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My Itching Ears | Tell Me What I Want To Hear PDF Print E-mail

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Psalm 118:8

It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Help me sweet Jesus to write this article. Okay, beloved readers, a part of this Healed People, Heal People community. Why am I stammering at the keys on my keyboard today? The Holy Spirit taught me a lesson about 10 years ago that I will never forget. It’s about s-o-m-e people, good people, Christian people, loving people, those who love you, those who surround you on a regular basis, or those who may even be in your corner.

Psalm 118:8 declares it's better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.

Okay, here goes.

We all have churches that are headed by pastors and leadership teams.

We all have family members, some of which we love, some we don’t care for too much – and some we just can’t stand [sorry, but it’s a reality for some].

We all have confidantes.

We all have those fun-to-hang-out with partners.

We all have those let-your-hair-down with friends.

We all have those kicking-it with buddies.

And we even have those select Christian people we like being around who will not check us when we are clearly stepping outside of the boundaries and principles of the Lord.

We even have accountability people -- we still have a choice in how much we disclose to them.

We all had or have secrets, some are not-so-big secrets, some are closet secrets, some are in-the-dark secrets, some are go-to-your-grave secrets, some secrets just cripple the hell out of you.

You decide what you do with your secrets. I can tell you this, the Lord never intended for us to carry the internal weight of the secrets. Many of our illnesses come from keeping secrets. Some of our constant mind racing comes from not being able to still the secrets.

Much of depression spurs from buckling secrets that people try to keep the lid shut down on. Many of your spiraling urges come from trying to holster your secrets. Many things we do to escape, including sleep, is to not deal with the harshness of our reality -- the secrets, the impending, unnecessary, illegitimate weights.

We all have those ride-and-die friends – no matter what, these friends will be there for us. Make no mistake about it, this is an extremely short of list people – it may even be one person – it may only be the Lord Himself.

But, beloved readers, you know what our Lord taught me 10 years ago that I’ve n-e-v-e-r forgotten?

Don't ever put anyone's word, advice, counsel, approval, consent, guidance or direction above what I say, says the Lord.

This was a very hard lesson for me to learn and live by.

Why?

Because some of those Christians who loved me, then, and still love me, now, gave me advice, counsel, guidance – that didn’t line up with the Word of God.

Did they love the Lord and do they love the Lord? Yes, these Christians did and do love the Lord.

Did I own a Bible? Yes, I did own a Bible, then, and; yes, I do own several Bibles now.

Did I know the Word? Yes, I knew the Word and; yes, I know even more Word now.

Did a little flicker go off inside of me when these loving Christians told me what I wanted to hear? Yes, the Holy Spirit pushed that flicker button inside of me. But, I knew what some of the loving Christians said to me over the years did not line up with the Word. [I'm not being sarcastic when I use the words loving Christians; I'm sincere.]

They padded their advice, lined their counsel and justified it with scripture – I think the Bible calls this itching ears, on my part. And let's mention this, there are a lot of Christians, even Christians in leadership positions, who are so wounded they believe life's experiences more than they believe the Word of God. And accordingly, they give advice, counsel, approval, direction based on experience. It's your responsibility to know the Word for your life. It's your responsibility to know when scriptures are being misaligned.

Now, what each of us reading this article knows, is that we tell people, even Christians exactly what we want them to know. An ole' pastor once told me, it’s just human nature to do this – tell folk o-n-l-y what you want them to know.

Beloved reader, do you disclose every single, slither of information to the people you’re seeking input from? I’ll leave that for you to answer.

I always flinch, in particular, when Christians say, “Follow your heart.”

Excuse me, beloved readers, I am not trying to be disrespectful, but that statement above is just plain dumb.

“Follow your heart.”

Do you know when I graduated from undergrad, I did a Bible study for two years just dealing with the different conditions of the human Christian heart.

You know what’s an even better question, beloved reader, Do you know what’s in your heart?

If so, how do you know what's in your heart? What have you done about the contents of your heart?

How often do you inspect your heart?

How often do you present your heart to the Holy Spirit?

Do you know what to do once the Holy Spirit has revealed the contents of your heart?

Well – I offer several versions of the scripture below.

Jeremiah 17:9 [NIV]
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [NASB]
The heart is more deceitful than all else, And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [KJB]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [AKJV]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [ASV]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [Bible in Basic English]
The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?

So, beloved reader, help me understand again why so many people, especially Christians, throw out the statement so casually, “Follow your heart,” or “I just follow my heart.”

I’m choosing to believe based on the Word of God and based on my experience in integrated healing and deliverance and based on the experience of veterans in the ministry of integrated healing and deliverance – that people, Christians, are simply making this statement, “follow your heart,” out of ignorance.

I used to wrestle with the following questions when I really respected and esteemed some Christians who gave me counsel. Now keep in mind these were internal thoughts I had in my mind about these Christians. I am still in relationship with the majority of these Christians.

