Did you ever consider the hidden power of hearing?

It affects you in a way that's intangible (and underestimated).

When Christ said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," He was indicating their spiritual element (Matthew 11:15).

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away," said Jesus (Matthew 5:27-32 ) "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away."

To that we can add the ears. For what comes in the ear often goes right to the heart -- and the spirit.

"Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see; who have ears but do not hear," says Jeremiah 5:21. Hear what is right. Avoid what is wrong.

What we hear can make your heart right or harden it. In the word "heart" is the word "hear." There are those who are hard of hearing and others who are hard from hearing. What you allow in can make a huge difference!

It harms or ministers. It is a component of heaven (or the netherworld).

Take music: It goes directly into your subconscious and often what goes in is not very edifying. There is nearly an occult beat to many popular songs. There is also the power of lustful lyrics.

It helped change our culture (in the wrong way) in the 1960s.

A great danger now is how we're bombarded by talk shows that spew hatred.

Added to that is the fact that we sometimes "hear" what was not even said -- when our hearts are not in tune with God and the devil can distort our listening.

There is a difference between hearing and listening! (For this reason, give folks the benefit of the doubt.)

And there is listening internally.

When the Lord speaks to you, it goes to the heart and is etched in stone; it is unforgettable (where the devil is the flash of neon.)

Let your heart connect with the pulse of the Sacred Heart -- not the world's drumbeat. Go back and heal what you have heard. Listen to the spheres of Heaven (where, say those who have glimpsed it, there is no beat to the music because there is no time and the sound is described like a hundred symphonies).

Perhaps Bach or Beethoven gave us tiny hints.

The music will show us the power of the ear. It will flow as a force of ministry.

It is balm.

It will heal the spirit.

We can bring some of that now by being careful with what we hear.

“There was a sound in the air that completely defies description,” said one who "died" and returned. “It was as if there were a multitude of voices, and a multitude of instruments, blended and playing soft music. The twittering of birds and other beautiful sounds were all melodically instrumented into the music that wafted through the air.

“All of the earth’s symphonies pale in comparison,” is another actual testimony. “It sounds loud and piercing as a trumpet, yet the notes glide smoothly as a violin and also a sweetly pitched as a flute. It is all these rich sounds blended perfectly as one. As I concentrated on the music, it gracefully slowed down to a soothing lullaby. The effect was the most beautiful and emotionally soothing song I have ever heard!”

Music is absorbed. It is digested. It vivifies. On earth, it affects us more than we realize. Seek the echoes of heavenly sounds. Let it heal. Listen for Christ in everyone (and avoid listening to those in whom Christ is absent, as indicated by hatred).

Heaven is the resonance of the soul and what we hear there will be only a good, a positive, an uplifting resonance.

Each drop of the "living waters" is a tone that blends with it and heals.

Think wind chimes.

“Exquisite harmonies.”

“A celestial choir.”

“Sublimely beautiful.”

“Unearthly tones.”

Those who return say it was like the gardens, the leaves, the colors were singing.

“A thousand tiny golden bells.”

“It flowed unobtrusively, like a glassy river, quietly worshipful, excitingly edifying, and totally comforting,” said a near-deather, Richard Eby.

“High sweet tones.”

“I found myself saying, ‘Bach is only the beginning!’” said a doctor named George Ritchie.

And in a chorus, in the choir, the one word we should always listen for, and judge by, and seek, the small, still (very still) whisper: “Jesus.”

[adapted from The Other Side]