LISTEN!

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. —Luke 6:27-28

Who is listening to Jesus? ISIS is not or any of the radical Muslims. The abortionists are not as they slaughter multitudes of innocents as well. Those who are wealthy and corrupt are not nor are those who are poor and corrupt. All works based religious systems are not listening to Jesus. Really, there is only a minority in this world that is truly listening to Jesus. They may not be perfect at this, but they are seeking to be consistently honoring Him.

Jesus said, “But to you who are willing to listen…” Are you and I willing to listen to Him? Are we listening to Him? Are we taking the time to truly, sincerely and hungrily listen to Him? He has so much to say to us! Are we taking the time to listen or are we distracted by many things (Luke 10:40-41). It is better to be sitting “at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said” than to be “worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10:41-42).

What Jesus wants us to hear are those things He is calling us to practice that are supernatural. It is not natural to “love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.” The natural inclination of a person’s heart is to hate your enemies, do evil to those who hate you, curse those that curse you and ignore those who hurt you. But this is what following Jesus is all about— He calls us to live in His power and not our own. It is only through His power that this type of life can be lived.

Listen to Jesus! Do you have enemies? Love them! Do you have people that hate you? Do good to them! Is anyone cursing you? Bless them! Is anyone hurting you? Pray for them! This is what Jesus said to do. May we listen to Him!

Dear Father, may I listen to Jesus and do His will. Please help me to yield to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in this and not to the natural inclinations of myself. May it be so.