Are You Listening?

 

 When I think about times when I have gotten sideways in a relationship, a common thread has often my need to be right.  That need leads to stubbornness, heightened emotions, and harsh words.  After many failures in this area, a key learning that was shared with me can be summed up in the phrase “the relationship is more important that being right.”  I am eternally grateful that someone shared that insight with me (and that I actually listened to them!) as it has made a world of difference. 

 

Proverbs 13:10 – Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice

 

Things to think about:

·       Pride – when being right is more important than the relationship

·       James 4:1-2 – “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.”

·       Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

·       Proverbs 15:22a – “Plans fail for lack of counsel…”

 

·       The opposite of Pride is Humility

o   Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less – CS Lewis

·       1 Peter 5:5-6 – “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

·       A key attribute of humility is a willingness to listen      

o   Prov. 16:20 – “Whoever heeds instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord”

o   Proverbs 15:22b – “…but with many advisors plans succeed”

·       James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

·       Proverbs 13:20 – “Walk with the wise and become wise…”

Do you need a God-sized Q-tip to get some of the pride out of your ears so you can better hear His wisdom???

A Quiet Life

 

Simplicity is a greatly underappreciated quality these days.  If you don’t have a million followers and a reality TV show, does your life really matter???  As usual, the Apostle Paul would beg to differ with what the world promotes.  In our verse below, he is advocating for a simple life that yields big results.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 - make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

 

Things to think about:

·       “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” – that sounds almost paradoxical, doesn’t it?  How ambitious can a quiet life be anyway?

o   What does he mean by a quiet life?

§  “You should mind your own business” – that doesn’t sound very compatible with social media, gossiping, and meddling!

·       Why is it important to mind your own business?

·       How has it gone sideways for you when you haven’t?      

§  “…and work with your hands” – if you are staying busy with your work, you shouldn’t have that much time or energy to poking your nose into other people’s business

·       All work has dignity, not just certain kinds.  The older I get the more admiration and respect I have for folks who know how to make, fix, and improve things!

·       What are the benefits of leading a quiet life?

o   You have a powerful witness to an unbelieving world – “your daily life may win the respect of outsiders”

§  Proverbs 22:29 – “Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.”

§  And of course, we all know Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”

§  Who do you know that is a skilled workman? What is it about their work you admire?

§  When we are busy about our work, we don’t have time to be gossiping about what everyone else is up to.

o   “So that you will not be dependent on anybody” – I know most of you well enough to know you have worked very hard in your careers to provide for your families

§  Not everyone sees it as their duty to look after their needs through their work and they expect someone else to carry their load.

·       Why do you think God doesn’t endorse this mentality when someone is capable but unwilling?

§  The Church is responsible for looking after those who need assistance.   When those who could be supporting themselves don’t and look to the Church or state for a handout, they are sapping resources from those truly in need.

·       Let’s aspire to lead quiet lives, ones that the outside world can respect and find attractive.  As the saying goes, you may be the only Bible some people read!

A Father's Love

 

This passage from Psalm 103 is incredibly comforting.  It is bookended by two statements of God’s love for His children, and packed in the middle with a tender understanding of how frail we humans really are.

 

Psalm 103:17 - But from everlasting to everlasting

    the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him

 

Things to think about:

·       Psalm 103:13 - As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;

o   14 for he knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

o   15 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;

o   16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

o   17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children—

o   18 with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

·       This psalm does such a beautiful job of illustrating God’s gentleness for those who do their best to follow Him

o   As fathers we can relate to how much we love our children just because they are our children.

§  Even when we mess up, He has compassion.  Why?  It’s in His nature as a father

·       Even in the most challenging parent/child relationships, we never stop loving our kids.  How much more our Heavenly Father?

·       How do you find comfort in this?

o   But also because He knows well that it’s in our nature to stumble and fall.

§  We are formed from mere dust. Our Creator knows we are not made of the best stuff…yet.  But when we are with Him in Heaven we will have a new body designed to last.

§  How does it make you feel knowing that God always keeps in mind our inherent weakness?

o   This life is so short in the scheme of eternity.  We flourish for a season and then poof – we’re gone from this Earth! While what we do here does matter for eternity, it’s also just a very small season in the context of eternity.

§  All of our successes and failures are real but they are also quite temporary

§  How does it make you feel knowing that in the relative scheme of things our time here is so brief?

·       Yet God’s love is anything but temporary

o   But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him

§  He will never leave you or forsake you

§  And for all of you grandparents, His righteousness is with our children’s children (Amen!)

