Who are we listening to? Are we open to hearing something new regarding a spiritual truth, or do we close our ears and not listen?
Jesus had been speaking about the Father to His followers and the religious leaders. He was asked by the Pharisees, “Who are you?” (John 8: 25) Boy, that’s a loaded question!
Jesus replied, “Just what I have been claiming all along. I have much to say in judgment of you. But He who sent me is reliable and what I have heard from Him, I tell the whole world.” (John 6: 25-26)
- Trust what we hear from reliable sources.
- Having the fullness of the Holy Spirit will propel us to go and tell the whole world.
The people didn’t understand He was talking to them about His father. What have we heard from Him? What are we holding in our hearts that we are carrying out what we have heard? “If we hold to His teaching we are really His disciples.” (John 8: 31)
- What we say with our words will reveal what’s in our hearts.
- What we do with our actions will reveal if we are His disciples.
Jesus put it this way as He spoke to the religious leaders. “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8: 47)
(Shared from John 8: 21-47)
Malachi hears the word of the Lord. He proclaims what Jesus displayed 400 years later. He says, “A son honors his father and a servant his master. If I am a father where is the honor due me?” (Malachi 1: 6)
God was not happy with the sacrifices the Israelites were offering Him. They were bringing before Him animals that were blind and diseased. they were instructed to bring only unblemished animals.
He told them to “Shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on the altar. I am not pleased with you, says the Lord.” (Malachi 1: 10)
He continues, “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun.” (Malachi 1: 11)
- What we hear in our hearts is released from our lips.
- Learn to preserve knowledge, seek instruction and be a messenger.
“For the lips of a priest are to preserve knowledge and from his mouth men should seek instruction–because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 2: 7 )
(Shared from Malachi 1: 1-2: 9)
Solomon obeys wheat he heard; to complete the building of the temple. He finishes the outside structure and then furnished the inside.
- We are to furnish our hearts (the inside) with worship.
- The place of worship was never meant to be superficial but comes from deep within.
- The place of hearing God comes from within, not from the outside.
“When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated–the silver and gold and all the furnishings–and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.” (2 Chronicles 5: 1)
This is another example, in all of our readings, of the son honoring the father. Honoring one another is of great importance in the eyes of the Lord.
To think that the God of the Universe honors us and said long ago, “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19: 5)
We are a “Holy nation, a people belonging to God.” (1 Peter 2: 9)
Don’t ever listen, hear, or believe anything else about how God sees us, “For we are the temple of the living God.” (2 Corinthians 6: 16)
- An alive and living God deserves an alive and active faith.
(Shared from 2 Chronicles 2: 17-5: 1, Modified)
UNBROKEN LOVE SERIES
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