What to do on a sinking ship?

Here is wisdom: If you can’t get out of the storm with Jesus, then be in the storm with Jesus.

Mark 4:35 “On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”

i’m sure the disciples were excited to see what would happen on “the other side.”  What they probably did not expect was a raging storm!  When they were in the middle, i sincerely doubt the disciples were nearly as excited about “the other side” as they were at the beginning. The closer they got to their destination, the more foreboding the wind and waves became.

God often calls us to launch out to a new destination, and He rarely gives us a laid out plan of the entire trip.  We leave the security of where we are and start out for “the other side” … most of us don’t have a vision of where we’re going, neither do most of us enjoy where we are on the way to where we’re going.  It is often in the middle where we encounter our storms… the testing place, the proving grounds.

The storm the disciples encountered in Mark 4:37 was no spring storm, it was of hurricane proportions!  It’s important also to know these were fishermen, they spent their life on the water and were not easily shaken by a storm.  But this was not any normal storm! The wind absolutely howled, and the water was filling the boat.  Amazingly, with the storm going full force … Jesus was asleep in the stern (Mark 4:38).   Do you ever feel like that?  Your life feels to be in the middle of terrible circumstances, you’re sure your boat is sinking, and it appears God is asleep … you might even yell at Him and even want to pick a fight, saying, “Don’t you even care that I’m dying here?!”  You spent time with Him trying to feel His presence… and nothing.  You prayed and fasted, threw yourself on the floor screaming and crying, using up an entire box of tissue… and nothing.  You searched for an answer, but no matter how hard you struggled against the wind and waves, the storm raged on and you didn’t know what to do.  Some call it the “dark night of the soul”.

At times like these, when it looks like the boat is sinking and we’re stuck in the middle, it is time for faith.  Easy to say, you say, but carefully consider, what are your options at that point?  Is He God or not?   And when He said, “Let’s go to the other side”, we must employ faith… God expects us to believe Him that if He said it, it will happen. If you spend your hours weeping and lashing out, the storm is the same. If you sit and do nothing, the storm is the same. Even if you did backflips up and down the street while declaring amazing things, it is highly likely the storm would be the same.

Jesus did calm the storm… but He also rebuked the disciples saying “How is it that you have no faith?”  Do you think He didn’t know, or was He asking the question in hopes they would question themselves? Of course, He knew, but they didn’t. It is vital to our future that we grow in faith, and growing in faith doesn’t happen because all things are always well with us.  We must learn to conquer our fear and press on to the other side.  It’s easy to enjoy our present situation when all things are rosey, but we’ve got to learn to enjoy where we are on the way to where we will be, possessing joy and peace in the midst of the storm as well as after it has passed on.

If you can’t get out of the storm with Jesus, then be in the storm with Jesus, and “let her ride” (Acts 27:15)!  Lean into the wind and trust God. Jesus will not forsake us, not now, or later. Let faith do it’s work.

          Nahum 1: “Look! Striding across the mountains— a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace! Celebrate, worship and recommit to God! No more worries about this enemy. This one is history. Close the books.”

Psalms 35: “But let me run loose and free, celebrating God’s great work,  Every bone in my body laughing, singing, “God, there’s no one like you. You put the down-and-out on their feet and protect the unprotected from bullies!”

Psalms 37: “The spacious, free life is from God, it’s also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil— when we run to him, He saves us.”

Psalms 124: “… we’ll discover we’ve flown free from their fangs, free of their traps, free as a bird. Their grip is broken; God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth.”

Nahum 1: “The Lord says, I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true, but I won’t afflict you again. From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck and splitting it up for kindling. I’m cutting you free from the ropes of your bondage.”

Are you free? You say you are, but what is your evidence? i believe we confuse agreement with commitment. People agree that God is right and true, but there is often not much of a commitment to actually DO it. Just because we agree doesn’t mean we intend or commit to DO anything.

Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36

So if Jesus Christ, the Son of God, says we are free, and we agree with Him that we are free, as He said, why are we willing to wear even a small yoke of the enemy? Many seem willing to continue bearing the burdens of their own past, unwilling to truly lay them down, even though the Lord says He has cast our sins as far as east is from west. Sometimes we’re even willing to bear the burdens of someone else’s past, whether they are biological relatives or not.         Why are we so willing to blame our problems on someone in our history, when we are the ones, through our own choosing and poor decision making, we are the ones who have generated vicious circumstances and cruel, self-imposed rules? It wasn’t them, it was us.

Why do we have such a hard time letting God be good to us? Listen to the question here: Why do we have such a hard time letting God be good to us? He said we are free, so how free is free enough for you? Can you imagine being free, and what does that look like to you? Are you willing to be “pretty much free”, or “mostly free”? How free is free enough?

We take God’s ultimate words of Freedom, and reduce the weight of what He said to align with unworthiness in our own eyes. We try and re-create the yoke of bondage for people who Jesus has set free, telling them that even though Jesus set them free from sin and ALL their history, there is still a curse  which hangs over them as a result of their great-grand father, or mother, or someone in their history who is long dead? Those people have nothing to do with us, they are no longer among the living, so i’m wondering, how did some curse survive the washing of the Blood of Christ? By us telling them they are still under a curse after accepting Christ is like saying the Blood of Jesus wasn’t sufficient to cleanse us from all sin.

(BREATH) Are you, who do deliverance telling people they have generational curses, are you saying the Blood of Jesus isn’t quite effective enough to really do the job, that you, yes you, being the only one who knows of this extra-special condition which was somehow beyond the vision of Almighty God, are you saying only you can bring relief to the poor undelivered soul, which even God Himself was not able to do?

For what reason do you bring into bondage again those whom have accepted Christ as Savior? Having confessed their sins, and asked for His forgiveness for any and all transgressions, why do you offer for them to come back into bondage by trying to influence them into believing they are still under some curse? Is that the work of the cross of Christ? Who’s burden have you decided they should carry after Jesus set them free from the burdens and weights of sin and darkness?

Proverbs 26:2 “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.” Have you ever read that? Think about it. If there’s not a cause for the curse to come, then it doesn’t stick, and i don’t care who the spell caster was that made it… it doesn’t stick. If we are under the blood of Jesus, then how does a curse stick?

