About Speaking

"Confusion in the hearers isn't their fault."

I DON’T KNOW much, education-wise. I stopped attending classes after high school. I don’t know much from following the news or listening into conversations. I’m not in the center of any groups where I’d hear anything. In fact, most often, I’m totally out of touch. My husband is always asking me “Have you heard …?”, and I haven’t, of course. So what I do know I pick up on in the Spirit or He tells me. This is a pick-up-on that He sort of told me. But …

If you continue to do what suits you with your calling, and you hear Him but don’t heed Him, or even, if you continually don’t understand and seek new revelation, then eventually, you won’t hear, and those listening to you will be confused. Because outside of God’s Spirit, we don’t know squat and can’t do squat. Understanding comes from God. Hunger for righteousness, for God’s nature, comes from Him. He gives us patience and humility. Take me, for instance, people typically don’t listen when I speak. I can say something inane and go unnoticed. But God’s taught me something through it. I now know how to set “me” down and prefer others. It truthfully makes no difference to me if me and the other person don’t share the same point-of-view. I don’t feel the need to criticize and be heard. I’m happy inwardly.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

Dear Pastors, do what the Holy Spirit asks of you. Set yourself down, set aside what you prefer, and heed Him. Stop reverting to what you enjoy that isn’t in His will right now. Stop repeating jargon and churchisms that are unscriptural. Stop being disconnected from Him and saying you are connected to Him. Stop saying you love people while you lambast them. Criticism isn’t from God. Confusion isn’t of God. It’s from darkness, wickedness, devils. God is Truth and understanding of His Truth. He is revelation (Ephesians 1:17). When I sit in your service and He explains the Truth of what you just mis-said, I get sad. Confusion in the hearers isn’t their fault. To put it simply, it’s yours. Because God speaks clearly, in sentences. He’s easily heard and longs to be known.

He knows all your ins and outs and in-betweens. Ministry is your servanthood. It’s you washing people’s feet. You speaking on God’s behalf, the words of Christ. Not your words, HIS. And if they aren’t HIS, then you should have the humility to be silent and be content there. Jesus was. Jesus is. He’s the humblest man I’ve ever met. You have no idea the lengths He’s still willing to go to save people. He’s all in. And even though He’s God and knows He’s God, He’ll give everything it takes. Body, Soul, Spirit. If you think about it, He’s been doing that since He rose from death. Every time someone retells His crucifixion, He sees it all over again. Relives it. Remembers it. And He has no regrets for what He did, how He behaved, nor for giving of Himself today to rescue a man in a bar, who’ll be an amazing preacher, nor for raising another one to the heights of heaven for an experience people needed to hear, nor for saving a woman in a small town who still can’t believe how generous He is. Not “I’m rich” generous, but “I love you” generous.

That’s what we need to be saying. Jesus loves you. The Spirit loves you. And the Father is the biggest, gentlest heart of them all. If you’d hush and listen, you’d hear Him and know the difference in their Voices. It would change you, make you unselfish.

“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:9)

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

“Jesus is the conduit through which God’s healing grace has reached us. And as evidence of his healing power, our minds have been cleansed from fear and selfishness. We have been enabled, as his ambassadors, to call people from among the sin-sick, dying world to the restoration and health that come from trusting Jesus and following his methods.” (Romans 1:5, Remedy)

“Or do you purposely disdain the abundance of God’s gentle, kind, patient bedside-manner, completely oblivious to the fact that it is God’s tolerant, kind and gentle character that wins us back to trust and leads us to leave our destructive way behind?” (Romans 2:4, Remedy)

LISTEN TO Proverbs 3, read by Birmingham Lordson.


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com