Loss of hearing is a genetic reality for me, on my father's side. Dad was in his 40's when he donned his first pair of hearing aids. Some might think this a sad thing . . . but for my dad, a man with four daughters and a challenging wife, it was a Godsend. I didn't really catch on to the "scratching" behind the ear thing until I was a little older. Then it became apparent . . . when it got too loud, off went the switch. Well, as we all aged, his hearing became worse. Complete loss in one ear and 70% loss in the other. Didn't seem to bother Dad at all. And he had a great sense of humor regarding his deficit. Sometimes we would see him sitting in his chair, smiling when we looked his way. Another clue he was in his happy, silent world. At end of life, a miraculous event occurred. Dad stopped wearing his hearing aids a few weeks before his death. One night after our usual bedtime routine, I said something to him in my normal tone (which he never would have heard without hearing aids). Without reading my lips (he was facing away from me), he responded to my comment. You can imagine my surprise. I didn't make a big deal about it, just let anyone coming to visit him know not to be fooled by his lack of hearing aids. He was listening.
The Gospel from 24Jul13 (Matthew 13:1-9) reminds us to listen to the words of Jesus, never taking for granted what they mean:
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
In Volume Four, Jesus asks us to hear and choose Him:
The Gospel from 24Jul13 (Matthew 13:1-9) reminds us to listen to the words of Jesus, never taking for granted what they mean:
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
In Volume Four, Jesus asks us to hear and choose Him:
"Believe Me when I say to you
that you will never have peace, true peace,
while you are separated from Me. And your
eternity must be considered. You will spend
eternity in one of two places, dear little soul.
You must give this serious thought and
determine where you would like to reside.
You say you do not believe in God or you do
not believe that God would send people to
hell forever. I tell you today that it is not I,
the only God there is, who condemns souls to
hell. It is the soul himself who chooses to
reside in hell. Do you know why the soul
chooses hell? Because there are like-minded
souls there. A soul who aligns himself with
darkness does not choose heaven because
that soul would not be comfortable in
heaven. You must understand that you can
be angry with God but God is not at fault.
You can blame God for all that is wrong
with your world and perhaps this will work
for you on earth. I assure you though, on this
day, that this will cease to work for you at
the moment of your death. At that time there
will be only yourself to blame as the truth is inescapable. You will be facing the one, the
only, and the true God and attempting to tell
Him that He does not exist. How do you
think this will go for you? It will not go well,
dear soul, and that is why I am speaking to
you now. I want you to divert from this path
that leads to damnation. You are choosing
against Me now and I am asking you to stop.
I love you. There are many Christians in this
world who love you and My love will flow
through them to you. I want you for My
Kingdom. I need you to serve Me. You are
capable of the highest goodness. You are
capable of bringing many souls to heaven
for Me. Some of My greatest friends were far
worse sinners than you. Please come back to
Me. I love you and I can heal you and cure
you. My forgiveness is yours."
Lay apostles, do you choose to disregard the words of Jesus when they aren't convenient or would cause you to make choices you really don't want to make? We can keep fooling ourselves into believing God isn't watching, but He is, 24/7. I am far from perfect in remembering this fact, but try to make decisions with Him in mind.
Thank you, Lord, for the ability to hear You. Continue to help me listen better, my actions reflecting Your Words.
God bless,
Bonnie
Lay apostles, do you choose to disregard the words of Jesus when they aren't convenient or would cause you to make choices you really don't want to make? We can keep fooling ourselves into believing God isn't watching, but He is, 24/7. I am far from perfect in remembering this fact, but try to make decisions with Him in mind.
Thank you, Lord, for the ability to hear You. Continue to help me listen better, my actions reflecting Your Words.
God bless,
Bonnie
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