Only acknowledge - you have not obey My voice

Jer 3:13,14 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the LORD your God
And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.
‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the LORD;
‘For I am a master to you,...


I acknowledge that I don't listen to the voice of the Lord like I should. I hear from Him about a dozen different times a day, but I get busy, sidetracked, and stray of this way and that too often. Still, I do hear Him about a dozen times and day, and I try to remember to turn back to Him every day - and along with hearing the small voice often tell me, "Karl, I love yout", I also often hear Him called me, 'son'.

The thing is that if He is going to be a 'master' to us then we do have to listen to Him to know He wants from us every day. This is important every day! He will give you instructions - like this morning He very specifically told me to use the above verse and make this post. He wants and even needs people - for their sake - to listen to Him and His voice (which is not His Book, but His voice). He, by His voice told me specifically to open up my Bible this morning (which is not rare) then He specifically told me where He wanted me to read. And He specifically told me that He wanted me to post that verse this morning. Those were specific instructions to me personally for this specific morning. Hearing those instructions are what makes Him my Lord and master.

If you are not hearing His voice every day, then you are not obeying His voice. You are leaning on your own understanding all day long every day. Yet all you need to to is to acknowledge that you have been transgression against the One you call your Lord, and then return to listening to Him so that you might indeed again obey His voice, and He will again be a master to you. You want that, because He is a whole lot smarter than you and He loves you!! So by listening to Him you will make better decisions in your life because you will be making His decisions in your life.

Behold said:

If you are born again, and not just water baptized, then you have already acknowledged your sin, before God.
You can't be "saved" and "born again" , and still have not acknowledged your sin.
The "good news" is that Jesus has shed His Blood and died, so that your sin, can be resolved.
The "good news" is that God does not acknowledge your sin any more, if you are born again.
See this verse for an update.. Romans 4:8

Here is the best way to think of daily discipleship.

"Trust God and Do Good".

Just do that, reader.
Just trust God and do good.

"Jesus went about doing GOOD">

So, you too.

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When we see things come to life it (born) it happens because a seed was planted. This is true physically for a person to be born. A man's seed is deposited in the right fertile spot. In the parable of the sower we see the same thing happens spiritually, where the seed is the word of God (the Lord speaking into our life. Now the acknowledging your sin (repenting) is what makes the ground fertile. That is to say the Jesus is there trying to speak (plant a seed) into our lives but the person thinking that they are fine and don't need God's advice will not listen for what the Lord has to say. So yes, repentance (our acknowledging sin) means we acknowledge that we are sinners and thus need the counsel, teaching, and instructions from the Lord our God.

Yet "trust God and do good" to some means that they just need to try and do good according to their own understanding - which is not repentance at all. It is often called "Good Works", but is sometime also called trying to follow the Law as opposed to actually listening to the Lord for His advice. It is "pretending" obedience to the Lord, but it is nothing more than people leaning on their own understanding of what they think is good, and is not really repentance or "being Born Again" - because the word of God (what Jesus actually tells us in words via His small voice) is not received. Many have operated like that. The religious Pharisees and Sadducees were like that. They sound great (religiously speaking) but if not listening for Him regularly, they are just pretending obedience to Him.

So ,some might say "Trust God and Do Good", but that is better said, "Trust God so listen to His instructions to you and do them." That is what it really means to "Trust God"! You seek His voice and listen, because you trust He knows what is good! Or have we not read the only God is good?

So, I like the above post, and it is correct, but someone might read, or even write it, and really only be pretending obedience to the Lord and might not actually be listening to Him to find out what is good. I don't know who is doing that, but the Lord does. It is a very dangerous thing for a person to wind up that way. A person like that deceives themselves, thinking they have no sin. They might think they once did but are beyond that now, so they don't actually seek the Lord and His voice. Their punishment would be forever, and it will be hard for them to even recieve that, because they are actually deceives themself.

