Can You Hear Me Now?

     I used to chuckle at those T.V. commercials for a cell phone carrier.  The fellow would walk along so far and then ask, "Can you hear me now?"  The idea, of course, was to point out that this particular carrier never dropped a cell phone call as versus the others out in the marketplace.  It was clever advertising, but it also made me think of God's efforts through the ages to reach the heart of man.  He sent His commandments.  Then, He sent His prophets and finally, He sent His Son all in an effort to make clear to His creation the way of salvation.  Even after we become a Christian, God continues to speak to our hearts through His Word, in prayer and through fellowship.  But are we listening?

     I am reminded of a story which I have seen in various forms on the internet, but found most recently in a devotion written by Dr. Neil Anderson of Freedom in Christ Ministries.  The story goes like this:  "A devout Christian heard an urgent news report on his radio that a flash flood was within minutes of entering the peaceful valley where he lived.  Immediately he went to his knees and prayed for safety.  The words were still on his lips when he became aware that water was gushing under his door.  He retreated to the second floor and finally onto the roof of his house.  While he sat on the roof, a helicopter flew by and the pilot asked over the loudspeaker if they could lift him off.  It's not necessary since I have the Lord's protection, he replied.  Moments later the house began to break up and he found himself clinging to a tree.  A police boat, braving the waters, approached him for rescue, but he assured them that the Lord would save him.  Finally, the tree gave way and the man went to his death.  Standing before the Lord, he asked, 'Lord, I'm glad to be here, buy why didn't You answer my prayer for safety?'  The Lord responded, 'Son, I told you over the radio to get out of there.  Then I sent you a helicopter and a motor boat!'"

     Nowhere in the Bible are we told that God is only going to do the extraordinary or miraculous in order to speak to our hearts.  Most of the time God works through His created order.  He speaks in that "still, small voice" rather than through a loud speaker.  Unfortunately, many of us are looking for a big billboard in the sky to tell us what we should do when we are in a difficult situation.  Like the man in the story above, we are "trusting the Lord" for our deliverance but we miss all the common things around us that can lift us up.  Let me give a personal illustration.

     I was feeling somewhat disheartened the other day, so I asked the Lord to give me some encouragement.  During the busy day at the office, several people made nice comments to me.  Then, I received an uplifting email from a friend.  The entire day, in fact, was filled with small moments like this, and when I sat down that evening to think about it, I knew it was the Lord sending encouragement my way.  He was in all the small things of the day. 

     Our problem comes if we only look for Him through signs and wonders.  That is not a faith walk....it is a sight walk.  We cannot hear God if we are not tuned to His voice.  How do we learn to recognize Him?  The answer is found in knowing Him through His Word and in spending time with Him.

The Bible says in Hebrews 13:5:  "He [God] Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'"  If this is true, then why do we look for the answers everywhere else but in the simple things around us?  Maybe someone has given us a Christian book to read.  Perhaps someone sent us a letter or has given us  a phone call.  God can use these simple things to speak truth to us, but we have to be tuned in to hearing Him behind these simple things. 

     God promises that when we call to Him, He will answer us:  "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:3).  How wonderful it is to know that our Father in heaven wants to commune with us!  All we have to do is look around us at what He sends our way each day.  If we pray, seek answers in His Word, we can trust Him to know that He will send us His response.  Lets remember the lesson in the story we read so we don't miss God's call to us, "Can you hear me now?"  Selah!

Father, tune our ears to hear your voice.  Open our eyes to everything You have provided for us so we can walk in obedience to You.  Help us to see You in the small things instead of always looking for the big things.  Forgive us for seeking signs instead of seeking You.  Thank You for never leaving nor forsaking us.  Help us to trust You more each day.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Preparing for the Trip of a Lifetime

