Hearing Ears

This is a series of devotions and meditations on rejecting fear and embracing faith. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. Instead, we should have faith in God and trust in His word. God promises to always be with us, even in times of battle and beyond. It is through Jesus that we can have a relationship with God. We must choose to abide in Him and give Him the worship, praise, and obedience He deserves. Our relationship with God is dependent on us, not Him. He will never leave or forsake us. We should constantly be in dialogue with Him, seeking His guidance in every aspect of our lives. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Deuteronomy 31.6 Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or scared of them, for Yahweh your God Himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you. There's a huge body of work in the field of entertainment, often in the genres of romance or drama, that features at least one scene where Person A grabs Person B frequently in a rainstorm, while not wearing weather-appropriate clothing, and says, almost screams really, I'm not going anywhere! And thus, true love is born. You can laugh, roll your eyes, or do what you want, but you cannot deny that the words of that trope will send a hurricane of feel-good, snuggle emotions through your soul whenever you hear them. Those who mock often feel the most shivers. They're just ashamed of it. If we as people can change the world of another human with the simple concept of not running away, how much more will God... Wait! I'm not a romance person. Don't identify with feelings that way. Never have those kinds of warm fuzzies when the trope appears? That's fine. How many buddy cop shows have you seen? Military epics? How many soldiers have told their brothers-in-arms that they'll do it together, that they'll make it? It's even in those special effects spectaculars where they scream, We can do this! While holding hands and running from dinosaurs in flak jackets, flying F-16s through alien invasions. So how fierce are your friendships? How many books, movies, and TV shows feature knights out with friends as they bond and declare that the bumps of life won't separate them, that they will stick together and fight against all odds, even if they're not going over a cliff in a car? Heck, even superhero films feature teams of disseparate people coming together and fist bumping before going out and doing all they can together to kick the butt of bad guys? It's all about being together and facing trouble, not running away. We value that so much. Loyalty, some call it. Empires have been built on the idea of loyalty to a figurehead. There's also a dark side to loyalty, those who swear fealty to an individual, group, or philosophy over all else, choosing to do their bidding no matter what the cost. We see it a lot in mafia films, conspiracy films, and occasionally, in recent years anyway, political adventures. Again, the idea of being part of something and being unable, preferably unwilling, to leave is huge. Though there are penalties for this side of the idea of loyalty, often death if you leave the group, whether with threats of force, powerful emotion, or an idea of togetherness, humanity places great value on the idea of together. Now is God so different? I mean, without the threat part. Isn't there some logic to the idea that sticking together with a partner against all odds, not running in the face of danger, is so ingrained into our being that we play it out amongst ourselves? That we mirror this behavior that God exhibits to us that's actually part of His nature? That we, in fact, crave it? God put this into us when He decided on our relationship. God decided, before He created anything, that He wouldn't be running away. He grabbed the idea in His mind that was us and shouted, I won't abandon you so loudly. Universes of longing have sprung up. No matter what is happening, we have a wingman. We have a bestie. We have someone who will be there no matter what happens, what is said, what is done, or what the fallout is. That when we go into battle, He will be with us. Today's verse, though, is more than about the moment of battle that they were facing. In contrast with the surrounding verses in this chapter, there was the idea that the Israelites now knew that God went with them into battle so that they should be strong and courageous. I mean, why wouldn't you be strong and courageous knowing God went with you? They were also being assured that even after the battle, God wasn't going anywhere. In their lives after combat, Yahweh God would spend just as much time and energy focusing on them as He did when He went side by side into combat with them. That's quite a promise when you look at the specifics of the battles that the Israelites had been through, even the way they'd been brought out of Egypt and saved from the armies of Pharaoh. This was a promise of continued miracles, divine rescue, and total dependence in reverence rewarded. We as believers are part of this promise. We have claimed to it. Through Jesus, we are heirs even to Abraham. We've been added to the family. To make sure that we get that