Interruptions-Ride the Wave

It's amazing how good intentions can become so distracted by interruptions in our lives.  I am the kind of person that when I start thinking about something I get going and then "bam" another thought leads to another and then "bam" it happens again.  I like to call it "thinking in the flow!"  But I am also a little "squirrel!" type of person, like the dog on the kid's movie Up!  I can get distracted so easy and lose focus, and even though my heart is in the right place, my thought and direction get "interrupted."  Paul deals with this very thing in 2 Corinthians 8:10-12 (The Message) So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written, Nothing left over to the one with the most, Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
Too many times those interruptions get us off track and off task enough to cause us to doubt ourselves and then the faith goes out the window...Tragic!  One thing leads to another and the very "fluid" thing you were working on is also the very thing that leads you down the wrong path.  The path of doubt!!!  The doubt path leads to mediocrity and apathy and when those have taken their toil there's not much left.  I think we call them "scraps." 
As Paul told the church at Corinth.  "Don't worry about the things you can't change, just concentrate on those things you can.  Come back to God and come back to a life of victory and purpose.  Pray for God to stop the interruptions from people, circumstances, society, etc.  Our world is on a massive wave that will end in destruction.  There are plenty of people being gobbled up by this wave and it gets worse every day.   I say, "Surf the wave itself and stay above all the faithless, hopeless, nay sayers that can keep you from living the life of freedom Jesus died for each of us to experience.  If you are on task and serving God and you see His hand guiding your life, then keep on going and surf on His board for awhile.  The view is awesome!!!
As I continue to try to stay ahead of the apathy that is increasing at a fast rate, I am always trying to see what I can do to be effective for God in my daily life.  The best thing I can do is "fix my eyes on Him" (Hebrews 12:2) and ride the wave, instead of letting it overwhelm me.  I know there are sharks out there just waiting for me to ride that wave, so they can devour me, but with God's help I can avoid them and see the horizon of victory through the power of God's love and grace.  Since this is shark week, I thought this word might be encouraging to those of us who are still believing for God to intervene and spark a great awakening in our land.  He will!!  Keep the interruptions at bay!!  'Fight the JAWS!!

The Pilgrimage continues,

David Warren

Easter Is a Great Time to Jump In!!

Why do so many people, even in the south, just come to church on Easter.  It could be that their only identification with the Lord is the crucifixion and the resurrection story.  It’s what I like to call “getting your toes wet” but not jumping totally in the water.  When I was a young lad my family had a lot on Spring River in northern Arkansas.  On that lot we could camp, and use it as a place to swim in Spring River (which year around is about 58 degrees).  The most fun for me at the start of the year was jumping into the river by running as hard as I could and going in all at once.  Of course, the shock was very real as the 58 degree water hit my body.  Usually a very loud “oh my goodness” would force it’s way through my teeth and I would immediately come up and say, “C’mon in.  The water is great!”  To which the others in our family would say, “You are crazy!”  Then I would watch as some of them would approach the water at the bank and stick their foot in and say, “no way!”   Basically their big toe was telling the rest of their body to stay out of the water because it sensed it was too cold.  Most of the time the message sent by the big toe was well received, so they would not swim at all, and I ended up swimming by myself.