The word used for “unleavened” is Greek ad’-zoo-mos, metaphorically meaning free from the “leaven of iniquity”. You are not responsible for the leaven of my iniquity, nor anyone else’s either. i am not by brother’s keeper, i am my brother’s brother. It’s not my job to make sure my brother gets life right and keeps the rules in order to be OK. God never asked any of us to play Holy Ghost Jr, policing people’s lives. i didn’t say don’t care, i said my problems are not your cross to bear. You have your own burden and don’t need mine too. i am my brothers’ brother, not my brother’s keeper. It is not my responsibility to make sure, looking over your shoulder, always measuring you, to make sure you “get it right”.

Those who do deliverance, do you hammer on sin until the person admits they are guilty? If they don’t see it, then all that hammering may actually cause them to comply, but probably, nothing of the heart has changed. i do believe that’s called “gas lighting”. It is manipulating someone into confessing to something which may not have actually occurred. When i was a new Christian i was told i was and always would be a terrible sinner so i’d just better get used to it. In my desperation, i confessed to the Lord every problem i could think of, and even sins i’d never been guilty of… constantly confessing day and night. i was desperately trying TO BE free as opposed to believing God who said i AM free. By the blood of Christ, we ARE free. The Lord is telling the truth, we – are – free. We don’t have to get saved and constantly repent to become free, we ARE free in Christ. Oh yes we are! God said it, so it MUST be true.

What do you think?

“Always”, and “Never” are, what i call, ultimate words. There are very few things in this life we live which are “always”, and “never”, but yet in the Bible there are ultimate words used, and i believe the Lord wants us to be involved with His ultimate intent and purpose, thus He uses ultimate words for us to ultimately trust Him and ultimately believe Him. Ultimate – to the utter most.

“Always” – at all times; “Never” – at no time. Another ultimate word is “Every”, meaning all individuals and parts without exception. Do we take these words seriously? We say we do, and we read the scripture and agree enthusiastically, but often we live it out differently. i question myself over how often i say God always has my back, but when things get tough, how often to i flip over backwards wondering where the Lord is in my life? When i use the words “always”, “every” and “never” i may not really mean them to their fullest, But, when God uses those words, He means what He says and He means not just to the edge of the universe, He means beyond the vanishing point, past when time stops, past the edges of understanding, with not even a thin shadow of a chance He will do anything other than what He has promised.

In Matt 28:20 Jesus said, “I am with you always,”, meaning, for believers, He is always with us and there is never a time He is not. In 2Cor2:14, Paul says God always leads us in triumph in Christ. Always. At all times, and there is not a time in Christ, which God does not lead us in triumph. 1Cor13:8, “Love never fails”, at no time does Love ever fail. Ever. Heb13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hmmm…. “I will Never leave you,” and “I will always be with you.” Always and Never. Ultimate words. Should we take God seriously? Of course, but do we?

i believe many of us have a Perception of Disconnection. Here of late i have been asking God that i would somehow spend more time with Him, and that i want to talk to Him more often than i do because i’ve realized i don’t talk to Him as often as i think i do. i have a vision of a long, straight line and on it are blips of how often i speak to the Lord. To my disappointment, there are long sections of flat line. So i’ve become acutely aware of how much i talk to God and, in the summary of things, i am pretty dissatisfied with how little i actually do. Additionally, while becoming aware of how little i talk to the Lord, i’ve also become decidedly aware of how thankful i am that Jesus incessantly intercedes for us, Rom8:34. He is   always communicating with me even when i don’t consciously communicate with Him.

We so often have opportunity to interact with God, but yet many times we tend to sit and stare. Why? Why do we so often sit and stare, not talking, not thinking… just staring instead of speaking to the Lord, or worshiping? And in those moments, many of us, more often than not, perceive a disconnection from God when it seems nothing is going on … no events, no conversations, no emails. When we are aware nothing is happening in our head or heart, we have a perception of disconnection and it is not true. Suddenly, we decide God must not be there.

We are not disconnected. According to the finished work of the cross, for those who believe on Christ, we are always connected, never disconnected. Jesus said so with His ultimate words of “always with you”, and “never forsake you”.

How is it God uses ultimate words like “always” and “never” in reference to His relationship with us, but we selectively hear Him? We read the scriptures, give a big amen, but then we want to get selective about how much is “every thought” which should be taken captive, and how often is “always”, or how seldom is “never”. Measuring, like how wrong is too wrong, and how right is right enough. When the Lord said take “every thought captive”, He meant not just the bad ones, but the good ones too, but we decide to be selective and re-decide the word of the Lord from “every thought” to be “pretty much select thoughts”. God said “I am with you always”, but yet we perceive a disconnection, re-deciding how often is “always”. The Lord said, “I will never leave you”, but yet we re-decide His words, measuring how seldom is never, as if one time out of 1000 is close enough to call it never. i think God meant exactly what He said when He uses the words, “Always”, “Never” and “Every”.

He said those ultimate words because He meant them. He did not approximate, He did not say “for the most part”, or “pretty much rarely”. He did not say “take most thoughts captive” … that’s not what God said. Again, He meant what He said.

We are connected to God through the blood of the Son, whether we perceive it, feel it or not. By faith, my connection with God is as consistent as the Son, and Jesus never fails. Ever. Jesus is with us and will never leave us or forsake us to the ends of the earth, and we can bank on that with our lives. God expects us to believe Him, always.

When i got married, i told my wife i would bring her coffee in bed, and that i would never lie or steal from her. i vowed i would always be where i said i was, and that if she had any questions of me, if she was brave enough to ask, i would be brave enough to tell… above all, i said i was good for my word now and tomorrow, faithfully so until i died. Even after i was dead, she could still believe the reports of my character by whomsoever reported the deeds and considerations of my life.

To say someone is consistent and repeatable means not only can you count on them but they also have good habits and character which are also believable and can be counted on.

We as Christians should not only be the most honest and truthful people on the planet but also the most reliable… entirely because our God and King is, ever was, ever will be the most honest and reliable person in the universe. Jesus IS the very definition of truth, honesty and reliability. Our yes should be yes today, reliably tomorrow and every day after. If i say i will be there, i want to be someone you can rely on… and if i say i will bring you coffee, i will honor you and bring you coffee just as i said, and if i can’t, i will be honest and tell the truth, being careful to not promise something i cannot do…it is my responsibility to do what i say and your responsibility to not take advantage of me. Doing what we say should be one of our particular Godly traits and a personal honor that is the same today and tomorrow…..being consistent and repeatable. This time in history is no time for confused loyalties.

This is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the beautiful cascading banks of the Ockluhwahha River which passes with ease, casts no shadows, and runs on silent and deep into the distance to points and places beyond our sight.

