If we would be perfect, if we would be the Lord's servant, we must be blind and deaf.

The Lord Jesus was blind and deaf to the sights and sounds of this world. He saw what the Father was doing. He heard what the Father was saying.

When the disciples proudly showed Him the magnificent temple of Herod the Lord saw a pile of rubble. When the Pharisees and Sadducees attempted to deceive Him He heard the warning voice and wisdom of God.

The mark of the perfect Christian is blindness and deafness to the flesh but sight and hearing in the Spirit of God.

How often we hear part of a story and jump to conclusions. Have you ever done that? Instead of waiting until we hear the voice of God we make a number of decisions based on our natural sight and hearing. What mistakes we make!

If we would be the servant of the Lord we must cultivate the Presence of God until we can hear what He is saying and see what He is doing. Then our judgment is just.

I think this is the meaning of Revelation 20:4. There we find the wonderful destiny of those who are beheaded for the testimony of Jesus. But if the first resurrection is restricted to those who have been martyred by physical decapitation many victorious saints will be excluded.

There is another "decapitation." It takes place when we forsake the reasoning of our natural mind and look to God for wisdom and direction in all matters. Here is the very core of Christianity, the linchpin. The Kingdom of God cannot possibly be established by those who are acting in the flesh.

So many voices in the land today! Come here! Go there! Do this! Do that! Which is the voice of God? Hard to tell sometimes.

There's only one solution. Get alone with God. Wait, wait, wait until you hear from God. Wait until you have the assurance He has heard you.

Are you tired of grinding at the mill of religious building programs?

I think each Christian, each church, each denomination should take stock every year. Set aside a time and ask God if He is still in the thing we are doing. Maybe we are propping up a dead program with more and more money.

How long has it been since you really have heard from the Lord?

I am writing this on New Year's day, 1997. You probably won't read it until March or April, possibly later. But there may be someone to whom the exhortation will come with power. God's timing will be perfect.

That's the problem with seeing and hearing in the world. We then don't have a sense of God's timing.

If we don't know what we are doing we are the blind leading the blind.

God is moving today. Are you moving with Him or are you on your own?