You may say, “sounds like their big toe was smart!”  To which I would reply, it just kept them from enjoying the water.  No swimming because of a lack of faith and a lack of want to.  Those people who attend church only on Easter is kind of the same scenario as the river story.  They are sticking their big toe in but not willing to totally immerse themselves in the “church thing.”  They begin to feel like they want to come to church on Easter, but that is it.  Their church life is on hold until the next year.  So they go about the rest of the year watching others participate in their faith and never immersing themselves in the action of serving and ministering through the local church.  Of course, we give them information about things that are going on, asking them to reconsider, but they think it is too much of a shock for their lifestyle.   So they stay on the shore and never get to “swim.”  Sad, because the water IS so great and the fellowship is so awesome.  So, what do we who are in the church (water) do?  We keep on serving (swimming), and we continue to invite them to try it out.  Every year, without missing, I would jump in to the river and then invite the others to jump in also.  Why?  Because it was more fun to get them to swim and then spend time together.   In church life we should do the same thing.  Keep serving and keep inviting.  Never stop!!!  This year is no different.  We are going to have a great time of celebration on April 5 at 11:00 a.m. and it will be a great time to invite someone, once again, to try church out.  I can assure you your efforts to get others to come to our services will not be a waste of time.  You will give them the opportunity to hear some great music and hear the Word of God preached in a very special Easter message.  Of course, every year we are going to invite them to jump in!!   They may say no, but they may say yes.  Lifting up the name of Jesus is always worth the effort and the sacrifice.  Happy Easter!!  He is risen!!!   He is risen, Indeed!!

The Pilgrimage continues

David Warren

McFarland: The dream that could be....

I watched a great movie last week, entitled McFarland.  It is based on the true story of a high school cross country team in California at McFarland High School.  The movie tells of the struggle of a high school football coach to redefine his career in coaching and in that redefining he finds himself again a coach.  Kevin Costner, of course, makes his character come to life and and the movie takes us through the inception and continued development of the cross country team at McFarland High School.  McFarland school has long since been considered a high school without much hope for improvement and is written off as a school that cannot succeed in much of anything.  But then the dream...   Costner's character suddenly finds a new sport called cross country starting in high schools in California and births a cross country team made up of young men who are sons of migrant workers in that area.  In fact, the population of the town is known as a location to be the home of "pickers" who are mostly mexican.  The cultural divide between Costner's character and the members of his cross country team is wide, but over time narrows as Costner's rediscovers what it takes to coach anyone.  The dream he has for the boys he coaches comes to fruition as the team goes on to win the first ever state championship in cross country in California.  The dream is realized.....

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior, was a doctor. As such he was very interested in the use of ether. In order to know how his patients felt under its influence, he once had a dose administered to himself. As he was going under, in a dreamy state, a profound thought came to him. He believed that he had suddenly grasped the key to all the mysteries of the universe. When he regained consciousness, however, he was unable to remember what the insight was. Because of the great importance this thought would be to mankind, Holmes arranged to have himself given either again. This time he had a stenographer present to take down the great thought. The either was administered, and sure enough, just before passing out the insight reappeared. He mumbled the words, the stenographer took them down, and he went to sleep confident in the knowledge that he had succeeded. Upon awakening, he turned eagerly to the stenographer and asked her to read what he had uttered. This is what she read: "The entire universe is permeated with a strong odor of turpentine." 

Some times dreams are not all they are propped up to be.  But dreams are still important.  We dream, but then what happens?  We wake up.   J.M. Power said, "The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up."  Acts 2:17 says  "in the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."  Costner's character in the movie McFarland was in the latter years of his coaching career, but he was able to find a way to coach in an area, a sport, and a society that he didn't understand.  He had a dream and went to work to see it happen.  There is no doubt that most Christians believe these are the "last days" and that the Lord will return soon.  I agree.  So the Acts 2 scripture above is not outdated, it is current and relevant.  But where are the prophecies, where are the visions, where are the dreams?  All are locked in a sleep cycle that needs to wake up each of us to participate in that part we are made for.  

T.E. Lawrence once said, "All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to the day to find it was all vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for the many act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible..."

Can it be true?  Can day dreaming be a good thing?  Apparently so.  The definition of the word dream is-a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind 

during sleep.  The dream for me is what could be if I would apply myself to something and see it through.  You first see the dream, then put yourself in a position to affect the dream, and then see it come to pass.  That is the dream that could be...  Could be if we applied ourselves to it and worked to make it happen.  The first thing that drains the life out of a dream is the lack of hope.  For believers, hope is our necessary ingredient for everything we do.  Romans 5:3-5 says, 

The pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Where is the Precedent?