In the nine fruits of the Spirit, one element of commonality between them all is our being consistent and repeatable.

James 5:12, “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

We know, at least i hope we do, that we are all human and we get our times and dates turned around, obligations mysteriously fall off the calendar’s with no fault of our own, we just forget things sometimes. If we can’t accomplish what we have given our word to do, we notify the other party of our failing and try again next time, and do our best to be there. If we can’t keep our promises, then maybe we ought to promise less, or maybe even learn to simply say…. “no, that’s not something i’m able to do.” When we tell others we’ll do such-and-such and then we don’t, it is giving false hope, and as you know, false hope is far more cruel than the truth ever thought of being.

Stick with me, sit back in your big arm chair, relax and breath, and let’s get into the necessity of being consistent and repeatable…..

How long would God be trustworthy if He didn’t keep His word? Worse, what kind of righteous King would He be if He was only reliable most of the time, or if His promises were not “Yes” but merely “probably”? Of course, that is not true of Him in the slightest, but let’s play “what if” for a moment.

Can you imagine how some of His promises would sound if He were not consistent and repeatable? Let’s plug in words of “fluctuating reliability” in place of the ultimate words God uses… Psalm 50:15, Call upon Me at the time of your trouble; I might deliver you, and you, more or less, will glorify Me.” Can you imagine the tragedy that would follow that lame restatement of God’s promise? How would it go with you if while you were sinking at sea in a terrible storm, your rescuer, if they were in a good mood, would help you to safety? That would be terrible! And how much less do you appear to those who depend on you when you make similar conditional statements?

Or, let’s do this one, Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is pretty much upon Me, Because the LORD has probably anointed Me To preach some good tidings to the poor; maybe he will send Me to heal the brokenhearted, To, in so many words, passively make mention of liberty to the captives, And, i think it might be a good time to open the prison to those who are sort of bound.”

Our marital commitments are often acted out just like that sounds…it may not be what was intended at first, but many seem to re-think their vows to eventually becoming unreliable. Is that who God has called us to be?

Sounds real attractive doesn’t it? The promises of men sound like that, but God says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

Let’s play what if with John 8:36, Therefore if the Son, for the most part, makes you free, you’ll probably be free, pretty much.

Who would want to rely on that? It’s a promise which is no promise. The truth is God said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” That is a solid promise, and the Lord does not break His word to us. Ever.

Flexible words built into promises sound more like our leadership in government than it does our God and King who is consistent and repeatable. No one follows anyone who passes out promises and are not actually promising anything.

i wonder how many of us hear someone making “promises which are no promises” and we want there to be something solid in their words so bad we are often willing to ignore the lack of character or sincerity… a promise is only as good as the person behind it. We hear people in leadership say, “more or less” or “probably” and we re-think it into a big “yes” or “no” when that’s not what they said. We want it all to work out so bad we are willing to imagine the other person saying things they never said, nor are they actually able to fulfill our illusion of them.

i have met so so many women at safe houses who have broken fingers, busted teeth, and wired up cheekbones who still tell themselves, “Oh, he was just having a bad day”, or “He’s not really like that. i’m sure i’ve irritated him beyond his ability to control himself.”

i actually heard a man say, after having beaten his wife AND kids, “Sometimes, when she runs her mouth, it just pulls the slaps out of my hand.” Man! You can’t make up stuff like that. And do you know… she stayed with the man, telling herself his promises would make good someday, even though in the last 10 years they never had. He was consistent and repeatable in a bad way for sure. Someday she may become disillusioned with the man, but then, we must have had an illusion to begin with in order to become dis-illusioned.

Friends, we must break the illusion of relying on the promises of men, and know only God Himself is reliable, and He means what He says every time, consistent and repeatable in all His ways.

When i first moved from the east coast to the pacific north west, one of the first things the Lord told me to do was to be consistent and repeatable… not being on the jazz and being proud of never playing the same thing twice. He told me He was consistent and repeatable, i was to be consistent and repeatable, and His people needed to learn, by example, how to be consistent and repeatable.

Oswald Chambers said (my paraphrase here), “It is a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls their circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but often don’t act like we really believe it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in our circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, the Lord, Jesus Christ. God may allow our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, yet we never saw what He was accomplishing. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly. Friends, remember, it isn’t a test so God can know what we’re   , but so we can know what we’re made of.

Being faithful to Jesus Christ is one of the most difficult things we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to a myriad of other things; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

Many believers get all squirmy and impatient when the discussion of faithfulness to Jesus comes up. i firmly believe the Lord is degraded in the eyes of others more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and of Jesus as just another one of the workers.

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and gives us Kingdom responsibilities. He expects no complaining, although He gracefully endures our disgruntledness, and offers no explanation on His part. i think it would serve us well to understand God owes no man an explanation….He allows us to inquire of Him asking whatever we will, but He holds no debt of explanation of His actions….1Tim6:15-16, “….He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

We expect the Lord to be consistent and repeatable, yet we allow ourselves off the hook of responsibility when we waver, doubt, and change our minds to suit our agendas, and then simply never deal with our inconsistencies. Don’t misunderstand me here, i’m not saying don’t be human, but i am saying let’s get better at what we do. Jesus set the precedence by being the first to love, hope, be courageous and endure … similarly, Jesus was consistent and repeatable first so we would be empowered to be the same.

When we consistently set our minds on Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, we are whole and complete and lack nothing. Our sins are forgiven and we rest in the finished work of Jesus, the Christ of God. Being consistent and repeatable is dependent on God, not our performance or rule keeping. He is our solid rock and never fails us. When we rest in him, we have no fear and we are secure in him. While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it speaks directly of character.

The fact that God saves us as an act of grace on His part is not a license to live any way we want to. 1Cor6:11, “… but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” It is the truth, we stand before Him justified, free, and blameless because of faith in the sacrifice of Christ, but, and “but” means “with exception”, but we also are now a part of His family.1Peter2:9-10, “But as for you, you are a race chosen out, kings and priests, a set-apart nation, a people formed for God’s own possession, in order that you might proclaim abroad the excellencies of the One who called you out of darkness into participation in His marvelous light, who at one time were not a people but now are God’s people; who were not subjects of mercy, but now have become objects of mercy…”

Friends, we belong to Him, the Lord almighty, washed in the blood of the Lamb, first born blood relatives to the Son of God… we who are believers in Christ are supposed to act like it.

