Hearing from God

I may get people riled up, but I hope it’s with enthusiasm for the things of God and not annoyed at what I say. Have you ever heard someone say that God doesn’t speak to man? Which one of us is interpreting the scriptures incorrectly? Because, In my view God speaks to me every time I listen.

When man was hiding in the Garden, didn’t God call out to Adam & Eve? God talked to man then and he does now. Didn’t God talk to Noah about the ark and to Moses about the law? Didn’t he give Solomon wisdom and give David songs and psalms? Didn’t God speak to Esther about her people through Mordecai? And didn’t he speak to Elisha & Elijah? What about the virgins with oil? Or weren’t the writers of the Bible divinely inspired? What about the disciples? (They had Jesus Christ!) There are countless people and ways in the Bible that God speaks, why would he stop speaking and become silent? Why would a God who created man for fellowship quit communicating with us?! In 1 Corinthians 2 doesn’t it say the Holy Spirit will give understanding and all spiritual revelation to us as we study the word? If that isn’t God speaking to me, then I don’t understand my native language. I don’t need a priest or minister to interpret the Bible for me either, because I’ve been given a divine interpreter to translate parables and the truths of God. It’s the Holy Spirit – or God himself.

And if you’re incensed by my last statement. I’m only a part of a body, just as anyone else who believes in the redemptive power of the blood. We are joint heirs with Jesus. To carry that thought further, we need each other. We are joint heirs of a body of believers who each have a purpose in life. We each have certain strengths, unique to each individual, but it takes many members to make a whole and get the job done. We shouldn’t be focused on what others are doing or if their position in life or ministry is better, but whether we are doing what we do best and doing it well. There should never be any jealousy in the body!

Can you imagine how your own physical body would work if one day your eyes were mad at your ears for hearing and they quit focusing? How would you see? Or what if you feet decided your hands had it better and they decided not to move? How would you walk? When our body functions properly and healthy, we can see and hear correctly, we walk upright and with dignity, a spectacle of beauty. Just think of those who overcome insurmountable handicaps physically, they find ways to make things work, which is beautiful also, but they’d love for their whole body just to cooperate the way it should! God designed the church body to fit together like a healthy physical body. When we work in unison and allow each to do their part, we are a great team, a fully functional family. We are not a dysfunctional one, like so many have grown up in, but the perfect family God intended. When we recognize our position and the strength of others, it is then we are hearing from God, we are plugged into his will, we are the Ruth’s of today. Ruth was the one who heard from God, his companion and friend, and she was beautiful to look upon. When we function as a body, each doing our part, we are companions to God, fully serving him, hearing from him, and we are beautiful to look at in the eyes of God and others who believe.

Dousing the Fires that Destroy

We would be in a better frame of mind to remember when someone sets out to attempt to destroy us or assassinate our character because of envy, jealousy, or “perceived” offense, that it is our opportunity to shine. We are the only ones who can actually destroy ourselves by our re-Action to their tactics. They are exposing themselves and their own vulnerability and character by their attacks. They will eventually cause others to look at them more carefully and see their faults, if we keep a positive outlook, by focusing on who Jesus says we are and not others.

Unfortunately, some live a life of attempting to attack those around them who don’t cater to their every whim. We must allow them to self-destruct, however painful it might be. Jealousy, envy, and name-calling are at the root of a very bitter person. These behaviors are antithetical to a life led by the Holy Spirit. When a life is led by Jesus, it is full of the fruits of the Spirit; which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gossip is the opposite of these and one of the most insidious, because it entraps people and entices people to participate.  There are different forms of gossip also, as explained here: Proverbs 6:16-19 The definition of gossip is idle talk or rumors about the personal affairs of others; hearsay, scandal, and usually gossip isn’t a firsthand account, although there are those who gather evidence to use against you, posing as friends. Psalm 41:6 Many will try to disguise gossip and think it’s innocent to tell of another’s ‘troubles’ in a caring manner, but it isn’t and some don’t stop at caring; they do it out of vindictiveness. Gossip is a wildfire that must be put out – Don’t give an ear to its licking flames, don’t listen! Stop those who want to tell you the latest about others. When we shut our ears; by not listening; we are stopping those who want to share a ‘Bless their heart’ story. We are throwing water on the flames. If all of us did this, there wouldn’t even be a cinder left to ignite the flames.