If you watch tv much or cruise on Facebook you will see people from our top leader to the lowest newscaster use huge words like unprecedented, never before, unheard of, and many other words that are meant to push their point with the most effectiveness.  The one I hear our top leaders say the most is unprecedented and it is used so much I don't even believe it anymore.  (As if I believed it in the first place?)  These are "power words" and the intent is to garnish the most power in making a point, but when used as much as they are now, actually weakens the words themselves.  We have very few unprecedented things to mention anymore, so the words themselves have no bite, because they are mostly untrue.  Pure truth is something people cannot seem to handle and when it is brought up intimidates most to the point of causing a riot.  Pure truth actually gives substance to the word unprecedented and the many other power words.  God's Word is that pure truth and the sooner our world realizes and acknowledges that, the sooner these words will have more depth and meaning.  You may say, "David, what's your point?"  Here's the point.  God's Word speaks to many different issues in one area or another, but the base core issue of eternity is the one that should cause anyone who has an ear or a brain to listen to very closely.   Here is some precedented truth from God's Word.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  What is the precedent?  Man is a sinner and that sin originated in the garden of eden.  That's the precedent.

Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love toward us, kin that while we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us.  What is the precedent?  God sent Jesus to be born of a virgin and live on this earth and then go to the cross giving the ultimate sacrifice for our sinful condition and Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave to give us hope of eternal life in glory.  God's demonstration of His love for us by giving His Son is the precedent.

Romans 10:9,10 - That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness,  and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  The precedent is "we must believe and confess" for life change and eternal life in heaven.  That it the precedent for eternal life in heaven.

Romans 10:13 For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.  The precedent for the lost person is we have to call upon God for our new life in Christ.  That is the precedent.

Do you get it?  In reality, we must all adhere to the teachings of God's Word as our precedent to truly receive all of God's promises.  Eternal life, abundant living, vibrant witness, etc..  GOD IS THE PRECEDENT!!!  God in His great love has been reaching out to us since the beginning of time and He set His pure truth as the precedent.  A pure truth that must be followed and confirmed by action on our part.  That action is realizing we are sinners, realizing that God loves us, realizing that Jesus died for the penalty of our sins, realizing that we must believe by faith and confess our sins to the Lord for our salvation, believing that God's plan for our life is better than ours by following the Bible, and then living that life.  Our faith is not unprecedented.  Our faith is VERY PRECEDENTED!!

Prophets foretold it and it happened and is still happening as God's Word is revealed in the reckless world we live in.  There is nothing new under the Son.  God created this world, He created us, and now He reaches out to us with pure truth.  His Word is new and fresh every day, but His Pure Truth isn't anything that hasn't already been in place since the beginning of time.  A thinking person would start to realize that God really is all in all and the I Am.  A thinking person would start to evaluate who they are following and what is pulling their chain.  A thinking person might consider that this world and the great thinkers of this world are truly ignorant when compared to God's wisdom.  That great thinker would suddenly realize that without God there is no hope, but with God there is freedom and pure hope.  The only thing really in life that is unprecedented is man's ignorance to the pure truth of God.  We see that lived out daily in the news and it should be no surprise that the world's temporal attempt at living life to the fullest is most miserable when built on our own weak reasoning from brains that are tainted at best.  So, if you are coming from a human reasoning on a worldly foundation, your continued lack of wisdom in choosing Christ over the world IS unprecedented and it is now time to change your thinking.  There is power in God's Word only....Not mans' words.  Read it and weep, and after weeping turn your life over to the only hope we all have for peace.  Turn it over to God....

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

What is your water temp? The Blessings Of An Aggressive Faith

What is an aggressive faith?  It is a faith that runs to good works and affects the kingdom with a good offense and not just a good defense.  Living a life of defense only, is living a life that just deals with what comes your way as you wait on it.   Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot more cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

What causes us to get into a "defensive" mode, or get lukewarm? 

1. Getting your heart beat on when you stepped out from the crowd and tried something God-sized.  Something that reminded critics that they are supposed to be living that kind of life and they don't like the reminder.

