Welcome to the second part of ur series on hearing and specifically how to hear your way to miracles.
If you wonder where I’ve been the last two weeks, and why this part was delayed— I was in the hospital. Now you might be thinking that if I was in the hospital, what qualifies me to say anything about miracles— That’s an honest question.
My answer to that is, when you are in a hospital, that’s precisely when you need a miracle! You see, people whose lives are in perfect order, don’t need miracles. It’s when things start going sideways, that a miracle is sought. And those of you who’ve read my book, know that I was very sickly over the years; and that those same experiences afforded me the opportunity to see and experience many miracles, which I wrote about in great detail.
And make no mistake, a miracle was seen this time as well, as the doctors couldn’t provide a diagnosis of why I was having very visible symptoms, and all my tests came back clean.
So in this session, I want to share with you another real-life practical example of how what we hear from a spiritual perspective is crucial to success.
What Is Truth?
In John 18:38. Pilate asks a question while talking with Jesus… the question is ‘What is truth?’
That may seem like a simple question, but it’s actually quite profound. Pilate’s question is one that I believe Christians should ask more often. Far too frequently, we accept things as true, even though they aren’t. We judge truth based on “accepted truthful sources” — a church pastor, a daily devotional booklet, or a Christian commentary, to name a few; and because there are accepted sources, we don’t subject them to appropriate levels of scrutiny of criticism.
Pilate didn’t wait around to hear Jesus’ answer, but if he was paying attention, Jesus answered his question before he asked it! In the previous verse Jesus told Pilate that To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.
Now there’s a lot to unpack in these statements by Jesus, but for the purposes of our study today, let’s focus particularly on that last sentence: everyone that is of the truth hears my voice.
What an intriguing statement! Jesus describes truth as less of a pure statement of fact, and more akin to something that a person is of. Just as if you would say something like I am from Ireland, or I am from an Italian family.
We, as Christians are of the truth, and as we know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life as mentioned in John 14:6.
Knowing The Truth
So how do we recognize the truth? As we’ve already seen, just because something is labelled as Christian, or uses particular words, does not make it the true gospel. So how then do we know the truth?
Well, truth is personified in the person of Jesus the Christ. The true gospel is literally the good news of His coming, His sacrifice on the cross, and our rebirth as new creations in Him.
In John 8:31-32, Jesus is speaking to Jews, where He says:
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
And I invite you to notice some vital details here. These are believing Jews that Jesus is speaking to, but Jesus tells them to continue, or remain in His word. Only then will they know the truth that will make them free.
Keep in mind that these were Jews, people who already had the Law of Moses. A Jewish child begins memorizing the Torah at the earliest age possible. So not only did they have the Law, they were well versed in it. Yet Jesus specifically said “if you continue in My word, then you are My disciples indeed”. It’s very interesting that Jesus is only addressing those that believe on Him, when He said this.
Jesus then continues on to say that those Jews that believe on Him shall know the truth, and the truth shall make them free. Now wait a second… they were Jews, they already knew the Law. Yet here, Jesus says, you shall know the truth. So what then is this truth that they shall know? Good question!
Jesus Is The Truth
These verses are part of a dialog that Jesus was having with the Jews, and for the pivotal part of the conversation, jump up to verses 23-24:
“And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.
I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.”
Notice that Jesus said that you will die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He. He did not say unless you work hard, or try your best to keep the law you will die in your sins… No, He said if you do not believe that I am He, then you will die in your sins. The truth of Christ is not a truth about works, laws, or human merit, but it is the truth of Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah come down from Heaven to save those who are lost and dying and to give to all who believe on Him new life.
Returning to verses 31 and 32, Jesus says if you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed. Now again, Jesus doesn’t say, continue in the Law of Moses, or continue in your traditions, He says continue in My word.
Continue In Jesus
In verse 31 we see that small little word “on”… they believed on Him. You see, this is different than believing in Jesus. Plenty of people believe in Jesus in that He exists – even the demons believe in Jesus, and tremble. (James 2:19). However to believe on Jesus is a different matter altogether!
To believe on Jesus is to make Him your foundation. He is the One supporting you, He is the One upholding you, He is the one you are trusting for everything! To know that you are safe and secure on His hands and you are firmly rooted and grounded in Him! That is what it means to believe on Jesus, versus just believing in Him that He exists. And I humbly submit to you, that very few people have that kind of relationship with Jesus today. This is why Jesus said in verse 31 that if you continue in My word, then you are my disciple indeed.
To continue in His word is to hold onto that truth that Jesus is your supply and foundation, To exist and remain in that truth; to live your very life around that truth and to be embraced by that truth: That Jesus has worked a complete and finished work for your entire life, and everything you could ever need is supplied by Him as your provider. When you are feeling unloved, or you are feeling the effects of loneliness, you can rest in the truth of Christ that you are not unloved – far from it, the very love of God was demonstrated to you that Christ came into the world, leaving His Heavenly throne and died in your place that you would live through Him (1st John 4:9).
To continue in His word means that when you are feeling the effects of sickness in your body you are able to rest in the fact that Jesus Christ bore your sicknesses and carried your pains and by His stripes you are healed. To hold onto the fact that even in the face of various symptoms, God is still to you YHVH Rapha, the LORD your Healer; and to not waiver from that fact.
To continue in His word means that when you seem to have more month than money and bills are piling up, you are able to rest in the fact that because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, and the fact that He who was rich, for your sake become poor that you through His poverty would be made rich (2nd Corinthians 8:9) and that God to you is YHVH Yireh, the LORD your provider.
These things are not make-believe… they are not just wishful thinking, or nice imaginations to help you “get by in the tough times” – No, these are your realities in Christ. These things are part of His word, truth for you to continue in and hold on to. And this truth of Christ, when you really know it, it will make you free, just as Jesus said it would.. The word “know” used there for you shall know the truth. Is a common Jewish idiom for intimate sexual intercourse. The first time that the particular Greek word is used, is in Matthew 1:25, when the scriptures say that Joseph did not know Mary until after she gave birth to Jesus. This fact is important because this tells us that the truth of Jesus Christ should be an intimate part of the very core of our being – we should be one with the truth of Christ, unable to be separated from it.
Join Me Next Time
We’ve seen today how the truth of Jesus is the fundamental message of the Gospel, and how we are called to remain in the truth of Jesus, in all things— even in the face of alarming circumstances.
I encourage you today, to meditate on these things and apply them in your life. And now that we know what to hear, in the next part of our series, we’ll look at how hearing can help you to receive miracles.
I look forward to thriving with you again.
Be blessed.