If there is anything I’ve learned in all my life, it is that hearing and listening are not the same.  Many people say, “The LORD said….”, and yet the LORD DIDN’T say that to them.  How can I so brazenly say that?  Simple; what they said the LORD said, didn’t line up with His written word.  God never violates His Word, for any reason, for anyone.  So when I hear someone say the LORD said it, I get busy with my Bible and find out if He did or not.

There is a passage that gives us a pretty sobering warning, in Deuteronomy 18:19-22,
19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20  But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21  And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

What is sad to me, is that the fear of God is not on people today like it was back then.  So many false prophets out there speaking whatever they “hear”, and most of it isn’t from the LORD at all, but merely from the flesh.  Maybe if a few of them dropped dead in their tracks after spouting some junk the LORD supposedly told them, then people would be more careful in what they say.

You see, you can “hear”, even if you’re not “listening” for the voice of the LORD, because the devil is out there putting all kinds of junk in the minds of those who say they “hear from the LORD”, when it isn’t the LORD at all.  First off, if what you hear doesn’t line up with God’s Word, then you can automatically disregard it, for as I said, the LORD will not speak contrary to His Word.  How do you listen for the voice of the LORD?  You start with getting quiet and worshipping the LORD.  He can’t talk to you when your mind is all cluttered up with YOUR agenda, or your problems, or what YOU want to do.  Well, let me re-phrase that a bit: it isn’t that He can’t talk to you, it’s that you’re so distracted by other junk that you cannot hear His still, small voice through the din of everything else you have going on.

It is said by many that we no longer need to pay attention to the Old Testament today, that we have a new and better covenant.  Yes, we DO have a new and better covenant, but remember, the same God made it, and He never changes.  That means we’re still dealing with the same God that Israel dealt with, and He most certainly punished disobedience.  And if you don’t believe me, look at what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah.  Same God….I don’t know about you, but the thought of dropping dead at giving a false prophecy gives me reason to listen VERY carefully for His voice, and only saying, THE LORD SAID, if I’m willing to bet my life that He DID say that.

The next time you feel led to say “The LORD said….”, are you willing to bet your life on it? If you aren’t, don’t say it, or you may not live to do it again.  Consider yourself warned.

Far too many “prophets” are loose cannons out there, and being God has not yet cut them down, makes them all the more bold about speaking whatsoever hits their mind.  We are living In an age where people believe lies more readily than they believe the truth.  And Satan is more than willing to give his words to those who will prophesy “in the name of the LORD” in order to deceive them.  People like to hear “prophets” tell them God wants to make them rich, or famous.  But I remember Jesus told those who would follow Him, that they must pick up their cross and follow Him, that they must deny themselves and lay down their lives daily in order to find their life.

Hearing and listening are not the same; you can hear the voice of the flesh VERY easily, and you don’t even have to listen.  It’s there hollering at you day and night.  But if you want to hear the voice of the LORD, you must listen carefully, compare what you hear to the Word of God, and if it checks out, then you have an obligation to OBEY.  But that’s a message for another time.  God bless.