Listening Requires Action

Deuteronomy 6:4-8
4)  Listen, Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is One.  
5)  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  
6)  These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 
7)  Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  
8)  Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.  
9)  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  

Listen/Hear - Shema (Hebrew) - a verb (which means action:) - [Strong's Dictionary] obey, understand, diligently, declare, perceive, tell.  To hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience), carefully.  [Merriam-Webster] to hear something with thoughtful attention, give consideration.

So at the very beginning of these verses we are told to pay attention, to give consideration, to obey - in other words to take action not just passively listen and let it go in one ear and out the other with no effect upon our lives.  This is critical.  In our day and time we often "listen" with our eyes on our phones, on the television, on a book.  And yet when we do this we are only barely making an effort to tune in to life around us we aren't really listening.

I don't know about you, but I prefer eye contact and attentiveness in a conversation rather than just a passing awareness.  We are all guilty of this.  In this passage, however, in reference to the most important thing in life - sharing Jesus with our children (and honestly, all who we come in contact with) we are told to listen and that listening causes moment by moment, daily, monthly, yearly and life-long action.  And yet like the rest of life we can become complacent and just let life pass by without any real purpose or plan - constantly checking our phones or doing our to do lists.  For what purpose?

This passage requires me to remind myself over and over again that the LORD my God is the One True God and that I must guard myself against idols in this life.  The idol of placing my family, my hobbies, my job, my church, my friends, or anything else before the LORD in my life.

My purpose and your purpose in life is to first determine that the LORD, Jesus Christ Himself, is in fact our LORD and that He is "in My heart" - that He is in charge of our lives, that it is to Him we look for every single thing - hope, peace, provision, grace, mercy, forgiveness, joy, direction, etc. and that we look to Him first and last and every moment in between.  We must ask ourselves...Am I loving "MY" LORD with ALL my heart, ALL my soul, and ALL my strength?

The only way we have any chance of doing so is by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.  Thank You LORD for providing us the Holy Spirit!  When we fall short in this (many times daily) we can confess it and repent and ask Jesus to be our strength!  He provides for our every need!!!

Once I am certain of my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I must determine that I will listen to His command to love Him wholeheartedly, then I must repeat this over and over to my children and to those I influence in my life.  Every area of life is covered here: Love the Lord Your God with ALL your heart, soul and strength!

Then, check this out:  Repeat them, talk about them...when?... you sit in your house, you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up!!!  ALL THE TIME!!!  EVERY.  SINGLE. MOMENT.  OF.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  DAY.

God is in us.  He is with us.  We must simply look to Him, determine to recognize Him.  Truly, He has done the hard part of it for us.  After all Jesus Christ died to pay my debt of sin and He rose again so that I can have relationship with Him - NOW and FOR ETERNITY!!!  He did this for you as well.  Do you know HIM?  Message me and we can talk about it.  But I also know this, I make walking with Him hard - He doesn't.

So let's consider this... Am I listening to God or to my flesh?  Am I loving God the way He commands me too?  Am I committed to recognizing Him in every moment of my life?  Am I willing to share Him with others?  And if I am not, why?  Do I have any idols in my life?  Am I aware of Him as I go about this life?  Am I loving others out of the love I have for Him and that love He has provided for me? Do I see Him?  Do others see Him in me?

Father God, please forgive me for getting so caught up in the "busyness" of this life that I tend to just go on about my day without acknowledging Your Presence.  Forgive me for being unwilling to share You in the every day moments of life or for even just being unaware.  Thank You for Your constant, faithful presence.  Thank You that You are always at work in me and through me never leaving me on my own.  Thank You for convicting me and for loving me so much that You will discipline me.  May I love You more and more each day and may those around me see You in me and desire to love you too!  Have Your way in me.  It is all because of You Jesus!!!  Thank You!!

God of ALL Grace...

1 Peter 5:10
Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little. HCSB 

I am overwhelmed by this verse over and over again.  Will you look at it and then it's context with me?

