ISAIAH 55:3 - "Incline Your Ear"

"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37 & 38) "Incline your ear, and come unto Me": 'To listen with attention to detail'. We must allow God's Word to go deep into our souls; that it may root out all that is not of Him. There may be something that I have forgotten to clarify or to address directly, (no time like the present); and that is the hurt. When we sin against God or one another, or if someone sins against us; there is hurt. This is natural for us to have, at least it was, as a natural man; but we are now Supernatural, and in this new creation in Christ Jesus, there is no hurt either. Why? Because Jesus has taken our pains away, (that means hurts for you in Rio Linda). Remember what I said before: 'We naturally always want to hold onto something'; but He wants us to give it all to Him; even the hurt. Let's look again at our old friend, the one forgiven much. Do you think that after the king forgave him of his debt, that the king then turned to his scribe and said: "Make a note of this, in case he is ever before me again."; No, that is not what forgiveness is all about. When God forgives us of our sins, He forgets the sin also. He does not hold the sin against us! Likewise, when we forgive others, we are not to hold what they did to us against them; but that is what hurt does. Because when we still hold the hurt in our hearts, then we are still being hurt by that which was done; this is not true forgiveness. Imagine for a moment, that our friend had found his fellow servant that owed him little, and had said, "I forgive you of the debt that you owe me"; and then turned right around and said in his heart, "I wish I hadn't done that"; he would have forgotten him outwardly, but inwardly he did not. True forgiveness takes place in the heart! Now every time he would see, or think about that fellow servant, he would remember the debt he wishes he had not forgiven him of. If by chance, we feel that there is still hurt in our hearts towards another, or even ourselves, we must release that hurt to God; it does not belong in there. We must choose to believe that Jesus died for the hurt also; ask Him to give in us a heart of compassion, and then walk in the Spirit. For in the Fruit of the Spirit, there is no hurt. In God's economy, this is how things work. Remember that check in the mail I mentioned before, that is what that check represents. Because when we truly forgive, then God will pour into us more of His Spirit; the more we give away of ourselves, the more we are able to receive of Him. This is how the Living Water works!!! Okay, maybe you are not still convinced. Please listen carefully to what I am about to say, or "Incline your ear". Jesus died for your hurts also!!! How do I know this? One reason I know this is because of the shortest verse in the Bible, which is found in John 11:35; "JESUS WEPT"; this is how I know. What did Jesus weep for? Was it for Lazarus? No; He knew that in a matter of minutes Lazarus would be set free from his death. Was it because Mary had said; "Lord if thou had only been here, my brother had not died"? No; He pretty much set that up; that He would be there after Lazarus was dead for four days. Did He weep because the others around were weeping? Yes; but for far more than that; He was weeping for the hurt. He was weeping for the hurt that sin has caused. For the hurt that sin has caused the Father; for the hurt that sin has caused in us; for the hurt that sin has caused in death; for the hurt that sin has caused in disease; for the hurt that sin has caused in sickness; for the hurt that sin has caused in separation from God; and for the hurt that He would suffer on the cross. Do you actually think that He would go through all He did, and not deal with the hurt? This is how I know that Jesus died on that cross to also cure the hurt. So, the next time you feel you must hold onto the hurt, remember the last words that Jesus said on the cross: "It Is Finished", (that means Done, for those in Rio Linda). The other reason I know we should not be holding onto the hurt; the word hurt is not in the following list: "But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance"; (Galatians 5:22 & 23) And by the way; if you said the Living Water is the Holy Spirit; you are partially right...