June 16-17 – OK, I'm listening!

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” - Luke 10:38-42

When a friend calls you, how do you know it isn't just a prank caller? How do you know it's not your mother, father, brother, teacher or neighbor? You know because you know your friend. By spending time with your friend, you know how they talk—you know the expressions they use, the tone of their voice and the changes in their pitch when they're happy or sad. That's the way it should be with God: You know him—his character, his nature, his interests, his pleasures and displeasure, his joys and hurts—so well that you recognize him and his involvement in your life. God is inviting you to know more than just his voice, though. He is inviting you to really know Him. Like us, He prefers a willing listener, but sometimes He'll shout to get our attention....sometimes He'll speak to us in the night, in our dreams....or, maybe in a still small voice.

Elijah's encounter with God happened at the lowest moment in his life. The story, in 1 Kings 19, begins with the prophet hiding in a cave., and the Lord asking him "Elijah, why are you here?"

Exhausted, deeply sad, and ready to call it quits Elijah explained, "Lord, God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!"

So what did the Lord ask him to do? Something a little odd, actually. He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain. I want you to see me when I pass by." Elijah obeyed. But before he could step out of the cave, a hurricane of a wind hit the mountainside, so strong it shattered rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind, or the violent earthquake that followed. He wasn't in the fire that rained from heaven after that. No doubt Elijah wondered what would come next: A lightning bolt? A flood? A volcanic outburst?

Instead, in the still silence, Elijah heard a gentle whisper. He knew it was the Lord. “...And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” - 1Kings 19:12. He got up, stood at the opening of the cave and hid his face with his coat.

The gentle voice asked Elijah the same question it had before: "Elijah, why are you here?" Elijah repeated his earlier answer. Then, the Lord gave Elijah specific instructions and told him he wasn't the only one refusing to worship idols. Seven thousand others had not left God to follow Baal.

Keep in mind that God whispered. To hear someone's whisper, you need to be near him or her. Whispering doesn't work very well if you're speaking to someone who's standing on the other side of the room. God doesn't want a long-distance relationship; he wants a closeup, personal one.

This was the help Job sought from his friends. While it is true that they sat with him for 7 days in silence, “for they saw that his grief was very great” (2:13), they didn’t listen when Job started talking. Instead, they talked and talked but failed to comfort him (16:2). “Oh, that I had one to hear me!” Job cried (31:35).

Listening says, “I care, what matters to you matters to me.” People don't always want advice, but long to be listened to by someone who loves and cares about them.

Listening is hard work, it takes time. It takes time to listen long enough to hear the other person’s true heart, so that if we do speak, we speak with gentle wisdom.

Oh, Lord, give us a loving heart and a listening ear. If you want to hear God's voice, you need to seek him like David- Psalm 63:1 CEV) . Be honest with him. Tell him any frustrations, fears or doubts you may have about hearing from him. Ask him to give you ears to hear and eyes to see the ways he is speaking to you. Ask him for the ability to recognize the difference between his voice and your thoughts.

When I’m thinking about an answer while others are talking—I’m not listening.

(David M Roper)

(Acknowledgements Christianitytoday)

“I'm Listening Lord” is today's music choice. Click on the picture to listen.

June 15 - Pardon??

“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”.

James 1:19-20

You will have heard the expressions 'Turning a deaf ear?' and 'Selective hearing'. If we're totally honest, we can all put up our hands and say occasionally, we have been “Guilty” on both counts. It can be humiliating and frustrating if you are the individual whose words are falling on 'deaf' ears, as the recipient attempts to present an 'I'm listening – gripped' pose, while looking over your shoulder, scanning the room, and eavesdropping on others....stop speaking mid sentence and they don't notice. Are we really that boring!

President Franklin D. Roosevelt one day had had enough – he got tired of smiling broadly and saying all the usual things at those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out if people was really paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed his big smile and said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." People would automatically respond with comments such as "How lovely." or "Continue on with your great work." Nobody listened to what he was saying, except for one foreign diplomat. When the president said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning," the diplomat responded softly, "I'm sure she had it coming to her.

It's a funny story, but how would we have done? It seems that nowadays we have lot's to say but we're not very good at listening. There's such a lack of good listening skills in this day and age that we pay someone a lot of money just to listen to us! It's not just our fellow man (and woman) we don't pay attention to. More importantly, God too has many things He wants to say to us - but we're always talking, talking, talking! Who would blame Him if He went in for the 'deaf ear' and 'selective listening?'