I am reminded of an incident when I was a child about nine years of age. I grew up on my grandparents’ 80 acre pecan farm, with plenty of room to roam, and I loved it. One crisp, clear, cool fall afternoon, I piled up leaves about 30 feet from the back of our house to make a fort, which I was able to stack a couple of feet high. It was high enough that I could hide behind the walls if I scrunched down. I had plenty of material of twigs and dead leaves. The leaves were damp, so they stacked well. I had an active imagination and I was the youngest of three, much younger than my two older brothers, who usually couldn’t be bothered with a little sister. This allowed me to make up stories and play alone. But after I built the fort, sitting there became a bit boring and I wanted more excitement! I started to pretend an enemy had crossed the moat (our ditch) and set my fort on fire! But even then it wasn’t enough; I wanted to make it realistic. I knew we had matches in the house, because we had a gas range, which my mother needed the matches to light. Although I was forbidden to play with matches, I snuck in the back door, through our utility room, which led to the kitchen and waited patiently for my opportunity. I snatched a few from the box while my mother wasn’t looking. I ran back out and lit one on our concrete cellar and tried to catch my ‘fort’ on fire, but it wouldn’t spark right away, so I kept trying. I was on my last match when my father stuck his head out the back door to tell me dinner was ready. Knowing I shouldn’t be playing with matches, I dropped the match and ran for the house, forgetting the match was lit.
lit match
About 15 minutes into dinner, my father said, “I smell smoke! I wonder who’s burning today?” as he looked at my mother, he asked if any of the other farms had gathered their brushfires yet, and she replied that she didn’t know. Our closest neighbor was a quarter mile away. Suddenly it dawned on me how I’d dropped the match, so I jumped up and peeked through the dining room drapes to look. Just as I was about to be scolded for getting up from the table, I yelled, in a panic stricken voice, “My fort’s on fire!!” and pulled open the drapes. Everyone jumped up from the table to see, and my father barked out orders on what to do to put out the fire. We had to keep from burning all the leaves on the 80 acres, and I stood frozen there staring, then burst into tears. The fire was spreading quickly, even though the leaves were wet. I wasn’t thinking about the farm, I was thinking about all the work I’d done in building that fort for hours. Finally, I went outside and watched — the hose from the front yard was now hooked up to the back spigot, and my fort was almost gone, as I stood watching in horror! Then, I realized I had started this pandemonium with one small careless match. I snapped out of my remorse as I heard my father yelling about the pecan orchard, because I helped my grandfather on the farm all the time and realized the bigger picture. It wasn’t about a fort, it was about an orchard! I pitched in and all five of us worked with water and gunny sacks to put out the fire. Obviously, I was in trouble with my parents for playing with matches and starting a fire, but thankfully, it had only spread about an acre. About the time we had it almost out, my grandparents drove up to see why smoke was coming from our house, because from their vantage point it looked like our house was on fire. I don’t remember what my punishment was, because I was in so much remorse with what could have happened that my parents must have decided I had learned my lesson. But they weren’t easy on chastisement, so I must have had to do or go without something. 

I can think of so many parallels between gossip, responsibility, and carelessness from this story. I had to sneak into the house to get the matches. I was doing something that I knew I wasn’t supposed to do, but I went ahead, and when I got caught, I didn’t confess, I dropped the tiny lit fire. In starting the fire, I could have destroyed a whole orchard, think how many lives are destroyed by gossip. Also, when the fire caused the smoke, it caused panic and alarm, even bringing my grandparents hightailing through the farm to come to our aid. But some people don’t think of all the consequences of their actions. If I had thought about that lit match, I don’t I would have dropped it, but maybe I would so I wouldn’t get caught. Do you know people who even in the midst of telling gossip in front of the person they’re talking about, will quickly tell the story quietly? Gossip doesn’t stop with telling stories, relating facts, because sometimes the facts you know shouldn’t be shared and become misconstrued. If you ever played the game “Rumors” as a child, where you whisper a sentence in the ear of the person next to you and then it’s repeated and whispered through the ears of even just ten people, by that time it’s a completely different sentence. With gossip, the story is usually embellished, and every person has to add his or her own perception, that’s when the fire starts. Once the fire starts, it’s hard to put out, even if there are wet leaves (those who won’t listen) because there are a few dry leaves (those who will listen), so eventually you get a spark and then a smolder. Sometimes it takes a while for the smolder to linger, before the fire rages, like my fort fire. Then there’s damage and everyone comes running to put out what just one person started by being disobedient. This is why we must control our mouths and control our perceptions, we should never make presumptions or speculate. We cannot read other people’s minds or feel their feelings, those are theirs alone. It is best to contain a fire, by never allowing it to ignite. We should mind our own business and contain the fires. We should stop the fires that others want to start. 

People who shrug off deliberate deceptions,  saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,” Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires. When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;  when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down. – Proverbs 26:18-20

A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. – James 3:5-6

 

Accepting the Passover Lamb

The bitter herbs to be eaten at Passover were to remind the Israelites that they had been delivered from slavery in Egypt. Today, by the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ let us be reminded that we have been redeemed from slavery to sin and have received a final, one time propitiation (sacrifice) from our former life.

The lamb was to be without blemish; Jesus was the lamb without sin.

The Israelites were instructed to eat the meat right away after draining the blood and marking their doorposts. We should eat the meat of the Living Word immediately once we accept our Savior. How are we marked with His blood? By accepting him, we are passed over in death when we have accepted His eternal life. We are also marked by our demeanor and his light. 

This is how the Israelites were instructed to partake of the Passover, in Exodus 12:11

“And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste.” 

We are reminded again in Ephesians 6:14-17

“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

We are not to hesitate with preparing ourselves. Stand your ground; don’t let anything hinder you from your faith. Put on the belt of Truth which gives us discernment and the belt protects our vulnerability as well as frees us to move without hindrance. God’s righteousness is to live by the Spirit. Putting on the shoes, sandals & peace of the good news are having a readiness to share the gospel. The shield of faith or your staff is the faith you rely on when you cannot see the outcome and still know God has it under control. Salvation as your helmet is having the mind of Christ. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.

When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:13-16

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1