The person not triyng to deceive themself realizes that "Today" in the day to listen to the Lord. And yes, that "is the best way to think of daily discipleship." To seek Him daily for His voice, words, instructions, and teachings.

So, I don't actually go about trying to do good, but I go about trying to do what the Lord says - because I know that only He is good. For me to go about trying to do good implies that I think my best efforts are good. That is not so. But if my best efforts are set to do what He says, and He made me and knows all about me, then He would know how to use me to do good.

Pisteuo said:

This thread pulled at my heart this morning. Praise God for that.

Two days ago I got a call asking me to attend a meeting. I don't know any of these brothers other than hearing good reports from mutual friends. I didn't give an answer only saying I would seek God about it. I had my doubts that I would attend as I know they all know each other and it would've just been uncomfortable. I thought I'd seek out one or two of them over the next few weeks and find my way in slowly if God wanted me in the fold. Yet the morning of the meeting no more than twenty minutes after getting up God was already speaking and comforting me about going. I even made notes as I heard Him speak. But as the day went along I found myself doubting and decided that I wasn't going unless I got another call from the one who sent me invitation. I knew God wanted me there but I told myself He would make it happen if it was His will. I truly regret not going. But more than that I regret that when I sought Him for an answer and He gave it I didn't hearken to His wonderful voice. I have no excuse. I chose my will over His. Funny thing is all week (before I even knew about this meeting) He showed how I did this four years ago and how much things could be different for several people had I just listened. This shows what a miserable wretch I am but how great of a Father He is.

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I love the above post because it shows clearly the type of thing Christians honestly go through. I go through similar things and often. That is to say, I have my ideas, and since God's thoughts are not my thoughts I find that He has another idea. I realize that His idea is most certainly better than my idea, simply because He is God and He also goes by names like Wisdom, Understanding, and Wonderful Counselor. Never-the-less He often asked me to do things that I don't really want to do.

So, I have decisions to make about whether I am going to go with Him faith - meaning that I if believe it was Him talking to me, then am I going to do it. I don't always do it either, and there is freedom in Christ. Yet ,if I keep seeking Him and listening to Him I do wind up doing many of the things He tells me. Simple because I do believe He is God, and that I like to call Him my Lord - which means doing what He asks me - at least much of the time - when I can get myself to do it.

I feel we do need to be honest about our relationship with God!! My is not perfect by any means. However, He loves me and tells me so, often!

So I acknowledge that I not always obeyed His voice, but I also do obey His voice. What gets me is the person who tells me they always do what the Lord tells them. My friends, Jesus said He did and said only what the Father told Him, but we are not Him. We are not the perfect One, but are trying to be like Him! Which means we are trying to do and says what He tells us, but He did that. When I tell most Christians that I hear from Him about a dozen times a day, many seem to think I am somehow boasting. That's sad - because I am confessing that am only hearing from the Great I Am, a mere dozen times a day. Which is to say - "I am acknowledging that I have not obeyed His voice like I should, because I only hear from Him about a dozen times a day." I understand that, so who doesn't. Is it not those that don't acknowledge they are not obeying His voice, because they are not even seeking Him?

1 Jn 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If we don't keep a commandment from God is it not a sin?

Mark 12:28, 29 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

Note above that "HEAR,O ISRAEL!" is a commandment so the answer. 'THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD' is a statement of fact, not a command. So "HEAR, O ISRAEL!" Is the foremost commandment of all!!

Mark 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:

Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

Ok - we are pretty poor at keeping that commandment, but if we just acknowledge that and keep trying to hear Him as often as we can get ourselves to, then He is still our Lord and Master. And He has enough grace and mercy to offset our poor efforts. So let us all keep trying to turn back to Him, though we acknowledge we don't always turn to Him for what He has to say.

Behold said:

Well a few things.......

I was quoting a verse that says.....>"Trust God and do Good".