Perhaps it's time we did a lot less talking and more listening - today. Let's give the Lord and others a chance to be heard. (Acknowledgements worthydevotions)

Music today is performed by Brock Human - “Are You Listening” (LIVE) Click on the picture to listen.

‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ John 14:3

Waiting is hard, isn’t it? Especially when you are young and are expecting a gift. I remember in my pre-teen years, when I was less jaded, waiting for my birthday or a festive occasion. I would wake early on the morning in question filled with anticipation, with butterflies in my stomach.

Then there is the waiting for someone you love like a relative or your husband or wife when you haven’t seen them in a while. I recall my excitement recently when my cousin, from overseas, let me know that she going to be in my vicinity for a few days. I had not seen her in almost a decade and was so excited that she was coming that I put reminders in my calendars and locked down all the arrangements to maximise my time with her. We had a great day.

So, can you imagine what it will be like when we know that Jesus is coming back? But wait, we know that, don’t we? There are so many signs of the times that are rapidly being fulfilled that one of the dangers is we spend too much time in the newspapers and not enough time in ‘the book’.

Waiting is hard, yes but it will be worth it! And yes, it won’t be long.

The Winans sing ‘It won’t be long’. Click on the picture to listen.

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,’ 2 Timothy 3:2-4

They say a week in politics is a long time, just ask some of the 13 conservative MPs who lost their jobs in the snap election held in the UK last week. Seven weeks ago, they had safe constituency seats, believing the promise of their leader, Theresa May, that she would not have a general election. Only to be hung out to dry by a miscalculated gamble which did not pay off, in assuming that the country would giving her a safer majority in the house of commons.

If you are not familiar with politics then what I am writing about will make little sense. However, the bottom line is this; government leaders are no longer doing what they think will be right for their countries, but rather what they think will be right for them. The situation in the United Kingdom has stark similarities with what happened at the polling station in the United States and what is happening in some of the African countries. The polls, along with all of the financial and political experts got it wrong over Brexit, Trump over Clinton and the Conservatives winning the UK election. So, clearly something is happening that is larger than politics.

Our key text states ‘For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God’ The first 7 words of verse 2 sum up the state of politics right now ‘men will be lovers of themselves’. Whilst God Is not in politics, ultimately, he does allow kingdoms to rise and fall just as he did in the days of Belshazzar and Saul. Today’s leaders are no different to those who have walked the earth before thinking that they were infallible because they had position and authority. So as Christians we can take comfort in knowing that despite what it may look like, God is in control.

Andre Crouch sings ‘Through it all.’ Click on the picture to listen.

June 9-10 – Weeds

“And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” - Genesis 4:4-7

It was a lovely start to a summer day when I opened the curtains early one morning this week to see the lawn covered in sprinklings of gold and silver – dandelions and daisies. Yes, I know they are weeds. But beautiful weeds. I must confess, I have had a soft spot for daisies from childhood – comes from the contented hours I spent sitting on the lawn making daisy chains. It ocurred to me that the flowers in heaven will really be something to behold if this is our weeds!

Have you seen acres and acres of mustard fields stretching as far as the eye can see? Like rapeseed, the colour is a vivid, intense yellow. A glorious sight, in sunshine or rain. Yet, mustard is a weed. The definition of a weed is:

Noun
1. A valueless plant, growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury to the desired crop.

2. An undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted.No matter what the farmer does, there is no getting rid of this undesirable weed. He sprays the yellow plants with weed killer and begins to sow his beloved crop. Soon the weed dies, but it is only gone for a season, because safely nestled into the fertile soil lies the seed that will sprout yet another plant next spring. With that small mustard seed that has been sown, the plant spreads and ensures its existence for yet another year. Andrea Thiele

Yet, Jesus sees the value of this weed when His disciples are questioning Him in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, asking, “why they couldn’t drive out the demon?” Jesus answers with this: “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here, to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

Beautiful as the weeds appear, where did they come from? How did they get there to reappear year after year? Like bad habits weeds don't just appear out of thin air. They plant themselves and grow. If they're not pulled up when they are small their roots will be deep with tendrils spreading and spreading. If they'd been rooted out from the start the job would have been easier, now it wll be hard work.

The same is true for the weeds of doubt, unbelief, worry, concern or anxiety that grow in our hearts – along with bad habits and 'pleasures' that tempt us – they look good – we dabble, and before we know it we're hooked. . We know they are there, but refuse to pull them up. When we do this we are leaving the weeds unattended to choke our faith. I say, “NO MORE!” Don’t allow weeds to grow in the garden of your heart unchecked. It is allowing doubt, unbelief and the like to grow in our hearts that cause us to waver in our faith in God, until we find ourselves asking “Why can't I cast out the demons?”

