Are You Listening?

Is it just me or do you also cry out to the LORD in prayer & hope that HE not only hears our prayers but listens to us?

"Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy." ― PSALM 86:6

Is there anything we can do that will help us to listen?

"The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent." ― Alfred Brendel

Listening is not only verbal but also about body language, facial expressions, & the look within the eyes of the person we are listening to.

"When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes." ― Victor Hugo

I want to be in the minority if that means that I am truly listening to people!

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." ― Ernest Hemingway

Does unwillingness to listen to the LORD mean that we are deceitful & rebellious?

"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, unwilling to listen to the LORDs instruction." ― ISAIAH 30:9

What will the LORD do to a country that does not listen?

"But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD." ― JEREMIAH 12:17

When we don’t listen to the LORD, HE is angry because we bring harm upon ourselves.

"But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have aroused MY anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves." ― JEREMIAH 25:7

Do you or I really want to listen?

"To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it." ― JEREMIAH 6:10

Many extraordinary things shall come to pass if we only do the simple things like listening!

"If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen." ― Loretta Girzaitis

Listening to the LORD means that we live in a manner that is pleasing to HIM by obeying that which the BIBLE teaches us!

"You have declared this day that the LORD is your GOD and that you will walk in obedience to HIM, that you will keep HIS decrees, commands and laws — that you will listen to HIM." ― DEUTERONOMY 26:17

If we are listening to the LORD we gladly submit to HIS instruction for our lives!

"The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. HE wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed." ― ISAIAH 50:4

The LORD will not listen to us if we cherish sin!

"I cried out to HIM with my mouth; HIS praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened; but GOD has surely listened and has heard my prayer." ― PSALM 66:17-19

Don't settle for being average!

"An average human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance, & talks without thinking." ― Leonardo da Vinci

There are grave consequences if we do not listen to the LORD!

If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor MY name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor ME." ― MALACHI 2:2

It is absolutely amazing that through our listening, we may communicate with the GOD of all creation!

"Communicating with GOD is the most extraordinary experience imaginable, yet at the same time it's the most natural one of all, because GOD is present in us at all times. Omniscient, omnipotent, personal & loving us without conditions. We are connected as one through our divine link with GOD." ― Eben Alexander

Is simply not talking really listening?

"People love to talk but hate to listen. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller & richer." ― Alice Duer Miller

I love to listen to creation & the myriad of sounds that we may hear if only we really listen!

"Perhaps, after all, our best thoughts come when we are alone. It is good to listen, not to voices but to the wind blowing, to the brook running cool over polished stones, to bees drowsy with the weight of pollen. If we attend to the music of the earth, we reach serenity. And then, in some unexplained way, we share it with others." ― Gladys Bagg Taber

When you are conversing with someone, are you really listening or are you figuring out what you will say next?

"The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don't talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk & listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire & tell stories." ― Paulo Coelho

"Are You Listening?" was made shortly after the earthquakes in Haiti a few years ago & it is an amazing song that rings true not just to the Haitians or others in moments of devastation & tragedy but to me, because I am listening, I hear people who are forgotten or overlooked on a daily basis & long for you or for me or for anyone to listen to them!

The USA & the world in general always seem to be there when tragedy strikes & we are horrified at the suffering that people are going through.

What about the children & youth in our own country that suffer every day?

What about the thousands of young people who become homeless each year?

What about children who have no family to be with them when they are hurting?

What will I do?

What will you do?

What am I doing?

If children have never experienced unconditional love, why is the world surprised at the significantly higher percentages of being homeless, not finishing school, or using drugs?

"We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past, but by the love we're not extending in the present." ― Marianne Williamson

If only all children & youth were loved, their futures would not be so negatively impacted by that which they had no control of to begin with.

How my heart & spirit ache of the callousness within me.

May that callousness be surgically removed by the HOLY SPIRIT & replaced with HIS supernatural love so that I may be able to do that which the LORD created me to do!

"Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. If we're frantic, life will be frantic. If we're peaceful, life will be peaceful. And so our goal in any situation becomes inner peace." ― Marianne Williamson

"Listening!" by Christafari conveys not only the vibe of Key West, Florida where my wife & were first house parents but also expresses that truly listening to GOD will answer the question of "Is My Life Meaningful?"

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." ― Benjamin Disraeli

"In The Midst Of A Miami Storm!" is what I did 2+ decades ago to listen to GOD during some intense challenges in my life & while I was writing & trying to be creative in helping a precious friend of mine a few years ago, the LORD began speaking to me & the HOLY SPIRIT reignited a passion within me to do something that will help children & youth to profoundly experience a "HOME!" that is a blessing to them instead of the last place on earth they want to be.

Why?

"If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be & could be, he will become what he ought to be & could be." ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Pressure Destroys Or Creates Precious Diamonds!" & all children deserve to live in an environment in which they feel safe & are encouraged to be who they were created to be.

Conversations almost seem to be a thing of the past with the hectic schedules that are commonplace in the United States & that has resulted in a dramatic level of noise that  is deafening.

Is it possible to listen if we are physically deaf?

What about being spiritually deaf?

"Listen to all the conversations of our world, between nations as well as between individuals. They are, for the most part, dialogues of the deaf." ― Paul Tournier

If we desire to make a difference in this world, there are two extremely simple things that we may share which will open the ears & eyes of those who are unable to hear or see, compassion & kindness!

"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear & the blind can see." ―  Mark Twain

May we all speak & listen in such a way that others love to be around us!

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