2. Trusting God for something and he came through in a different way than you were planning.  This is a tough one for me because I like to map out everything in my sight lines and proceed knowing what I am facing.  Remember, trusting God means we trust Him to do things His way and accepting that result.  This should build our faith and not cause us to fall back from being aggressive in our faith.

3. Hiding safely in a group of non-aggressive believers and using their lack of faith to mask our lack of action.  It feels nice and comfortable, but we are actually moving backward and not forward in faith.  This the trend of the new "relevant church movement" and it is dangerous!!

Whatever causes it for you, God wants more, and He wants to guide us to a whole new level of belief that involves really trusting Him for the results.  All of that sounds great, but in order to move to that level of belief we are going to have to get out of the water we are in (and it is not hot water, more like lukewarm)  You may say, "Why is that going to be so difficult?  Well, our world is spirally downward in an apathetic coma and our Christian faith has been caught in that spiral and the constant indoctrination of an apathetic, fallen world, is taking it's toll on what should be a vibrant Christian group of people.  In 2 Kings 19, the Word of the Lord says that Hezekiah was king of a people who had lost their zeal for serving the Lord, but Hezekiah came to his senses and called out to God through the prophet Isaiah to help them because the Assyrians were mighty and all around them, ready to defeat them. God spoke to Hezekiah through Isaiah and assured him that He was still in control and that he would use a remnant to reestablish a people who will follow God.  In verse 30 he said a surviving remnant of Judah shall take root downward and bear fruit upward.  In other words, the depth of their commitment to God the Father will be very deep and the fruit they will bear will be offered up and given to God.  Now that's what I call WORSHIP!!  Right after that promise God goes into the camp of the Assyrians and strikes 185,000 of their soldiers with death as they slept.  God used the remnant and God came through.  I can't imagine the shock of the Assyrian leaders waking in the morning to find 185,000 of their men dead in their beds.  At this new development Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed and headed back to Nineveh, AND STAYED THERE!!  Hezekiah made the right move. He pleaded with God to help them, and believed that God would not allow the Assyrians to defeat His army and take his people captive.  He saw what was happening all around him, but he saw the lack of any movement of the house of Judah to do anything about it  In verse 3, He said, "children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver."  Now that's pretty bad.   It sounds like what we hear all the time in our lost and defeated world view.  Christians saying, "I don't want to birth any children into this crazy world", when God wants more children to be born to Godly parents who will raise them to take hold of the fight of the faith.  You guessed it.  An aggressive faith means having children and raising them to take up their armor and live for God also.  We live in a world where we are having to talk people into not killing their children before birth, much less raise them in the ways of God.  Just like Pharaoh's desire to kill the Hebrew children in the time of Exodus because they were having more and more children and growing faster than he could control.  Our world today is led by the ambition to snuff out any children before they even get out of the womb.  The parallels are uncanny.  When Isaiah brought the word of God to Hezekiah, it was not only a warning, but a plan of attack, with God leading the way.  The Word of God through Isaiah showed Hezekiah the best way, and then God acted and their enemy was defeated.  How does that translate into an active faith today?

First off, we need to believe in God.  Yes, truly believe in God, and believe that His power is just as real today as it was in the Bible.  Secondly, we need to see our condition, and respond to how God's Word addresses that condition.  Thirdly, we need to act, believing God is going before us, and then watch the God-sized miracles that follow.   Yes, don't freak out.  I did say "miracles." They still happen you know.  The miracle of God killing 185,000 of Hezekiah's enemies in their sleep was a huge miracle of God and the remnant that looked on saw God's hand moving for them.  In our world today, we would have the tendency to explain away any miracles God performs.  We would call it an over emotional response by holy rollers, or a money making scheme by televangelists, or just an unexplained phenomenon.  All of those would be an insult to God in any form, and the end result would be lukewarm faith at best.  Hezekiah messed up by limiting God and when he  realized his only hope was in the Lord he did the right thing by calling out to His God, even when many did not trust God anymore.  Sound familiar?

