Do You Hear The Sound Of Change?

My friends, my question for you today is, do you hear the sound of change? As being the homo-sapiens that we are, we are born with resistant measures to change. We don't like one bit especially when we have to mature in our character and thought process. Change is a part of our lives and we can go through it happily or grudgingly. Life, as the fictional character Forrest Gump says, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." I've found this saying to be very true. We don't always have the answers about tomorrow. A lot of us make plans about the future but when they don't come to pass, we feel disappointed. We expect things and people to be a certain way all the time. A lot of us who are quote on quote traditional are very resistant to change. We love to say, back in the day, this was this and that was that. Face it, those days are long gone. The root principles of things are the same but the implementations of them have changed dramatically. Look at how we're paying our bills or doing a job search. Mostly everything is performed online. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on billboards for advertising, we can post videos and other media to promote our businesses. Things around us are changing everyday. The one true change that I'm alluding to is how God (whose name is Jesus Christ-ya heard) is moving throughout this planet. He's not moving through just a sect or a denomination anymore, He's moving through people who hear the sound of change. Only those who walk in faith, have His Spirit, and study His word is hearing the trumpet sound. This sound isn't going to be recognized by anyone who's resistant to change. People who are still stuck on women not being called to preach and teach, men should have three piece suits, the saints staying at church all day, judging people who aren't saved, and unwilling to help others isn't welcome in this change. I really do believe there is a "rapture" going on because only those who hear the voice of God, saint or sinner, once they hear, will be changed. They'll be caught away to a place they've never been before, a place of destiny, purpose, and position. Those who are resistant will miss the mark like so many people as the older generation of Israel did. They refused to obey God and let Him guide them by the hand. They were swallowed up because they kept looking back instead of going forward. As human beings, when faced with the challenge of change, we tend to look back instead of look forward. We don't like to mature.  A lot of us are adults well into our 20s, 30s, 40s, and above and still want to wild out in the club. We still bed hopping, coke sniffing, and hanging out with people more than half our age like we're still in high school. Shoot, I'm looking at my closet now and it's time to let all of those baggy jeans go because I'm not a thug (well, God is still working on my "Peter-ish" ways, pray for me). A lot of stay wearing  the same winter clothes when it's summer and summer clothes when it's winter. When the season changes, we have to change. Why don't we get that? The animals do. Listening and responding to the sound of change is scary, frightening, exciting, and adventurous all at the same time. Embrace what God wants to do in your life. Yeah, there are definitely going to be some ways, thoughts, lifestyles, and habits we'll have to give up. But that's what separates Jesus from all of these "teachers" and idols. He changes the whole person from the inside out that will last for eternity. Hear the sound of change and walk in it as Christ desires us to.

Til next time, dgwo.

References:

1st Corinthians 13:12
2nd Corinthians 4:15-17

You Got To Hear It Before You Can See It

I woke up this morning with the word sound in my head. For the past couple of days, I've heard this word taught, I've read this word in my study time, and then I experienced it again. This morning, I was reading about a time when Israel was going through a bad famine. Ahab, the king of Israel at the time was trying to find a way to get water and other necessities to survive. Three and some change years ago, Elijah had prayed for the rain to cease because of Ahab's evil ways; causing the whole nation to disobey God. Fast forward, Elijah heard a sound and it was the abundance of rain coming to nourish the ground. Then I was reading about Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus about being born again. He told Nicodemus that the Spirit of God is like a wind he hears but can't tell where it comes from; so is everyone born again of the Spirit. My friends, we're living in a time of great dearth throughout the nations of the world. Financial crises, droughts, famines, unemployment, divorces, government shutdowns, and lack of quality education. But in times of great depression, recession, regression, and oppression, around the corner is a blessing. Now, David, how can you say that? To be honest, my friends, I have no clue. Right now, I'm experiencing famines in my life and fight everyday to renew my hope in God. But lately, I've been hearing a sound. This sound has been the voice of God telling me every thing's going to be alright. A lot of us, including myself, are like Thomas. He had to see and feel Jesus to know He had arose from the grave. But God is looking for a people of faith who will believe Him when He speaks. I truly believe that God is speaking expressly (openly) at all times but are we willing to hear and receive His words? In the midst of famines, questions, and doubts, God is always speaking of solutions that will make life more meaningful. Right now, we're not in a comfortable situation; sort of like the 4th quarter in the final 5 minutes of the game and we're down 10 points. But we have to slow down and when we hear that sound, we better stay put and listen. We have to be perfectly positioned to clearly hear the voice of God. We have to be set in place. The reason why Elijah and Nicodemus received what they received is because their ears were open. They let go of the pride and the trends of their times. There are so many trends and movements going on in America and many of us are off course in our lives. The only way we're going to get back on track is hearing the voice of God. So many of you are asking, how do I know it's God's voice? What will it sound like? To our own understanding, we won't understand it. This is why Solomon admonishes us to trust God with our whole heart, lean not to our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge and He'll direct our goings (Proverbs 3:5-7). We will know it's God because it'll sound out of line of what we're used to. When Sarah heard she would have a kid in her 90s, she laughed at him. When Jesus told Peter to cast his net on the other side, Peter looked at Him crazy. When Balaam was about to do something crazy, God spoke through a donkey to stop him. His voice is sweet, sort of similar to ours, and speaks nothing but the truth. We'll know it because deep inside, we'll try to ignore us when He's telling us we need to straighten up. Many times, He tell us things are being worked out when our present situation is getting more jacked up. But that's how He works. He set order when the world and the people in it was wilding out during the beginning stages of creation. His voice gives us specific instructions and directions to follow. Once we learn to obey it, dudes and dudettes, we'll on the fast track to success. Like my aunt told me years ago, the more we obey, the more we'll recognize His voice. Before we can see signs of success and pitfalls waiting to bring us down, we've got to hear God's voice. The voice of the other(s) that won't tell us truth we'll set us up for failure every time. Now, I'm saying all this because I'm perfect or reached a level of pure perfection. I'm still learning to get this sound thing myself. But I just wanted to share with everybody what I experienced today. Not a million dollars, not a new job, just  a new understanding of how this thing called life works. So this weekend, find you a good church with good teaching that won't tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear even if it hurts. If you do belong somewhere but ain't been awhile, and it's a good church, you need to go back there because God is definitely got great things in store for His people. If you belong to a church that doesn't present the truth the way Jesus intends it to be, throw the deuces and allow God to lead you to a place that will teach the truth. To those who may not be in the faith but you've been hearing signs from different people from places and venues, God is calling you for a specific purpose. You'll never know what it is until you allow yourself to hear what He's saying. I know this for myself and keep my mind there so I don't get above myself. Don't listen to these other sounds found in the media and bad company, which calls evil good and good evil. Listen to the voice of God, which makes us wise to what's good and simple to what's evil (Romans 16:19). In the words of a reputed murderer turned expositor:

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:17


To all of us, understand God is always saying something, we just need to have an ear; open ear. The truth hurts but it heals, saves, delivers, directs, instructs, reassures, and blesses us tremendously. Then we believe what we hear, in due time, we're going to see it. We've got to walk by faith and not by sight.

Til next time, dgwo.

References:

1st Kings 18
John 3:7-8
Habakkuk 3:1-4