idea, it's repeated in the New Testament. God says He's always with us. This is a key part of His nature. This cannot be separated from who He is. The whole point of Jesus coming is because even though He wants to be our bestie, He wants to be our pal, He wants to be this and that, God by His nature is so righteous, we would die if we went into His presence. We are unable to have the relationship with Him that He wants. We must always remember that it is only through Jesus that we can get into His presence. That's why even though He's our bestie, He's our buddy, He's our daddy, there's still a level of reverence there because He is so righteous and perfect. He is such a good God, but He is such a great God. But in Jesus, we can go before Him and interact with Him because we've been given the righteousness of Jesus. As long as we're abiding in Jesus, we can have that relationship. So it's very important that He gets across to us the fact that He's always with us. That in Jesus, He can be with us and then we can connect with Him. Hebrews 13, 5-6 says, Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have. For He has said, I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you. So that with courage we say, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? It's also in Joshua 1-5, Psalm 27-1, and Psalm 118, verses 6-8. He is with us whether we are with Him or not. He's always been with us from the moment of our conception until now and will be with us until we enter into eternity. When God breathed the breath of life into Adam, Genesis 2-7, He was face-to-face with Adam, almost mouth-to-mouth, that close. He's always promised that closeness. On His part, there has been no shift of position. Again, that's why Jesus came. However, it's always our position that is up to debate. We are the ones who move out from under His blessing. We are the ones who choose not to abide in Jesus. We are the ones who struck out on our own in the garden. We are the ones who abandon His ways. We are the ones who place other things into His spot in our hearts. We are the ones clock-watching in church, entertaining or relaxing because we deserve it, instead of spending time fellowshipping with Him. We are the ones who forget to praise Him because it was a busy day. We have free will. We can move and shift and decide who is going to be involved with us. God has promised never to leave us, though. That means He's there whether we want Him or not, whether we pay attention to Him or not, and whether we interact with Him or not. So the question is, will we leave Him as a spectator, or will we let Him be a participant? Will we give Him the worship, praise, and obedience that He deserves? Will we listen to His word? Will we seek His face? Will we share His message? Will we sit around waiting for eternity to start? Will we tread water in the world? Or will we carve out a relationship with the Creator now, with the One who created us, to have that fellowship with Him? He is there right now beside you, beside me, beside the most righteous person on this planet, beside the most appraised sinner. What we do with that knowledge is what will inform our life. Do we listen, obey, and let Him hand us the victory He won for us? Or do we ignore Him and live with the scraps from His table? The choice is up to us. It's more than big picture stuff, too. Is He Lord over your life, or Lord over your bullet points? Have you talked to Him about your wardrobe, your groceries? Do you ask Him which route you should take home? How much of your life are you taking to Him? This doesn't mean you lay out several outfits, grab your Bible, pray over them, and wait to see what He moves you to put on. This does mean that we're dialoguing with Him. We're meant to praise Him all day long. Start when you open your eyes and do it as you're closing them. We're meant to be praying to the Father, taking to Him all of everything that comes up throughout the day. Not with worry, panic, or nagging, but thoughtfully and thankfully. It's keeping an ear open to listen for Him. It's so easy to do, and it's also so easy to not do. Our relationship with the Lord is dependent on us, not Him. Yahweh our God goes with us, period. He will not fail us or forsake us. Jesus echoed this statement. Matthew 28, 20. Paul did. Hebrews 13, 5. John did. 1 John 3, 1. Peter did. 1 Peter 5, 7. Even the brother of Jesus, James, did. James 1, 17. God doesn't change. He grows, but that's becoming more, not becoming something else. But what are we doing with our souls, our minds, hearts, and emotions? Are we spirit-connecting, or are we flesh-connecting? Is the Word informing us, or are our feelings informing us? If you're not spending time in the Word, spending time praising the Lord, and spending time praying, then you'll stop hearing Him. Not because He's stopped speaking, but because you've stopped listening. It might seem silly and not make sense to us, but this is the reality of life. Praise is how we prepare our ears, minds, and hearts to receive from Him. Do you really think that it took 40 days and 40 nights to get the Law into Moses' hands? It does not take that long to read the entire first