There’s an old saying which proclaims that seeing is believing. Most often, however, that is far from the truth. It is not what we see that initiates fear or faith; it is what we hear! The Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). The Old Testament prophet Elijah heard that Jezebel was going to kill him and so he fled in fear. The Israelites heard that there were giants in the land of freedom God had promised them and so they resolved to die. King Herod heard that the world’s Savior had been born so he frantically murdered innocent babies. The blind received their sight when they put their faith in what they heard Jesus say, and the oppressed experienced freedom as a result of their belief in what they heard about Christ’s abilities.
Jesus spent less time manifesting miracles than He did proclaiming the truth to people. It is the truth that we know that sets us free (John 8:32). We won’t achieve real freedom as a result of what we've seen as much as we will to what we’ve heard. Jesus entered ministry preaching about the kingdom of God and followed what He said with actions that demonstrated their truth and reality.
An enslaved mind must absorb the truth in order to comprehend its power and witness it demonstrated before it can understand it. John the Baptist spoke the truth; Jesus came along to confirm it and exhibit it. It was the truth that Jesus shared with a Samaritan woman at a well that awakened her faith. It was the Lord’s spoken word to Peter that restored his faith and led him back to his position in Christ. Three times the man had denied his Savior and it took three times for the Savior to reaffirm his life's purposes.
It’s what God has spoken over our lives and within our spirits that wakes us up each morning. His word is what renews us and offers us life, hope, and passion. If we are going to live as God’s ambassadors on Earth, we have to reject our own wills and acquire tunnel vision like Jesus who only said, did, and pursued what He had heard and seen His Father say, do, and pursue. Accepting the invitation to hear God opens our minds to see Him at work and opens our hearts to believe His every word and live His every desire. Now, that’s freedom!
What do you hear God saying to you today, and how will you quiet contrary voices that come to confuse you about what you've heard from the mouth of God? How is what you've heard affecting what you believe and how is what you believe affecting what you do?
I hear GOD saying that HE is all that I have been searching for. my STRENGTH, my JOY and my PEACE. HE is my PROVIDER and my HELP.I will quiet those contrary voices by protecting my spirit man. Filter what I allow to flow into my hearing. I can see what I didn't hear cause me to doubt who I am in CHRIST. Some things I heard lead me astray. Now I filter what comes in so GODS voice is louder than ever............ Thank GOD!
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