Spiritual hearing

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 10:1-10

TO CHEW ON: “‘To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.’” John 10:3,4

Jesus is here setting the scene for one of His iconic “I Am” statements—actually two: “'I am the door of the sheep'” - John 10:7 and “'I am the good shepherd'” - John 10:11.

These verses speak so powerfully to me that I’ve chosen them as my 2017 verses of the year to accompany the word “Listen,” my word for the year.

Two things stand out about the shepherd-sheep relationship from them: 

1. The shepherd knows his sheep individually and intimately: “…he calls his own sheep by name.”
2. The sheep follow him because they recognize and know his voice and obviously trust him.

This is what I want above all—to hear the voice of my Shepherd, recognize that it’s Him, and that I can confidently follow. How does this happen? We find some clues as we look at other places in the Bible that talk about spiritual listening and hearing.

• We discover that it may involve tuning our ears to listen, and watching and waiting. In one of his Lady Wisdom poems, Solomon, speaking as wisdom personified says, “Blessed is the man who listens to me / Watching daily at my gates, / Waiting at the posts of my doors” - Proverbs 8:34.

• It is listening to rebuke: “The ear that hears the rebukes of life / Will abide among the wise” - Proverbs 15:31.

• It is going to church with a receptive attitude: “Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools” - Ecclesiastes 5:1.

• It is recognizing that spiritual truth and wisdom may not always come from the places we expect: “Words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard / Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools” - Ecclesiastes 9:17.

• We can pray to have renewed hearing even if we’re getting on in age: “O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known” - Habakkuk 3:2.

• It involves acting on what we’ve heard—obedience for the long haul, as Jesus taught: “‘But the ones (seeds) that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience’” - Luke 8:15.

• God’s words to and in us can flourish when we live with an attitude of saying less and listening more: “… let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” - James 1:19.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your words as recorded by the apostles, as well as all the words of the patriarchs and prophets in the Bible. May You, by Your Holy Spirit, help me to hear, understand, know how to apply, and then obey what You say to me through them. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jesus and children

Children in church - Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 18:9-30

TO CHEW ON: “But Jesus called them to Him, and said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.’ “ Luke 18:16

I spent  a recent weekend at an event called Poetry Camp—a gathering of children’s poets (poets who are adults but write poetry for children). It was a good place to be—with people who hold children in high regard, who are in touch with their own childlikeness, and who have a lot of empathy for kids.

Luke 18:15-17 of our passage alerts us to several aspects of how children, us adults, and the kingdom of God are related.

1. Children don’t come to Jesus on their own; they must be brought.
 
2. Jesus’ touch on a child’s life is something to be desired.
 
3. Adults can hinder children coming to Jesus.
 
4. Adults can learn a lesson about receiving God’s kingdom from children.

(My Bible’s notes on parallel passage Mark 10:15: “The kingdom of God is only for those who come to Jesus in the humble dependence and trust of little children. The kingdom of God belongs to them, not because of merit, but because God wills to give it to the humble and the apparently insignificant or unimportant” - J. Lyle Story, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1368,9.)

The church I attend has a special emphasis on the 4-14 window (providing attention, ministry and programs to kids between the ages of 4 and 14). This is because statistics show that almost three quarters (71%) of adult Christians have had an encounter with Jesus during that period of their childhood.

In regard to children coming to Jesus, we can ask ourselves, are our churches welcoming and attractive to youngsters and their parents? How do those of us without youngsters react when a crying baby or lively toddler makes him- or herself heard in our sedate atmosphere? Are we helpful and understanding? Or do we stare resentful looks at the parents?

Do we encourage  the utter trust and faith of children when them come to Jesus? Or do we take it on ourselves to caution them not to take these things too seriously?

May we retain our own childlike faith in Jesus and bring them with us to Him.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I love how welcoming and gentle You were with children. Help me to have Your attitude toward them and their attitude toward You. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are you glad to go to church?

