After almost three weeks of blogging the WordofTruth blog I realized that I had no contact email available to readers! ...Well now I do! If you read the "About Me" section, at the bottom click the "view my complete profile" link and it will take you to the new email link if you feel the need to write me back privately.
Of course the comment section is available at the end of every post. I encourage you reader to take the liberty to make comments. I welcome your comments! I hope more people will feel like giving me, (the author of this blog), feedback so that I can get an idea of your reaction to my posts. Thank you!
And then also you may go to my Blogfrog community and join and make a discussion there in that forum. Look on the right side of my blog's main page toward the bottom and you will see the blogfrog widgets. Click the link that says "visit my community." Go there and leave me anything you want. There is a discussion in there where you can make comments about my blog or my community, or anything you like.
I hope this clears up any questions anyone may have had on where to reach me if the need should arise. Thank you for visiting and reading my blog! Enjoy your day!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Listening vs. Hearing
Did you ever try to tell someone something important but it seemed like they weren't listening?
A person recently asked me for advise because they were in the middle of a life crisis. I gave them good sound teaching and direction which I believe was a blessing from God for them. But, they acted like I was invisible. I could see God helping them, reaching out to them with the very solution they needed. But they were blind to it. A lot of parents feel this way with their teenagers. As a parent, you've been there. You know a bad decision from the right way, but... the kid still wants to discover the error on his own, (without your sound instruction.)
You can hear an airplane flying over, or a horn honking somewhere in the distance. But you are not listening for those things. Both hearing and listening are verbs, which means they are both an action. But the listening is more of an applied effort. It is diligent purposeful hearing plus "doing" afterward that completes the cycle of what is said.
I heard a preacher once say that 50% of the preaching is done by the listener. And that is true. Think about it. If the congregation is yawning away in the pew, then what good does the preaching do? Some preachers are very articulate, able to keep the listeners excited and awake. It would seem that they are doing a wonderful job preaching. But it is required of the listeners, that they take what was said and apply it to their lives. This is the fulfillment or completion of listening.
So listening requires a diligent action on the part of the hearer.
"22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." -James 1:22-24
It is important that we try to focus when what is being said is truth for our benefit. God wants to bless us. But sometimes we are too busy or distracted to receive that blessing.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:" -Hosea 4:6
If we only knew what is was that God wanted to bless us with, then we would be more willing to listen and obey.
A person recently asked me for advise because they were in the middle of a life crisis. I gave them good sound teaching and direction which I believe was a blessing from God for them. But, they acted like I was invisible. I could see God helping them, reaching out to them with the very solution they needed. But they were blind to it. A lot of parents feel this way with their teenagers. As a parent, you've been there. You know a bad decision from the right way, but... the kid still wants to discover the error on his own, (without your sound instruction.)
You can hear an airplane flying over, or a horn honking somewhere in the distance. But you are not listening for those things. Both hearing and listening are verbs, which means they are both an action. But the listening is more of an applied effort. It is diligent purposeful hearing plus "doing" afterward that completes the cycle of what is said.
I heard a preacher once say that 50% of the preaching is done by the listener. And that is true. Think about it. If the congregation is yawning away in the pew, then what good does the preaching do? Some preachers are very articulate, able to keep the listeners excited and awake. It would seem that they are doing a wonderful job preaching. But it is required of the listeners, that they take what was said and apply it to their lives. This is the fulfillment or completion of listening.
So listening requires a diligent action on the part of the hearer.
"22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." -James 1:22-24
It is important that we try to focus when what is being said is truth for our benefit. God wants to bless us. But sometimes we are too busy or distracted to receive that blessing.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:" -Hosea 4:6
If we only knew what is was that God wanted to bless us with, then we would be more willing to listen and obey.
John 14:21
"21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." -John 14:21
Sunday, June 6, 2010
John 14:6
"6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Trusting in and Obeying God's voice
Sometimes God speaks to our heart by His Spirit within us if we are tuned into His Holy Spirit by reading His Word.
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." -Romans 8:14
If God speaks to your heart and tells you to do something, do you always obey?
What if it is something that doesn't make sense to you?
