My inside job question is, am I listening effectively to God? Since God is a person, who desires intimacy with those who he calls his friends, is it possible God talks to us?
Yes!!!
God wants us to listen to his voice - he created us for that very purpose. God is not human so we would expect that listening to God might be a bit different from listening to another person. Yet we are also spiritual beings, made in the image of God, and created for communion, and therefore communication, with him. God has built numerous ways into the creation by which we hear him speak.
There are a number of effective ways for people to develop their spiritual hearing and discernment. Human imagination is not only intended for us to make things up but a way for God to work within us, creatively. The human memory not only recalls information from our past, but it is crucial to our ability to imagine the future.
As Christians, it pretty much goes without saying that we love God and want to obey Him. The issue for many of us Christians is similar to the issues we all face today. God speaks, but often people do not listen. I know that as a parent, there many times when I am irritated with my son because I have asked him to do something, and then upon finding out that the task didn’t get done, he’d claim, well, “you never told me to do that.” What’s even more frustrating is when I remember, distinctly, telling them, to do that chore. I spoke; he heard me, but he didn’t listen.
God speaks, but that we sometimes do not listen. So let me ask you, when is the last time God spoke to you? Does He speak to you? And if so, do you hear him? Are you listening to Him?
What are the ways we as Christians can learn to listen to, and obey God? God wants us to do more than simply hear Him; He wants us to listen, and in listening, we have God on our side as we resist evil, and, moreover, turn our lives in the direction of God. So listening to God is far more than hearing. But hearing is the starting point of where we receive God’s word. In His love for us, he has given us many ways to hear His message and to listen to it; these ways are gifts from God or spiritual disciplines.
These spiritual disciplines are practices—they are putting into practice what we have learned. The Bible itself lists many of the spiritual disciplines that God has given us, as tools in growing closer to Him. One of the most important spiritual disciplines is God’s Holy Word. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we have all broken it.
When we hear and listen to the written Word of God, we are literally hearing and listening to our own salvation.
Romans 10:17,
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
We learn the ways and will of the Lord; we find how to live in a way that is pleasing to God in hearing God’s Word.
Luke 11:28,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
So the Bible is our first line of communication with God. We can study it, we can memorize it, we can read it as part of our daily devotion. These are all spiritual disciplines related to God’s Word.
“The largest radio receive on earth is in New Mexico. Its name is the Very Large Array, also know as the VLA. It is a series of huge satellite disks on thirty-eight miles of railways. Why is such a giant satellite needed? Because the radio waves, often emitted from sources millions of light years away, are very faint. The total energy of all radio waves ever recorded barely equals the force of a single snowflake hitting the ground. What great lengths people will go to searching for a faint message from space when God has already spoken so clearly through His Son and through His Word.
2 Peter 1:19
“We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
God not only has spoken clearly and powerfully to us through Christ and through the Scripture, the Lord also has a V. L. E…
Very Large Ear continuously open to hearing us. God hears every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake. Communication by prayer is second only to the God’s Holy Word in importance. Not only does God want to hear our prayer, but He expects us to pray to Him.
God commands us to pray.
Colossians 4:2 the
“devote yourselves to prayer.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17,
“be joyful always; pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Martin Luther said, “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”
Matthew 4:10
“As it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Psalm 95:6
“let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
Worshiping, together with the first two spiritual disciplines, works together in our spiritual life. In worship, we focus our attention on God. True worship of God is more than going to Church on Sunday though.
Matthew 15:8,
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
True worship of God happens when we put God first in our lives; matters more than what others say; and when loving God, matters more than being loved. The heart of worship is to seek to know and love God in our own unique way.
There are many Spiritual Disciplines and we need to focus our lives on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Spiritual Disciplines that God has given us open us up to Him.
Here’s how I remember it:
W = worshiping God
O = opening myself to God
R = relinquishing the false self and idols of my heart
S = sharing my life with others
H = hearing the Word of God
I = incarnate Christ’s love for the world
P = pray to God.
This helps me to hear God.
God Bless!!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Courage
What makes a King out of a slave?
What makes the flag on the mast to wave?
What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk?
Courage.
What makes the Sphinx the 7th Wonder?
What makes the dawn come up like THUNDER?!
What makes the Hottentot so hot?
What puts the "ape" in ape-ricot?
Whatta they got that I ain't got?
Courage!
As quoted by the Cowardly Lion in the “Wizard of Oz”.
Is this a good representation of courage? Probably from a materialistic or secular view it could well be. Some say courage is the discovery that you may not win and trying when you know you can lose.
An action is courageous if you attempt to achieve an end despite penalties, risks, costs, or difficulties that normally deter most people. Similarly a state such as joyfulness is courageous if it is maintained no matter what the difficulties may be. Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s an ability to feel the appropriate amount of fear.
My inside remodeling job this week has been courage. I have courage but not in the areas that I feel I need it most this week. It hurts to be interested in someone and not knowing if that they feel the same way. What even hurts more is to be interested in that person but never finding the courage to let them know how you feel.
