Listening Ears & Healing Mouth

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. Isaiah 50:4 (NASB)

The passage in Isaiah 50 is prophetic about Jesus, but as 2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB) declares, “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness...” 1 John 4:17 also says, “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world.” “...as He is, we also are in this world.” I truly want His love to be perfected in me, so that this is a faithful statement about me. We can take these passages as followers of Jesus and apply them to our own lives. It says, “He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.” I noticed one day that we have been given TWO ears and ONE mouth!

LISTENING is such an important thing in communication. Have you ever had the habit of allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken you when He wants? I mean, to LISTEN and OBEY, when He prompts you to come away with Him and learn from Him--to just BE with Him. Years ago, I gave Him MY TIME, because, as He was already repeatedly requesting it with Him EARLY in the morning, I yielded, and said He could have it ALL. That was the best decision that I ever made, besides making Him my Lord and Savior in the first place! Jesus is “the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 21:6), and “my times” are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). He plans so much better how to spend my days, as He knows what’s coming up, and I don’t. This is a wonderful time of seeking and finding, growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18), and being prepared for His work. Listen to this latest verse I have received about God’s “words”:

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV) Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

I LOVE treasure-hunting in the Word with Holy Spirit! He always knows just what I need at the right time. His words have been sustenance for me, satisfying and fulfilling every day. Listen to what a psalmist said in the Bible:

Psalm 119:103 (NKJV) How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Just as we would TASTE a delectable dish, taking time to enjoy each mouthful, we can FIND God’s words, EAT them, and ENJOY every bit! His words are like HONEY...sweet and savory! As I make the time to meditate upon the words that I have eaten, it is truly “the joy and rejoicing of my heart...” (Jeremiah 15:16) Holy Spirit is transforming us into the image of Christ, as we have been made into Jesus’ disciples. Just like we need daily food for our sustenance, His Word is to keep us growing and healthy spiritually, but it is not only just for US! It is always for other purposes. He also gives us “the tongue of disciples, so that we may sustain the weary one with a word” (Isaiah 50:4). As we learn to FEAST on the Lord, we are equipped with a “tongue of disciples” in order to “sustain the weary one…” I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I truly don’t know WHAT to say, in a conversation or situation. I have found it so helpful, to have the Holy Spirit to draw from in requesting His appropriate “word” for a situation. This requires constant abiding in His Presence and the practice of listening to His voice. Many times, I have realized that His words are SO MUCH MORE helpful and healing than mine. Listen to what the LORD says to the prophet Jeremiah in addition to his sentiment about God’s words being a “joy and rejoicing of my heart”:

Jeremiah 15:19-21 (NKJV) Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them. 20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” says the Lord. 21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”

The main part I liked from these verses was, “You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth.” He is being instructed to extract the “precious” from the “vile.” The original word for “precious” is: SH3368 Adjective “yaqar” (yaw-kawr’)=precious, rare, splendid, weighty. God is calling Jeremiah to stand before Him, and be as His MOUTH! Jeremiah was called to be a spokesman for God, but He was being reminded to find the “rare, splendid, weighty” words among the worthless. His MOUTH was to be used for HEALING as through God’s MOUTH and for delivering His warnings and messages of promised blessings to the children of Israel. I was thinking maybe we could also consider that as disciples of Jesus, we are to speak above reproach as His “mouth.” Romans 15:6 (NKJV) says, “that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are His “ambassadors” in the earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). Now let’s bring Jesus back into focus again, and listen to His words about praise and talking rocks! Luke 19:37-48 (NASB) tells us:

And as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, 38 shouting:

“BLESSED IS the King, THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And yet some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” 40 Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!”

41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will put up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” 45 And Jesus entered the temple grounds and began to drive out those who were selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written: ‘AND MY HOUSE WILL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS.” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to put Him to death, 48 and yet they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.

I LOVE IT! “...all the people were hanging on to every word He said.” Jesus had made such an impact on His disciples through His words and actions, that they not only gave Him the ROYAL TREATMENT, but they also worshiped Him and proclaimed His kingdom as having come through the Scriptures. This was to the effect that the Pharisees were jealous as usual and tried to silence their celebration and proclamation. Jesus made an interesting statement, that if they “stop speaking, the stones will cry out!” I have never heard a speaking stone, but I believe all things are possible, because Jesus said so! Even in the Psalms the entire creation is commanded to worship the Lord!

