Jesus trained His disciples to a mindset. He imprinted them with His mind (the mind of Christ) through the Holy Spirit of Truth. He taught them in parables as He taught the people and privately, straight from the Father’s heart. He and the Father were ONE in every way. He acted out before them incredible deeds which, though they were present for the demonstration, comprehension for them seemed slow, at times, and a fuller understanding would only come much later. God is patient with us all.
All the time they were with Him was a scramble for them to understand what He was purposing in His teachings and miraculous deeds. They were witnesses of incredible things and wondered in awe at what they saw. It would have been so for anyone. But the effect of what they saw and heard wasn’t the same on all who witnessed Him.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
“Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you. For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:23-25
“Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.” Luke 8:18
The Word of God never contradicts itself and it makes no mistakes. It only appears to do so to our fleshly, world-think minds. Without the Spirit of Truth we will be unable to perceive Christ-think (the mind of Christ). To first understand by the Spirit of God, our heart must be on its knees before Him. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. It’s not possible for us to even BEGIN to think properly if our heart hasn’t been initially cleaned by a thorough repentance of sin and then believing the Gospel of Truth as taught by Jesus, the prophets and the apostles. It’s not even possible to begin to think properly, much less rightly divide the Word of Truth, unless the heart has been put in order. For the mind to be right, the heart must be right. The mind follows the heart.
“Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life”. The King James says,…..”for out of it are the issues of life”. Your life—–your now, and your tomorrow, are directly tied to the deposits that are made into your heart. Deposits into the heart are made through the hearing——the superficial hearing and the deep inside hearing (where decisions and determinations are made).
In the book of Mark, the Lord states, ‘Pay attention’ or be careful, ‘what you hear’. In Luke, He states, ‘Pay attention, therefore to how you listen’. So, there’s a ‘what’ and a ‘how’ to listening. Like the reading of a children’s book that presents in the form of transparencies whereby a picture is created one layer upon another until it finally emerges——so it is with the Word of God. The Word confirms what the Spirit is saying through what appears to the natural mind as a contradiction. The natural mind CAN’T comprehend the Holy Spirit of Truth even when it reads the words—–it lacks the equipment to do so. The natural mind interprets what it reads according to the natural mind and not according to the Holy Spirit. God teaches His children through a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Eph. 1:17) He teaches us to see by what and how we hear. He alters our perspective mentally by changing our heart.
Only a person filled with the Holy Spirit of God can comprehend the Word of Truth, in truth. Even the Holy Spirit-filled person must be given to the study of the Word of Truth for many years to begin to become “approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”
We fellowship with the Spirit of Truth by reading His Word, and believing the Word we read through His Spirit by faith. He loves spending time with us. He delights in us and is so wanting us to delight in Him too. He made us to hear Him. But our time in the world has confused our ears. We have to spend lots of time with Him to get our God-given hearing back. It just takes time. It takes diligence. It takes effort. But the reward is life changing.
The Spirit of God is given a greater place in our heart through the place we give him. Each of us is unique, and the working of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s heart will be perfectly suited to each person——not exactly the same as another. He’s the same with us all, but has personal unique ways of dealing with each of us. He’s a custom fit. We are not to judge each other in this process, but we are to correct one another concerning those things which are dangerous to the new life we’ve been given in Him.
There are many dangers that face us in this new life we’re walking in. ‘Old things have passed away and behold ALL things have become new’ to the born again. Jesus came revealing the Kingdom of Heaven. He taught the Kingdom and it’s principles everywhere He went. Most of the people who heard Him were completely unable to grasp what He was conveying. He cast the seed of His Word for those who could hear Him then and those of us who were to hear Him later. It is we who the Word described as ‘afar off’. Thank you, Lord.
Our heart hears, and decides on what it hears. Our heart has a slant on how it hears what it hears. Content is important on the ‘what’. The choices you make about what you listen to matter. Don’t listen to every bit of whatever you have opportunity to listen to out ‘there’. You can injure yourself and not understand what you’ve done. Use discretion. Don’t listen to what the world says you should listen to. Whose child are you, anyway? Don’t give the world and it’s voice dictatorial rights over your hearing. Pull the plug on its drive to dominate you. Cut it off—turn it off—-shut it down—shut it up.
There are two prominent kingdoms. One is under the Kingship of the Most High, and the other is under the headship of the most low.
These kingdoms are in friction with one another. The sparks from this friction are often seen flying in the night air. Jesus said He didn’t come to bring peace, but that rather He’s come to bring a sword. Matt. 10:34. There’s no contradiction here. The Prince of Peace says He came to bring a sword. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Eph 6:17. Two kingdoms at war with one another. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal—–not of this world—-but filled with the power of God. It’s through His sword of war that peace will eventually be established. All believers have been born again into this war.
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?” 2 Cor. 2:14-16.
We will never be pleasant to those who are committed to destruction. Those living in and loving the world system and obeying its lord most low, are also his servants and find Christ’s brethren detestable. It’s always been that way. There will never be any change in that matter—-the enemy and his children hate the children of God. We will not change this. Two kingdoms at war.
“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—-those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” Rev. 12:17.
Strength and Honor In Him, Therin