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Listen to Him!
Written by Debora Rodrigo

As human beings, we have been blessed with the enormous gift of being able to speak. By speaking, we can communicate, express our feelings, ask for help when we need it, etc. But many times, we overuse this divine gift leaving in disuse another gift of equal or greater blessing: the gift of listening.

Numerous investigations talk about the benefits of listening more and speaking less. Some have even claimed that this is precisely the key to success. And it seems that there is much truth in the fact that the more you speak, the more wrong you are. But not only do we make more mistakes, we also lose the opportunity to listen, and therefore to learn and acquire knowledge. These are probably some of the reasons why James wrote: "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak" (James 1:19).

The disciples, the humans that they were, had the same problem of speaking more than they should. In a well-known passage in the Gospels we are told one of the times in which Peter was speaking without really knowing what to say (Matthew 17: 1-8). In it, Jesus takes His three special disciples with them and takes them to a separate place. The Gospels tell us how there, before them, Jesus was transfigured, and Moses and Elijah, who were talking with Him, appeared next to Him. I imagine the faces of amazement of Peter, James and John, completely frightened by what was happening before them. It was surely a moment to listen and not speak. But that was not what happened.

While Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah, Peter broke into the conversation and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17: 4). However, notice how the Gospel of Mark points out that Peter spoke even though "he did not know what to say, they were so frightened" (Mark 9: 6). Perhaps, it would have been better to remain quiet and listen to that conversation that Jesus had with Moses and Elijah (Mark 9: 4). Not everyone is offered the privilege of witnessing such an event!

Let's see what happened next. Immediately, while Peter was still giving his opinion, a cloud covered them, and a voice was heard saying: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"(Matthew 17: 5).

I guess Peter got the message. I think the other disciples present that day also understood that when the Son's voice is audible, we do not need to cover it with ours. Today, what do your emotions and the situations you are facing make you want to talk about? Have you listened to the Son? Are you sure you have something better to say? Listen to Him!

#IronRoseSister #ListentoIAM #Listentoothers #guestwriter

• IAM
• Listen I AM

Knowing the I AM’s Voice

(Taken from chapter 9 of Who Has the Last Word? “Recognizing God’s Voice,” pg. 157-8)

Elijah recognized God’s voice as a whisper (1 Kings 19:12-13). The sheep recognized and followed the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:2-5). It’s about knowing God, not just about Him, in order to recognize His voice of truth in the midst of trying times.

The more time we spend in the Word, the more we come to know His words, and the easier it is to discern His words of truth amidst the bombardment of lies.
My sister and brother-in-law were on a camping trip outside of cell range. But our other housemate needed to reach them in order to ask permission to bring home a puppy she wanted to adopt.

“Michelle! I can’t reach Kim and Paxton and I really want to bring this puppy home!” Shannon proceeded to describe the dog, and then went into her rapid-fire questions. “I need to know what you think they would say. I don’t want to get it and have it at the house without their permission, but there is no way the puppy will still be here tomorrow.

It’ll only be like two weeks because, after that, I move out, and we’ll be headed home for our wedding... What do I do?!”

I considered Shannon’s predicament and responded, “I hate to speak for them, but I understand you really want the dog and want to at least check with someone who knows them well.” I continued with a few points that I thought they would make, and things that should be taken into consideration, like how their own dogs would respond.

Shannon thanked me and was going to try and call them one more time, but had decided that she would probably go ahead and get the puppy...

A couple of hours later, I met Shannon and her fiancé at the house to help introduce the puppy to my sister and brother-in law’s dogs. After the dogs’ initial introductions, Shannon looked at me, surprised.
“I forgot to tell you. I was able to reach Kim on the phone and ask her about the puppy. She mentioned every single one of the things you said she would. Some of the things she said were verbatim what you said!”

I smiled and responded, “Well, we kind of know each other.” Sisters, living in the same house, conversing, spending time together... I didn’t want to speak for her, but I felt confident that I would represent her to the best of my ability because I knew her and I knew her voice.

May we come to know God’s voice so intimately!

Satan’s lies scream in attack. God’s voice is a gentle whisper of comfort and hope in the midst of the storm. When we listen for God’s voice and are attentive to His words of truth, Satan’s clamoring is quieted. And God gets the last word.

#IronRoseSister #ListentoIAM #Listentoothers #WhoHastheLastWord #MichelleJGoff