God always has been and will continue to be faithful to us and we must be the same toward Him. Hold on to your profession of faith! Take inventory of the garden of your heart and quickly pull any weeds you find trying to grow there. You will be glad you did!

Our music today is “Sow Mercy” - Gaither Vocal Band. Click on the picture to listen.

June 8 – Don't cut the thread

“....being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light” – Colossians 1:11-12

I think there are some of you out there that are just hanging on by a thread. You are oh so close to giving up. Don't.

It might be that you have lived with an intolerable situation for so very long and you don't think you can do it any longer. Maybe you have a dream that has never come to pass and you figure by now it isn't going to so why not just forget it? Or maybe you have prayed a prayer that has seemingly gone unanswered forever and you can hardly stand to pray it one more time. You wonder if God has simply said "no" and you can't get it through your thick skull – I know from recent experience how that feels. God was answering but I obviously wasn't listening. In the end He waited until I was asleep and got His answer through to me.

Who wanted me to give up? Certainly not God. God wants to encourage us to press forward and hang in there. Satan, on the other hand, wants us to spiral down into a pool of failure and quitting. Once he's got us to stop trying, stop dreaming, stop praying - he has won his battle for our minds.

The apostle Paul felt just what you now feel and this is what he said; "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me." (Philippians 3:13-14) There's no way Paul was ready to give up the prize. God used adversity and long term struggles to give him something better than he even hoped for.

Stay with it. Don't cut the thread! Call upon God's grace and wisdom. Lean on him even more than you already have. Trust in Him to give you a fresh ability – the strength, to move forward once again.

(Acknoledgements Hannah's Cupboard)

Whatever you do, “Don't Give Up When You're Down” - our music for today. Click on the picture to listen.

‘Be still, and know that I am God!’ Psalm 46:10 NLT

God can speak to you anytime, anywhere, through anybody, by dropping a thought into your mind (see 1 Corinthians 2:16). But because that thought can be crowded out by busyness, He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ In stillness, you can hear God more clearly. ‘Jesus used many…illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand…but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them’ (Mark 4:33-34 NLT).

In High Call, High Privilege, Gail MacDonald writes: ‘The ancient desert fathers used to commit themselves to a disciplinary creed: silence, solitude, and inner peace. Only after adequate amounts of time listening, did they consider themselves ready to speak…Today there’s a strange logic that spiritual resource and renewal are found in constantly seeking new voices, attending more meetings…to exchange half-thought-out opinions…We fall into the trap of believing God is most pleased when we’ve maximised our information, our schedules, and our relationships. Disengagement means silence before God…a time of heavenly discussion during which we listen more than we speak. And silence demands solitude.’

In waiting quietly before God, your spiritual ear is trained to know His voice. Sylvia Gunter writes: ‘I understand why David had to command his soul to be still…Being quiet is difficult…almost impossible for some of us. But I’ve discovered that my soul and spirit have been starving for stillness for a long time, and now that I’ve given my soul a taste of stillness again it will not be satisfied unless it’s a regular part of my day.’

Courtesy of UCB

So, take some time about today and allow God to be still with you.

‘Still’ by Hillsongs. Click on the picture to listen.

June 2 – Dancing shoes

“Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.…”

Genesis 18:2 New American Standard Bible

You'll have heard the expression “the well made plans of mice and men?” As a child my one ambition when I was of age,, was to become a missionary teacher working abroard. But my plans for my adult life were not written by Him in my portfolio. Due to a childhood riding accident, life was to go in a completely different direction.

Yesterday I compared our Christian lives with driving a car through the dark hours into the light, and this is just what life has been, and still is, like – except as the years of experience have passed the light has become brighter and brighter.

Imagine the narrow single-track road with dykes on either side, ups and downs of the big dipper and the trail the side-winder snake makes; roll them into one, and you've got it. In the dips in the road the darkness can be almost impenetrable, with the danger of driving us over the edge into the dykes. But that's when a Guiding Light, like the Bethlehem star appears and keeps our eyes focused on the end of our journey.

You're probably wondering by now what a rough ride has to do with any childhood ambitions? Well, everything really. And now, as I look back over the way I have been led, I have confirmation that God had aleady provided me, even at the age of eleven years, with a special mission field. In order to carry out the work He had written in my life portfolio for me to do – to reach and witness to individuals and groups from all walks of life, He had to allow my (dis)abilities. Over the years He has been by my side, my co-driver, my life-support in the bad times, and dancing for joy with me in the good times. “Sometimes it Takes a Mountain” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-24kkrKp1Y

The drive has been, and continues to be, one glorious roller-coaster, with blessings upon blessings every mile of the way Right now I am unable to attend church (eight long months) initially due to back pain, but just when I thought there was enough improvement for me to attempt driving again to church, I contracted a bacterial infection in both legs. Progress is slow – one step forward, and on occasion, two steps back. Why? you might ask, but take a look at the ever widening mission field – nurses – strangers who have become friends – workmen – supermarket deliverers -neighbours. People only I am in a position to reach and have the opportunity to witness.