     Since the news that my husband has planned a special trip for us to Europe in honor of our 40th wedding anniversary, both of us have been diligently preparing for this big adventure.  The first leg of our journey will take us from a two day stay in Scotland to a car tour throughout England.  With this in mind, we have to plot out the route we will take, the cities we wish to see along the way and where we will stay.  For some, this would be a nightmare but part of the fun of going to a new country is finding a way to meet the people and learn about the history of the area.  From our point of view, this is more difficult if we are on a guided tour.  We want to be able to mix with the folks on the street, but I grant that it does take planning.
     In addition to looking up interesting historical sites on the Internet, we are also listening to travel shows that describe the culture, background and food in the area we plan to travel.  Reading a good travel guide and assessing the amount of time we have to spend all have to be considered.  Then, when the trip takes place, we can relax and enjoy it knowing the course we plan to take.  Isn't this really the same thing we are supposed to be doing as Christians?  I had to think about that as I was furiously typing sightseeing side trip websites into my laptop.  We are to prepare for the trip of a lifetime by preparing our hearts for our soon coming King.  We will not be ready for heaven if we sit on the sidelines just waiting for it to come.
     Jesus told a parable that talks about the importance of planning and preparation.  This story is found in Matthew 25:1-13.  He told His disciples about ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom to come.  Five were wise and five were foolish.  The wise virgins had their lamps trimmed and ready for use, but the foolish virgins brought no oil for their lamps.  The virgins all fell asleep waiting when a cry came up at midnight that the bridegroom was coming.  The wise virgins ran out with their lamps prepared and burning to go on to the celebration.  However, the foolish virgins had no oil.  They asked the wise ones to share their oil.  The wise virgins told them to go and buy some for themselves.  However, by the time they returned, the gates were shut and the wedding celebration had commenced.  Though these foolish virgins knocked on the door, they were not admitted for they were not known by the Lord of the feast.
Jesus concluded this story by saying in verse 13:  "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
     This parable points out the importance of preparation and planning.  The wise virgins had their lamps ready for use and brought extra oil for them.  On the other hand, the foolish virgins brought their lamps but no oil.  They had not bothered to be ready for the bridegroom.  We should not be too critical of those foolish virgins though.  Many of us are just like them.  We do not prepare our hearts for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that will come one day.  Our Bridegroom will return for us and we do not know when.  So how can we plan and ready our hearts?  Here are some thoughts we should consider.
     Scripture tells us:  "Pray without ceasing"...(I Thess. 5:17)
                                  "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"
                                    (I Thess. 5:18)
                                  "Do not quench the Spirit" (I Thess. 5:19)
                                  "Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good."
                                    (I Thess. 5:20)
                                   "Abstain from every form of evil" (I Thess. 5:22)
                                   "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no
                                     need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15)
                                   "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not
                                     neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
                                     and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25).

     Each of these Scriptures (and there are many more) point us in the direction of how we can keep our lamps ready for the coming of our bridegroom and the trip of a lifetime.  The study of God's Word, prayer, fellowship, walking in the Spirit are all important elements not only for our growth but for our preparation.  This is not unlike planning the route we will take for our European trip.  We would be foolish if we went with no idea in mind of how to get to our destination.  What a waste of time!  Yet, many of us do waste precious hours that we could be spending at the feet of our Lord.  I want to recognize the voice of my Master when He calls me.  I don't want to be running around looking for my Bible just like the foolish virgins that went to buy more oil.  It was too late!  They missed the blessing and so can we, unless we take the time to be prepared.

     My husband is gifting me with the trip of a lifetime.  However, Christ has given to us salvation and an eternity in His presence free from sin, evil, tears, sickness and death.  To enjoy fully what He has done for us and to bring greater glory to His name, we must be like the wise virgins and prepare the lamps of our lives.  He has given to us all we need for life and godliness.  We just have to be faithful to prepare.  Selah!

Through My Window Part II

     In Part I, I covered three qualities that God looks for as He gazes into our heart window:  prayer, conduct including our speech, and Bible study.  As we grow in our faith, these qualities should also be more and more evident in our lives as we travel the highways and byways of this life.  God, after all, is working to conform us into the image of His dear Son.  There are, however, three other qualities that serve to help us grow in our walk and provide a clear testimony to those outside the covenant of grace.