Let us be Consistent and repeatable in a good way, never growing weary while doing good. This all becomes an issue not just for you, but especially for me. Only in the last few years do i think i have even begun to be consistent and repeatable. Probably, for a large part of my walk as a Christian, many times, it seems, i was no better than a wild animal, with no thought for how i acted or what i said. It wasn’t that i was malicious, but i truly didn’t see myself and my actions. Oh, sure, i thought i was walking the straight and narrow, and i thought i was just acting like the believers around me whom i admired… i prided myself on almost always having insight and a word from the Lord. It wasn’t that i was not consistent, but more my taking note if others weren’t, i tended to look down my long religious nose at them, subtly sneering at their slackness… and if they tried to apologize, i quickly said they had nothing to apologize for, shutting them down and out before they ever had the opportunity to offer their palms up confessions, thereby leaving them with no recourse but to hold their fault to their chest. Oh, i was consistent and repeatable alright, but more like a Pharisee.

i find it difficult to talk about this subject… partly because i know my own failings, and how many times i’ve had a falling out with God in my life. Another reason is i don’t think we need any more lists of laws to imprison believers, corralling them for handy shearing, or to help put anyone on even more spiritually depressing and false guilt trips. i think we do a good job of that all by ourselves and really don’t need any help.

Often, people teaching, preaching, or writing on the subject of practical behavior have strong opinions about cultural patterns where their opinion eventually becomes the rule… many times those cultural patterns are ones which the Bible leaves as personal judgment… but when their opinion becomes the rule it tends to create a totally false standard.

Legalism, the adding of human requirements to the gospel, is a grace-killer…..it causes, what i call, something like spiritual-brain-freeze, people are just doing the rules and their brain gets thrown out of gear. However, in opposition to the law makers there are many who also teach standards of behavior that are far below those of Biblical standards… what the Bible calls “sin,” some modern teachers just excuse, or ignore. Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”, meaning, do what you do as unto the Lord, and be consistent and repeatable with all your heart, not because it’s a rule but in honor of God.

Psalm 29:1, “Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength.” When you give, don’t be erratic but set in your heart and mind to be steady. Don’t exceed, in your zeal, your ability to give, but consider carefully what is within your realm of possibilities in order that you can keep your devotion.

Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.” In all that we do, let us do with the consistency of one who intends to be in this walk of faith for the long haul. In your zeal, which is a wonderful thing, take a pause to play the whole movie about what you’re about to declare before the Lord. For people who have real anxiety problems, i practice a standard rule which are three letters, “S.B.T.” which stands for Stop, Breath, and Think. We often, in a moment of passion, declare loudly, “Lord i will NEVER do such-and-such”, or “I will ALWAYS do this-and-that”. Then when it doesn’t work out, we slam ourselves with an emotional hammer, curse ourselves in the mirror, and renew, with tears, our vows, swearing again and again to the Lord about how we’ll always or never. Over and over again we play this scenario out, and over and over again we aren’t able to toe the line we’ve declared for ourselves. C’mon friends, a little grace please, and a little careful thinking. There is nothing wrong with making a vow, but consider carefully the feasibility of your ability to do what you declare. When the vow doesn’t exactly work out, before you hit the wall of feeling defeated, Stop… Breath… and Think. Learn this practice and be consistent and repeatable.

If we’re having trouble keeping our promises, maybe we should promise less and be consistent and repeatable more in the few we have made. It is better to keep two promises and disappoint someone about the other eight they were hoping for, than it is to promise ten and only keep two.

Let us not work to be spectacular… spectacular is rarely consistent nor repeatable. Learn to set goals so you can be successful, low enough to be attainable, and high enough to be challenging yet reachable. i can’t possibly go through all the angles of practical behavior which need to be steadied out, rethought, and made into something do able, but i do believe there are a lot of us who set goals so high, we are a perpetual failure in our own eyes. Start again, but this time, pick things to be consistent and repeatable about which you can do, thereby helping to set the stage to see yourself as a success. Start small if you have to, but remember, no way no how does the Lord ever hope we fail. That is not His heart. He wants us to trust Him, and for us to see ourselves as a continual success in Christ. Jesus is consistent in His appointments for us and we can be consistent in our commitments to follow Him where He leads.

Be consistent and repeatable. Consistently sober, setting the stage to repeat todays sobriety tomorrow, regardless of whatever we struggle with. Sobriety doesn’t just mean beating an addiction…sobriety also means repeatedly employing rigorous honesty, being in the room to listen to the hearts of others, persistently praying to the Lord and telling Him all the truth of ourselves and letting Him make adjustments in our character. Being consistent and repeatable in our faith, even if only small steps, sets the stage for success in all the future steps of faith to come, teaching our children how to live life in Christ, consistent and repeatable. Think about it.

In “Twisted Thinking Transformed” by Jerry Price, he writes, “With closed thinking there is an unwillingness to be self-critical about any irresponsible thinking or behavior: it comes from an emotionally vacant person who really doesn’t care how they hurt others. It results in a decision to withhold information by not telling the whole story, because the exposure would mean full accountability.”

To be consistent and repeatable, mature and accountable Christians, means we are open and unconcealed before the Lord and others. People love to speak of being in a culture of honor, but yet the rigorous honesty required to be people of honor is oddly elusive. A culture of honor contains an expectation of reciprocation for many people. Friends, a one way street only runs just so far. No one can be a culture of honor by themselves. “Culture” speaks of a “community”, and there is no such thing as a community of one.

Exacting faithfulness is not so simple, but it can be done in Christ, and one of the first steps is to let grace train us to be consistent and repeatable. Everyone is being trained, every day, in something, and if we’re not being trained by grace, let’s have the courage to ask who are our trainers?

When we hear it thunder nearby, and lightning strikes around us, let us hold our ground, keep putting one foot in front of the other, being consistent and repeatable in our devotion to Jesus, our prayer time, honesty, joy, patience, and faith. As the captain gives instructions to the helmsman, the word of the Lord is to us all, “hold your course” lads, steady on.

Pray for your neighbors, consistently practice kindness, and let your love be repeatable day after day. Steady on friends, steady on. Amen.

The Lord has many attributes, all of them holy, righteous and true. Some examples of His attributes are knowledge, mercy, dependability, wisdom, vision, and compassion, to name a few. i’ve made a list of 94 and i’m sure that is a small list, but in that list, one of His attributes is “commitment”. The Lord, from the beginning, is committed to His creation, and His works can be seen everywhere if we have eyes to look and see.