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 121:1-122:9

TO CHEW ON: “I was glad when they said to me,
Let us go into the house of the LORD.” Psalm 122:1

Today is Sunday, the day many of us have a habit of attending church. Can you, can I honestly say we're glad to go—that we can’t wait to get there? That’s the question that came to me this morning as I read Psalm 122:1.

Whenever the assigned Bible reading is one of the Songs of Ascent from the Psalms (and Psalms 121 and 122 are such songs), I find myself reaching for Eugene Peterson’s excellent A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. It’s a book that richly elaborates on these songs and psalms that were part of the Israelites’ pilgrimages to Jerusalem to commemorate the feasts.

Peterson says some profound things about worship in the chapter on Psalm 122. He explains worship as one activity Christians do that is voluntary: “… worship is not forced. Everyone who worships does so because he wants to” - Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience, p. 50.

Peterson points out three items in Psalm 122 that worship does for us.

1. “Worship gives us a workable structure for life” - p. 51 (Psalm 122:3,4).
For the Israelites keeping Sabbath and celebrating the feasts became the bones of the year. Other activities, even work, were subservient to these observances. I wonder, do we allow worship to help us set priorities?

2. “Worship nurtures our need to be in relationship with God” - p. 53 (Psalm 122:4).
God is with us through trouble and good times, when we mess up and when we do good. Times of worship give us space to express our thanks. “A Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot” - Augustine (quoted p. 53).

3. In worship “…our attention is centered on the decisions of God” - p. 54 (Psalm 122:5).
“Every time we worship our minds are informed, our memories refreshed with the judgments of God, we are familiarized with what God says, what he has decided is the way he is working out our salvation” - p. 55.

This psalm and Mr. Peterson’s thoughts on worship have prompted me to list some of the reasons I gladly go into the “house of the Lord":

* I get encouraged by the numbers of people—and their variety—who are my brothers and sisters in the faith.

* The songs and message of a church service often provide a course correction for what’s happening in my life, for the decisions I’m considering, the attitudes I’m nurturing.

* The songs, scriptures and talks remind me of aspects of God that I may have forgotten about.

* Body life—visiting with friends and being on the prayer team—helps me feel connected to what God is doing as I hear about His work in others lives and agree in faith for His help for needs.

Are you glad to go to church? Why or why not?

PRAYER: Dear Father, voluntary worship—that’s what I want mind to be. Help me to deal with life clutter that gets in the way of my sincere, all-in worship. Amen.

MORE: More Peterson wisdom:
“… we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship” - Eugene Peterson, Op. Cit., p. 54.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

It's Saturday, but Sunday's coming!

Stained glass window from St.
George's Anglican Church,
Fort Langley, B.C.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 122: 1-9

TO CHEW ON: "I was glad when they said to me

'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" Psalm 122:1

Today is Saturday. Do your thoughts flit ahead toward tomorrow with anticipation because then you can again "go into the house of the Lord"?

For David going into the house of the Lord meant gathering together with fellow Israelites in Jerusalem. It was celebrating the feast days and festivals — and they were celebrations! It meant going up to the tabernacle (the temple had not yet been built) where resided the "Testimony" — the ark with the tablets containing the ten commandments. It meant witnessing the various sacrifices, performed only by the priests, but heavy with the symbolism of God's plan of atonement, redemption and salvation for all.

What we mean when we say we go into the house of the Lord is, of course, different from David's meaning for him. But it has similarities in its regularity, the way its celebrations provide the bones of our year (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas), and the way each visit again directs our attention God-ward.

Would you miss it if it were gone — if Sunday were just another workday? If you never had to make an appearance at church again? Sometimes the way to realize how much we appreciate a thing is to imagine it gone — indeed put ourselves through actual withdrawal for a whlie.

I don't advise doing that with church attendance (stopping to see how much you miss it). But I do think it's a valuable exercise to, once in a while, think about what it would be like if church weren't there to attend.