What about you? Are you going through a trial of ill-health – delay after delay with doctors and hospitals? Maybe your problem is mental? emotional? Spiritual? or fear of the unknown? Yes, the road is rough, and there are times when it feels interminably long, but God will never leave our side Cling on to Him in faith and trust – not just in the bad times but also in the times when you feel like dancing – well, you do have a partner waiting and ready!

What are you waiting for, your mission field surrounds you and our destination's in sight!

Today's music is “God on the mountain is still God in the valley. Click on the picture to listen.

June 1 - Night

“The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them” - Isaiah 8:2

My eldest brother was working as a long-distance lorry driver and always preferred, whenever possible, to drive during the dark hours. The roads, he said, are safer because there are less vehicles on the road , and fewer distractions. Night driving, I must admit, is not my favorite. Oh yes, I will do it, but if I have a choice I'd rather drive by day. At night the headlights of oncoming traffic dazzle and you can only see so far down the road, no matter how good your headlights. Once you get out in the country lanes catseyes are non-existent, and white lines obliterated by the constant movement of farm vehicles.

I well remember one hair-raising drive down a one-track road in Lincolnshire. Whenever an on-coming vehicle approached, one of us had to reverse until we reached a lay-by, while the other car went on it's way – pitch black – no road markings - narrow verges, and dykes on both sides of the road. The Lord got us home safely that night.

This reminds me of our spiritual walk. That's so much like night driving. We have enough light to see in front of us in order to keep moving but not too much more. We don't know how certain decisions are going to turn out; we don't know what kinds of challenges are on the road ahead; many times we find we are reversing despite our determination to keep our focused on the end of the journey. We wonder how long trials are going to last. Darkness surrounds us and it's by the grace of God that we avoid the dykes.

Many avidly read their horoscope each day looking for an aerial view of their lives. When is the next bend coming up? They want to see it and anticipate the next 24 hours in advance. But if that happened with us, where would trust be? Would we cling tightly to God for the next step, the next dip in the road? No, the fully lighted path is the life of independence and God is trying to nurture our dependence on him.

Proverbs 8:20 says; "I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice." As long as we have chosen the right road to begin with we can trust God regardless of how dark it seems at times. We shouldn't mind the night driving; God's headlights will never fail. (Acknowledgements Barbara Lardinais).

“Help is on the Way” - Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Bryn's selection. Click on the picture to listen.

‘How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?’ Psalm 137:4

Are Christians taking a beating? It seems to me that lately anything with a Christian focus is sharply being drawn into question. Students being thrown out of school for reading bibles outside of the classroom, street preachers being prosecuted for exorcizing freedom of speech in public places. There used to be a trend of public figures, especially pop stars, wearing large crosses either as a fashion accessory or to signify that they were Christians. This trend seems to have stopped, I think due to them not wanting to alienate any part of their fan base. But you can wear what you want right? Apparently not.

A sheriff in Montgomery County, Virginia has been ordered to remove decals from all police vehicles which read “Blessed are the peacemakers. The article (click on the underlined text to read it in full) reads that the county’s board of supervisors decided to take the advice of their attorney and order the sheriff of Montgomery county to remove all the decals from police vehicles.

“In my mind, there’s nothing wrong with the statement itself,” county board supervisor Chris Tuck explained to Starnes. “Any individual can put that on your car however they would like. However, based on our legal advice, when you put, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ and make the reference to Matthew 5:9, there are some serious concerns about the Establishment Clause and Separation of Church and State and the First Amendment.”

If you have read any of my blogs you will know that I think political correctness have gone mad, but friends this is a sign of the times. Slowly but surely our religious liberties are being squeezed out. It appears to me that you can say anything you want or display anything you wish, as long as it does not include the word of God.

Psalm 137:4 asks to same question; How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

What did the children of Israel do? They remembered not only where they had come from, but where they were going. Where we are now, is not where we are supposed to be, whether it be a nice job, house or situation. Our home is being prepared;

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:2-3

Be prepared, Jesus is coming back sooner than we think.

Andrae Crouch & the Disciples sings ‘Just like he said he would’. Click on the picture to listen.