RHM Devotional: Can You Hear Me Now from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.
For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Hebrews 3:15–16 WEB
When Joshua and Caleb returned to the Israelite camp after spying out the promised land, they encouraged the people to cross the river and begin taking possession of it. But the people gave into fearful reports from the other spies and decided to stone Moses, appoint a new leader, and return to slavery in Egypt. As they gathered rocks to stone Moses and Aaron, the Glory of the Lord descended on the tent of meeting, and He was very displeased (Numbers 14:4-12). God said to Moses: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”
This is called “the rebellion”, and it is what the writer of Hebrews is referencing. God told the people to do something, and they said “No.” They heard God’s voice, but they did not take action, and their hearts were hardened. This is a dangerous pattern to fall into.
When the Lord speaks to us, two things can happen:
1) We obey His voice and become more sensitive to the prompting of His Holy Spirit, and it will be easier to hear Him the next time He speaks to us.
2) We choose to ignore Him, and we become hardened and less sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Eventually His word bounces off us like water off a duck’s back.
For example, you may hear a message about “bla bla” and feel convicted, but you brush it off. The next time you hear about “bla bla”, it’s a little less convicting. Soon, when you hear someone passionately preach about “bla bla”, you won’t feel a single thing. You become desensitized to His word, spiritually hardened, and the breakthrough that He wanted to bring about in your life, you may never see. When that happens, is it His fault? No. It is our own. He can lead us to the promised land, but we have to choose to follow Him across the river and not let our fear hold us back.
Whenever we come under conviction while hearing the truth, we must take immediate action, or suffer spiritual loss. If the Holy Spirit is urging us to pray for someone, then we must pray. If He is urging us to give something, then we must give. If He is urging us to encourage someone, then we should encourage them. Our faith is proven by our actions, and we have to do our part for faith without works is dead. Too many today have ignored God’s voice for so long that they can no longer hear Him at all. It is a spiritual deafness.
If God is speaking, we must answer or suffer spiritual hearing loss. If we continue to ignore His voice, we will eventually not hear Him at all. If we practice listening and acting on His words, then we will sharpen our hearing and increase our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. A great oak tree starts as a small seed, and so it is with our faith and our hearing. Practicing will make you better at it.
Jesus spoke a lot about people hearing the Spirit, and He made it clear that not everyone can. A phrase that He used a lot was: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This is quoted at least sixteen times in the New Testament.
The Pharisees in the Gospel accounts had become so hardened that they could no longer hear God speaking to them, even when He stood right in front of them, face to face. They were spiritually deaf. Jesus said in Luke 8:18 “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
If you ignore His voice, eventually He will stop speaking to you about it, until you begin listening. He does not waste His time by speaking to spiritually deaf people. Jesus did not spend His time begging the hardened Pharisees to listen to Him. Instead He taught the spiritually thirsty. We can improve our hearing anytime we choose, by simply listening and obeying.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. No matter what has been in the past, we can make a new start today. If God is speaking to us, we must not put off our obedience. It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You give me another chance at hearing Your voice. Help me know when You are speaking to me, and give me the grace to obey, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.
Note: If you look at today's devotional, you can see that it looks a bit different. First, there is a video version at the top. Also, you should see that it is more detailed than some of the shorter ones, and includes illustrations. This format is the "video devotional" that we plan to bring once a week. We first present it live as part of our Sunday church service, then make the message portion available for all on Mondays. We hope that this change will enrich your experience here at RHM. Please let us know about any feedback you may have!
Tip: You must be logged into the website to leave comments.
Amen, brother, there is nothing better than His plan for us <3!
Yes Lord, in Jesus name, amen
Amen. What a "Refreshing" change, thank you.
Hehe, thank you for letting us know, Joe :)!
Amen.
Dear God please help me to hear everything you have to say to me Amen
Love the video and new format!
We really like the video devotional, Its like a mini service that feeds the spirit. Thank You! And Amen! :)
Glad y'all liked it, brother, we missed y'all on Sunday <3!
We missed yall too, we had a house full this weekend :)
Aww neat, hope y'all had fun :)!
I liked the video version, thank you!
Glad that it blessed you, Suzy, thank you :)!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You give me another chance at hearing Your voice. Help me know when You are speaking to me, and give me the grace to obey, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen !! Thank you!! I like the changes (L)
Amen Lord, speak to me as you once did.
I like the video devotional!
Happy that you enjoyed it, Ed, appreciate the feedback :)!
I must admit, when I first saw this new change, I was like WTHey man!?! BUT, after reading it all & then listening to the video as well, I found that there was a lot that I had missed & I was dumb founded,,like, how could I hear this all yesterday & have totally forgotten 'most' of it today? It's now engrained in my head & I'm thankful :) I quite like the refresher!!!