I read this story the other day about an Eagle and some chickens. It seems this farmer found an eagle egg out near the edge of the pasture and the forest. He brought it back to the farm and placed it into the chicken coop with hopes that it would still hatch. The miracle is the chickens treated it as there own and it eventually did hatch.
As the eaglet was born the chickens taught him the way of the chicken. How to scratch at the ground and crack the corn; eat the worms; or bugs found there. As a matter of fact, that Eaglet was very good at finding food and became well fed.
About a year or so later the Eaglet turned into a beautiful Eagle. As the Eagle was outside the coop looking for food he gazed upwards, noticing how beautiful the birds in the sky soared through the air.
The Eagle said, “How great would it be to soar and fly like that one day”. The chickens quickly admonished the Eagle saying he couldn’t fly; would get caught in the chicken wire; or if by chance made it out, would die of starvation.
The Eagle believed the chickens and a few weeks later the farmer came to check on the Eagle. The Eagle didn’t seem to be outside the chicken coop so he looked inside the coop. Over in the corner was the Eagle, dead.
What’s this story have to do with courage? We sometimes get so used our lifestyle that we fear stepping out of the box, learning to fly so to speak. If the Eagle only tried, gained courage and didn’t listen to the chickens he would have flown the coop. Sometimes we believe what others say, a sense of familiarity if you will, that keeps us from being who we ought to be. Our prayers and dreams are attainable when we have courage and not when we listen to the chickens.
What/who are your chickens? Are you feeling like your stuck in the chicken coop?
So what does God think of courage???
Deut 31:6-8 (KJV)
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Psalms 31:24 (KJV)
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
If God be for us who can be against.
"Christian courage is the willingness to say and do the right thing regardless of the earthly cost, because God promises to help you and save you on account of Christ."
What makes the flag on the mast to wave?
What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk?
Courage.
What makes the Sphinx the 7th Wonder?
What makes the dawn come up like THUNDER?!
What makes the Hottentot so hot?
What puts the "ape" in ape-ricot?
Whatta they got that I ain't got?
Courage!
As quoted by the Cowardly Lion in the “Wizard of Oz”.
Is this a good representation of courage? Probably from a materialistic or secular view it could well be. Some say courage is the discovery that you may not win and trying when you know you can lose.
An action is courageous if you attempt to achieve an end despite penalties, risks, costs, or difficulties that normally deter most people. Similarly a state such as joyfulness is courageous if it is maintained no matter what the difficulties may be. Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s an ability to feel the appropriate amount of fear.
My inside remodeling job this week has been courage. I have courage but not in the areas that I feel I need it most this week. It hurts to be interested in someone and not knowing if that they feel the same way. What even hurts more is to be interested in that person but never finding the courage to let them know how you feel.
I read this story the other day about an Eagle and some chickens. It seems this farmer found an eagle egg out near the edge of the pasture and the forest. He brought it back to the farm and placed it into the chicken coop with hopes that it would still hatch. The miracle is the chickens treated it as there own and it eventually did hatch.
As the eaglet was born the chickens taught him the way of the chicken. How to scratch at the ground and crack the corn; eat the worms; or bugs found there. As a matter of fact, that Eaglet was very good at finding food and became well fed.
About a year or so later the Eaglet turned into a beautiful Eagle. As the Eagle was outside the coop looking for food he gazed upwards, noticing how beautiful the birds in the sky soared through the air.
The Eagle said, “How great would it be to soar and fly like that one day”. The chickens quickly admonished the Eagle saying he couldn’t fly; would get caught in the chicken wire; or if by chance made it out, would die of starvation.
The Eagle believed the chickens and a few weeks later the farmer came to check on the Eagle. The Eagle didn’t seem to be outside the chicken coop so he looked inside the coop. Over in the corner was the Eagle, dead.
What’s this story have to do with courage? We sometimes get so used our lifestyle that we fear stepping out of the box, learning to fly so to speak. If the Eagle only tried, gained courage and didn’t listen to the chickens he would have flown the coop. Sometimes we believe what others say, a sense of familiarity if you will, that keeps us from being who we ought to be. Our prayers and dreams are attainable when we have courage and not when we listen to the chickens.
What/who are your chickens? Are you feeling like your stuck in the chicken coop?
So what does God think of courage???
Deut 31:6-8 (KJV)
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Psalms 31:24 (KJV)
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
If God be for us who can be against.
"Christian courage is the willingness to say and do the right thing regardless of the earthly cost, because God promises to help you and save you on account of Christ."
God Bless
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Eternal Independence Day
A document that gives us our independence and our freedom for living in this country is the Declaration of Independence. When people come to America, the thing that strikes them most strongly is the freedom that we enjoy, and rightly so. Where did this freedom come from?
The only Pastor to sign the Declaration was John Witherspoon. I believe God guided those men when they created this document and it was adopted by the United States on July 4, 1776. It states, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable right and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It is true that God wants all of us to have these three wonderful gifts.