People have heard God speak to them to give a certain gift offering for instance to a ministry or to a person that He put on their heart. If they obey God, He will bless them back. If they don't obey, then God has to find another giver that He can use. Hopefully someone will eventually listen to God in the situation. Don't be left out of your blessing by leaving the obedience for someone else to do it.
Obedience to God's voice requires trust. We must trust in Him in order for us to move ahead in carrying out the act of obedience. This can be especially hard to do if what He tells us to do doesn't make sense to us. Once we hear His guiding voice, we then must make a choice to trust in Him completely. Then we can step out in faith and do the thing He told us.
Sometimes He tells us to do something that doesn't make sense and our mind wants to rationalize, and come up with excuses. But there is an unseen reason God wants us to do a certain thing. Maybe that thing He wants us to do is His requirement to bring blessing to us. It may not always have to do with giving.
I know someone who is not Jewish but was a Christian for most of his life. He never considered keeping the Sabbath Day according to the old testament because he figured that we are not under the law. Which is true. We are not under the Mosaic law, we are under the law of grace. But this person had been praying about a certain problem he had and couldn't get the breakthrough. Then one day God spoke to him in his heart and told him to keep the Sabbath Day! Well, for this Gentile Christian believer, it didn't make any sense. He said he never kept the Sabbath in his life, or even thought about it. And besides he said we are not under the law. But,... God told him to do it!
Well the man didn't listen right away. First he began to do research about what the Sabbath really is and how to really keep it. After about a month he began keeping the Sabbath, and now is seeing a miraculous turn around in his situation. You can determine whether it was his Sabbath keeping or his obedience to God that brought the breakthrough he was looking for.
All of the arguments were there about the old testament laws and all. The understanding was that he didn't start keeping the Sabbath in order to earn salvation, or that he would be condemned if he didn't, but rather out of obedience to God.
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." -Galatians 5:18
If the Holy Spirit leads and guides you into doing something like this, then you are free to obey Him and you are still not under the law. You are free.
When things like this don't make sense to us, are we always willing to change our lifestyles and our busy schedules to accommodate what God said to us? Or do we continually instead rationalize away what could have been the path He chose for us to take? Be careful not to miss out on the blessing God has for you!
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." -Romans 8:14
If God speaks to your heart and tells you to do something, do you always obey?
What if it is something that doesn't make sense to you?
People have heard God speak to them to give a certain gift offering for instance to a ministry or to a person that He put on their heart. If they obey God, He will bless them back. If they don't obey, then God has to find another giver that He can use. Hopefully someone will eventually listen to God in the situation. Don't be left out of your blessing by leaving the obedience for someone else to do it.
Obedience to God's voice requires trust. We must trust in Him in order for us to move ahead in carrying out the act of obedience. This can be especially hard to do if what He tells us to do doesn't make sense to us. Once we hear His guiding voice, we then must make a choice to trust in Him completely. Then we can step out in faith and do the thing He told us.
Sometimes He tells us to do something that doesn't make sense and our mind wants to rationalize, and come up with excuses. But there is an unseen reason God wants us to do a certain thing. Maybe that thing He wants us to do is His requirement to bring blessing to us. It may not always have to do with giving.
I know someone who is not Jewish but was a Christian for most of his life. He never considered keeping the Sabbath Day according to the old testament because he figured that we are not under the law. Which is true. We are not under the Mosaic law, we are under the law of grace. But this person had been praying about a certain problem he had and couldn't get the breakthrough. Then one day God spoke to him in his heart and told him to keep the Sabbath Day! Well, for this Gentile Christian believer, it didn't make any sense. He said he never kept the Sabbath in his life, or even thought about it. And besides he said we are not under the law. But,... God told him to do it!
Well the man didn't listen right away. First he began to do research about what the Sabbath really is and how to really keep it. After about a month he began keeping the Sabbath, and now is seeing a miraculous turn around in his situation. You can determine whether it was his Sabbath keeping or his obedience to God that brought the breakthrough he was looking for.
All of the arguments were there about the old testament laws and all. The understanding was that he didn't start keeping the Sabbath in order to earn salvation, or that he would be condemned if he didn't, but rather out of obedience to God.
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." -Galatians 5:18
If the Holy Spirit leads and guides you into doing something like this, then you are free to obey Him and you are still not under the law. You are free.