If we look around, we can even see the works of God within each of us. His commitment follows us from our day of first breathing to the end of life; from His provision to His protection; all the way to giving us His presence, even when we don’t realize it.

i believe many times, we really need to be reminded of His commitment to us. From the beginning to the end, through all Israel’s many captivities, changes and uprootings which the Israelites faced, God reminded them of His commitment, even when they were horrible to Him. Isaiah 43:1-7 is God’s reminder to Israel that He is present and will deliver, and i believe we can take that for ourselves to remember He is present and will deliver.

Today, while circumstances may serve each of us with our own captivities, shiftings and uprootings, God wants to remind us of His commitment to us.

One of the ways He does this is by calling us by name. We are not just a “hey you” to the Lord. We are not a generalizing “them”. The Lord affirms that He knew who we currently are, and who we will become. Calling us each by name means God knows us intimately; He knows our past, present, and future. The Lord our God is familiar with our ways and even our potential. We can rest assured that God cares about us and will provide and protect us. He is committed to us and our welfare.

This evenings topic is directed to those of us who know Him, or at least say we know Him, but all of us, tall, short, wide, narrow, old and young need to be reminded from time to time, of His dedication; from our beginning to our end, the Lord is with us.

i have a friend who chose to move, and i’m pretty sure he didn’t exactly wait on God to tell Him to move, but he moved anyway. Life in a distant state which was not his home was difficult, although he did learn a lot, it was still difficult. Over time he realized he’d made a move without including the Lord in his decision and it was an agonizing mistake. Even though he “moved away” under his own steam, the Lord was committed to his wellbeing. Even when he got terribly ill, the Lord made a provision for him. Through the two-year ordeal, God was faithful and never stopped talking to him or loving him.

The Lord is committed to His those who are His, even when His own don’t listen. Jesus calls my friend by name, He knows him and even guided him through his self-imposed misdirected path. Romans 8:28, “… all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Please take note it doesn’t only say, “all things work together for good”, it says “all things work together for good to those who love God, called according to His purpose”. It’s important to take that entire scripture in it’s context. Actually, here’s a good outline for reading your Bible: think CCC. Culture, Content, and Context. When reading remember what the culture of the day was, and if you don’t know go find out. Content, meaning what does it actually say? Understand the words used in the passage, and believe me, English doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story many times. Context. What is happening before and after the particular passage your reading? How does it tie in with the verses before and after? As example, any time you see a sentence beginning with the word “therefore”, that means you need to grasp what was previously mentioned and the verses after so as to understand what God is talking about.

Isaiah 43:1-2, “… Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flames kindle upon you, for I am the Lord your God.” That’s quite an amazing promise, but more importantly, do you believe it?

Since God knows each of us intimately, He knows the trials we’re facing and has already made provision and protection. The Lord says, “I know you; I know what you are going through; and I know what I will do in response.”

In Isaiah43:2, i take it that waters and fires are often metaphors for sorrow and danger, and we need to remember, God doesn’t say there won’t be sorrow or danger. He never said anything about us living a life without disappointment and struggle or affliction. John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He knows what is coming in your life, and He is already there making a way for you. Believe it and bank on it.

He assures us of His presence while we are in the middle of our circumstances where we experience sorrows and danger… He’s even making a provision for us when it looks like the flood of life will simply swallow us up. God is there. He knows you and calls you by name, and His knowing your name is a good thing, so be glad, for there are those to whom He will say, “I never knew you.”

In Isaiah46:10, the Lord reveals that He knows the end from the beginning, so from the beginning He has prepared a path for you all the way to the end. He has promised to be present in hard times to comfort and help you. Believe the Lord when He says you are valuable to Him, and He is willing and wanting to take care of you. In the Kingdom of God there are no “throw away people”.

Why do many of us have such a hard time letting God be good to us? Now there’s a question we would all do well to spend a moment thinking about. We could start by trusting in His word and allowing Him to go with us on our life’s expedition, even through our difficult times, especially through our difficult times.

Here is a slightly different view of God’s commitment to us…. in Isaiah43:1 the Lord says He calls us by our name, those who are His, and He’s pointing out that there are those who are His because… there are those who aren’t. Friends, not everyone is a child of God. When the Lord calls us, His intent in the call is for more than just us being obedient… truly i don’t think any man, in and of himself, can respond to God’s call unless the Lord enables him or her through His divine supply of power to actually answer that call. His commitment is seen in not only His intent to have us join Him in His work, but also that He enables us to respond. We cannot “be” where He is in and of our own power, thus He must come to us, or empower us to “be” where He is….the Lord doesn’t call us and then just leaves us in the dust to despair over our inability to answer back.

Before there was anything in the universe, God has had a plan for our redemption and reconciliation. From Isaiah 46:10 we know the Lord knew the end from the beginning, so from the beginning He declared a plan to deliver us from the slavery of a loveless and corrupt world. God is committed to us and it is ultimately seen and understood by John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son,” and Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before the universe was, God’s intent was to send His son to die and live again as a commitment of His love for a fallen people.

So, in light of God’s commitment to us, He even continues to hold out His offer of hope and salvation to a world which doesn’t like to retain the thought of Him in their minds. So, if we understand that, what is our problem with commitment??

Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” If we’re supposed to imitate Christ then, i’ll ask again, what is our problem with commitment? If we’re going to imitate Jesus, we ought not to be choosy about which attributes to imitate.

We, as the people of God, are the very people the world should know can be counted on; that when we say we are committed to a cause, or committed to honesty, they will know us by our love, and part of love is commitment. Let’s understand, we’re not talking about James5:12 which says we shouldn’t swear and vow but let your yes be yes and no be no, that’s not what we’re talking about. The Lord commits to us and asks us to be imitators of him. i’m talking about our depth of character, and your yes, means you are committed to what you’ve agreed to because you’re such a person of character you’ve carefully considered the ramifications of a situation and have righteously concluded it is something you can say yes to and then do what you say. And if you conclude it is not something you can commit to, be people of honor and good boundaries, say no and let your no stand. Be reliable, consistent and repeatable. Real leadership is more about character, conversation, and conduct than it is about walking around talking and telling people what to do.

We come up with the wildest excuses as to why we can’t commit … we have trouble committing to things like consistently taking the garbage out or to our covenant marriage vows. We have all sorts of excuses why we can’t commit to things… We make excuses like: i don’t like the people because every time I go there, they asked me for money; the people where i sat didn’t seem very friendly; the seats were hard; the leadership didn’t speak to me; they make decision i don’t agree with; they’re all hypocrites; i was late getting home; or how about – i don’t take my children because i want them to choose for themselves someday. i say those are a bunch of really lame reasons for NOT participating with the Body of Christ.

