There are many voices out there… it seems like everybody has something to say and that everybody has an opinion, from the news media, to people on social media, politicians, religious leaders to emerging leaders that are leading some uprising… so many voices out there. Faith comes by hearing the Word, but the question is, what and who are you listening to?
Faith comes by hearing the Word, but doubt, fear, unbelief and anxiety comes by hearing the ‘world’. The bottom line is that what you hear, or what you listen to will affect your life!
FAITH, FEAR, UNBELIEF, DOUBT, OPTIMISM, PESSIMISM, PEACE, ANXIETY OR JOY ARE ALL RECEIVED BY HEARING!
In Mark 4:24 Jesus said, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.”
Here is my Paraphrase of what Jesus said, “Pay attention to what you are listening to! What you hear will manifest in your life! The more time you spend listening, the more, what you are listening to will manifest in your life! The Word will bear fruit of it’s author and King, and the world’s message will bear the fruit of it’s author and king!”
If you open yourself up to what the world and this worlds voices are saying, then you will receive press down, shaken together and running over from this world – if you open yourself up to hearing the Word of life, then you will receive press down, shaken together and running over blessings from the Word!
If you are depressed, in fear, if you are losing hope, if you have anxiety, if you are struggling to maintain your faith, then it is because you have been listening to the wrong voices – it may be the because you are listening to the voice of your own flesh, it may be because of what your family or friends are saying, it may be what the news media is saying… it may even be what your preacher is saying, but if you are losing strength, hope and faith, you are listening to the wrong things and the wrong people.
Pay attention to what you are listening to! What you hear will manifest in your life! (With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more of whatever you hear will be given) The more time you spend listening, the more, what you are listening to will manifest in your life!
JESUS SAID THAT THE SEED OF THE WORD RECEIVED WOULD PRODUCE A HARVEST OF WORD PROMISES, 30, 60, AND 100-FOLD!
What are Word promises? Supernatural provision, health, ability, the gifts of the Spirit, miracles, signs and wonders and every blessing provided in Christ!
IT IS NOT ONLY IMPORTANT TO TAKE HEED TO WHAT YOU HEAR GENERALLY, IT IS VITAL TO TAKE HEED TO WHAT YOU HEAR SPIRITUALLY
Ephesians 4:14 (AMP) says, to no longer be children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].
In the age we are living in, every wind of doctrine is being preached. If we LISTEN to everything that is being preached, we will be tossed back and forth like ships on a stormy sea. Some people are prophesying out of their armpits, some are still teaching the law, some are making things up as they go based on some kind of a dream or a vision or an impression that they woke up with, never holding their revelations accountable to the Word – every wind of doctrine is being presented, and if we LISTEN to all of this garbage, then what we listen to will have a bad impact upon us! Take heed to what you hear!
The Word says in 2 Timothy 2:15 (AMPC) to study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
We Word has to be rightly divided – in other words, we must pay attention to the divisions in the Word… the Word is divided into covenants – there are several ‘Old Covenants’ between God and the nation of Israel… the Adamic covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant or the Law of Moses – then, there is one New Covenant in Christ. When the Word is preached or taught, the teacher must know the difference and teach believers the New Covenant, not some mixture of all covenants.
Let me give you an example… I have heard a minister preach a message on ‘spiritual warfare’ – he started in the book of Daniel where the answer to Daniel’s prayers were held up because Gabriel was being blocked from delivering God’s answer to daniel by the prince of Persia, a territorial devil over the region of Persia. Then the preacher went to Ephesians 6 where is says that our struggle is not against flesh in blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness – then he went to 2 Corinthians 10:4 ‘The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds’… he then tied all those scriptures together to present a teaching on how we must make war in the heavenlies and pull down territorial spirits if we want our prayers to be answered.
What he missed is that we are living in a different covenant than Daniel did, that in the New Covenant, every prince of darkness is under our feet and cannot hinder any of our prayers because in the New Covenant we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. He also missed that Ephesians is not asking us to fight demons, it is telling us that as we walk in our free gift of righteousness, in the Word, in faith and in all the armor that has been provided in Christ that we will not be harmed and that we will overcome all of the strategies of the devil. He also missed that 2 Corinthians 10 is not talking about fighting devils, but about taking out thoughts captive in the battlefield of the mind. Listening to his message would lead you into dead works, frustration and failure instead of living as kings and priests in the grace of God through Christ.
Songs are written about “He gives and He takes away” from the book of Job which, if you read the whole book, Job repented for ever listening to all of that kind of garbage from his friends who misrepresented God. God does not give and then take away, His gifts and callings are without repentance, in other words, when He gives something, He never takes it away! Yet millions of believers are singing the lie of Job’s friends that misrepresented God. Take heed to what you hear!
HERE IS A HEARING LITMUS TEST FOR EVERY BELIEVER…
IS IT TAUGHT IN THE NEW COVENANT?
DOES IT BRING FREEDOM OR BONDAGE?
DOES IT BRING FAITH OR FEAR?
DOES IT BRING PEACE OR ANXIETY?
DOES IT BRING LIFE OR DEATH?
DOES IT BRING JOY OR SADNESS?
DOES IT GIVE HOPE OR PESSIMISM?
DOES IT BRING EXCITEMENT OR DOES IT BRING DREAD?
DOES IT BRING LOVE, OR DOES IT BRING ANGER AND HATE?
IT WHAT YOU ARE LISTENING TO IS NOT IN THE NEW COVENANT, IF IT DOES NOT BRING FREEDOM, FAITH, PEACE, LIFE, JOY, HOPE, EXCITEMENT OR LOVE, YOU ARE LISTENING TO THE WRONG THING!
Make this confession with me…
“I will take heed to what I hear! I will hear your Word and not the opinions and lies of the world. I will listen to ministers who preach and teach your Word in the light of your New Covenant. If it does not bring freedom, faith, hope, peace, joy, life, excitement or love, I will not listen to it, in Jesus Name!”
Blessings on you, Nick