five books of the Bible. You could even hand-copy them out in that time, easily, maybe even twice. Since the Lord was imprinting it into Moses' mind, what took so long? The praising. All the worship that Moses did to ensure that he was in line with the Lord, that he was receptive, ready, that he had his God-thoughts going before his flesh-thoughts. That didn't always happen. Moses was just like us. At the waters of Meribah, Numbers 20, he lost his way. He was flesh-connecting. Whether it was through not following instructions, getting angry, placing himself on the same level as the Lord, or a lack of faith to just speak. He'd previously struck a rock to get water out of it in Exodus 17. He was thinking on his own and not actively listening to the Lord. He had heard clear instruction from the Lord, but then when he went to perform it, he stopped listening. Our interactions with the Lord should be a constant. We are not pools of still water. We are a stream. It flows from the throne right into our hearts. It doesn't stop. It is constant. We are not static beings. We are always on the move. Our thoughts march ever onward. We're to be always waiting on the Lord, always having Him in mind, as if He was actually beside us. We wouldn't ignore Him if He was a person beside us. We dialogue with our partners all the time. Even when we're not actively talking, we're aware that they're near. Often one might notice that someone has left or entered a room just by their very presence. It's the same way with the Lord. Or at least it should be. We should take notice of Him as we're going about our day and check in, listening always for His voice. And when we hear it, stop to consider what He has to say. It might change what you're about to select, or words you're going to say, or correct something you've done and need to back up a step. It's interactive. It's fun. And it's easy not to do. At the end of the day, we have physical, corporal being. I mean, yes, we're spirit beings. We are eternal. We do not die. But we interface with this world in physical bodies. Our attention is filtered through this body. As such, it can capture a lot of that attention. Our focus can shift from things of the kingdom to things of the flesh in less time than it takes to stub a toe. We can get caught up with what we're doing and forget what has been promised to us with ease. Like a child finishing a program they're watching instead of taking a parent up with the offer to head out and go for a drive. Not because they don't want to, but because of an assumption that they could do both, or an inability to disconnect from the shiny pictures long enough to choose what they really wanted to do. How easily the shiny pictures, activities, and sensations of this world can take the place of what we really want to do. It takes conscious choice to disconnect from this world, to keep our eyes on Him. Everywhere we go, in everything we do, He is beside us. When we let Him in, He is able to bring His glory and power into play. When that happens, why worry? Why tremble? Why fear? Why not breathe deep and be strong? Why not keep our eyes on Him and our ears tuned in? Embrace His word and welcome Him in. If you have ears, hear. He does not fail us. He does not forsake us. He does not abandon us. He is not going anywhere. He is there. He is there, and He is a participator if we let Him be. What can anyone do to us? Laugh and be confident. He has this. We have Him. He has us. He is. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 69. This is a beautiful psalm, and also a prophetic one, pointing to the Messiah, Jesus. It is, with Psalm 22, the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. There's a lot to unpack, so enjoy it slowly. Savor it. But this is my favorite bit. Verse 13. But as for me, my prayer is to You, Yahweh, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of Your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of Your salvation. Isn't that great? Like a child, I come, and He leans down to listen to everything I have to say. He gives me His attention, and then He saves me from my problems, my troubles, and myself, from what I have caused, and from what others want to do to me. He does it all, smiling, hand in hand, because He loves me like a parent does their treasured child. As I seek to toddle off and grab the flowers, while sliding the slide, while eating a snack, while shrieking and running around, He helps me to keep focus. He helps me to see what's important. He helps me to stay in the moment. He helps me to listen to Him. He guides and corrects and keeps me safe. He is the stabilizing focus in this shifting world. He is the dependable rock on which we can rely. When we're based on Him, we know we have nothing but the best happening. Oh, the rest can happen around us. We will not be all by ourselves. But inside, we're safe, secure, and in the arms of Jesus. As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us that God has sent His only-born Son into the world that we might live through Him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin, and it casts out our fear, too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.