This word is submitted by Robert Carter (bashan@winshop.com.au)

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                      My People, Listen To Me

Oh that My people would listen to Me! If they would only listen to Me!

It is true that My sheep hear My voice and follow Me. It is true that My
sheep will flee from the stranger, but it is also sadly true that there are
a few of My sheep who actually bother to stop and listen to Me.

My voice is soft and gentle, yet it is also able to shake nations and change
destinies of generations. My voice is still and quiet, yet commanding and
authoritative. My words create and uphold, bless and curse, pronounce
judgment and commendation and bring life and blessing.

The people on the mountain could have heard My voice, each one for
themselves, but they were afraid and quaked when they heard My trumpet
blast. They chose not to listen to Me and told Me not to speak to them, but
speak to another (Moses) instead.

My church is like that. As a market place in a city, there is a sound of
music and revelry in the streets as people play. The stalls are set up with
each one plying their wares, competing with each other, calling, "Dance with
us" as they ply their wares.

There is a business and a flurry of activity, but there are few who stop to
listen to My voice.

Night is falling; shadows are lengthening; the day is almost spent and they
return to their homes in vain imaginings, declaring, "We have done the work
of the Lord," but they were not listening to Me.

A new day is about to dawn.  It will be a day of reaping.  Those who are 
listening to Me are being gathered together.  Like the tares and the wheat, 
each group is being gathered together, each plying their wares, each 
listening to whom they have chosen.  Like-minded peoples are being drawn 
together; the lines are being drawn; the separation is beginning. The 
harvest is drawing near.

Those who listen to My voice, draw near to Me, follow Me and obey Me will
inherit the riches of the blessings and the future promised them. Those who
do not will be cast aside and left behind. There will be some who will say,
"Lord, Lord, I have done all these things for you," but I will say to them,
"You did not listen to My voice. Depart from Me."  There will be some who
present themselves at the feast, but I will say to them, "You did not obey
Me and follow My directions. You are not prepared," and they will be left 
by the wayside in outer darkness. For there are many who are called. There 
are few who are choice ones. There are few who listen.

Each person has the opportunity and the potential (all are equal; there is
no one more important; no one better than another) to choose. I commend
you ... I ask you ... I command you to choose wisely.

I would that you all listen to Me and obey.  The choice is yours.