Aww, glad that it was still helpful, Tracy :)! I think what can happen sometimes on Sunday is that we can miss part of the message because sometimes other convos can be going on during the message, which is fine, but then maybe not bad to review :)!
Amen
Amen Father, open my ears to hear you. Love the new change Pastor Dion
Thank you God. Amen.
Amen!!
Thank you pastor.
I love this video devotional and a repeat of yesterday's message!! Like Tracy said, you can miss some portions and not even realize it! Great idea, thank you again Pastor Dion for your messages here.
Amen, Lynn, I think that can happen to anyone :)!
Thank you for the new format. It's not just the video but the picture illustration really helps with the devotional message. "A picture is worth a thousand words" is very true. A complex idea can be conveyed with just a single picture. A video is extremely helpful and personal as well. I feel like I am in a Bible study this morning with Pastor Dion.
Aww, that is very neat that the pictures were even that helpful, Albert, thank you for letting us know <3!
Thank You Paster Todd for the devotional.It was wonderful.God bless you and Sylvia.
I really like this new format! Pictures often give life and breath to words and make the message more significant. I'll be looking forward to these weekly devotions!
So glad they were helpful to you, Kathy, and appreciate the feedback, sister <3!
Dear Father thank You for all You have done for me through life. I know sometimes my ears are closed and I can't hear Your voice. Lead me oh Lord to hear and I will follow, that Your grace descent upon us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Thank you Pastor for such an excellent message, God bless.
This is a wonderful idea and opportunity for all who didn't get to hear the sermon on Sunday! Also some things need repeating! I love the way you have changed the format. May God Bless and protect us all! Thank you! Truly Rose Sicilia ❤
So happy you like it, Rose :)! It'll just be once a week for now, but we think it's a good improvement :)
So do I!
Good Morning,
What a nice surprise this is! I really like it. Thank you for giving so much. This new format is really nice and also very engaging. Love you and God Bless You.
Very much appreciate your feedback, Doug, God bless :)!
Amen!
I loved this video devotional covering Sunday's message, and will be looking forward to it, whenever available! It's like reading the Bible again and again and gaining more understanding the more we read and study! I do so appreciate you both, dear Pastor Dion and Sylvia and all the work you do! You are such a blessing to me! Also, I'll not be able to be part of the Live service next Sunday, but what a relief to know that it will be available to me afterwards! Thank you so much and GOD bless you both <3
Thank you so much for letting us know, Liesel, and we will miss you on Sunday <3!
i pray earnestly for my unsaved loved ones pastor....thank you for your sermon...
Amen
Good Morning! I really loved listening to the devotional this morning. Thank you. I felt it hit the nail on the head with me. I need to be more aware of when God is speaking and obey Him. I can see areas in my life where this has been an issue. I don't want my heart to become hardened.
Very glad it blessed you, sister, we appreciate the feedback :)!
In my case Laziness may be keeping me from hearing God's word. I,ve been urged by the Spirit lately to find a church home and I know i should go out and find a church to attend, but then I would have to find some nice clothes to wear and get up early. This excuse sounds trivial after reading my own writing .
I am retired but work a part time job as a night watchman on a 12 hour shift, and most of the time,shame on me , I just feel too lazy to get it done.
Hey there, Jay! If the Holy Spirit is leading you and you step out, I believe that He will lead you to a church home that you will be happy to be a part of :). On the "nice clothes", we are also not too interested in churches that have much of a dress code - we like to be ourselves, and we like that a church would welcome us as we are :). I'm thinking it may just be the same for you, and you just need to find one who accepts you as YOU are :). Also, I totally get that your internal clock is difficult to get in sync with typical church services! A lot of local churches have an evening service. They are usually not as well attended as the Sunday service, so maybe a good way to get started without calling attention to yourself too much :D! My guess is that you are not lazy, but change can be difficult and perhaps dealing with a bunch of new people can be daunting. If the Holy Spirit is leading you though, following is the best thing you can do <3!
Amen... I wish my friend Daniel understood the importance of this. Three years ago when he told me that he wanted to commit suicide. I was there to encourage him and reinforce the word of God and the love of Jesus Christ with him because he is a Christian and was baptized in the same river as Jesus Christ. However, three years later in the year of 2018 he decided to commit suicide. I’m so sad and upset with him at the same time because he knows better. He put down his armor and the devil took control of his mind. It’s extremly important to not only hear but to also obey the voice of the Lord. Thank you for this very on time message pastor Dion.
Amen. Praise God! Thanks Pastor Todd! Heavenly Father, I pray that You give me another chance at hearing Your voice. Help me know when You are speaking to me, and give me the grace to obey, in the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.