Think of it in parts with me.  Now - is in the moment, every moment!!!  The God - Our One True God - who is the God of ALL GRACE promises to do this for us.  I love that little word ALL!!!  All is all; complete, whole with no ifs, ands or buts.  I don't know about you but I tend to be the one who is always trying to add in the but what about this and what about that to God.  I am often reminded that God's grace is based on Jesus and the fact that I am in Christ Jesus.  It is never based on my worth, my ability to earn it etc and thank the Lord for that!!! Because of Jesus I receive ALL the grace God has to offer - with no exceptions!!  Please God, help me to walk in the truth of this and convey that same grace to others with Your strength.

Did you see the next part of the verse?  Remember the first part - THE GOD OF ALL GRACE - now for the next part - WILL PERSONALLY RESTORE, ESTABLISH, STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT YOU!!  Those of us in Christ (we have accepted and trusted that Jesus died for OUR VERY OWN sin and was raised from the dead to give us new life) have the very God of the the universe, as our very own Father who will Himself restore us, establish us, strengthen us and support us!! Wow!!!!  Thank You, Father God!!!  

He is personally and intimately involved in your life as well as mine by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:26, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirt - the Father will send Him in My Name - will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you." 

Don't forget the last part of the verse (which in some other translations is at the beginning) - after you have suffered a little.  Suffering is a part of the Christian life and life in general.  It is to be expected - but we do not suffer without hope!!  Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer."  He promises to do all of this for us, but there is a caution that suffering is going to be involved in the process - it is inevitable.  For all of us.  But so is GRACE!! and so much more!!!

Look back at 1 Peter 5:6-9, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.  Be serious!  Be alert!  Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.  Resist him and be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world."

Do you see our responsibility?  God promises to personally restore, establish, strengthen and support us; however He requires that we humble ourselves before Him, trusting Him to do what He says He will.  We must give Him our cares over and over again - every single time they rise up in our mind as cares again.  We must be observant and pay attention because it is a fact that the Devil is our enemy and He wants to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10) us, our family's, and our lives.  Anything he can do to render us ineffective for the kingdom of God is his plan.  He doesn't care if we love the things of this life or do what the world says is acceptable (that is what he wants) - he only cares and fights us when we are seeking to bring God glory and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Don't let that bring fear, but let it bring an awareness.

If you do not find yourself battling in this life - may I suggest a moment of reflection on what is important to you and what is your priority?  This is a check that I use in analyzing myself to see if I am where God wants me. I am not saying storms and suffering will happen all the time, but if you find yourself rarely in the fight check your priorities and make sure that this earth is not your home.  Hebrews 13:14, "For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come." Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Remember the rest of John 10:10,  Jesus says that He has come that we may have life and have it in abundance.  Are we walking in victory with Christ - in the spirit?  Am I experiencing His restoration, strength and support in the midst of the suffering in this life?  He says I can and I will!!!

Father God, thank You for the many truths of Your Word.  Thank You for Your Grace, for the fact that You promise to personally restore, establish, strengthen and support us even as we experience suffering for a time.  Thank You that You give us the ability to rejoice in You and hold on to Your Truth despite how we may feel.  God, forgive me for often giving in to my feelings rather than taking my thoughts captive and walking in the truth of what I know. Thank You, Jesus for making all of this possible because You personally came to redeem and rescue us!  You paid the sin debt that we could not.  Please God, help us to walk in Your ways for Your glory.  Use us as You will, in Jesus' Name.  

More than we can bear?!?

1 Corinthians 10:13  (NIV)  No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.   

1 Corinthians 10:13 (HCSB) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand  When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG) No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face.  All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He'll never let you be pushed past your limit; He'll always be there to help you come through it. 

"God won't allow anything more than what you can bear."  I hear this all of the time and it bothers me greatly because it just isn't true!!!  The Bible does not say that.  The verse that it is taken from
1 Corinthians 10:13 in context is referring to idolatry and sin.  This verse and passage is saying that sin is common to all of us and that nothing will tempt us that hasn't already tempted someone else; however God is always there with us as believers.  He promises to provide a way out from under the temptation, a way of escape, a way out so that we can endure and not fall INTO SIN.  This promise has nothing to do with not having to face trials in our lives that won't break us or cause us to question and wonder at times if we will survive!!!