Now i’m not making fun, but i have to say, i’ve asked people why they don’t commit to friendships, church groups, bible study groups and those were often the answers i got….and i must be honest…. i’ve said some of those things too and i must admit they are ridiculously lame excuses to not commit to anything. C’mon those reasons are right up there with “the dog ate my homework”. Is there an honest answer anywhere there? If the Lord is brave enough to say, “Yes” or “No” and stand on it, then i think we should be too. He is committed to His promises to us. 2 Cor1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” He is committed to His love for us. 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” He is committed to our welfare. Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The list of God’s commitments go on and on, so don’t Never let yourself believe God is not committed to you. That is not what the Bible says. The Lord is faithful!

As God is committed to us, let us be committed to Him and others, being merciful, full of grace, taking action in our work of reconciliation, being merciful to those who fall short. Be honest, be kind, and do no harm.

Commitment to God means that Jesus is our sole authority, our guiding light and our exact and infallible compass. Being committed to Christ means being fruitful; it means being a servant. Philip1:21, “For me to live is Christ”.

A promise is a binding declaration that gives us a right to expect or to claim a specific act. God’s promises are His commitments to us.

God assures us that if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, He has given us eternal life. You have it, you don’t have to keep trying to get it. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)

God promises to never leave you. Hebrews13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God has forgiven your sins. Colossians2:13-14, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” If He has forgiven you, then you are forgiven, and if you’re forgiven, you can’t be both wheat and chaff both. God didn’t say you were pretty much forgiven, or forgiven for the most part. He meant what He said or else He wouldn’t have said it. Why do we have such a hard time letting God be good to us? The focus is on His goodness, not on your badness.

i believe we absolutely can dare to ask people to make a commitment of their lives to Christ because God has already made a commitment to us. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, those three days were God’s day of days, His commitment day for all time.

Dr. Frank Page wrote, “God’s commitment day was marked by weeping and sorrow, darkness and angry curses. In the midst of all the pain of a Roman

crucifixion, God committed Himself to us.” In1 Peter 2:1-10, the letter was directed to a people who had been scattered everywhere by the persecution of the Roman government. Those early Christians were living in fear for their lives. They needed to know that God had made a commitment to them, and … so do we.”

In the exacting days of our lives, in the trying and possibly fatiguing days ahead, let us hold our heads high, let us be committed to our God, committed to our spouses and children, committed to becoming mature believers because God, from the beginning, committed Himself to us and our welfare. God is here! Think about it.

Commitment … it is one of God’s attributes, part of His character. If Jesus is in you, then the power and ability to commit to the Lord, yourself, and others is available. So much of our world today promises commitment, but in the end, there is no follow through, so often, in general, people seem to have a very low expectation of anyone to do what they say. This entire discussion of commitment is actually a continuation of the discussion a few weeks ago concerning pledges and affirmations and James 5:12.

i believe many marriages fail these days because not many have respect for their commitments nor can their “yes” be “yes” or their “no” be “no”. It’s true, with every commitment there is a risk of failure, but what we don’t seem to take into account is there is also a high probability of success also. God enables and equips us to be faithful to Him. Righteous commitment is God’s domain, done God’s way in God’s power. It is a beautiful thing He gives to us, not only His commitment of help, but the ultimate commitment of His love by the death and resurrection of Christ, that we would have life and have it more abundantly.

Take your time this week and remember, the Lord is committed to you and yours and is sure of Himself to make promises that will never be broken. “For the Word of the LORD is right and true; He is faithful in all He does”, Psalm33:4.

Be strong and courageous, Jesus knows your name, and that’s a good thing. Amen.

As believers in Christ we are a peculiar lot… we go forward in life on written phrases in scripture, resonant words from a friend, a vibrant dream or vision which is often no more than an audible or visual whisper. Among many other titles, God is the whispering King. His whispers slip into our thinking like an enveloping vapor, a sweet incense in our heart and soul…  alive in Christ.

i believe most religious people seem to want a God who yells and stomps around like they do, but that’s just not our King’s nature. His silence is deafening, and His whisper commands star systems, moves mountains, and can unmake matter… His whisper is louder than the sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883, which was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away… God’s whisper is louder causing hearts to live, penetrating even to the darkest places imaginable.

Standing as close as 250 feet away from the impact of an atomic bomb, creates a decibel count of 210. If you didn’t vaporize from just the volume alone, without sufficient hearing protection, not to mention a complete sound-resistant bunker surrounding you, you could quite literally die from the intense vibrations that would literally shake you apart. 210dB’s is so loud, it shakes apart anything solid into its smallest parts to its molecular level… matter just falls apart. God’s whisper is louder, and once He has spoken it never ceases to be said. His words are eternal.

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

It isn’t Him who isn’t speaking but us who aren’t hearing. And how do we hear Him? With faith, endurance, and persistence. We serve the Lord, who whispers to us, coming to us as quietly as new falling snow.

With the Lord, if you’re brave enough to ask, He is brave enough to tell. We already believe the Lord does indeed talk to us, but how He does that is the next thing to contemplate. Onward and upward friends for the prize of the call of God in Christ Jesus.

Can God’s direction for our lives be misunderstood or lost in translation as it makes its way from His heart to ours? Absolutely. We can make it up or mess it up, and sometimes we can’t tell too easily where the vision ends and our imagination begins, but the honest answer is yes, we do get lost in translation sometimes. but God is faithful to bring His word back to us repetitively until we get it. Hearing from God is not like receiving a text message or reading an email… we can and do get in the way.

A while back, a woman was coming to our fellowship. She felt she had a prophetic gift which must operate all the time in all situations, and must be exercised at every opportunity for everyone, and as a result, every week she would strain to always have a “Word from God”… no matter how small the occasion. She even had a word from the Lord over a fruit basket once. Over the weeks which followed, we all began to notice a pattern…  there were, indeed, words and visions of the Lord, but there were other things we were confident were just made up. Did it disqualify her, absolutely not, but did it inspire us to not trust her too much, probably yes. Every week she would do what i call, “Waiting on the phone to ring”, and if it didn’t ring when she wanted, how she wanted, we all witnessed her picking up her spiritual telephone and pretending a call that wasn’t there… all to maintain a manufactured persona. i wonder, am i any different?

Hearing the whisper of God needs to be held to the highest standard…if we hear, we hear, and if we don’t, we don’t… and we don’t fill in the blank when the phone doesn’t ring.

