Listen

Mar

2023

Treasure Hunt

As we read in Romans 11:33, we find that the wisdom and knowledge of God are deep and unsearchable. We may try to understand God’s ways, but we may never fully comprehend His ways. This verse reminds us of the vastness and mystery of God’s nature. As we seek to know more about God, we can find comfort in knowing that He is infinitely wiser than we are.

God’s ways are beyond our understanding, but this does not mean that we should give up trying to know Him. The more we seek God, the more we will see His hand in our lives.

We can trust that God is always working for our good, even if we do not understand the details of how He is doing it. We can also trust that God is always faithful to His promises, and that He will never leave us or forsake us.

As we contemplate the depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge, we can also be encouraged by the fact that He desires for us to know Him more. We can approach God with a childlike faith, seeking to learn more about Him and His ways. God invites us to come to Him, to ask questions, and to seek His guidance. As we do so, we can trust that He will reveal Himself to us in ways that are beyond our imagination.

Mar

2023

Be Still

As we journey through life, we often find ourselves caught up in the hustle and bustle of the world around us. We are constantly bombarded with noise, distractions, and busyness, and it can be challenging to find a moment of peace. However, the psalmist reminds us to be still and know that God is God. (Psalm 46:10)

In our stillness, we can find a deep sense of peace and connection with our Creator. It is essential to take the time to quiet our minds and hearts and to focus on the presence of God in our lives. When we do this, we open ourselves up to receive the love, guidance, and wisdom that God wants to impart to us.

As we go about our daily lives, we should remember to take moments of stillness to reconnect with God. Whether it is through prayer, meditation, or simply being in nature, we should seek out these opportunities to be still and know that God is God. By doing so, we will find that we are better equipped to face the challenges of life with grace and strength.

Let us take the psalmist’s words to heart and embrace the stillness that allows us to connect with our Creator. As we do so, we can rest in the knowledge that God is, and will be, exalted among the nations and in the earth.

Jan

2019

Martha, Martha

Martha’s idea to invite Jesus to her home was turning out to be a problem for her. This was supposed to be a good thing. The Son of God is in my home! We had better get the best dishes out, the choicest drink and food; prepared just right! Everyone had better be on their best behavior too!

Mary, Martha’s sister, knew what was most important, and was not about to be moved. She decided to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to the Words of Life He would speak. She hung on every word! Martha was missing out, distracted by the busyness of preparations.

Martha was so distracted that she even complained to Jesus; “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” She now wanted her distraction to be everyone else’s distraction too, even Jesus!

Jesus was quick to set Martha straight, showing her that what Mary was doing was the best thing. Not that dinner preparations are not important, but sitting with Jesus is even better!

When faced with a distraction that threatens to pull your focus off Jesus, do what Mary did, and just sit still, and listen to Jesus. Rest assured that you are doing the right thing; the distraction will wait.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

Apr

2018

Are You Listening To ME?

There is nothing quite as annoying as sharing a life-experience story; you are verbally setting up the ending, the punch line, the grand finale, hopeful to relish in the reaction from the group, only to have a zealous over-talker jump in before you even finish your thought!

Has this ever happened to you? How did that make you feel? If you are like me, it totally turned you off; it invalidated your spoken engagement with the group. Your story just got cut off and you had the same feeling you get when you are in traffic, and some rude driver cuts you off.

I have to admit, I used to be one of those rude conversation usurpers! To be honest, I still need to guard my tongue, or I easily revert to those verbal assault tactics.

God had to do a great deal of work in me in order for me to see this glaring fault in myself; others saw it, but were kind enough to put up with it, allowing me to interrupt, cutting front of other oral traffic.

I have often pondered why I felt the need to “jump in” to a conversation before letting the person finish. God revealed the answer; I was full of myself and wanted to be important, I was self-absorbed! Ouch!

Once God began to reveal to me how disrupting this was, I found that my listening skills began to improve, and I began to notice how often this “verbal road rage” was taking place.

To illustrate this phenomenon, consider a small group of men chatting about their hunting exploits. Invariably, one man will begin sharing his best hunting story, the other men are already thinking of their own legend, one that will outdo the current narrative.

Just like the driver who is rushing home after work is looking for that minuscule opening to dart in front, so does the verbal jouster look for his opening, a breath, a pause in a sentence; then wham, they jump in and full throttle ahead!

When this takes place, it reveals the selfishness of that person and the inherent need of an ego boost. It is rare that someone actually learns how to listen more than talk.

The one, who can master their tongue, will gain the confidence and respect they never could have, by jumping in, and jumping on, other conversations.

The Bible says . . . “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak …” (James 1:19)

Now those are words to live by. Someone once said; “God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we ought to listen twice as much as we talk.”

Are you listening?

Mar

2018

Hearing the Voice of God

1 Kings 19:9-13

Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The voice that Elijah heard was a rather quiet voice; a gentle whisper. Most of us would rather that God would yell; but do you really want God to yell at you?

