Gifts For Men, part three
Post date: 05-Dec-2012 10:33:07
SELECTIVE HEARING
Hearing is quite different to listening
Sometimes I can have selective hearing where I channel out all the noise around me to focus on
certain things
We can only listen to those things we want to listen too and the things we do not want to do or
are not interested in we seem to put aside for another day
Children do this all the time and no matter how many times you repeat something, the words
you speak seem to go in one ear and out the other, until of course you mention something they might
like and they relate that thing to something they like
We play this game with animals where we reward them with sweets for being good and so they
associate something they did not like before with a " nice positive" thing
As adults we can still have selective hearing , although by this time we are very good at
concealing it
As I grow older and mature in age.... the things I have been channeling out of the "hearing
selection process" begin to come to the forefront of my mind and I realise that maybe these things
were said for my good
At this time I begin to listen and to put into practice "How_to" James 1:22
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WHAT IS A PROPHET
And so the Great Prophet Jesus comes to speak the Words The Father gives Him (listens)
Deuteronomy 18:18 NASB yet He is God
And The Father commands John 12:49 ESV Jesus to speak His words and learns "how_to" and Jesus The
Son Of God speaks the very words of God John 8:28 KJV John 12:50
Jesus is raised up Acts 3:22 and so God raises up men (people) to do likewise Exodus 4:12 NLT
We speak as if God Himself were speaking Jeremiah 1:9 ERV Isaiah 59:21 ASV 1 Peter 4:11 NIV
1 Thessalonians 2:13 RSV
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MYSTERIOUS MEN
And so a Prophet is born and the wise (learned) men come with their gifts to Jesus ("Gifts from
men") Matthew 2:1
Now its arguable where exaclty the three wise "learned" men actually came from and its also
debatable as to what grouping or category to put them in, there is no actual knowledge of their
country of origin and the origins concerning these men have no sure foundation, so you could say
"they are mysterious"
Magi in hebrew is "Chakam" which means to be intelligent, skillful and artful or cunning,
Magi can be associated with wise men and teachers, priests and physicians, astrologers and
astronomers, seers and interpreters , augurs and soothsayers also sorcerers and a long long list
of "learned things"
Its probably better to call them "wise men" Genesis 41:8
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LOOK FOR THE SIGNS
Now forget about where these "wise men" came from, lets forget about their past, lets forget
about the category we like to put them in (of which there are numerous) lets forget about their
grouping, lets put aside all the things that associate these men with whatever category or group
we like to put them in and lets forget about putting these men into "boxes" and labeling them
These wise learned men must have studied astronomy, they must have watched the stars
,they must have studied the scriptures (scrolls) they must have studied the prophecies concerning
Jesus the coming King
And so lets look at the hearts here and the motives Proverbs 16:2 ESV 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
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These wise men brought "gifts" which were symbolic" and these gifts were accepted and THAT is
the point here
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What had these men been doing ? they certainly had been waiting ! they certainly had been hearing !
they certainly had been listening ! and watching and learning !
Not just listening but "How_to" go about it, How_to say the words and How_to apply
Lets look at the "signs" here (symbols)
1. They had been seeking and searching, waiting and listening
2. They carried with them the prophetic and symbolic representations of ,
a. Gold for The King
b. frankincense as the symbol of deity
c. Myrrh as a symbol of death
Not only had these very learned men heard from God but they had listened and discerned
They had prepared themselves
a. "not just to speak the words but how_to say them"
b. Not just to hear but to listen
c. Not just to speak but to do
They had
a. waited
b. heard
c. listened
they came to Jesus with the right attitude of heart
a. they sought Jesus
b. They came to worship Jesus
c. they brough gifts (Gifts from men)
Now listen !
Matthew 2:12 The "Learned men" (people) did not return by the same route
In turn.....once we come before Jesus and lay our lifes before Him we are never to return once
again by the same route
From that time forward we always return by another route as our lifes are from that time onwards
being "transformed" in our ways and thinking
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And so we see the signs of the , three learned men and the three gifts, the three attitudes of the heart,
Seeking out the and going to worship the "Son of God" who is God "The Godhead" Three in one