Believe me, I am more than capable of hearing what I wish God were saying rather than what he is actually saying, if at all… and maybe you’re in the same boat. To recognize this of ourselves is real maturity, and a rigorous honesty. Here’s a poem the Lord gave me back then about hearing the whispers of God and my need to be prophetic even when i don’t have anything.

“Many times my phone rings, most of the time i hear,

most often i know who it is, most of the time i answer.

Sometimes my phone rings, i pretend not to hear, i ignore and don’t answer,

i know i should, but i don’t. i think to myself, Oh, big lazy,

just let it go to voice mail, i know God’s faithful, maybe He will leave a message.

Occasionally i merely wish my phone would ring, i wish it would ring,

really bad.

But the truth is, sometimes it isn’t ringing, but i answer anyway,

“Hello! How are you?” I pretend.

i’ve gotten good at pretending,

pretending when the phone doesn’t ring,

indenting a prayer so others will subtly note,

my pretended throne room conversation.

i do it so well, it causes people to perceive and think,

his phone always rings, and maybe they’ll really impressed,

“Oooo! Excuse me, is that the phone ringing as we speak?”

Hopefully, they’ll just say “Wow!”i chuckle when i see their reactions,

as people seeing through their own spiritual haze,

only in my dreams i hear them say about me, “Wow, isn’t he amazing?!”

i can sound like i’ve got, all to myself, an incredible connection going on.

A better connection than anyone else, you know it makes me kind of elite.

The truth is, though sad to say, on being elite…

i like that…

but i don’t like to like that,

although it’s true. Even worse, i think i need that.How sad.

Don’t answer the phone, just don’t pick up if it doesn’t ring.

Just leave it at peace even when we wish it would ring, really bad.

Our connection is real, God will call, He will and we know He does.

But don’t answer the phone if it didn’t ring.

Don’t pretend the call, don’t make a face, just so you can say,

“He called”,

“I heard”,

just so you can say, “I know”.

So i sit here waiting, waiting in the hall.

Maybe the phone will ring, because i don’t know what to do, at all.

I actually have a vision, but i don’t understand what i see.

Maybe the phone will ring,

waiting for the phone to ring,

i’m sure the phone will ring, any second now, i know He’ll call.

In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and declared the word of the Lord. One of the stand out things he said which rings in my ears today was in vs 17 saying, my paraphrase here, “… “you don’t need to struggle and fight this fight. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you.”

A minimum of seven times, the scriptures tell us to be still. Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In Num9:8 Moses told the people to “stand still and hear”. At the request of Joshua, the Lord made even the sun and moon stand still. If the entire universe bows to the command of God to be still, how much more should we be willing to also sit still with Him and hear His wisdom?

Taking wisdom from 2Chronicles 20 and from Psalm46, i gather we should put ourselves in position to hear the Lord, and reduce our speed, stop multitasking, lower the ambient roaring noise of our lives… that is to say, be still … and then listen for God to speak. It will come like a whisper… soft, like a mist appearing and moving across the water. i’m not saying to cease life’s activities, but i am saying to cease striving.

When Jesus faced major decisions, his standard was to disengage from the crowds around him and to devote time to solitude and prayer.

John 6:15, “… He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” Luke 9:18 reveals Jesus was “alone praying”.

Notably, the overall outcome of Jesus’s habit of being alone and still before the Lord was that He greatly increased His likelihood of hearing from His Father. The big idea is the all-encompassing importance of hearing God.

Before selecting his twelve disciples, Jesus went off alone and spent an entire night in prayer according to Luke6:12. He needed to hear from his Father about who he planned to select, and He knew the best way to do that was to get quiet before the Lord to better hear wisdom.

Later, when Jesus was preparing to endure the agony of the cross, he withdrew to the garden of Gethsemane, where he and the twelve disciples had often prayed. Other than His friends praying at a distance, he prayed alone. His devotion to hearing from God motivated Him to take purposeful, intentional action in order to create space where God’s whispers could be heard. The Lord doesn’t have to be loud for us to hear… maybe our difficulty is not that He speaks so softly, but more our ears are dull.

Probably one of the utmost quiet times in my life have been sitting in the woods, in the snow, during hunting season. The falling snow acts like a big damper on any noise which would be distracting. Sitting in the woods in the falling snow is so quiet, you can hear the molecules in your ears. It was the positioning of myself that was so powerful, the effect upon my heart and mind lasted long after i went home.

When we whisper, i call it a “science of the subtle,” which, to me, is a very interesting study of the subtleties of God’s voice and how it moves through our spirit.           Haven’t you noticed how when someone whispers to you, the intimacy of the moment is greatly elevated, and some sort of extra effort to hear and understand kicks in? Words that soak into our ears are whispered… not yelled. We learn to hear the Lord from experience, and a lot of that wisdom comes from having ignored Him. Similarly, good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta’ good judgment comes from the experience of bad judgment. The word of the Lord is often buried in the “science of the subtle”. Can you hear Him?

Rest assured, beyond the ends of the earth, the Lord is God who loves us and would gladly whisper to us words of encouragement or direction, wisdom and insight, if we would be more willing to carve out the space to hear from heaven across the course of our work-a-day world. Without being willing to sit with the Lord until He shares His wisdom with us, we are running the risk of missing out on some of life’s greatest God-guided adventures. It is not too likely we are going to hear the Lord while sitting being bored on the couch playing on our phone, watching game shows, or reality TV, wishing desperately to be anywhere else but where we are. If you can’t hear God, what are you gonna do about it? At some point in the future, it’s not going to be an option but an absolute necessity… again, in the now, what are you gonna do about it?

i have a suggestion: be intentional. Be purposeful, and take steps with all power to put yourself in a position to hear Him… and go there to your purposeful and intentional place, and go there, and go there, and do it over and over until you find His appointment. Wouldn’t you know… God tends to speak to people who want to hear from Him. Why would He share His wisdom with someone who isn’t interested in sitting with Him? Why would He let into Heaven those who do NOT love Him? i am no scholar, and truthfully, i’m none too bright, but i do know He tends to offer divine direction to those who are willing to order their daily lives around receiving input from Him. If you seek Him, He will find you.

