "What's in it for us?" Or even "What's in it for me? We gave up everything we valued, we owned. Even our family."

Note what Jesus said of the Disciples, and THEN says of every person after them. Those who take up their cross and follow Jesus WILL be taken care of. Both in this life and the one to come. It may not take a form that we particularly will understand in this life, but we will be taken care of.  

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 NASB.

"All that you do must be done in love." - 1 Corinthians 16:14 NASB.

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but the interests of others." - Philippians 2:3-4 NASB.

"Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things of the earth." Colossians 3:2 NASB.

See where it's going? Are you listening to the still small voice within you, if indeed the Spirit of God is in you? Our earthly ears can indeed scarcely hear and our feeble earthly eyes often fail us in seeing. But Spiritually speaking, in Christ, in the work of the Spirit of God, these things are not impacted by the curse of the sin nature. They are in Christ, and in Christ, we have Spiritual ears, and Spiritual eyes.  

What are you doing with them?

Are you listening, are you seeing, as the Spirit's trying to get you to do?  

We often are at odds with how life is going and often do not understand it because of it's unpleasantness. We often wonder why those with evil easily seen are being so prosperous while we struggle. Scripture says that God causes the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust. We can easily see that He imparts wisdom to both freely. Some will see their need to be saved and will come to Jesus for salvation others will put up a hand and dismiss Him saying they don't need Him. Only to wake up in Hell to a very firm undrestanding of how wrong they were. They weren't listening and they weren't wanting to see...and now they can do nothing but hear and see their own torment and the torment of others arriving daily to pay for their own sins.

There's such a thing, as the world defines it, as "the good life". In Christ the only good possible is what comes from a life in Christ. It won't look, or sound, like what the world has to offer because it's so different from the world. The world wants it's efforts to be accepted by God as good enough and God says no, it is not and will never be. The bar is set at 'holy'. It will not be lowered. There will be no exceptions outside of those who have been justified by the blood of Jesus having been made right before God through faith in Him. All who think they have got it and say they don't need Jesus will fail.

Are you so satisifed with your life that you say you don't need what God has to offer you? Why set your sights so low? 

"But as just as it is written: "Things which eye yas not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the human heart, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9 NASB. Read also Isaiah 55:8 NASB "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor My ways yoru ways," declares the Lord.".

"For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God like You, who acts in behalf of one who waits for Him." - Isaiah 64:4 NASB.

"the fear (respect) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." - Proverbs 1:7

How are your Spiritual ears and eyes this morning? Are you at all hungry to know what it is God wants of you, to do through you? Are you sitting on the couch of life waiting for things to come to you or are you out about the Father's business, if you are indeed in Christ? Have you not come to Christ at all yet? 

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the wone who comes to God must believe that He exists, and theat He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 NASB.

Still not convinced that your idea of life isn't the best for you? If you're not living a life that's after what God wants for it you're never going to see it's potential.  

We just read of what eye hasn't seen nor ear has heard.  

Think on this last part of what we began with: "Otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return,

and I would heal them"

It says: otherwise they would....see....hear...understand...return....and He would heal them.

The option is always before you while you yet are drawing a breath. A heart that is turned to God He will by no means turn away.

The world's going to tell you who believe and those of you who don't yet...that all this is foolishness. That it's fairy tales. It's myths. God's saying: trust Me it's not.

The rock hard truth is this: You and I both know people who died without Christ. Right this very instant they are crying out to God to give them another chance. They absolutely do not want you or anyone else they know to be tormented as they are. Read about how it REALLY is in Luke 16:19-31 from Jesus Himself. Consider it also that the ONLY sources of how it REALLY is in Hell are found only in two places. From Jesus's own mouth when He described it...and those whose testimonies we have of people on their death bed crying out about the pain and flame consuming them as they slip into Hell for having rejected Jesus for salvation. There's video's to be had that show this. Note it very well that NO demon or even Satan has ever truthfully described Hell. Satan's never been there and no demon who's not been sentenced there by God yet has ever set foot in it. They want no part of it.

Salvation in Christ is free. It's far more important than our education, our feelings, our emotions, our intelligence, our success or possessions. God desires an intimate relationship with You because He loves you and He died for you so that you wouldn't die apart from Him and spend eternity paying for your own sins. His death and resurrection has made it possible to erase every sin we've ever committed if only we come to Him in faith and believe to be saved.

Again....how are your ears and eyes? Spiritually are you putting a hand up at God saying you don't need Him? Please don't do that. God's Word says that He's not willing that any should perish. He's not willing but will let you choose to perish without Him. You must choose. The gift of salvation is in Christ Jesus alone and right now in this here and now it's free to all who would ask. 

Your eye hasn't seen nor your ear has never heard all that God has prepared for you after you come to Him for salvation in Jesus.