Now its possible to believe that God exists, are water baptized but not be born again, and spend your life doing good.
THen you die and you are this....... "Depart from me, i never knew you"" Jesus says.
So, its not by works of righteousness, but according to God's mercy that we are saved.
So, once Saved, then the rest is just our discipleship, which follows our Salvation.

Also, i do try to go about doing good, as the other option is to do bad.
So, I choose to look for good to do, which is the same thing.

The 2 best abilities (works) you can offer God as a Believer .....are.

1. Dependability

2. Availability

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I would say the 2 best abilities that you can offer God as a believer are:

1. To actually believe He is there for you, since we say we are believers

2. So 2 must be to listen to Him with our belief/faith and try to obey Him.

Were not the Pharisees dependable people and available to do what they thought God wanted them to do? And they certainly would tell you they believed in God. Yet they said in their hearts that God must be dead or in a far off place called heaven, so they didn't actually believe that He was there for them. And by 'for them' they failed to believe that He actually did have their best interest in mind for them because God is love.

And so those dependable and available religiously dedicated people did not seek the voice of the Lord and instead went about leaning on their own understanding of what was good and what was evil. So while they felt that they believed in God, trusted God, and did good, they actually did none of those things. They did not actually believe in God as the Great I Am. They did not actually trust that He would talk to them. They did not even understand that only God is good so that to know what is good they need to listen to Him and to what He/Good said.

We, as real believers, are not saying that our Lord Jesus Christ is either dead or in a far-off place called heaven so that He cannot be heard from.

So as for me - where someone might say: "So, I choose to look for good to do" - I say "I choose to look to Good/God to hear what He would have me do." And where someone might say, that the "the other option is to do bad", I would say 'the other option would be to lean on my own understanding", and didn't the Lord tell people, "If you being evil..."

Leaning on my understanding for what to do is not believing in God, it is believing in me! It is not trusting in God, is it trusting in me!

So it is that sometimes I see people looking to do what we might call "Good Works", but they are not "Good Works" if those people were not actually hearing from our Lord Jesus Christ, simply because only God is good.

Behold said:

Try not to spend more time thinking about doing it, then you spend doing it.
After all, what is the worst that can happen, if you try to do something for God and it fails?
Well, thats it.
Next.

I heard a very wise preacher, once say....."you waited too long".
And that was not the Buddha.. that was a Christian minister.

Have you ever seen that "NIKE" swoosh? The emblem?
Do you know what the Nike slogan is??
Its this..

"Just do it".

So, in most cases......Just do it, vs talking and thinking about doing it., and if God is in it, it'll work out, and if you pretty smart, and God is not in it, then you'll have a soft fail.

Stop analyzing it to death....
You can't prevent what happens, you can only prevent yourself from starting.

The main thing is..... dont wait too long, or you'll end up with nothing but....this.......>"i wish i had"....>"if only i had tried". "why didnt i do it when i knew to do it".

It is actually better to live with some failure, then it is to live with any regret.

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Do we not know that Jesus Christ is our Teacher?

He once gave me a parable that went like this:

There was a man going by a house when he noticed that there was a paper in front the house, so the man wanting to do good picked up the paper and threw in in the trash. What the man did not realize was that the owner of the house intentionally left that paper in front of His house because He was trying to invite people to his house. So it is that many people trash the Bible not realizing that it is an invitation to come into the Kingdom of God and get to know Him personally.

Did we not read in the Bible that the work of God is that all should come to know the Son? If you indeed come to know the Lord He will get you to sometimes feed the poor and heal the sick in His name. Yet that is not the work of God, that is just loving your neighbor and He loves you neighbor more that you do, because He is love. So the work of God is that all should come to know Him!! It is not to get people to do what word they think is good in their own mind! It is to just get them to know Him who is Good and who is Love, and who is Wisdom, and who is Understanding - so they might listen to Him.

