No, you’re reading. Lol
But this verse rings true: Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given and you will be given even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. (Mark 4:24-25 NLT).
Listen to why I said that rings true right now…
Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are a God of order. Our beautiful, perfect, Triune God is a God of Order. He cannot fail. He will not fail. He will not contradict Himself. Only look at the world and see the things that He created. He speaks in so many ways, but regardless of how you feel He is speaking, whether though a dream, a person, nature, I advise and warn you, remember that everything in the world has been corrupted by the Fall.
THE FINAL AUTHORITY –INFALLIBLE WAY-God has Spoken forever is through His WRITTEN and the INCARNATE WORD: The Bible and Jesus Christ. However you feel God is speaking, let it begin and end with the Bible. The Bible is the Final Authority. If however you feel God is speaking contradicts what has permanently been recorded in Scripture, throw it away and run! That is not God speaking. No Truth contradicts itself. TRUTH remains TRUTH. You want Truth? Look into the Bible.
Having said that, it is also clear that we see God’s eternal Truths playing out as He says they would because God is a God that does not lie. Now to address why I said that verse is ringing true so well for me tonight:
Why is it that a person who studies, pays attention to and spends time in and trying to understand Genetics is very likely to understand and excel in it better than someone who didn’t? Why is it that someone who goes to a special skills school to study, say, engineering, is likely to have better understanding and application of engineering than say, Muyiwa? (Me)! Well, we would obviously all agree that It is because one has listened closely, understood and obeyed.
His skill level has increased and with that, he discovers new knowledge, new ground, new territory, isn’t it? Yeah well, Jesus already explained that Law of life. And the news is even sweeter than you can imagine: Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given and you will be given even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. When we listen closely to His teaching and obey, little by little, we grow in our understanding of His will and that increased understanding makes us want to obey more because we are seeing things more clearly.
Jesus, you’re right! You’re always right! I love you so much! I can see this Truth manifesting in my life so greatly. Through God’s grace, strength and mercy, I have grown more and more in love with Scripture. I am spending more time, listening more closely, trying to obey more truly (even though imperfectly). And I promise you (I AM NOT EXAGGERATING), more and more understanding and respect and awe and love of Scripture is being given to me.
Jesus said it will happen, and His Word must come to pass! WOW, this verse-even though in recent times I have had similar revelations about this verse, but tonight it has come ALIVE to me like never before. The Word of God IS ALIVE AND POWERFUL. Truth will never contradict Truth; want to get extra witnesses on whether this Truth rings true? Fear not. I won’t rebuke you for asking. Watch this:
“Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what they have will be taken away” Matthew 25:28-29 NLT
Are you being faithful with what you have? Or what you have heard? Remember, it’s simply about being faithful with that which you have at the moment and as God’s Word says, more will be added. More understanding, clearer revelations of God’s Word, more opportunities to use your gifts. The implications are endless.
This next one kind of addresses the reality that when much has been given to you, much will therefore be expected from you, and by extension, I think it is safe to say that when you use that faithfully, even more will be given.
“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” Luke 12:48 NLT
And guess what, as a believer you have been given much. Seriously. You have been given Christ, who has “unsearchable riches” (Ephesians 3:8 ESV) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3 ESV), where all the Fullness of God is pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19). You have Christ; you have been given everything! Much is therefore expected from you. Begin to explore this Christ more and more, living in Him is a never ending adventure. Receive Him, grow in Him and remain in Him.
May the Holy Spirit empower us all to walk in the life that Christ has already bought for us with His Blood. May He awaken us to listen closely, obey and be faithful day by day, in Jesus name, Amen.
Muyiwa Oyatogun
Yeah, you guessed it. That was a guest post written by Muyiwa Oyatogun, and it was pretty great right? Thank you so much Muyiwa, you hit the nail on the head!
If you want to feature your work on my blog, please send me an email to msalheri@gmail.com
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The bible is very complex, even if you read it through, you’ll still have to go back and ask questions. You mentioned that you’re a non-American. Racism is not only in this country, but many parts of the world. Is there less of it in your country?
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Hey, thanks for reading. The bible is complex, yes it is. Absolutely so.
Then, racism is not only in this country, but I currently reside in America, so I’m writing from my experience as a non-American black, who’s interacting with racism in America.
Also, I don’t exactly think you’d categorize my home country, Nigeria, as one that’s suffers from racism, because there’s a majority of black people. There are other kinds of prejudice, such as ethnic and tribal prejudice. But racism is nothing in Nigeria compared to America.
Thanks for reading.
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Hi, thank you for clearing up the fact that Nigeria is mostly a black country because I had forgotten that. And that’s why you won’t find racism there as much, but some are prejudice against different tribes and ethnicities. It pays to learn.
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You’re welcome! Thank you for reading, as always 🙂
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That first verse was awesome, Mark 4;24-25! I like verses about hearing. Spiritual hearing is the bedrock on which the Word – the Scripture was written. Christ’s voice sounds through every author who is open to hear that Word.
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Thank you for reading! And I really agree with hearing from God being the spiritual bedrock of our relationship with God. Reminds me of Romans 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing (by) the word of God.”
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Yes, that is one of my favourite verses, along with Isaiah 3o:21: you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it, whether it turns to the right or the left…
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Thank you for highlighting that verse. It’s a lovely reminder.
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You’re welcome. I long to hear from those that carry the Spirit of the internal Word. I recognize it instantly as Christ whether quoting a verse or otherwise, but the quoting of verses these days with no understanding of the Spirit is like a cacophonous clanging. It is becoming hard for me to bear.
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Thanks again for this comment. Knowing the scripture and quoting is something, but knowing the scripture with the backing of the Holy Spirit is on a whole other level!
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Totally! 🙂
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