Thoughts I had after receiving advice, counsel, direction from some respected Christians

- but, look at their position in the community, they are so visible
- but, look at how much they study the Word of God
- but, look at their leadership position in the church
- but, look at how much influence they have
- wow, I really need to stay in their good graces, they can help me
- but, they seem to be pretty close to the Lord, do what they say
- I know they wouldn’t tell me wrong, I’ll do what they say
- but, look at their walk with the Lord [what’s visible to me]

Beloved reader, what I have painfully learned from our Lord is this scripture, It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:8

Why do I use the phrase painfully learned? Because I had to go around the darn mountain over and over – I sound like the Israelites, right? The first time I realized the advice from the respected, respective Christians landed me in hot water, why didn’t I confess to the Holy Spirit, I’m sorry for not listening to Your whisper in my ear.”

Each time, beloved reader, I remember the Holy Spirit placing that little flicker inside of me saying, ”That’s not the way to go;” “Don’t ignore Me.” But I yielded again and again, beloved reader, because I respected Christian people more than I esteemed the Word of God. These respective, respected Christians said what I wanted to hear and what they said aligned with my desires, my will -- a recipe for impending disaster.

Now, in Psalm 118:8 the end of the scripture says, … than to put confidence in man.

Well, who is man?
Man is any human being breathing who is in your life, male or female.
Man is any human being, Christian or non-Christian.
Man is any human being in any income level.
Man is any human being on any status level.
Man is any human being in every rank of the Christian church.
Man is any human being in your family.
Man is any human being who is your friend.

The beginning of Psalm 118:8 says It is better to trust in the Lord …

Yall, I’m literally b-e-g-g-i-n-g you, trust the Lord.
If you don’t know how to trust Him, just tell Him, He already knows.
If you’re scared to trust Him in an area of your life, just tell Him, He already knows.
Wherever you’re deficient in trust, ask Him to build that in you for you since you’re not able to do so.
If you’ve not dealt with the issues preventing you from trusting the Lord, would you consider asking the Holy Spirit to reveal these things to you.
Would you consider receiving ministry for integrated approach to healing and deliverance for these issues?
Why?
So, you can experience freedom in this or these areas of your life.

Don’t have itching ears like I did; ask the Holy Spirit to remove your itching ears.
The Holy Spirit knows that we all have desires and dreams and wills.
He truly has better plans for us than we’re able to muster up for ourselves.
His plans for you don’t even involve manipulation and maneuvering and dodging.

Yall, I guess by now, you know I’m a born and breed [USA] southerner – that’s fine.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our spiritual blind spots.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas of our lives we’re in denial about.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in our lives where there may be self hatred.
Then when He reveals, please, please, take action to do something about it.
If you don’t know what to do, I’m willing to find a resource to help you, if I can’t.

Yall, I understand that you may not disclose everything to people, but please, don’t lie to yourself. You desire the abundant life the Lord speaks of so often in scripture, right? Well, the abundant life is short circuited when we choose to do the following things:

- pretend you don’t know the Holy Spirit is nudging you
- cut corners to try to get what you want
- only disclose so much information and purposely conceal other pertinent information to those you seek counsel from
- you choose to turn a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit
- you choose to forget that some blessings and some promises of the Lord are conditional; Have you met the
condition(s) without compromising?
- wrongly use scripture, people, situations, [conditional] prophecy to justify something you want
Please remember that satan and his demons have strategy too for your life.
And his strategy is presented very nicely, not in a questionable fashion.

Whatever word, advice, counsel, approval, consent, guidance or direction you receive, even from Christians, put it before the Lord, please, before moving forward. And wait for His confirmation or His denial and His instructions.

Now, let me share this with you. I know the respective Christians throughout the years didn’t provide advice to hurt me on purpose. Although we’re Christians, we are humans. We have good days. We have days when we’re not as sharp, when we’re not on point. Well-meaning, God-loving Christians have been and can be used strategically by demonic in your life -- even without them knowing it and you knowing it.

We all recall when Jesus spoke to Peter in Matthew 16:23. Jesus was very aware that the demonic was working through Peter. Yes Peter, a man who literally was chosen and walked with Jesus. I'll keep this brief by simply asking these questions. Are your spiritual tools keen enough to discern when God-fearing Christians are off kilter who give you advice?

Do you even know what your spiritual tools are? What do you do to improve your spiritual tools? How often do you use your spiritual tools? Spiritual tools are similar to the physical muscles in your body. They becomes stronger the more you exercise them and use them on a regular basis. Spiritual tools become stronger they more they are stretched out of their comfort zone.

People ask me and you for advice in areas that we may be weak in. When you realize that a person is asking you for advice in an area you're weak in, do you disclose that this is one of your weak areas, up front? Do you or have you chosen to do what's in the best interest of the person by stopping the conversation and sharing in integrity that this isn't an area you're strong enough and disciplined enough to provide counsel, advice, consent, approval, direction or guidance.

You and I ask people for advice in areas that they are weak in, but we don’t know that because they don’t disclose it [the majority of the time]. And even when we see -- through people’s repeated actions that they’re weak in certain areas, we sometimes still choose to seek their advice, their counsel.

This is not wise, beloved reader. So this begs the question, why do we ask them? Because they’ll tell us what we want to hear. This is a clear sign of spiritual immaturity and/or lack of exercising godly wisdom in this particular area of your life.

Psalm 118:8 reads, It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Please do not esteem man, woman or Christians words higher than the Word of God for your life, please.

Thank you for taking your time to read this article, beloved reader.

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