He has had me do so many things for Him since I got to know Him personally some 20 years ago. I have helped in feeding programs for the poor. He had me helping in a Christian healing ministry for 5 years where I literally saw Him heal hundreds of people when praying as He asked me. (Praying in His name). He had me take all my money to open and run a Christian bookstore for Him thus "being available and dependable" to Him and His requests. Yet from those 20 years of knowing Him I learned one thing clearly - and that is to know the right and good thing to do I must be walking and talking with Him (communicating back and forth with Him). Therefore, the work of God was always about getting people to just listen to Him and get to know Him by listening to Him!! If they would just listen to Him and get to know Him, they would be doing what is right and thus good. But if they are leaning on their own understanding instead of the understanding that comes only from His voice, they are not going to wind up doing what is right and good. That is not even trusting in God, but I am certain Saul on the road to Damascus felt he was doing what was right and good. Saul had made himself available to God in his own mind. Saul on the road to Damascus certainly must have felt he was dependable to the cause of God.

Being a real Christian is like the man posting:

Pisteuo said:

God was already speaking and comforting me about going. I even made notes as I heard Him speak. But as the day went along I found myself doubting and decided that I wasn't going unless I got another call from the one who sent me invitation. I knew God wanted me there but I told myself He would make it happen if it was His will. I truly regret not going.

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That is a man who listens to God. Oh yeah, knew he heard from God and didn't do it that time, but he also knew that that the Lord was right and he was wrong that time. So he will turn back to the Lord Jesus Christ, listening for the Lord's voice again and will probably do what is asked the next time because he has a better understanding. That is what this thread is about. It is about a real relationship with the real God. It is not about people claiming they are serving God when all the time they are just doing what they think is right and good. That does not come under the heading "Only acknowledge - you have not obey My voice"

Pisteuo said:

Well said Karl.

I have hope going forward that I will yield to God as He urges me and not to my own will using justifications. It hurts me to know He gave me something and I buried it with such ease. But it breaks me to pieces to know that He gave it for others and they never even knew it. It's kinda funny as the days leading up to this I can say I had almost certainly never felt closer to the Lord. So I suppose I assumed with that closeness that when I made a decision it came with the Lords blessings. What an arrogance. I will use this situation and it will produce good somewhere. That's Jesus.

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The fact is that going forward you will yield to the Lord. Oh maybe not every time, but when we just realize that we once did not (acknowledge we did not obey His voice) it makes us want to correct that problem - which is what you just testified about. The person with the problem is the person who does not recognize that in themselves. Just watch - you will seek Him again - hear from Him again when you do - then will want to consider more seriously what He is asking. As a human being you still might have a bit of trouble getting yourself to do it, but it will be easier the next time, and the Lord knows all this about us. He also knows there are some who pretend obedience to Him. They are those who don't acknowledge that they have failed to obey His voice. That is the difference between pride and humility. The humble person realizes they need the Lord more, the prideful person thinks they have it all perfect. We are people, and as such we don't always get everything right.

I loved your posts and your honestly. I love the fact that you do hear from the Lord. I only wish everyone would - then they would understand what a personal relationship with the Lord is actually like. The Lord helps us by making us more aware of how we actually are, so we can work on it with His help.

Pisteuo said:

Amen again....
That relationship and closeness with Him leaves us no questions but only the Answer. I could go on for days speaking of the love and gentleness He has displayed in my life when I've felt I deserved His wrath but I am assured He wanted me to use those moments to learn to be more like Him in this present world. A display of His goodness which is what brings change (repentance) to men. What a Teacher. What a Father!

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Absolutely - That is why I want so much that everyone should know Him like you and I know Him. Knowing about Him is not the same as actually knowing Him. So often I see people write things about Him but nothing about actually knowing Him. What you wrote was a clear example of what it is like to actually know Him. It means hearing from Him, but also the realization that was don't always hear from Him like we should, and we don't always get things right - yet that also means that we know His forgiveness, grace, mercy, and most importantly His love for us personally. I really loved your posts. It really demonstrated what's it is really like to actually know Him.