Am I being careful to apply what I learn from Christ’s teachings, so that my understanding of God’s ways increases, and is not taken away?

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."   24 “Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

INSIGHT:  When you understand it properly, this is among the most frightening of Jesus’ teachings.  Your ability to follow Christ, by faith, all the way to eternal life is dependent on your ability to see and hear truth the way He does.   If you are a Christian, you must be increasingly able to discern (see) things in His Word, in your life, and in the world, the way He does.  This is what it means to walk in the Way and the Truth, avoiding error and deception, on the path to eternal Life in Him.  Christians love to say, “let’s just agree to disagree,” for the sake of keeping peace.  However, you cannot say to God, “Let’s just agree to disagree Lord!”  When I do not see things like God does, I am either ignorant or deceived, both of which can set God at enmity with me.  Only think of how many times God cried out through the prophets, “my people are ignorant of my ways and have no understanding...they do not know me!” God was not saying they didn’t believe in Him, but that they didn’t see the issues of life and faith like He did. 

I was recently speaking with a Christian brother who had been following the ministry for nine years.  He sent me a message with his views on the topics of men’s struggle with lust, saving faith, Donald Trump, politics, voting, guns, Joel Osteen, and what it meant to him to be a real man, and a soldier for Christ.  I was shocked, devastated and brokenhearted to the point of tears, listening to how destitute his spiritual understanding was.  We believed 100% totally opposite on every single issue, such that I replied saying, “It’s like you haven’t heard anything I’ve taught, and that we have two totally different Christianity’s.”  And worse, he was convinced by “fruit” that God was approving all his views, while I saw them as complete contradictions to the Word and Spirit of Jesus Christ, and the typical deception of natural human desires and carnal thinking.  Here are two professing Christian men, reading the same Bible, calling on the name of Jesus Christ, but both discerning the issues of life and faith, Biblically, in complete contradictions to the Word and Spirit of Jesus Christ, and the typical deception of natural human desires and carnal thinking.  Here are two professing Christian men, reading the same Bible, calling on the name of Jesus Christ, but both discerning the issues of life and faith, Biblically, in complete contradiction to each other.  Both believe they are right in God’s eyes, as evidenced by what they call “fruit”, and both believe the other is wrong. These shocking spiritual differences, in the face of Jesus’ warning, call for great humility before the Lord. 

That is why Jesus says to us in this passage, “Pay close attention, to what I’m saying to you, and be very careful to obey it, so your understanding will increase, or you will lose the little understanding you already have.”  Jesus is warning us not to be hearers only, but doers of His Word.  When we put His teachings into practice, we are doing God’s will and God rewards us with even better understanding of His ways and how He sees our life and the world around us.  If we are negligent and disobedient, like my 2nd spouse, who was once so spiritually vibrant, we will lose what little we already have, becoming spiritual imbeciles.  God cannot be mocked and says if we do not love the truth, evidenced by our obeying it (1Jn 5:3), he will turn us over to delusions so we will believe the lies and be destroyed (2 Thes 2:11).  Spiritual discernment is one the most important things Christians need in these days. Without it, antichrist will easily deceive you, even as professing follower of Jesus Christ. 

Lisa and I both consider ourselves to be uneducated common people.  And yet, as we look back on my audio journal series like Trusting God in the Wilderness, The Apostate Bride of Christ, The Grace to Love Again, and Never Let Go, we are filled with an indescribable joy, that in the face of all our suffering to do His will, He has blessed us with so much understanding of His Word and ways, just as He stated in today’s passage.  The insights and revelations on God’s Word come more and more alive, thanks be to His grace and the fulfilling of His Word. Do you want your understanding to increase?  Keep obeying what he commands.