16/12/2011 - HEAR TWICE

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God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.

Psalm 62:11

No word uttered by the Lord is spoken at random. As a loving Father, He wants the best for His children – and He even admonishes us when we stray from the path (Proverbs 3:12), so heeding God’s voice is of the essence for us.

The Bible states that Peter denied Jesus three times (Mark 14:66-72). This occurred because the apostle did not pay attention to what the Lord had told him. The same thing can happen to us: if we fail to hear what the Almighty tells us, we will be susceptible to error. On the other hand, if we keep what we are told, we will shut the door on the enemy and thus we will not fall into his temptations.

My brother, it is worth repeating to yourself – twice or more times if necessary – the things that God says to us. The more you hear the word of God, the better you will feel. The simple act of reading the Scriptures aloud is very uplifting; especially if you pay close attention to what they declare. As a young boy I used to read my lessons of the World, the Americas and Brazil´s  History in a loud and clear voice, sometimes singing, sometimes as if I were delivering a speech, but always paying attention to everything I read. As a result, the details were etched in my memory, and I did very well in tests. 

In Psalm 62, David said the Lord spoke and that twice the psalmist heard that power belongs to God. We had better keep this truth: the power is given to us but it is not our property, so we cannot do with it whatever we want after all it is given to us in order for us to do God\’s work. Even if we are disconnected, tired and discouraged, that power remains the same, and its operation does not depend on how we feel, but rather on what we believe in the Scriptures. If we act based on what the Almighty says, then we can have the assurance that He will work. However, if our attitudes are based on our emotions, they have nothing to do with the Father’s will.

What we receive from the Lord is not dependent upon our attitudes. He operates as He wants and whatever He grants us is a result of His willingness to do His work. God is who He claims to be and if we believe, we will achieve what He promises because no word of the Lord is taken back (Numbers 23:19).

In order to empower us, the Almighty puts His authority in our hands. Therefore it is wrong to go around announcing that we have the power to do this or that as if we were saints or special in any way. Once we receive the power from on High, we need a lot of responsibility to use it as well as divine guidance to fulfill the mission He has commissioned each one of us to accomplish. Moreover, we should never fail to give due glory to the Lord’s holy name (Psalm 29:2), which is the key for His power to come into action. In so doing, and by following the divine instructions, we can set out hands to work and do what we have been ordered to do.

In Christ with love, 

R. R. Soares