Most conversations that I have with my wife Sherri are very gentle; we do not need to yell to one another in order to be heard. Now to be sure, I can be dull sometimes and on a rare occasion, be hard of hearing; in which case Sherri may need to turn up the volume so I can hear her over my own internal noise!

There are those occasions while driving that I tend to be day-dreaming and Sherri may need to shout to get my attention; I can’t tell you how many times a disaster has been avoided because she shouted words of caution.

God works pretty much the same way. Most conversations are intimate and easily understood; a gentle whisper; after all, He is living in me, so He should not need to yell at me!

However, if I am running headlong into some moral danger or temptation of some sort, God will turn up the volume and get my attention!

One of the most amazing things that God has done for us is to preserve His most treasured words in the form of a Book we can read; we call it the Bible.

While it does not contain everything God ever said, nor does it contain every act that God has done, it does have everything we need to know about Him until we meet Him face to Face.

As a small child, one of the most cherished times took place when I visited my grandma. She would break out a children’s book, and I would curl up next to her and she would read to me.

I would drink in every word; my emotions would rise and fall with every inflection in her voice and I would be totally enthralled as she excitedly read the book to me.

The next time you open up the Bible to read; ask God to read it to you! Let Him be the voice you hear as the words tumble off the pages! Let His joy be felt as He tells of the great exploits that those of faith did in His great name!

Listen to the sadness in His voice as He recalls those times that people He loved turned and walked away. Hear the fiery indignation as He recounts how he dealt with His enemies and hear the sweetness as He shares a love story in the Song of Solomon!

Hear the hopefulness in His voice as He shares the great Gospel message of Hope found through His Son; hear the pride in His voice as He thunders from Heaven; “This is My Son. . . In Him I am Well Pleased.” Hear the excitement in His voice as He describes the Day when He is finally united with His bride!

God uses everything at His disposal to speak to His children; He can yell; but He chooses to whisper. He can shout, but He would rather talk across the table with you. He would love to sit down with you and read to you the words preserved for us.

If you will develop your relationship with God, then you will begin to say things like; “The Lord told me . . . or The Lord said to me . . .” It will be as natural to you as talking to your spouse or close friend. It may seem mysterious to those around you, but to you, as natural as breathing!

I remember talking to a dear friend and evangelist, Gene Vincent; Sherri and I met him at a prayer conference in Atlanta Georgia years ago. Gene has a close walk with God and during the course of a conversation at one of the tables; Gene was talking about hearing from God.

Someone at the table asked Gene; “Did you really hear God’s voice speak to you; was it audible?” Gene looked up and said; “Oh, it was louder than that!”

What Gene was trying to convey is that when God speaks to you, it is more than a sound; it is a deep sense of knowing, a deep down conviction, and an abiding awareness that God is communicating something to you. It is undeniable and sure!

Have you had a conversation with God . . . lately?

Aug

2017

A Chipmunk, Jesus, and Me

I want to tell you a story about a chipmunk, Jesus and me.

It was one of those days where things just seemed out of sorts; to put it bluntly; “I just wasn’t feeling it.” It was especially bad that day because it was Sunday morning, and I was about to go preach a sermon soon!

Have you ever have one of those days where ya just weren’t feeling it?

I had questions that I needed answers to, and even though I was praying for it, I was getting nothing!

Overlooking Emporium

So, as was my custom, every Sunday morning I would go up to this spot on the mountain overlooking our community to pray and seek God.

I jumped in my truck and headed up!

I recall standing there for a few minutes praying and not feeling like I was getting anywhere, and then I did something out of desperation. I stood there, and in the loudest voice possible, I shouted out the name . . . “Jesus” . . . and I said it again as loud as I could . . . “Jesus.”

I waited a minute or so listening, almost expecting that He might come out of the clouds and talk to me! I needed to hear from Him and so I shouted again as loud as I could . . . “Jesus” and again . . . “ Jesus” and I listened for a reply.

As I stood there listening, I heard a noise; looking down I saw something rustling in the leaves, it was a little chipmunk, and it ran right up in front of me, about 5 ft from where I stood!

He stood up on his hind legs, looked at me holding an acorn in his front paws, chewing on it while looking at me. He studied me for about 10 seconds and took off, running down into the woods and up a tree.

I stood there and laughed at what I had seen and then it dawned; that little fella knew His Name! As I laughed, I looked up toward heaven and I said; “I think he knows your name.”

You can call me strange, but in that moment, I felt as if God was drawing very near; and He said to me; “He does know My name.”

And then the Lord said; “I’m glad that you know My name too. I heard you calling out to me.”

At that moment, the closeness of Jesus washed over me; and that day, which started pretty rough, actually turned out to be a really, really good day.

After spending some time with Jesus up there on the mountain, I couldn’t even remember what my questions were; they must not have been all that important after all; just being with him was more than enough!

If you ever find yourself having one of those days, and you just don’t know what to do; call out the Name of Jesus, do it with passion and wait for Him to respond . . . and don’t be to surprised if a few furry friends are watching!

The Bible . . . Book of Job 12:7-10 (NASB)

“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. “Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. “Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?