President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile
and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions.
So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was paying
attention to what he was saying. As
each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and
said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."
People would automatically respond with comments such as "How
lovely!" or "Just continue with your great work!" Nobody listened to what he was saying, except one foreign
diplomat. When the president
said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning," the diplomat
responded softly, "I'm sure she had it coming to her." from Bible
Illustrator.
A
recent wireless phone commercial have made us all to ask a very important
question. Can you hear me now?
What about now? If you can’t hear you are going to miss something very
important. So, get the cell
phone, turn up the hearing aids, turn up the radio, and be very quiet so that
you can hear the words that the Lord wants you to hear.
God came to Moses to give him his message from out of the burning bush.
But first god had to get his attention.
The bush burned but it didn’t burn up.
So, Moses knew that this wasn’t your every day bush that was on fire.
God wanted all of humankind to hear the message and understand who He
is, so he came down to Moses, He was born in a stable, and He sent me to you
today. He came down to the earth
on many occasions to speak to His People.
Why did He come down? He
wanted to make sure that you heard and understood what He said.
Scripture
Text:
Exodus 4:1 (NLT)
But Moses protested again, “Look, they won’t believe me! They
won’t do what I tell them. They’ll just say, ‘the Lord
never appeared to you.’” 2 Then
the Lord asked him, “What do
you have there in your hand?” “A
shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. 3“Throw
it down on the ground,” the Lord
told him. So Moses threw it down, and it became a snake! Moses was terrified,
so he turned and ran away. 4Then
the Lord told him, “Take hold
of its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it became a
shepherd’s staff again. 5 “Perform
this sign, and they will believe you,” the Lord
told him. “Then they will realize that the Lord,
the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”
6 Then the Lord
said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your robe.” Moses did so, and when he
took it out again, his hand was white as snow with leprosy.£ 7“Now
put your hand back into your robe again,” the Lord
said. Moses did, and when he took it out this time, it was as healthy as the
rest of his body. 8“If
they do not believe the first miraculous sign, they will believe the
second,” the Lord said. 9 “And
if they do not believe you even after these two signs, then take some water
from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, it will
turn into blood.” 10 But
Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O
Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now,
even after you have spoken to me. I’m clumsy with words.” 11“Who makes mouths?” the Lord asked him. “Who makes people so they can speak or not
speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well,
and I will tell you what to say.” 13But
Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send someone else.” 14 Then
the Lord became angry with Moses.
“All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is
a good speaker. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. And when he sees
you, he will be very glad.
1.
Can you hear the Lord now?
Listen to what the Lord had said to
Moses. Exodus
3:10 Now go, for I am sending you
to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
Moses had heard but he wasn’t listening to what the Lord
wanted Him to do. Hearing and listening are two different things.
Once you have heard the Lord then you have to decide if you will
listen. If He says to you that He
loves you and wants to save you, then you must decide if you want to become
one of His. If He says to you I
have made you my child now I want you to go to Egypt and deliver my people,
then you must decide if you will go. Likewise
He calls today for people who will stand up and say yes I will my Father.
What do you want?
2.
God is calling… Can you hear Him now?
There are obstacles to hearing the Lord:
We become hard of hearing. Ears
are dulled due to misuse, old age, and disease.
We become set in our ways. We
have our lives just as we want it so why fix it if it isn’t broken.
We afraid of what may happen so we won’t take any chances on becoming
the new person who has heard the Lord and is listening to His voice.
Faith overcomes the obstacles to listening.
If you believe that giving to God your life is good and important, then
you will. Don’t let the
obstacles get between you and the Lord. Hear
what He says and go with Him. He
doesn’t send you out on your own, but He goes before you to make it possible
to accomplish the task to which He is calling you.
3.
God is saying… You are weak but I am strong. Remember
the song. Do you still believe
what it says. Can God do it? Do you believe it? Have
you heard it? Are you listening?
We can’t do it on our own, but He can.
4.
God is saying… Trust me to do the job.
Nothing is impossible with the Lord.
A. He will use what you
have (the staff). B.
He will use what you are (the leprous hand).
C. He will provide the
miracle blood to make it possible (the water is changed into blood).
5.
God is saying… Trust me to provide all that you need. He will send Aaron or whoever
and whatever you need to accomplish the task that He is calling you to.
This past week we didn’t have enough time or people to finish the
job, but on Friday the Lord provided more than enough to finish the job.
6.
God is saying…
Remember I am the Creator. If
God has created you then can he recreate you into the person He is calling you
to be. We must step out in the
faith that the Lord gives us to become who He wants us to be.
A man went inside a telephone booth and dialed the number of
a friend. When the connection was made, the friend kept saying, "I can't
hear you; speak louder; I can't hear you." All he could hear was
the roar of traffic in the background. "Shut the door so I can
hear," he said to the caller.
In order to hear God's voice speaking to you, you've
got to shut the door to the outside world so that its enticements won't
distract you. Doing this could change your whole life. Then when you go back
into the crowd, you'll not only be able to listen to what the world has to
say, but you'll have something to say to the world that you've personally
heard from God. -- Illustrations of Bible Truths, (AMG International, 1995),
p. 3.
Can you hear Him now?