     First among these three is love.  When we first fall in love with Jesus Christ as our Lord, Redeemer and King, we are excited to share with others the Good News of our salvation.  We also want to do all we can to please the Father in heaven.  This is what I call the "honeymoon" phase of our love for God.  However, as time passes and troubles come, we tend to neglect our love relationship with the Lord and this affects all other qualities I previously mentioned.  This is the place where we need to remind ourselves of what Jesus instructed His disciples in John 14:15:  "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments."  Then again in John 14:23 Jesus said:  "If anyone loves me, He will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him."  Our obedience, then, reflects our love for Christ.  In addition, when we love the Lord, His love then is able to flow out to others.  Jesus says in John 15:12:  "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
     When we entered into covenant relationship with God through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord gave us a new heart capable of loving and obeying Him.  This new heart also has the ability to love others even as Christ loved us.  In fact, we can even love our enemies when we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with the fruit of His love.  This kind of love is far more than mere emotion.  Instead, it says, "I love you in spite of any flaws I see in you."  The world cannot love like this, so they will notice when we do.
Our love for God is reflected in how we love and treat others.  A good way to check ourselves is to see how well we are doing in our relationships with our family and friends.  If things are not going well, it could be that our love for God reflected in our obedience to Him is not what it should be.  Remember, the quality of our vertical relationship affects all our horizontal relationships with our fellow man.  We need to remember Paul's admonition: "So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (I Cor. 13:13).

     A second quality we want the Lord to find as He gazes at our heart is that of service.  When we love others, we want to serve them.  A true leader, according to Christ, is first a servant.  The mother of two of his disciples made a request that each of them be given a seat next to Jesus in His kingdom.  Of course, this made the other disciples irritated at these two.  However, Jesus made clear when He spoke these words:  "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you.  But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" ( Matt. 20:25-28).  Clearly, the Lord demonstrated, many times, His humility and service.  He washed the disciples feet in a display of love and service to them.  Then, He gave His life as a ransom for those who would call upon His name.
Love and service go hand in hand.  Practically speaking, we cannot be good leaders, teachers, pastors, or disciples unless we are willing to serve the needs of others.  Again, this is contrary to the way in which the world thinks and acts; therefore, it becomes a powerful testimony of Christ's redemption in our lives.
     Finally, a quality which is so often overlooked in our hustle, bustle lives is fellowship.  The fellowship of believers is critical for our growth in Christ.  In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer says:
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near"
(Hebrews 10:24-25).  The purpose in gathering together is to worship God and encourage one another.  Rubbing against other saints, like iron sharpens iron, refines us in our faith and makes us able to withstand the arrows of the enemy.  We have fellow soldier/servants who stimulate us to good deeds and pray for us when we are down.  Why do we neglect something so valuable?  We comprise the Bride of Christ, and we know that wherever two or three are gathered He is there with us.  No man alone is as strong as he could be with the assistance of brothers and sister in the faith.  Fellowship provides the platform for accountability when we sit under the teaching of God's Word and interact with other believers in corporate worship.  Our lives will be enriched when this is present on a regular basis.

     All of these qualities are tied together and enhance one another.  The question is, "Are we allowing God to build these into our lives and will He see them when He peers into the window of our hearts?"
Prayer, our good conduct and right speech, Bible study, our love of God and fellow men, service to others and fellowship in worship are all reflections of our new heart in Christ.  When we display these, the world will notice and God will receive the glory.  We are made to shine for Him.
     As I look through my window each day, I delight in what I see.  I know that the Father in heaven delights in us when He looks into our hearts and sees these qualities in full bloom.  Meditate on this and examine your heart in light of His Word.  May we bring praise to God the Father when He looks into the window of our heart!  Selah!


I welcome your comments here.  Please leave an insight, word of encouragement, or thought here.  I enjoy reading them.


P.S.  All the pictures are taken from the windows of my home with my new camera.  It is a delight to be able to share them with you.  If you would like to use one, please ask me for permission.  Thank you...hope you are blessed!