We have probably all said it at one time or another "Oh, God won't give you more than you can handle.  It will be okay just trust God, He won't let you deal with more than you can bear."  I am hear to tell you this is wrong and not biblical at all.

I have personally been to the point of not being able to handle "life" and all that it entails several times, even to the point of death and I know that I know that God was there with me at all times and yet He definitely allowed to me to face more than I could bear - because the fact is having to face more than I can manage helped me to realize that life is all about Him, that He is able and sufficient to handle anything - Not me!  Not ever me!!  There are times in all of our lives - in a variety of ways - that God allows things or we face things because we live in a fallen and sinful world and these are the times that we can see God most clearly.  Not on the mountain top, but in the valley, the pit or in my case - under the pit ;)

Look at Job.  He lost every single thing he had in this world besides his wife (Job 1).  He called on God.  He trusted God.  But he struggled.  He hurt in every way, emotionally, physically, mentally.  He did not passively say "Oh well, I know God won't allow more than I can bear!"  God did allow more than he could bear - from a human standpoint he was devastated - he would never be the same!  He lost all of his children!! He lost all he had!  And yet he knew that most important was that he belonged to God.  He mourned, he lamented.  He didn't pretend he was fine and that is wasn't a big deal!  It was a huge deal!! He was human, it hurt like crazy!!  And it was more than he could bear but he knew it was not more than his God could bear.  He trusted God.

Do you think David enjoyed being hunted down by someone he thought loved him as a son (1 Samuel 15...)?  Do you think it was no big deal for Hannah to be barren (1 Samuel 8...)?  Do you think it was fun for Elijah to be chased down by an evil woman with such power (1 King 19...)?  What about Paul?  Do you think being in jail, stoned, etc. didn't bother him?  Or Peter? On and on I could go.

Honestly, we all forget that those in the Bible were real people facing real emotions.  Look at their stories and realize that the common denominator is that they suffered, they struggled and yet they knew their God was bigger - not their ability to bear up under the hurts, but His ability to see them through.  It is wrong of us to say to that parent who lost their child - God won't give you any more than you can handle.  Or the one facing the cancer diagnosis... on and on.  Romans 12:15 says, "...weep with those who weep."  We are to give one another the freedom to grieve.  Our job is to point them to the fact that they are never alone, no matter how they feel.  The Holy Spirit lives inside of us - He never ever leaves!!

So let's remember that when we are tempted to sin that this is not the same as dealing with hurt and loss or a life event that may overwhelm us.  The fact is that there will be many life events - good and bad that overwhelm us and God will use them to remind us that we are not alone.  That He has a plan and a purpose for us and He is at work.  We will still be tempted sin in the midst of the hurt because we are human but we can know that God never leaves us and trust that He is at work drawing us to Himself and making us more like Him even in the unexplainable.  We are here to bring Him glory and point others to Him.  We will hurt, we will face loss, we will even be broken beyond what we can bear at times - but never alone, never abandoned by Him.  He will see you through even when you do not see how He possibly could, or even if you doubt that He will.  He can take your honesty - go to Him!!  To come to the end of ourselves is the goal!!  To rely fully on God!!!

Psalm 51:17 "a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise." (Matthew 5:3; Luke 18:14).  Brokenness before the Lord is beautiful and something He can work with.  To humble ourselves before God is what He has called us to.  To recognize that we can do nothing on our own.

Father God, I know I have jumped on my soap box today.  Please, Lord, use Your Words to encourage us.  Help us to not fall into the trap of the enemy that nothing too hard will happen to us if we walk with the Lord.  It just isn't true.  Suffering happens.  Life is hard even in the midst of good things.  In our pride we often think we are in control and to suffer or fall is a reminder that we are weak, but Your grace is sufficient and You remind us that You are with us at all times.  You are at work to bring about good for those that love You and are called according to Your purpose.  Help us as we forget that the ultimate good for us is our arrival in heaven.  The ultimate healing.  The freedom from hurts will be in heaven in Your Presence for all eternity.  This life is not heaven.  This world is not our home.  Forgive us for living as if it is and not having the urgency to tell others of the good news of the gospel of Christ.  That Jesus alone is the answer - we have no other answer!!  Thank You for Your forgiveness and Your unfailing love for us.  May we love others with Your love and may we say less and love more.  

