Listening to the Word

Jeremiah 5-6; John 12 “’To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.’” Jeremiah 6:10 “’There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.’” John 12:48 There are few more important disciplines for disciples of Christ than listening to and obeying Jesus, the living Word. ‘Are our ears open to the voice of our Shepherd? Do we know his voice? Are we quick to repent when convicted by the Holy Spirit? Is the Word of the Lord offensive to us when we are rebuked, or do we still find pleasure in knowing the Lord loves us enough to discipline us? When listening, obeying, communing, and worshiping become our most life-giving practices, we live out of that sacred inner space in a world that is externally conditioned and focused on the approval of others; we live for the approval of the...

Jeremiah 3-4; John 11 “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him. ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’” John 11:25-27 When a pandemic sweeps the globe, people look for a vaccine that will protect them through developing immunity.   But, what will protect us from the consequence of our sin? The consequence of sin is death. Jesus came into the world to save us from our sin and to bring us into the life-relationship we were created to enjoy with our Creator. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? Martha said yes! At the command of Jesus, her brother Lazarus walked out of the tomb despite being dead for four days. There is no other salvation from sin and death except the name of Jesus Christ.   If we know this life-saving answer, will we share it...

Jeremiah 1-2; John 10 “’The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.’” John 10:2-4 As we consider what it means to be a disciple of Christ, we can learn from Jesus’ analogy of a shepherd with his sheep. Our shepherd speaks to us through his Spirit indwelling us and through his Word. Our shepherd calls us by name. He knows us personally and often gives us a name which represents our calling or best contribution in his kingdom. Our shepherd leads us by example. He won’t ask us to do something he himself wasn’t willing to do. As sheep, we learn to follow our shepherd, not debate other sheep! As sheep, we learn our shepherd’s voice by spending time with him, listening, and obeying. As sheep, we follow our shepherd before we follow other sh...

Zephaniah 1-3; John 9   “’But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord.’” Zephaniah 3:12 “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.’” John 9:39-41 Jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth; yet, it was the Pharisees who could not see the hand of God at work.   Why? Spiritual pride had blinded them to their need for God. Humility is the gateway quality of those who see God both for salvation and ongoing revelation in the kingdom of God. Anything that grows humility in our lives should be welcomed not resisted. We both humble ourselves before God, and we are humbled. The man born blind endured much humbling in his life; yet, that...

Habakkuk 1-3; John 8 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 In the midst of war, pestilence, and plague where do we turn for hope and perspective? Habakkuk found joy in the Lord, not in his circumstances, vacations, possessions, and recent purchases; but, joy in the Lord our Savior. Why? Because the sovereign Lord was Habakkuk’s strength and he can be our strength as well.   Our strength does not come through our retirement investments, health plans, or group of friends; our strength comes through our relationship with the Lord. Joy, worship, and gratitude in the midst of very challenging circumstances are weapons of battle. We cho...

2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35; John 7   “Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” John 7:28, 29 Jesus’ truth-claims and authority-claims were unprecedented. He was either delusional, or he was God. Yet this same conviction about being “sent” has marked disciples of Christ who live on mission with him.   Sure, “you know me and you know where I am from”; but, do you know the One who sent me?   Without clarity and conviction about our call, ministry is just another religious job focused on pleasing people. However, knowing who is sending us each day changes our work as Christ’s ambassadors in the marketplace, in the classroom, in our community or across the globe. Apostles or missionaries (sent ones) are defined more by who sent them than by what they are doing. Either the whole churc...