They Do Not Hear Us

I wrote yesterday that gifts of God without God are like tree ornaments without a tree. I failed to remind you that ornaments, in most cases, are empty. And that is how I assess the many gifts of God that I have valued all my life, and still value, but since I recognize that they are God's and come from God and that without God they are temporary and empty, I see something I was unaware of until the day I met Jesus and received him as Savior and Lord of my life. Whether it is music, art or literature, without God they are all empty shells in the end. In gratitude regarding all these gifts freely given by God, I just want to rejoice with any of you who have been born again by the Sprit of God, for many reasons, but especially now, that we possess the spirit of truth, and not the spirit of error. Here is the Scripture: "He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us; he who is not of God does not hear us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). So, just a gentle reminder. Those who do not possess the spirit of truth in Jesus Christ, our Lord, do not hear us. They do not hear us. (One more time) They do not hear us. Just in case you may not have experienced that lately, we need not wonder why the people who are lost and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12) may not (probably do not) hear us when we try to reason with them, when we try to explain to them where we are coming from, whether it be about current events or relationship issues, or any topics about which we have strong opinions, whatever they may be, they do not hear us. One more time. They do not hear us. So, what is to be done about this? I think this is something that has to be dealt with on a case by case basis, which, requires wisdom, which we must ask of God and he will give it. Sometimes we may have to wait a few minutes. It's lovely when it comes in a few minutes. Depending on what the problem is, the answer may come quickly or it may take a while. The important thing is to ask God to give us wisdom. James 1:5, states, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." So we have to ask God, it does not necessarily just arrive immediately all the time. That's hard sometimes, but it is another way to learn how to trust God. Remember "The just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:17) and "Without God it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). That's all I really wanted to share tonight. And what did I say? They do not hear us. So, no use trying to convince everybody of everything you know, even though you know it's true, you know they need to hear it, you know, you know, you know, but you may have forgotten that they do not hear us. Okay? Last night I was up too late, and when I got in my car, I had no dash lights. I worried about it all day, went to the garage and the guy found the little knob that I had accidentally turned off, who knows how, but what I learned is, again, how to be thankful for every little thing and every big thing that God does to bless you because it matters to be grateful and joyful and love our neighbors. We are all going to fail many times in many ways, but usually, if we know God and love Jesus, we are not going to go around intentionally failing to do the things God is asking us to do. But let's not waste a lot of time and energy and blood, sweat and tears trying to make people understand things they do not and cannot and will not understand until God gets a hold of their heart. So we love them and pray for them and try to do the right things and say the right things and then leave the rest to God. Tomorrow is another day and God's mercies are new every morning. So I need to try to make up for the sleep I lost last night. I love you. Goodnight.