Authenticity with Jesus and Others

I have read a few interesting books lately.  One is entitled “No More Faking Fine” by Esther Fleece.  I found this book after a friend sent me a YouTube video of an interview in which Esther Fleece talks about her book.  I highly recommend it – it is 45 minutes that is well worth the time.  Anyway, after watching the interview multiple times and sharing it with many different people I felt the Lord leading me to purchase the book.  It was excellent and very impactful, just as the video was.  Would you consider watching it?  

This book is about lamenting or about recognizing and admitting that we as believers hurt.  “Lament is simply expressing honest emotions to God when life is not going as planned.”  God wants our sad.  He is not distressed by our emotions of sadness – we need only look to David, or Jeremiah or Hannah or Jesus Himself…. For some reason though in the church and as believers we have conditioned ourselves or been tricked by the enemy that to share authentically and vulnerably is a bad thing or at the very least is an inconvenience.  This is so wrong.  I believe that God intends to break us of our pride and our self-sufficiency by using these hurts we experience to enable us to see that He is the only one who is able to meet our every need.  Then we are able to share the hope we find in Jesus with others in a way that meets them where they are because it is real – it is ours and it becomes theirs.  Jesus is our only hope!!

At one point in the book, Esther Fleece makes a few statements that the Lord has used to impact me profoundly.  “The only way to process the loss of the life we had hoped for is to lament.  And one of the kindest things we can do for each other is to offer a safe space where we don’t have to do it alone.  The ministry of presence is one of the greatest gifts we have to offer each other, especially in the midst of heartache.” (p. 188).  This is it!! God has called me to the ministry of presence.  He has been showing me this for many years.  It is crucial that we come alongside one another and live life beyond the surface.  The enemy of our soul tries to keep up from facing life head on with Jesus by convincing us to put on a mask or pretend that all is well when that is not the case.  We all struggle and admitting that is a great beginning or connecting point in sharing Jesus with a lost and dying world!!

Consider Psalm 13. 

1)   LORD, how long will You forget me?  Forever?  How long will You hide Your face from me?

2)   How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day?  How long will my enemy dominate me?

3)   Consider me and answer, LORD my God.  Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise I will sleep in death.

4)   My enemy will say, ‘I have triumphed over him,’ and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5)   But have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.

6)   I will sing to the LORD because He had treated me generously. 

Do you see how David took his “lament” to God?  How he shared fully his hurts, his fears, his doubts and then his hopes and ultimately turned to praising God?  This is a phenomenon only our Lord can do for us!  To go to Him honestly and without restraint is a gift He has given us! (Hebrews 4:16)  And in turn He restores us, our trust, our awareness that He is mighty, that He is in control and no matter what things look like around us or what is done to us – He loves us and He holds us in His mighty hand!!  (Jeremiah 30:17; Psalm 51:12; Isaiah 57:18; 1 Peter 5:10; John 10:29).  It is an ongoing process, a journey.  I want to do this journey His way and not my own. 

Father God, I thank You that though this journey can be awfully hard the fact is that when we belong to You we never walk alone.  Thank You for Your provision at all times and in all ways – regardless of what we see or don’t see.  Thank You that we can bring it all to You without fear and know that You are at work.  Help us Lord to be willing to do the hard things of facing our hurts – those we experience and those we cause – both for ourselves and alongside the others that You put in our path.  We all hurt, Lord, this is just a fact (John 16:33), but please allow us to surrender to You so that You may use our hurts to point others to the hope that we have in You, Jesus.  Help us not to get stuck in our hurts, but to lament and process them so that You may use them for Your glory in Your time and in Your way.  In Jesus Name, Amen.