So, what is the temperature of the water you are swimming in right now in your faith.  Is it hot, cold, or lukewarm.  Just remember, lukewarm water has just enough of a hot feel to make you think you are in hot water, but you aren't!  Lukewarm has to have some cold to make it lukewarm, so the cold is in there.  What is the cold water in your life that is stopping you from having total faith in God doing a mighty work?  Remember, at the same time we are learning to walk with God, the world is indoctrinating us.  The world!! You know ...satan!  You won't find this reasoning at any Catalyst conference in the future, because we have tasted the kool-aid and reasoned that it doesn't taste that bad.  But, our life after drinking the kool-aid of the world is lukewarm and doesn't taste very good to our heavenly Father, to which He replies, "I will spit you out!!"  We must come back to God and believe again that He is who He says He is, I AM!!  Just like the children of Israel facing the waves of the Red Sea, we are facing a huge wave of worldly reasoning, but God has called us to a new life of freedom from the world and a life eternal promised for those who persevere.  In the same way God parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel to walk on dry land and escape the Egyptian army, He is ready to part the waves of unbelief for us to step out of a world that hates Him and live a life of freedom in the "promised land" he has prepared for us in heaven.   As Moses led the children of Israel, Jesus leads us and goes before us showing us the way to live an aggressive faith that changes lives. What a blessing!! The lukewarm water doesn't feel so good now does it?  Then turn up the heat and get serving in your daily life, and through your church, and make a difference as the remnant of the faith.  We don't have to have any more plagues to know that God is calling us NOW to leave the land we are now living in.  Move and quit serving the world and getting leftovers! Live an aggressive faith and make a difference today.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Storm Warning

Recently we had some high winds in our area of the country and those high winds turned into tornados in some areas.  We drove all around our community to the sight of trees laid over and limbs broken and scattered all over the roads.  It was a scary time for many in our area and we were very fortunate there weren't more injuries, but thank God for His protection.  Outside our picture window I noticed a tree in our yard that for a month has been showing signs of dying.  You know the signs, leaves dying and falling off during the green season,  and holes in the limbs where squirrels had played havoc on the weakened tree condition.  The first thing I looked for after the storm was how many of those dead limbs, or the whole tree, would be able to weather the strong winds of the storm.  To my amazement, the limbs were still intact and the tree had dodged being torn apart, even in it's weakened state.  It got me thinking about how that tree got into this weakened, dead condition.  Here are some things to think about when analyzing a dead tree and also analyzing a dying or dead Christian Faith.  First off, the tree dies from the inside out.  I didn't even know the tree was dying until I started seeing signs of it all over the yard around it.  Signs like dead leaves falling off, and limbs breaking and falling off without me doing anything to help them.   Those signs started to increase with one of the large limbs falling to the ground during one of the storms.  When the limbs fell off I could see down into the tree and see it was hollow and eaten out, without much strength to support the limb that was attached to the tree.  So the limb fell off and I was surprised it had held on as long as it had, after looking at the interior of the tree.  If there were no winds or storms that limb might have held on for a much longer time before falling off the tree.  But with the increased wind resistance, the limb went ahead and fell off into the yard.