When Jesus entered the temple, He also cleaned out the “HOUSE” of God, because it had been defiled through the leaders’ greed and lust for power over those they had been commissioned to LOVE and SERVE like God. They were His “ambassadors.” Instead of showing holy servanthood and compassion, they had actually created greater financial burdens on the people who were coming to honor the commands of God, by taking advantage of them--turning the “HOUSE OF PRAYER” into a “DEN OF ROBBERS.” This example made little of the “fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 9:10), and by their actions they brought reproach against the LORD Most High, by making Him out to be a calloused, money-hungry, holier-than-thou, and “serving” with self-profiting strings God. Jesus KNEW His Father and LOVED His “HOUSE” zealously. His correction of disrupting this unrighteous marketplace situation in a house ordained and set apart for prayer, was totally carried out in appropriate love and holiness, showing the accurate measure of the “fear of the LORD” about the ways and intentions of His Father.

I believe the modern gatherings for the “ekklesia” (church) of God could be graciously reminded of the REASON for gathering to PRAY (laying HANDS ON the sick), WORSHIP, TEACH, BUILD one another up in love, etc...NOT for business connections, opportunities, performance, etc. The church established upon the “foundation of the apostles and prophets” is to be actively building itself up in love, equipping saints for the work of the ministry (prayer, worship, teaching the Word), and ministering to one another’s needs, as we now are the “temple” or “house” of God together (Romans 12; Ephesians 2, 4; 1 Corinthians 12). Jesus Christ as the “cornerstone” is the BOTTOMLINE and standard for all functions within the gatherings of the church, not for profit in a material sense. In the church as it functions, He is building PEOPLE--not projects and making people connections as prospects for business. He is available, and He LOVES His people. His church is a family.

To wrap it up, I wanted to share another “Creation Clue” that is given to the children of Israel and also speaks about His “words” for their “mouth”:

Isaiah 51:16 (NKJV) “And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, ’You are My people.’ “

In a world of rapidly increasing “knowledge” as it speaks about in Daniel 12, I find it interesting that the Lord says He has put His “words” in His people’s “mouth...That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ” These words are not just “knowledge” (see my April 3, 2021 post, "God's 3 Little Words: WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING & KNOWLEDGE" for more). God LOVES His people, and He wants them to know about His creative works. 1 Corinthians 8:1b (NKJV) says: “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” The “knowledge” spoken about the creation here is spoken in love by our Creator, because the words of the antichrist spirit in the earth are LIES about His creation and are polluting the minds and imaginations of God’s people made in His image and for His glory. As it says in this verse, it is my desire that not only “Zion” come to believe this, but also that He sent His Son as the Messiah ALREADY in Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of Isaiah 51, the LORD says in verses one and seven: “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. … 7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults.“ He is reminding them that they had their origin in Him by His choosing, and that they were part of Him as His family. (Is anyone thinking, "Like the 'chip off the old block'?" You know God has a sense of humor, remember Jesus and His talking rocks?!)

Seriously though, throughout the Scripture we see very plainly that God desires them and ALL people to know that He laid the foundations of the earth. It is “righteousness” to use the Creator’s WORDS about His creation and to not shrink back from telling the truth. This might bring insult or wrath of the enemy through others, because he has blinded the hearts of many to believe his lies and love darkness. As with anything else in our faith in God, we are NOT TO FEAR! Because He showed me, after half a lifetime of believing lies about His creation even as a DISCIPLE of Jesus, I also want everyone to KNOW the truth about the structure of the world where we dwell--in our Creator’s WORDS, spoken in LOVE! Then, speaking His words we will be as “His mouth” (Jeremiah 15:19), bringing healing to people’s hearts and minds, knitting them together in the true “knowledge” of the One who created them. For believers, this is included in the “new self” found in Colossians 3:10. I truly believe it’s important to understand the Creator as He IS, so also we are appropriately identified in Him through faith in Him.

During a time of unrest, where the enemy is attempting to stir up people in fear for the purpose of driving world powers to control like he does, my prayer is that God’s people will live with FEARLESS LOVE, shining His light in the darkness, and bringing the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) everywhere God sends them. We heard with Jesus’ first coming that He wept over Jerusalem, because His own people did NOT “recognize” those things which make for “peace” and the “time” of their “visitation” (Luke 19:41-42,44). I feel the heart of God like this for the time at hand. He doesn't want people to miss out on visitation among His people now, being prepared for His second coming! Jesus wants us to represent His Father as He IS--a holy, loving, powerful Father, who gave us His LOVE in His Son to save us. He is also our Creator, and the creation is what HE says it is in the Word! The Lord is still calling people to LISTEN to Him, and they will be saved and blessed to know why He planted them on His earth which has foundations! Let’s be ready to help Him, when He leads us. May we who love and follow Jesus Christ continue to faithfully LISTEN to His voice and SPEAK as His healing MOUTH to His people living on His earth! God bless you until next time…