by Jim Hughes
Is. 55:3“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the mercies and unfailing love that I promised to David.”
Come to me with your ears wide open. How many times do you do that? Do you approach God with an intention to just listen to Him, or do you come with an agenda that you want to unload on Him? When was the last time you intentionally went to the Lord to hear from Him? When was the last time God actually spoke to you and you heard it?
God speaks to us His Word. He shows us things we need to know in it. In the Word we find a response from God for whatever our souls need. God uses His Word to convict, instruct, guide, encourage, correct, comfort, inspire and challenge us. He knows what we need for each day and if we are listening to what His Word says we will hear what we need. It is one of the reasons why we must hide the Word in our hearts so we will hear it speak to our needs.
In order to hear God speak, we must have quiet hearts. We must not be distracted by all the things going on around us or in us. We must focus on Him and Him alone. We must seek Him out. We must let His Word sink deep within us. We must forget the clock and wait before Him. Don’t expect to hear from the Lord while you are rushing in and out of His presence. We must take the time to appreciate the life we have in Him and express our gratitude for it. We must take the time to praise Him.
Beware, sometimes the Lord may have to put us on our backs in order for us to be in a position where we can listen to Him when we get too busy to do it on our own. The Lord has things to say to us and if we don’t take the time to listen, He may very well force us to take the time we need. We must listen to the Lord for our very souls are at stake.
The Lord is ready to take an active role in your life. He desires to pour out on you His unfailing love and mercies. He has wonderful things for you to enjoy in life. He longs to give you all the blessings He has stored up for you. Will you give Him his rightful place in your heart? Will you take the time to worship Him and listen to what He is saying to you? Will you open your ears wide open so you can hear Him?
About the Author:
Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.
C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.
I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.