When things like this don't make sense to us, are we always willing to change our lifestyles and our busy schedules to accommodate what God said to us? Or do we continually instead rationalize away what could have been the path He chose for us to take? Be careful not to miss out on the blessing God has for you!
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." -2 Corinthians 5:17
Friday, June 4, 2010
Welcome to Sja my latest blog follower!
I would like to thank, and welcome Sja to my blog as my newest follower. I am glad you decided to join me because I like your blog as well.
http://sja-stall.blogspot.com/
I find that you have many interesting stories there. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. All in all it is a great site! I have found myself spending a lot of time there. Keep up the humor and good work. We love it!
http://sja-stall.blogspot.com/
I find that you have many interesting stories there. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. All in all it is a great site! I have found myself spending a lot of time there. Keep up the humor and good work. We love it!
New World Clocks & Counters page on blog!
Today I added a new feature page on the WordofTruth blog. It's called "World Clocks & Counters." It's pretty cool, so go check it out. On the main page scroll down and look on the right until you see a section titled "Pages." Then look for a link there that says "World Clocks & Counters." ...Enjoy!
How saved are you?
Can you get any more saved than you already are?
This question is for those who already consider their selves saved or are "trying" to get saved. They go to church and do everything that Christians are supposed to do.
I know that a lot of churches have membership cards for people to fill out that will have a check box for them to indicate whether they have accepted Jesus as savior.
But it's not checking the box that saves us. It's not becoming a member of the church that saves us. Or by joining a denomination, ...no!
Nowhere in the bible does it say that we have to join a denomination or a church membership in order to become a child of God.
Of course I'm not saying that you can't do these things. But sometimes people can do these church things without really becoming Born Again! So they become deceived into thinking they're saved without ever truly becoming born again like the scriptures tell us we need to be. This is called "religion." And religion without God in it is worthless.
I'm just clearing up some of the cloudy ways of thinking that seem to deceive people into "trying" to get saved.
The bible says:
"9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." -Romans 10:9,10 ...and...
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" -1 John 1:7 ...and...
"10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." -1 John 1:10
So, if we are washed in the Blood of Jesus, then we are saved. We don't have to join anything else to become "more" saved. We trust in God alone through His Son Jesus Christ for our total and complete salvation. We don't have to try to hang on to the coat tails of the pastor or a priest to hope that our association with them somehow will make us closer to God. No! Only our one-on-one direct connection by faith through grace alone is all we need! We can have direct communication with God on an individual basis through Jesus Christ alone! This is a personal relationship with God, and it is called being born again!
Jesus said, "...Ye must be born again." -John 3:7
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." -John 10:1
"9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." -John 10:9,10
This question is for those who already consider their selves saved or are "trying" to get saved. They go to church and do everything that Christians are supposed to do.
I know that a lot of churches have membership cards for people to fill out that will have a check box for them to indicate whether they have accepted Jesus as savior.
But it's not checking the box that saves us. It's not becoming a member of the church that saves us. Or by joining a denomination, ...no!
Nowhere in the bible does it say that we have to join a denomination or a church membership in order to become a child of God.
Of course I'm not saying that you can't do these things. But sometimes people can do these church things without really becoming Born Again! So they become deceived into thinking they're saved without ever truly becoming born again like the scriptures tell us we need to be. This is called "religion." And religion without God in it is worthless.
I'm just clearing up some of the cloudy ways of thinking that seem to deceive people into "trying" to get saved.
The bible says:
"9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." -Romans 10:9,10 ...and...
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" -1 John 1:7 ...and...
"10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." -1 John 1:10
So, if we are washed in the Blood of Jesus, then we are saved. We don't have to join anything else to become "more" saved. We trust in God alone through His Son Jesus Christ for our total and complete salvation. We don't have to try to hang on to the coat tails of the pastor or a priest to hope that our association with them somehow will make us closer to God. No! Only our one-on-one direct connection by faith through grace alone is all we need! We can have direct communication with God on an individual basis through Jesus Christ alone! This is a personal relationship with God, and it is called being born again!
Jesus said, "...Ye must be born again." -John 3:7
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." -John 10:1
"9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." -John 10:9,10
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