“Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls” (James 1:21 NLT).

We’ve all noticed that the reception quality on a cell phone varies widely. The same is true with you. You must be positioned correctly to hear God speak.

Sometimes we don’t give God a chance to talk to us. We’ve made up our minds. We want to do what we want to do, not what God wants us to do. Our hearts are hardened, and we’re unwilling to listen.

When you have a closed mind, of course he’s not going to talk to you!

But if you really want to hear from God — and what believer doesn’t? — you have to understand what is keeping you from hearing from God. Here are three mental barriers that keep your mind closed to God’s message.

1. Pride. If you think you don’t need God in your life and you want to handle things yourself, you’re probably not listening for God to speak. Pride keeps you from being open to the possibility that God might want to say something to you.

2. Fear. A lot of people can’t hear God because they’re afraid to hear God speak. Maybe you think that hearing God’s voice or sensing his leading makes you some kind of religious fanatic.

3. Bitterness. When you hold on to hurt, resentment, or a grudge, you’re not going to be able to hear God, because your heart is hardened. It has grown cold and made you defensive, even to God’s love.

Perhaps you have been hurt badly, maybe this week or even years ago, and you’re still holding on to it. I want to tell you that you’ve got to let it go. Not for another person’s sake, but for your sake. The resentment is killing you! Resentment is a self-inflicted wound that allows people from your past to continue to hurt you today. You need to let it go, not because they deserve forgiveness but because you need to get on with your life. You need to get rid of the bitterness, fear, and pride that keep you from hearing God’s voice and living out his purpose for your life.

James 1:21 says, “Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls” (NLT).

“Humbly accept” means you let go of your pride and stop trying to figure it out on your own. This is the key to opening your mind and heart so that you can hear from the Lord.

“Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen” (2 Corinthians 4:18 CEV).

Everything you see around you is temporary. The building you’re in, the computer or cellphone you’re staring at, and even your body will one day disappear from existence. Yet it’s what you can’t see around you that will last forever.

And those realities are what truly matter.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen” (CEV).

Spiritual realities are more real than physical ones. We need to focus on the spiritual ones — what’s really real. There are five spiritual realities all of us need to take to heart.

• God made you to love you (see Jeremiah 31:3). God created you to love you, and he wants you to learn to love him back. This is the most important reality of life.

• You were made to last forever (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). The evangelist Billy Graham, who passed away in February, talked about death this way: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

• God has prepared two eternal places. Both Heaven and Hell are real, literal places. They’re not just “states of being.”

• You get to choose where you’ll spend eternity. You won’t accidentally find yourself in Hell one day. You’ll be there because you chose it or refused to choose Jesus and spend forever with him in Heaven. If you choose to make Jesus the boss of your life, you’ll spend eternity with him in Heaven. If you choose to reject him, you’ll spend forever in Hell. You have no middle option.

• You get no second chances to make your choice. Your choice has a time limit. You have your entire life to make the decision, but you never know when your time on Earth is over. You can’t change your mind after death.

Nothing matters more than eternal realities. What you do with these five truths will not only affect your eternal destiny, it will also transform how you live on this side of eternity.

“He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love” (Psalm 57:3 TLB).

There’s a myth that says I have to clean up my act before I can come to God. “I’ve got to get it all together. There are a few things I need to get right in my life first, and then I’ll come to God.”

It’s like brushing your teeth before going to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned, or washing the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, or picking up the house before the housecleaner gets there! Why would we do this?

The truth is, God doesn’t expect us to clean up our act before we approach him — the death and Resurrection of Jesus are God’s statement on that. Jesus spread out his arms and said, “I love you this much. Now, just come as you are.”

In Psalm 57:3, the Bible says, “He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love” (TLB). That’s what Jesus did on Easter. And that’s why we can bring our messes and failures to God.

You likely know people who think God will never love them because they’ve made such a mess of their lives. But you also know that God wants them to come as they are.

Help them hear the Good News from Jesus. Invite them to go to church with you this Easter. It’s such a simple thing to do, but it can make a difference that will last for eternity.

“When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name! ‘Zacchaeus!’ he said” (Luke 19:5 TLB).

All of Zacchaeus’ life, he’d been ridiculed and rejected, first for his appearance and then for his sinful life. But Jesus did more than just look at him. By calling Zacchaeus by name, Jesus showed that he knew him. Imagine the shock Zacchaeus must have felt! How did Jesus know his name?

God not only knows where you are, he also knows who you are. He knows what you’re going through, why you’re going through it, and how you feel about it. He knows you better than you know yourself. He cares about you personally.

The name Zacchaeus means “pure one.” That’s the last thing that comes to mind when you think of a corrupt government official. He was anything but pure. And yet Jesus, calling Zacchaeus by name, was saying, “Hey, pure one, I’m coming to your house today.” Jesus was affirming what he saw in Zacchaeus, not what Zacchaeus was.

You may be afraid to get close to Jesus because you think he’s going to scold you for all the things you’ve done wrong. But Jesus wants to affirm you. He wants to let you know how much he loves you.

“Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16 NLT).

When Jesus died on the cross and stretched out his arms and the soldiers put nails through his hands, your name was engraved there. When you get to Heaven, there will be no scars on anyone except Jesus. He’s going to have those scars for eternity to remind us how much he loves us, a way to say, “Do you think I could forget you? Not a chance! This is how much you matter to me.”

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick>>

Talk It Over

• What does it mean to affirm someone?
• How does it make you feel to know that God affirms you and could never forget you?
• What can keep you from getting close to Jesus?