23 November 2008 10AM
Billy Strauss

Rom 10:17 – it is important how we hear. Jesus said that we need to be careful how we hear because what we hear is what we will believe. If we hear wrong, we will believe wrong. We need to be attuned to the frequency of the Holy Spirit, otherwise we will interpret wrongly what we hear.

Why did God decide that we will hear through our ears and not through our eyes or nose? The ear cannot lust like our eyes. Our eyes move all over the place, like this or that. But our ears can only do one thing – they can only hear. That is why God decided that our ears will hear.

The eyes are distinct from the others senses of smell, hear, touch, and taste. There is a connection between your ear and your heart. How you hear, affects how you feel, and what you believe. How many times do you get affected by what you hear? When you hear a song, or if someone says something, there is a certain atmosphere. You hear something, and all of a sudden you feel sad with that person, or with the song. Or you're excited. If affects how you feel. It affects your heart. It is important that we take heed how we hear. Hearing is a skill, that we need to develop. We all can hear.

How do we hear? When someone speaks, can we listen to them properly? Can we give them our attention? Can you stop dead in your tracks and listen attentively to that person? Or are you already thinking, while the person is still speaking to you, how you are going to respond? When this happens, it means that we have stopped listening, because we are already thinking about how we are going to respond. Especially in certain situations where there is a bit of conflict. We are already thinking how will hit the ball back. We need God to help us. Do you like listening to yourself or can you hear when other people speak?

Hearing has been defiled in the garden of Eden through willful disobedience. That is why God needs to reform the way that we hear. If we can't listen properly to each other, how will we hear His voice? We will hear it the same way we listen to each other. If our thoughts drift the whole time while we listen to each other, our thoughts will drift and we will think of 50 things that we need to tell God instead of just listening to Him. Let Him finish. How many times do we pray, then we stop and walk away? We never even waited to hear how God is going to respond to what we've prayed. God needs to reform the way we hear.

We also need to reform the way we hear from Him. When Jesus casted out deaf and dumb spirits, He called them evil and filthy spirits. When you are deaf, you cannot speak well. Your hearing also affects your speaking. The way you hear  will be the way you speak.

2 things so far that we can remember: the way we hear affects the way we believe, and the way that we hear affects the way that we speak.

Once the evil spirits left, they could clearly hear and speak properly. Some people cannot speak properly about you because they do not hear the right things concerning you. Their understanding has been darkened, and they do not understand you at all. God needs to help you in situations like that, where people have spoken things about you without them understanding at all what they are saying concerning you. God will vindicate you in those instances, because you were not there to defend yourself, but you have an Advocate and His name is Jesus Christ. He will defend you. Don't worry about having to defend yourself all the time when people say things about you. Let them talk until they are blue in the face, because you are continuing to be obedient to what God tells you to do.

Mk 4:23-24 – The measure with which you hear is important. “Take heed”: refers to what you see with your mind's eye.

Did you know that whenever you listen to someone speak, you see pictures in your mind's eye? It's like a movie playing before you. When you hear, you see pictures. Sometimes you see something visually, and you would read the same thing, but because your consecrated imagination is so vivid, it speaks even louder than what you would see on a screen. Your mind is very visual. What you hear, you see in your mind's eye. If you hear correctly, you will see in your mind's eye what you've just heard and what you've just understood by what you heard. That makes it clearer for you, and that is why it is important to take heed what you see while you are listening. That gives you greater understanding of what you just heard.

What you understand mentally, while you are hearing, is how your hearing will produce. To those who hear correctly, more will be given. If we decide to hear God in which ever way we see fit, then we will only hear what we want to. We will only hear a lop-sided voice. Only the good things, or the things that we want to apply we will hear. Jesus gives us a warning: “take heed how you hear. If you hear Me, you will hear more”. Many times people will say that they can't hear God's voice anymore, but maybe it's because they haven't really taken heed of how they hear Him, and only hearing what they prefer to hear.

The kingdom of God works on that principle of growth. If we hear correctly, from God and if we believe correctly, if will produce growth in our lives. It's an automated process. It's not something that we can manipulate, or control. As you hear, you will believe. The measure you use to hear with is the measure that is shall be given to you. Have you ever experienced it that while you are speaking with someone, half way through the conversation you realize that they are not listening to you anymore. What do you feel like doing then? You feel like you don't want to talk to them anymore. Don't you think that God feels like that sometimes? Then people don't understand why they stop hearing Him. They haven't stopped hearing, God has stopped speaking. He's backed off. But, we serve a gracious and merciful God, so we won't just leave or forsake us. But sometimes, He backs down, until we realize that He isn't talking to us anymore, then maybe we should change.

“Measure” meaning metron: refers to your area of influence, standard of judgement, or portion. Your metron is determined by how you hear. You cannot go beyond what you hear in your ear. You can only respond to what you hear. You can't respond beyond that. Your ear limits or expands your capacity, and it's our choice whether our capacity to hear God will increase or be limited.

How does that increase? By us being obedient to what He tells us. The more we listen, the more He will speak to us. While you are listening to the Word of God, you either limit God or your metron is being extended.

“… to him who hears, more will be given…” “Given” speaks of increase; a growing number of followers being added. More and more people are hearing the drumbeat of this Reformation, and that is why there is an increase.

When apostle Andre Pelser attended Miracle Valley Bible College in Arizona, USA, a reporter wrote an article about him and he sent him a card saying: “there are those who hear a different drumbeat, and have the strength of their own conviction to walk by it, even if they walk alone”. Apostle Andre Pelser has taken this phrase for his whole life. This makes a lot of sense even to us as individuals. Don't you feel that