Perceiving and apprehending God’s direction is somewhat subjective, but it’s not random nor does He leave His word unsupported. Right now, there are so many believers who are in a state of transition. It is messy and oh so very uncomfortable because life is not where it was, nor is it where it will be.

i had a dream many many years ago where i had come out of one small door into a hallway. It was a nice hallway about 60+ft long with a big window at the end. There was beautiful wainscoting on the left and right walls, and there were two doors on the right, one small and one large. The hallway was comfortable, carpeted, had a water fountain and a restroom, but other than that it was obviously not a space for long term habitation. In the dream i noticed i was too big to go back through the door i had come out of, and i was barely tall enough to reach the door knob of the larger door.

There was one more element to the dream of being in the hall between doors… in the corridor, there were whispers, whispers of encouragement, and wisdom, and there was a faint waltz playing somewhere in the distance. i knew who was whispering to me and His voice was comfort and strength.

Even though God’s whispers are rarely tangible, there are things we can do to help us determine if we’re hearing from God or hearing from the bad juju we ate last night. Where is your special place to hear God? Some have a favorite chair in the living room, a bedroom, or an exclusive corner in the yard… for me i had a chair at the barn where i could look over the pasture. Some write and pray while on the train on their way to work. The time and place tends to vary, but for all those who diligently are looking to hear from the Lord, the practice is absolute, it is intentional and for the express purpose of hearing the whispers of God. The result of their consistent and repeatable life habit is that they routinely hear from God. For me personally, i love the mornings. Every day, from the time i open my eyes to the time i close my eyes, i’m  in the a conversation with God. You may think that’s pretty extreme, but friends, i want you to know, i’m a desperate man… i don’t just want to hear God, ineeeeed to hear Him. Need. It is my very breath, peace, and hope. i take notes from what i read and hear… i’ve got piles of notebooks with page after page of whispers from the Lord. i suppose it all comes down to how important is hearing God to you, and are you willing to be responsible for what He whispers to you? If God is willing to share His wisdom with you, then you ought to be responsible and write it down to mull over later. Again, God doesn’t tell us stuff, just so we can be impressed with ourselves and walk around with a manufactured persona of “I know”.

God’s whisper slips into our thinking like an enveloping vapor…

1 Kings 19:11-12, “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And so it was, Elijah heard…”

A small voice, a still voice, it was a calm voice… implying a whisper. The Hebrew word there for “still” speaks to being more breath than the solid intonation of a voice. The mountains rattled and shook, the earth moved, and fire roared, yet, in a whisper, God spoke. In Ps131:2 the psalmist calmed and reduced his mind to a whisper. His lips did not cease necessarily, but his words word quiet and with breath…a whisper. One scholar remarked that a whisper speaks right into the center of the soul a man.

When we are in pain, we anguish out loud…but there are people whose pain is so intense they are reduced to gasps and whispers of agony… their whisper of pain roars in the world around them. Even though they seem driven to silence, to stand in the room with them is like leaning into a hurricane. Sometimes, i am amazed how loud life is around me is at night when i’m in town… the sheer volume of the world around us is invasive and constantly screaming at us. But when we position ourselves to hear the Lord, reducing our minds to being as quiet as falling snow, God’s whispers are revealed to our hearts, hidden from the ears of others. Within the Hebrew word for whisper is an open door to God’s house that is low, soft, and humble, and He makes the revealed and concealed elements of His heart available to be known… in God’s whisper is the washing of His word, designed for us to step into His breathy response which drips with grace.

Something amazing happened in Job 4… Eliphaz the Temanite (tay-maw-nite) is telling his observation of Job’s difficulties. Vs 12 reveals what Eliphaz called a “stealthy” word, and his ear “received the whisper of it”. The word “whisper” there means an “inkling of a sound”, which means it was more than a spark and probably less than a gleaming. First is a spark, than a flicker, a glimmer, and last a gleaming, a spark being the smallest and gleaming being steady yet thin. Then in vs 15 he says that, “…a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up. It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”

Where he said “there was silence” and then “a voice came” is supported by most theologians as a most piercing question which came to him like the mists of a whisper.

Does God speak to you in whispers? Do you really want to know what the Lord has to say? Are you feeling at the end of a path and not sure what’s next? As scripture says in 2 Chronicles 20, position yourself…put yourself in a place to hear, doing it consistently until you hear. Be persistent. Sit yourself down intentionally, with the purpose to apprehend the word of the Lord. Be consistent and repeatable and keep pursuing Him until He reveals your next step up. You can do this! The Lord says, Seek and you shall find, find and you shall have, for I AM the Lord your God. Think about it.

i don’t believe most of us think of the Lord as someone who whispers, but if we do more than just notice that He speaks to us, take note of how He does it. Is He always yelling at you? No, just like you are not always yelling at your kids, at least i hope you’re not… and if you are, that really needs to be rectified …  how you treat them is their model for how they’ll treat others… i would bet what most sticks in our minds are the more spectacular parts of scripture where God spoke…a burning bush, thunder and lightning, the walls of Jericho falling down, violent winds, tongues of fire, etc, etc. In those examples, to me, God is shouting, but that’s not everyday stuff. He speaks softly to us, low, and humble…usually His words are like a mist, low to the ground, and very quiet. He whispers peace to us when we are going to sleep and love to us when we wake up.

Even in all our mundane ways, we shall know God. His whispers invite us in closer to Him, hearing with greater exactness, to not be satisfied to sit at a distance from Him… He whispers, words low to the ground which are our resolution to key decisions, little words which nudge our rescue from dark nights of the soul, promptings which inspire us to grow up… they echo down the long hall between the shadow of conflict and peace, uncovering and healing our disgraces which are felt but rarely expressed. The Lord is the Whispering King.

No matter if you’re the fastest person alive, no matter how smooth or smart, there are things in life which we simply can’t outrun and will catch up to us. God’s whisperings are like that. We may think we’ve out distanced Him, but He is always on the trail to resolve our conflicts. He speaks low to us, most times in a whisper. When someone whispers to us, our mind seems to listen more intently to catch the words, to grasp after the meaning, and God is always after drawing us into a relationship with Him…everyday, every hour, every second…even when we’re lost surfing the internet or staring at our cell phone, or caught up in the mindlessness of game shows or reality TV, He is there beckoning to us to lend Him our ears.

Position yourself. Intentionally put yourself in a position to hear Him. Turn off the TV, put your phone down, reduce yourself to a whisper and listen. His words are there and they are life.

Thanks for being here, i hope you’ll go your way this week in peace, setting your feet in a direction which brings you closer to the Lord. Drive carefully, be mindful of the next guy, sometimes they aren’t all together paying attention you know. Be strong and courageous, Amen.