Today, make a list of things you would miss if your church disappeared off the face of your town and you never met with your brothers and sisters in a corporate, church-gathering way. Here is the beginning of my list:

I would miss:
1. Worshiping, loudly and heartily, with others.
2. Pastor's teaching and how it focuses me on eternal things.
3. Hearing the stories of God working in the lives of others.
4. Seeing people baptized.
5. Hearing reports from missionaries about what God is doing in other parts of the world...

Would you be sorry to see it gone? I know I would!

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me a new appreciation for my church and its role in my life. I want to say with David, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" Amen.


MORE: Songs of Ascent

Psalm 122 is one of the fifteen Psalms of Ascent (they are Psalms 120-134). Eugene Peterson writes about these psalms in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. In Chapter 1 of the book he explains their origin and use:

"These fifteen psalms were likely sung, possibly in sequence, by Hebrew pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem to the great worship festivals.

[...] Three times a year faithful Hebrews made that trip (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:22-24). The Hebrews were a people whose salvation had been accomplished in the exodus, whose identity had been defined at Sinai, and whose preservation had been assured in the forty years of wilderness wandering.

As such a people they regularly climbed the road to Jerusalem to worship. They refreshed their memories of God's saving ways at the Feast of Passover in the spring; they renewed their commitments as God's covenanted people at the Feast of Pentecost in the early summer; they responded as a blessed community to the best that God had for them at the Feast of Tabernacles in the autumn. They were a redeemed people, a commanded people, a blessed people."

- Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. pp. 18-19.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Swamped by circumstances?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 77:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "And I said, 'This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High'" Psalm 77:10

Asaph, the writer of this psalm, is in distress. He can't sleep. Words fail him. He feels forgotten and neglected. The tap of God's favor has been turned off.

Then Asaph turns himself around. "This is my anguish," he declares. "But…" How does he do it? His method has to do with two thought patterns and two actions.

"I will remember…" (Psalm 77:10,11). He will recall the times of God's favor, His word, His works, His wonders, the evidences of His presence, no doubt in nature and life.

"I will also meditate on all Your work" (Psalm 77:12). To meditate is to continuously direct the mind along a certain course. He will direct his thoughts towards God's actions and accomplishments.

"And talk of Your deeds" (Psalm 77:12). He will express those remembrances and meditations, further cementing their reality, their importance, their superiority over the bad things he has been dwelling on.

"Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary" (Psalm 77:13). He will seek God's company and the company of other believers by going back to God's house where the focus is on "the God who does wonders…" (Psalm 77:14-20).

Could we do the same things when life's pressures pummel us and the clouds of circumstances block out His presence?

• Remember the good times, God's goodness, His works in nature, His wonders in history and in our lives.

• Meditate on all His work. We can think about God's work in our lives, in creation, in history, and in redemption. The verses we have memorized will come in handy here. Recalling and repeating them will wear wholesome paths in our brains—paths to purity (Psalm 119:11); truth (Psalm 119:29); what is of value (Psalm 119:36-37); song (Psalm 119:54); wisdom (Psalm 119:66); the right course to take (Psalm 119:105); light (Psalm 119:149) etc. (Read all of Psalm 119 to find more benefits of meditating on the Word).

• Talk of God's ways. Commit to them in speech.

• Go to the sanctuary. Seek out the company of other believers where we will find moral and spiritual agreement and support.

PRAYER: Dear God, it's easy to let circumstances swamp me. When it feels like that's happening, help me to recall and do these things. Amen.

MORE: Mental inventory

"You should take inventory on a regular basis and ask yourself, 'What have I been thinking about?' Spend some time examining your thought life.

Thinking about what you're thinking about is very valuable because Satan usually deceives people into thinking that the source of their misery or trouble is something other than what it really is. He wants them to think they are unhappy due to what is going on around them (their circumstances), but the misery is actually due to what is going on inside them (their thoughts)" - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 61.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.