In John 8:32, you will find the words that Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Jesus is talking to His disciples saying if there is anything that will inspire your life, it is the TRUTH. In the 36th verse Jesus says, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
All people of earth are a creation of God and there is a life that never ends. God talks about this life and he offers us life eternal. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed; Liberty! You could arrest me; throw me in prison; bind me; you could blind my eyes, close my ears, and my mouth but you cannot change my capacity to think. Through this the Declaration of Independence instills freedom.
This life that I speak of is riddled with problems because we are made of flesh. Nearly everyone has some little thing wrong with them. Everyone here today is living, and everyone is going to die unless the rapture comes. What will happen then? The life God speaks of, the one Jesus wants us to have, is Eternal Life.
All of us, everyone, are not here by accident but by the grace of God. If we go to Heaven and enjoy the abundant life, we will go by the grace and mercy of God.
In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Also John 10:27-29 states, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
This is where everlasting life comes in. We think so much about this life sometimes that we forget about the life that is to come until just before death. If you want to live a super and abundant life as God expects, the only way we can is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way.
In Romans 6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Eternal life, everlasting life, abundant life, the super-life is only found in Jesus Christ.
The only way we are going to keep peace is to stand up for it, reach out and take hold of it, believe in it, and possess it. That is what God wants us to do about spiritual peace. Christ Jesus came into this world and gave his life that we might be free. I’m not weak or timid; I’m aggressive and know what I want. I believe in defending our country if it need be with my life.
The Statue of Liberty sits on Liberty Island. It sits out on the protruding island standing 305 feet and one inch from the base of the pedestal to the top of the torch. It is the most glorious sight to see. It is up there to guard the harbor. Jesus Christ nailed high on the cross is that torch for us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and the eternal light beckoning us into his harbor of peace, abundant life, liberty and true happiness.
A plaque before it reads, “Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our sea while sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name is Mother of Exiles. From her beaconed hand glows worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command the air bridged harbor that twin cities frame. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
God offers us liberty, true liberty. Most people today don’t know what it means to live under a dictator with selfish ideals. Thank God for this great country in which we live. Peace, contentment, and joy comes only in using what we have in the pursuit of happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says where a man’s treasure is, there will his heart be also. Lay not up treasures up on earth, but lay them up in heaven.
So, on this Fourth of July, think about those who lost there lives to make us free. Jesus Christ should be at the top of the list!!!
The only Pastor to sign the Declaration was John Witherspoon. I believe God guided those men when they created this document and it was adopted by the United States on July 4, 1776. It states, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable right and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It is true that God wants all of us to have these three wonderful gifts.
In John 8:32, you will find the words that Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Jesus is talking to His disciples saying if there is anything that will inspire your life, it is the TRUTH. In the 36th verse Jesus says, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
All people of earth are a creation of God and there is a life that never ends. God talks about this life and he offers us life eternal. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed; Liberty! You could arrest me; throw me in prison; bind me; you could blind my eyes, close my ears, and my mouth but you cannot change my capacity to think. Through this the Declaration of Independence instills freedom.
This life that I speak of is riddled with problems because we are made of flesh. Nearly everyone has some little thing wrong with them. Everyone here today is living, and everyone is going to die unless the rapture comes. What will happen then? The life God speaks of, the one Jesus wants us to have, is Eternal Life.
All of us, everyone, are not here by accident but by the grace of God. If we go to Heaven and enjoy the abundant life, we will go by the grace and mercy of God.
In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Also John 10:27-29 states, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
This is where everlasting life comes in. We think so much about this life sometimes that we forget about the life that is to come until just before death. If you want to live a super and abundant life as God expects, the only way we can is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way.
In Romans 6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Eternal life, everlasting life, abundant life, the super-life is only found in Jesus Christ.
The only way we are going to keep peace is to stand up for it, reach out and take hold of it, believe in it, and possess it. That is what God wants us to do about spiritual peace. Christ Jesus came into this world and gave his life that we might be free. I’m not weak or timid; I’m aggressive and know what I want. I believe in defending our country if it need be with my life.
The Statue of Liberty sits on Liberty Island. It sits out on the protruding island standing 305 feet and one inch from the base of the pedestal to the top of the torch. It is the most glorious sight to see. It is up there to guard the harbor. Jesus Christ nailed high on the cross is that torch for us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and the eternal light beckoning us into his harbor of peace, abundant life, liberty and true happiness.
A plaque before it reads, “Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our sea while sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name is Mother of Exiles. From her beaconed hand glows worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command the air bridged harbor that twin cities frame. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
God offers us liberty, true liberty. Most people today don’t know what it means to live under a dictator with selfish ideals. Thank God for this great country in which we live. Peace, contentment, and joy comes only in using what we have in the pursuit of happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says where a man’s treasure is, there will his heart be also. Lay not up treasures up on earth, but lay them up in heaven.
So, on this Fourth of July, think about those who lost there lives to make us free. Jesus Christ should be at the top of the list!!!
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