·       But please note, these promises aren’t for everyone. 

o   Three times the psalmist reminds us that we are active participants in this relationship

§  For those who fear Him (vv. 13, 17) and those who keep His covenant and obey His precepts (v 18)

§  He doesn’t expect perfection, but He does want our genuine commitment

Gentleness, compassion, understanding, faithfulness – these are some of the qualities we see in God’s nature and attitude towards you and me today.

·       How does focusing on these truths encourage and comfort you?

The Gardener

 

The passage from John 15 will be familiar to most where Jesus uses the word picture of Himself as the vine, the father as the gardener, and His followers as branches.   Let’s explore how the gardener trims and nurtures the vine.

 

John 15:1 – I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener

 

Things to think about:

·       John 15:2 - “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

o   Did you notice that no branch is untouched by the Gardener’s hand?

§  Everyone is accountable to God

o   What is pruned on the fruitful branches may not be sinful in and of itself, just not the best

§  Little branches that take away from the larger branch are called suckers. They deprive the branch of all the nutrients they can use to be their healthiest.

·       Busyness, hobbies, idleness, fear

o   Of course, what needs to be pruned may be detrimental to the health of the branch like pride, bad habits, indulgences

·       I suspect some branches are going to be surprised they were lopped off

o   Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

·       What is the point of the vine and its branches? 

o   That they bear fruit. 

§  John 15:5 - If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.

o   What fruit are they to bear?

§  To love one another.

§  John 15:10-12 -  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

§  How can you recognize His fruit?

·       Selflessness, humility, grace

·       John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

·       What is the point of this garden?

o   John 15:8 – This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be My disciples.

o   God wants us to bear MUCH fruit – and all for HIS glory

§  Ask God what needs to be pruned so you can bear as much fruit as possible

Double Jeopardy

 

Did you know that the name Satan draws from the Hebrew word for “accuser” or “prosecutor”?  One of his best weapons against you and me is to try and prosecute us for crimes that we have already been acquitted of.  Can you imagine going through an excruciating legal battle, found innocent, and then allowing yourself to be put in jail?  That’s ridiculous!  But isn’t that what we do sometimes when we listen to an accusing voice telling us “A good Christian wouldn’t do that”, or “You’ve messed up too badly, God can’t use somebody like you”?

 

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

Things to think about:

·       Double jeopardy is a legal principle that prohibits a person from being prosecuted or punished multiple times for the same criminal offense.

o   In Satan’s dark domain, that’s the law of the land!

·       Ephesians 6:12 - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

o   This prosecutor is no slouch! 

o   Revelation12:10b – (speaking about Satan) “…who accuses them day and night before our God.”

·       Zechariah 3:1 - Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

o   He has been at this game for a long time

o   Zechariah 3:2 - The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

·       1 John 4:1 - Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

o   The antidote to false accusations is the Truth

o   1 John 4:4 - You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

·       2 Thessalonians 3:3 - But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

·       Revelation 12:10 - Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

o   Romans 8:34 - Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

When that malevolent voice is whispering in your ear that you’re not good enough, you’ve gone too far this time, God can’t use you, what’s the point of even trying, and the ocean of other lies he has, remember

·       Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

 

Help Me with My Unbelief

 

What is it you are asking God for?  Healing? Financial relief? A broken relationship?  In Mark 9, we read about the father of a boy possessed by an evil spirit.  The father was hoping Jesus could heal his son.  He said to him in verse 23, “…if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  Jesus’s reply stopped me in my tracks when I recently read this story, He repeated the man’s statement back to him “if you can”?  You can almost hear the incredulity in His voice.  Here is the Son of God and the man isn’t sure He can take care of his need.

 

Mark 9:23b-24 – Everything is possible for the one who believes. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Things to think about:

·       “Help me overcome by unbelief” – what an interesting statement.  He says he believes but also asks for help with his unbelief.

o   It’s like saying I have some gas in the tank but not a full tank.

·       I find that I’m not so different as this desperate father.  I definitely believe but I know I need help to believe to the full measure.

o   Maybe you feel this way sometimes too?

·       If we can equate belief with faith, let’s look at Hebrews 11:1

o   “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”

§  Sure and certain – this isn’t wishing, this is calling on the Holy One of Heaven

o   You already know some of the examples cited in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith chapter.

§  Heb. 11:7 – ^“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” 

§  Heb. 11:8 – “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going”

·       In James 2:18 – “…Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

o   Our deeds are our faith in action.  We have to walk the talk even when it’s scary and into the unknown.

·       Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

·       Are you struggling to believe, really believe, that God will answer your prayer?

o   Ask for help with your unbelief

o   Believe earnestly (i.e., sincerely)

o   Commit to the path of what God is calling you into (walk in faith)