That is how our spiritual death begins also, on the inside.  What begins that death is varied and it may begin with a thought of doubt about our faith, brought on by a bad experience in a church or with another believer.  Our Christian faith has been beat up by one storm after another, as even strong believers have had their faith attacked externally and, of course, internally.  It's hard to say when it begins and how fast the death march is, but you can be sure it affects the inside first.  We put on a facade that is driven by pride to keep others from knowing how hurt and weakened we are, but you can be sure that something is wrong and satan is using it against you.  Daily you start to feel like "what's the use?" and the eating away at your faith has begun.  In Psalm 51, King David laments over his life and the inside death that had haunted him for so long.  In verse 12 he says, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit."  Of course, we know that salvation is the Lord's and the joy of that salvation is what drives who we are and what we do.  But before David ever got to the restoration statement he said something very important in verse 10, "Create in me a clean heart, and renew....."   The word renew is very important in this whole process.  For new testament believers we know that renewal comes from God through Jesus Christ and our whole life is built around the constant renewal that only God can give through Jesus.  King David had failed miserably as a person and as a king and his sin was right before him.  Spiritual death was eating away at his soul and what had once been a vibrant relationship between David, a man after God's own heart, and the Lord was not so good anymore.  His cry for restoration and renewal did not hit deaf ears and ours doesn't either.  David's sin was right before him and he knew his only hope for renewal was found in coming clean before the Lord. Thus the words, "create in me a clean heart.."  David's lack of continuing to go to battle for God started this whole process and his wandering eye led to sin with Bathsheba.  One thing led to another and a dead tree was on the horizon.

What causes us to start to die on the inside?  It could be a sermon we didn't like, or a song that convicted us.  It could be the stark reality of a Christian leader falling that hurt our faith, but it could also be a lack of active faith.  James writes in chapter 2 verse 14 "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?"  In other words, is that a true, active faith that shows a true commitment that shows salvation is real and possible?  It is a question we must all deal with, but I want to submit that inactivity for believers is just another way that satan starts to kill the inside of our faith, and like the tree,  kills us from the inside out.  What happens when a Christian gets a little tired or disillusioned?  They stop serving.  Why does that happen?  It's all part of the process to eat away at us from the inside out.  When that spiritual death march begins, it is masked in a form that stops us from having an active faith that involves serving the Lord.  Before long we are like David and we are distracted, and the end result is putting our eyes and our interests on other things that are not of God.  A commitment to serve becomes a half-hearted interest. A life that is vibrant and growing in the Lord becomes a "daily quiet time" exercise in futility.  We doubt and criticize everything and what once was a strong and growing, lively faith has started to die.  Then when a storm comes in our life we see the truth.  We are dead on the inside, and we are falling apart, and we are falling over during those storms.  If you have seen this happen in your life, perhaps it is time to fall on your face before God, and like King David, ask God to restore the joy of your salvation, and experience renewal.  Renewal will put the drive back in your Christian life and God will fill your tank with plenty of fuel for the journey ahead and you will experience vitality as never before.  You will be RENEWED!! Praise God that He still renews.  Your faith will come alive and the branches of your life (the effect you have on all around you) will start to strengthen and once again have a Godly impact.  Your tree (life) will once again be healthy and ready to stand no matter how strong the wind flows.  That is the kind of faith that causes revival in churches and restoration in homes.  That is the kind of faith James told  us we must have to make an impact.  He wrote in James 2:20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?   I believe that is God's question to each of us.  He who has ears, let him hear.  I know I'm listening.  Are you?  What do the storms of life do to your faith?  If your walk is fresh and your inside life is renewed, the storms of life cannot deter you from God's purpose in your life.  Meet the storms head on and meet them with a renewed inside.  No deadness.  Only life!!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

The Legend of Big Ears

This story is about a young man who had the biggest ears in town, but couldn't hear a thing.  His outside ear was like a satellite dish, but his inner ear was clogged.   People would see this young man and say,"Man, with those ears he must be able to hear good."   Ole Big Ears would notice people admiring and even marvelling at his huge ears, but he couldn't hear what they were saying, so he tried to learn to read lips.  He started realizing that his ear size was a big topic for everyone who saw him and he also realized he sould be able to hear people talk, but he couldn't.   The old phrase "in one ear and out the other" didn't even apply, because both ears were equally deaf.  So he went to an ear specialist to see about getting his problem fixed.  The ear specialist looked at the inside of his ears and exclaimed "you've got a big blockage inside your ears keeping you from hearing properly." To which the young man replied, "Take it out!"  The ear specialist started working on the blockage and after about two hours he had removed a massive amount of cotton from the young man's ears.  The ear specialist couldn't believe how much cotton was in the young man's ears and asked him, "How did you come to have so much cotton in your ears?" The young man told him that early in his life he didn't like what he was hearing and he put some cotton in his ears because he was hearing truthful things so clearly that it made him feel guilty. To get rid of the guilt meant he didn't need to hear it, so he plugged cotton in his ears.  But he found out he could still hear and trying to shut out anything that made him feel guilty, he plugged in more cotton until he was totally deaf.  But this is the strange thing.  He forgot he had plugged his ears and went through life totally uninformed and deaf.  Not until the ear specialist looked deep down in his ear did he find the cotton that he himself had actually put in there years before.  Now he could hear like everyone else, and now he could receive wisdom from those who would speak into his life.  Now his inner ear's senstivity matched the size of his outer ear (which was huge!)  Now everything was back in proportion and he was ready to receive instruction and learn how to live his life accordingly.

