Listen to Him

why? We trust Him (and recognize His authority)
what? The Content is all about Jesus and continuing His Mission
how? We prepare our Hearts
lucky vs in the right place and ready to take advantage of opportunities
blessings will come when we are involved and engaged

Apart form God speaking and our response of faith, there will only be rebellion
This is the opposite of Hearing and Responding - covering our ears and saying NO NO NO NO NO

rebellion is not not care what God says
just like it manifests itself in the lives of children
you may be experts in this -

Think about your children
If your children trust you,
if they are confident that you have their best in mind, they will gladly obey
But when children are unconvinced their parent's rules are good,
they rebel and do the opposite.

This is what the writer of Hebrews saw in the story of Israel...a tendency to doubt
a tendency to lose confidence
And a tendency towards rebellion

And so with this is mind,
the writer gives these Christians two remedies for rebellion - listen and respond

1) The first remedy for rebellion is found in verses 7-11,

LISTEN, put yourself in the right position, be ready

if you are frustrated, ask yourself this, have you prepared

kids often want the end without the process
instant fame, instant gratification, instant growth

Life is not really like this - blessing comes through discipline - not apathetic laziness

"As the Holy Spirit says..."

The writer of Hebrews recounts the story of
Israel's history
He is quoting from Psalm 95
here the description of the Israelites is that they are hard hearted and rebellious

Rebellion shows the condition of your heart...
Rebellious people don't have time for God - Their lives are full of more “important” things!

and the writer of the Psalm described them as people who did not know God's ways
(in verse 10)

They knew of him
but their hearts were hard and far from him

This remedy for rebellion has an Individual, personal, aspect to it

It is to hear the voice of God

If you want to avoid rebellion you need to make sure that you take time to stop and hear God's voice
individually
this is your responsibility as a believer

no such thing as Luck - people are ready to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way

KEY THOUGHT: we need to create times and places where we are meditating on the Word of God - we need to prepare and put ourselves in position to reap the benefits of a life tuned in to the Word