Jeremiah 7:23 Display Chapter and Footnotes   23 But this I commanded them, saying: 'Listen to and obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk completely in the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you.'2 [To hear the Lord we must patiently and persistently listen in humble silence; then we must obey what he commands completely. To obey is to follow the Lord, which all must do in order to be a true disciple. From the Word of the Lord within: "Follow precisely; do not deviate."] | Luke 6:46-49 Display Chapter and Footnotes   46 Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?6 [For Jesus to be your Lord, you have to obey him. A Lord or Master tells his servant what to do; a servant listens to his Lord and Master and then obeys him. From the Word of the Lord within: "Remember, every person who sins denies Him as Lord and Master. The King is where he is king." We call Him Lord while failing to even seek to hear His words to direct us; instead we tell Him everything we want Him to do, we talk about Him, sing about Him, and read about Him in a book, thinking that is how to please Him. As Jesus said: You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are those that testify of me. But you will not come to me, so that you might have life. John 5:37-40. To come to Him is to think on his name as you patiently and persistently sit in humble silence, waiting on Him as you listen, watch, hear, and obey. The words you hear Him speak to you are Spirit and impart the life of God to you as they are engrafted into your heart. John 6:63, James 1:21. When we wait on Him to hear Him and obey Him, we show our love for Him.] 47 Whoever comes to me, and listens to my spoken words and does [practices, obeys] them, I will show you what he is like.7 [The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life-giving, John 6:63; note, not words read from a book, but words spoken to you from Christ, the Word of God in your heart, to be heard and obeyed. Jesus said that studying the scriptures is not coming to Him. John 5:39-40. To come to Him is to sit in humble silence and wait on Him, as you listen and watch; when you hear Him speak, if you obey Him, you are following Jesus. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me..." Mat 11:29. This is the good part, the one thing that is needed: to sit at His feet and listen to His words that he speaks to us, Luke 10:39-42. "All your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words." Deu 33:3.] 48 He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep and laid the foundation securely built on a rock; and when the flood arose, the torrent beat violently upon that house, but could not shake it because it was founded on a rock. [The man who comes to Him, listens to His spoken words and then obeys what he hears, builds the temple of God, (Christ), in His heart; and when Christ is fully formed through persistence to the end, the day of the Lord comes while he is still alive on the earth, (which is a joyous occasion for the obedient), and his works of obedience survive the fire that all men must go through, which works are then forever to his credit, reputation, and reward.] 49 But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation; against which the torrent struck violently, and immediately it collapsed; and the ruin of that house was great." [But those who hear His anonymous words and fail to obey, for them the day of the Lord at their death, (which comes on all men), is a horrible, frightening experience; all their life's works are burnt up in the fire that all men must go through. The anonymous words of truth they heard, pleading to depart from evil, but which they failed to obey, will judge them in the last day, John 12:48. Because of their disobedience, their earthly life was spent in no benefit to them, and their many shameful acts are their eternal regret. From the Word of the Lord within: "I am the terror to most people. Everyone will be known by what they have done and said."] |