Those who study the brain and its functions (psychologists, psychiatrists) will attest to the fact that two people can watch the same event take place at the same time and will later report seeing two different things take place.  The same holds true for what is heard and read.  Two people can be given the same set of instructions, follow them, only to produce two  different outcomes.  The fact that we have two types of Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) and many different versions of one of them reveals that multitudes of people read or hear the same Holy Bible and come away with literally hundreds of different versions of what God said.  THE WAY EACH PERSON RESPONDS TO WHAT HE/SHE PERCEIVES DEPENDS ON HIS/HER ATTITUDE TOWARD TO WHAT HE/SHE PERCEIVES.  There is a saying that has proven to be true in every case: “Perception is reality.”  Even when what is perceived (heard, seen, read, etc.) is unchanging and clear, EACH VIEWER’S REALITY OF WHAT IS PERCEIVED DEPENDS ON HIS/HER VERSION OF REALITY.  With extremely rare exception, each person’s desire (will) determines what he/she perceives, and what he/she perceives becomes his/her “reality” which is unchangeable.  This is especially true in the spiritual realm.

Few are those who can perceive things in the spiritual realm with an open, changeable mind/will.  Adam and Eve heard God’s Words concerning the tree loud and clear (Gen 3:3).  However, the words of the Serpent were struck a different chord.  They literally “heard what they wanted to hear” (Gen. 3:4) and later saw what they wanted to see (Gen. 3:6).  They had heard God describe the tree as an instrument of death–eat and die.  Then they heard Satan describe the same tree as an instrument of life–eat and live forever.  They approached the tree with a pre-conceived concept of “reality” which was based solely on their will–they wanted to eat of its fruit.  Its fruit had become acceptable because the willed it so.  That was their reality.

It is no mystery to me that church people reject what I tell them.  For most of their lives they have been lied to by Satan through his false prophets.  Adolf Hitler said that if you tell people a lie often enough, it becomes truth.  The spirit being who directed der Fuhrer has directed the counterfeit church for hundreds of years.  The church’s reality is the self-serving “truths” it has perceived over the years centuries.  The longer a lie is perceived as a truth, the more entrenched that “truth” (reality) becomes.

Many years ago my in-laws came to visit my wife and me in an area to which we had recently moved.  My wife had drawn them a detailed map showing exactly what route to take, including the side street they were to turn onto that would bring them directly to our house.  My mother-in-law had the map in her hand and was directing my father-in-law, who had looked at the map prior to leaving home.  When they came to the street they were to turn onto she told him to make the turn.  He replied that he did not think it was the right street.  Get this picture: SHE IS HOLDING THE MAP AND HE IS CORRECTING HER BASED ON HIS MEMORY.  Over the years I have found the same mind-set to be normal among church people.  Their Biblical perception/reality is based on their what they have been told over the years about the Bible rather than on the observable facts/Scriptures which reflect God’s reality.  They automatically reject whatever contradicts their perception/reality which reflects their will.  Breaking through that construct can take place only in the heart of one who truly wants to know God’s Truth.  The expression “one in a million” pretty much describes the odds of this happening.  This will/perception/reality syndrome also prevails in the social realm.  We humans see, hear, read, etc. what we want (will) to see, hear and read.  For proof, watch the CNN news coverage relative to a particular event.  Then turn to FOX News and hear what they say about the same event.  One would believe that they are talking about two totally different events.  The respective perceptions of the two networks–their realities–are based on their diametrically opposed mind-sets.  Their viewers suffer from the same syndrome.  Those with a liberal mind-set depend on CNN for their “reality.”  Conservatives watch FOX for the same reason.  The same thing happens relative to religious presentations such as sermons, books, movies, etc.  Which explains why everyone I know personally, with minutely few exceptions that I can count on one hand, refuse to listen to me or read my website because I show them in their own Bibles what they do not want to read and will not read again.  The Bible does not contain the reality they “know” to be right.  They “know” their reality is right because they have perceived (heard, read) it hundreds of times.  Their “right” has become their reality because they want (will) it to be so.  In Colossians 2:23 the Apostle Paul calls this “will worship.”

Basically speaking, religionists hear and see what they want (will) to hear and see.  In the spiritual realm, if what they are determined to hear is contrary to the Word (will) of God, their reaction to what they hear, regardless of how Scriptural it is proven to be, will be negative.  The story of Christ’s visit with Mary and Martha highlights two different reactions to the same situation.  One reaction is grounded in the Bible.  The other reflects church doctrine.  With extremely few exceptions, church doctrine wins that battle.

Before the Lord’s visit to their home, the two sisters had been in Christ’s presence and had heard Him speak His Father’s Words, Words which He called “Truth” in John 17:17.  As the Scriptures point out, Jesus loved the sisters equally (Jn. 11:5).  However, He did not assign equal value to their responses to His presence.  The episode is recorded in Luke 10:38-42 where we find Jesus and His disciples arriving at their home.  Immediately, Jesus began speaking the Words His Father had given to Him to speak to them (Jn. 7:16; 12:49).  However, only one of the sisters was paying attention to what He was saying.  We find Mary, a former prostitute, sitting at His feet listening intently to every Word coming from His lips (vs 39).  Conversely, Martha was scurrying about, doing the things associated with man’s religiosity–things “everyone knows” need to be done for such an important guest.  Her thinking probably took the following form: the men would have walked a considerable distance to get there.  Their feet would be dirty and their stomachs would be empty.  Middle-eastern protocol dictated that the home owner provide water for their feet and food for their stomachs, and to do so immediately.  Because of his social rule, Martha did not perceive the need to postpone those acts until later in order to listen to what their guest was saying.  After all, she was the “good sister.”  She knew all she needed to know.  I have been told this by a Martha type woman who would do everything “expected of her” except listen to the Word of the Lord she claimed to serve.  Uber-religious Martha would not waste time listening to Him when social “reality” dictated that she serve Him.  Nothing has changed.  A churchite will cook your lunch or buy your lunch, but will refuse to hear you speak God’s Word.  Jesus prepared His messengers for this truth in Matthew 7:13,14 where He warned that “few” would “find” His strait gate and walk His narrow way to eternal life.  “Many,” He lamented, would enter Satan’s wide gate and walk his broad way to destruction.  Let us be among those few.  L.J.