Voices | His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

Who’s Listening?

October 1, 2026 Leave a comment

Teachers of elementary-age children have many ways to get their students’ attention. One of the most effective ways is to ask “Who’s listening to me?”

But “who’s listening?” isn’t just a question for misbehaving kids.

A parent who walks into an empty room with a radio blaring asks, “Who’s listening to this?” Or the director of an intelligence agency asks, “Who’s listening to us?” after discovering an adversary has classified information.

When God spoke directly to three of Jesus’ disciples, He didn’t ask them “who’s listening?”

Instead, He demanded they listen.

This event is described in the New Testament in Mark 9: Peter, James, and John are with Jesus on a mountain when He’s suddenly transfigured before them in all His majestic glory. Peter was so awestruck by what was happening that he immediately proposed doing something to preserve the moment.

However, as soon as he made the suggestion, Mark 9:7 says, “And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’”

None of the disciples asked God for an explanation. They knew listening to His Son meant paying attention to His words, the words he spoke in conversations, in prayers, in parables, whatever Jesus said to anybody at any time, they needed to listen to Him.

Jesus Himself instructed His disciples to listen. Multiple times in the gospels He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9.

What was true for the disciples two thousand years ago is true for us today.

No, Jesus isn’t with us in person, but we still have His words preserved for us in the Bible—words for direction, correction, comfort, encouragement, instruction.

Who’s listening?

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20.

Categories: Devotionals, Speech, Glorifying God, Listen, Listening, Voices, Call To God, God's Word, Believe Tags: Faith, Believe, Truth, God's Word, Listen,

Could I Have Your Attention, Please?

October 18, 2018 Leave a comment

Voices! We hear voices each and every day. They tell us to order this, pay attention to that, go there, come here.

Other voices post on our Facebook page, our Twitter feed, our social media sites, wanting us to sign this, like that, watch that, play this.

Who merits our attention? Whose voice is the worthy voice?

A crippled old man appears in the gospel of John to answer these questions. (John 5:1-17).

He doesn’t have a name in the gospel, but everyone at the pool of Bethesda knew him. He’d been lying there for thirty-eight years, unable to take advantage of the pool’s healing properties. Then, Jesus stopped by one day, and, in one instantaneous moment, He took care of the crippled man’s lifelong problem.

Following Jesus’ instructions, the Man Made Whole gathered up his bedroll and walked away. Later, when asked by the religious leaders what he thought he was doing carrying around his bed on a Sabbath, he told them he was doing what he’d been instructed to do by the man who’d healed him, by the man who had enough authority to make him whole again.

The Man Made Whole was carrying his bed—in defiance of the religious authorities—because he recognized someone who was able to give life to his withered limbs was someone with authority, someone worthy of his attention.

This same man, this Jesus of Nazareth, healed me one day. He healed me of a lifelong sin problem, a sickness so severe I was doomed for eternal destruction. He did so by taking sin’s disease on Himself and paying the price for it Himself. Now, he commands me to take up my life and live it for Him.

His voice is a voice worth hearing.

Listen to His words from the rest of John 5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (25-26)

Categories: Bible, Call To God, Christian Living, Devotionals, God's Word, Guidance, Hearing Voices, Listen, Listening, Voices Tags: Attention, Authority, Listen, Man at Bethesda, Sabbath, Voice of God, Voices

Should I Listen To This Guy?

September 18, 2015 Leave a comment

Voices! We hear voices each and every day. Some are screaming at us from the TV, telling us to order this, pay attention to that, and don’t forget about something else. Others are posting on our Facebook page, our Twitter feed, our other social media sites, wanting us to sign this, like that, or look at something else.

Who merits our attention? To whom should we be listening? Whose voice is the worthy voice?

A crippled up old man appears in the gospel of John to answer these questions. (John 5:1-17). He doesn’t have a name in the gospel, but everyone at the pool of Bethesda knew him. He’d been lying there for thirty-eight years, unable to take advantage of the pool’s healing properties. Jesus stopped by one day, and, in one instantaneous moment, took care of the crippled man’s lifelong problem.

The Man Made Whole was carrying his bed—in defiance of the religious authorities—because he recognized a man who was able to give life to his withered limbs was someone with authority, someone worthy of his attention.

This same man, Jesus of Nazareth, healed me one day. He healed me of a lifelong sin problem, a sickness so severe I was doomed for eternal destruction. He did so by taking sin’s disease on Himself and paying the price for it Himself. Now, he commands me to take up my life and live it for Him.

His is a voice worth hearing. Listen to His words from the rest of John 5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (25-26)