This story illustrates how we as believers have ears that are enlarged to hear God's truth and the volume is loud and clear.  But the first time we hear something we don't like or agree with, we put cotton in our ears to block it out. But or ears are so big, it takes more and more cotton to finally shut it all out. Then we think we feel good, but we have actually stopped all growth in our Christian life and are now deaf to the one we must listen to.  To onlookers things like church attendance, Bible Study, and prayer are a big part of our life, but in reality our ears are closed off and we are not actually listening anymore, we just have the appearance that we are because our ears are so big.   When people need to hear something from us that pertains to God's truths they come to us and we can't even hear them because our inner ear has a massive blockage.  So we go around with big looking ears that cannot hear at all. 

Sometimes I find myself sharing a truth from God's Word and I can tell those who are listening cannot hear the truth.  Their outside ears are huge, giving me the perception that they have to be hearing the truth from God's Word , but they don't hear a thing.  Frustrated at times, I find myself not even wanting to share the truth because it is hitting deaf ears, and what's the use?  The sad part of the whole thing is they have ears that God has given them that can hear and understand God's truths, but their inner ear is resisting and that resistance is not controlled by God.

In Revelation 2:1 John writes this to Ephesus, to the Angel of the church. The One with Seven Stars in his right-fist grip, striding through the golden seven-lights' circle, speaks: 2 "I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. 3 I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out. 4 "But you walked away from your first love - why? What's going on with you, anyway? 5 Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? A Lucifer fall! "Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I'm well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle. 6 "You do have this to your credit: You hate the Nicolaitan business. I hate it, too. 7 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard."

In John's Revelation he was writing to the church at Ephesus and their ears had become blocked to God's truths and their hearing was impaired because their hearts were impaired.  He told them they had fallen away from God and compared it to a  Lucifer Fall.  That's a stong word that is a warning to all who put cotton in their ears and shut God out.  If anything we should be praying for our ears to be wide open and seeking God's Word in the world we live in today, but still we try to shut God out.  When will we realize that we need to go to our ear specialist, our Heavenly Father, and beg Him to take the cotton, given to us by the enemy, out of our ears and start listening again.  There is also the point that God becomes very tired of our lack of hearing and He shuts our ears.   Paul wrote to the church in Rome about Israel turning a deaf ear to God in Chapter11:7, And then what happened? Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on her own, pursuing her own self-interest, she didn't succeed. The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy. The "self-interest Israel" became thick-skinned toward God. 8 Moses and Isaiah both commented on this: Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways, God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears, Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors, and they're there to this day.   We do not want to get to that point, so we better listen, cause God is speaking!!!  It's time to listen.

Don' t have a legend about your life called "The Legend of Big Ears!"  Start a new legend today that will one day be known as "The Legend of Listening Ears!"

Jesus had to deal with these kind of people when He walked on this earth, Matthew 13:15 The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.  Luke 8:10 He said, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom - you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren't going to get it: Their eyes are open but don't see a thing, Their ears are open but don't hear a thing.  God is speaking.  It is now time for us to listen!!

What will your legend be?

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren