Listen with Purpose
Scripture Reading - Proverbs 22:17,18 The Amplified Bible
17 Listen (consent and submit) to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;
18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them in your mind [believing them]; your lips will be accustomed to [confessing] them.
As we continue on our “Listening” series we wanted to mention "Listening with Purpose". This is when you are sharing information with someone else and you want to make efficient use of your time. We have many people who allow the conversation of another to dominate their thought life. This should not be so dear brother or sister in Christ. Surely we are called to glorify God in our spirit, soul and body. This means everything we do and everything we say and even everything we think about should glorify (exalt, lift up) God. We should "purpose in heart to listen" to ourselves and others to test if the words coming out of our mouth and their mouth is godly or not. This is important because if we don't guard our heart who else will? Yes, the enemy of our soul has an aggressive strategy (plan) to fill the air with his lies and his negative agenda. Satan knows if he can get people to “listen” to him he might be able to persuade them to believe his lies. Of course any true Christian knows all those who believe the lies of the devil are cursed and they will pay a very stiff penalty for obeying the Deceiver who is the Father of Lies. Oh yes don't think for one moment that being deceived (misled) is just a misunderstanding because in God's eyes truth is always available. Yes the Good Shepherd and our Heavenly Father are always available for those who look toward them for help and guidance. Surely whomever you “listen” to you are also learning from. Remember way back in the Garden of Eden Eve started “listening” to the serpent first, then she believed the lies of the evil one against God's truth, after that she acted upon her new belief to disobey God. We also know this act of disobedience to God's Word did not just affect her and God but rather it drew Adam into the rebellion which effected the whole human race. The scripture tells us in 1 Timothy 2:13,14 that Eve was deceived and that is true but her deception was not overlooked by God. Understand this, dear saint of God, there are two ways to be deceived and they both come with different consequences. The first deception is when you were taught to believe a lie and truth was never presented to you. This type of deception can be overcome with a clear presentation of truth in the spirit of God's Love. It is easy to see why God's mercy would abound toward those who are in darkness because they have never seen the light. However the second more grievous deception is when you have been presented with truth and you make the wrong decision to not believe the truth when you choose to believe the lie. This type of deception is harder to overcome because many people in this position already have a certain bias toward the lie. Remember the inherent nature of man is evil, so he is prone to do evil until he receives a new nature from God by being Born-Again. Yes the truth be told some people just rather do evil over good so believing (listening to) the lies of the devil makes it easier for them to practice sin without God’s Holy conviction. We must “listen” to the conversations of ungodliness more cautiously to determine if they are trying to persuade us to believe in evil or just spreading a lot of idle conversation. Yes, we (ihlcc) will openly tell you there are even some born-again Christians that have certain religious doctrines they hold fast to that are contrary to God's Word that they propagate to all who will listen to them. Even the Apostle Paul in Romans 16:17,18 warns us to avoid such because many will turn from the truth to seek lies. If we must contend for the faith with our own brothers and sisters in Christ how much more shall we “listen with purpose” to resist those in the world that would have us to believe lies like them. Yes, our dear faith friend, everybody is saying something, therefore you must “listen with purpose” to glorify God with your ears to have a peaceful picture of God’s Goodness in your heart. Like we heard a minster once say, “Your spirit should never be used as a garbage dump where people dump their personal trash.” This statement of truth simply means when you hear and/or see ungodly garbage coming into your ears or eyes (both are open doors to your heart) you must stop “listening” to that garbage all together or you must “listen with purpose” on the inside of your heart to counteract such negativity with God's Wholesome Solid Word (Our Beloved Truth). You will find when you “listen with purpose” that there are some people you can help with good godly counsel (God's Word) but unfortunately there are many you will not be able to persuade to change their deeds, thoughts and words for God's good because they are not seeking to glorify God. However never be discouraged because we fight the good fight of faith which Jesus has already won for us (All Christians). We just practice “listening with purpose” as a lifestyle to keep our heart right with God, our fellow Christians and all those in the world we come in contact with, for this reason we must be quick to “listen” and slow to speak in agreement with James 1:19. Amen!