pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: voice


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Worship

Reading: Psalm 150

The Psalm calls upon us to “Praise the Lord” in many ways.  First, we are to praise Him with our voice – to shout or lift up our praises to God.  The psalmist also calls upon us to make music to God using all kinds of instruments: trumpets, lyres, harps, tambourines, flutes, strings, cymbals.  And lastly, the psalmist encourages us to dance before the Lord.  I have the feeling that if the Psalm were written today, the list of instruments would be much longer and the visual arts would also include painting, drawing, images, and so on.  In essence the psalmist is telling us to Praise God every way we can.

In our worship yesterday, many of these elements were present.  But I do not think God only desires or is impressed by how many instruments or presentations we offer.  One lone voice lifted to God can be as pleasing and worshipful to Him as a whole orchestra or huge choir or multi-instrument praise band.  In our worship, the “how” God desires is not how many but simply how.  “How did you worship me today?” is the question God asks.  Did we come before God yesterday with our whole beings, intent on nothing other than offering all we are and all we have to Him?

My off key, changing tempo song can be more pleasing to God than the most polished voice performing a perfect solo.  It is all about our heart.  When we praise our God, He wants our whole heart to be fully engaged.  This day may we find opportunity to praise our God with our whole being.


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Listen

Listen up!  Listen here.  Would you just listen!  How many times have we heard these words coming from parents, coaches, teachers, spouses, and bosses over the course of our lifetimes?  I would guess this number far outweighs the number of times someone has thanked us for taking the time to listen.  In the midst of casual conversation we often find our mind drifting to a different focus.  Worse yet, in an argument we are often considering what we want to say next instead of listening to the other person.  When caught not listening, often we get the dreaded question: what did I just say?

I think Jesus often felt this way with the disciples.  So often it seems they just do not get what seems so simple to understand.  Must not be listening!  It is no wonder that God’s instructions to Peter, James, and John is to listen to Jesus.  His instructions to us are the same.  Just listen.  How often do we hear or read the Word but don’t really listen to them?  When we listen to them they take root in our lives and cause growth to occur.

God is always trying to speak into our lives.  Whether through the Bible, the message given on a Sunday morning, the wise words of a friend or mentor, or through the whisper of the Holy Spirit, He is always speaking into our lives.  And just as in all other conversations, the key is to really focus in and understand what God is saying to each of us.

Where is God calling you?  How is He speaking into your life?  What direction is He guiding you?  What does He want you to do for Him?  May our ears be open, our minds tuned in, and our heart be welcoming to all that God had for us this day.

Scripture reference: Luke 9: 34-43


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The Voice of God

The psalmist speaks of the power and strength found in the voice of the Lord.  He sees and feels it in the thunder and lightning and wind of a powerful storm that shakes the ground and twists the oaks.  We are also reminded that out of this same might God gives His people strength.  Yet God is not always just in the powerful and amazing.  We too must remember that He whispered to Samuel in the still of the night and was the still, small voice that called to Elijah on the mountain.

At times we too can see God in the natural world.  One can sense His power in a storm and one can also see His presence in a sunset.  Our God is all around us when we take the time to seek Him out and when we are attuned to His presence.

But sometimes, in the midst of our own personal storm, it can be hard to find God.  Sometimes God is not even the first place we turn.  Some may turn to drugs or alcohol and some turn to self-help books.  Some turn to a friend and some choose to withdraw.  Ultimately though, God is the solution.  Yet even though He is all around us, at times He can be hard to connect to.  In these times we must simply spend time with Him.  Read the Bible.  Even though one feels alone, pray.  Experience His love by going out and serving someone in need.

Or maybe you are the friend or even just an observer of someone struggling.  Pray for the one in need.  Ask God’s presence and power and strength to come into their life.  Be with them.  You will not be the solution but your presence and prayers and listening ear are helpful.  But above all, pray.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29


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He Is So Close

The voice of God speaks out in nature.  It roars in the thunder and whispers in the gentle breeze.  It reveals silent beauty in the sunset and lifts the heart with the song of the bird.  God has also continued to be revealed through science.  As technology has allowed us to peer further and further into space we come to better understand God’s immeasurable nature.  And as that same technology has allowed us to deeper and deeper into living organisms, we come to better understand God’s complexity and the fine detail of His work.

In spite of how big and intricate and vast and mind-boggling God is, He is also a God who seeks to know each of us personally.  He desires an intimate and deep relationship with each of us.  This relational God is best revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.  As God came and dwelt among us as the incarnate Jesus, we came to know Him personally.  In His relationship with man, Jesus revealed God as love.  This love was lived out through things such as hope, peace, comfort, forgiveness, mercy, service.  Jesus patterned what a life lived as love should look like.  It was shown in how He interacted and treated everyone that He encountered.

Through Jesus our God is so close we can rest in His presence when needed.  He is so close we can hear the Spirit whisper into our life.  He is so close we can come with our questions, joys, concerns, fears, doubts, praise, and thanksgiving.  The God of all creation, in His vastness and complexity, is still our comforter, our guide, our companion, and our friend.  For this I say, thanks be to God!

Scripture reference: Psalm 104: 1-9


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Led by the Spirit

Philip was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, a place that is usually unsafe, especially alone.  He followed the Spirit’s lead.  In our own journeys of faith how often have we felt the nudge to go somewhere we questioned?  In those times when we allowed our inner fears to trump the nudge, each of us probably missed an opportunity to share our faith.

As Philip drew near to the eunuch, he heard him reading from Isaiah, “.. led like a sheep to the slaughter…”  Again led by the Spirit, Philip engaged the man in conversation.  How many times has God opened our eyes to someone who was wrestling with a passage of scripture or some other challenge life has brought their way?  Here to we each probably felt the nudge or heard the still, small voice saying “Go.”  Again we maybe missed the chance to share our faith or to bear another’s burdens as we chose to flee instead of to go.  We allow all the questions and doubts to again trump the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Philip was not seminary trained, he was just Spirit-led.  He did not have some extra-special connection or pipeline to the Holy Spirit. He had the same connection we have – through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Philip trusted the nudge.  Philip was committed to sharing the good news.  In this instance he forever changed a man’s life.  This week we will all probably have the opportunity to share our faith.  May our faith allow us to make the same decision Philip made: to go where the Spirit leads and to trust in our Lord and Savior.

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 26-40


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He Is Calling

The message of the gospel is for all people.  In His role as the Good Shepherd, Jesus cares for all of the ‘sheep’ in the world.  In today’s reading Jesus says there are sheep in the ‘other flock’ as well.  They too must become part of our flock.

Society has changed over the last fifty years.  For the most part we have lost the neighborhood church or parish.  Most people drive in to the church from their homes in neighborhoods spread out all over town.  In our community people drive past several other churches on their way to their church.  Often people are drawn to a church by denominational ties or because of a friend or family member who already attends that church.

One of the negatives to the community churches that dominate today is the reality that most churches have lost touch with their actual neighbors.  Churches in general minister to the flock that is already inside the walls but struggle to connect with the ‘other flock.’  Those outside the walls of the church physically and spiritually are the ones Jesus seeks too.

As followers of Jesus we are called to a mission and purpose.  We are called to share the love and light of Christ with the lost sheep, many of whom are our neighbors.  The message of the cross is too powerful to keep to ourselves.  As the sheep already in the flock, we know the voice of the Good Shepherd.  Can you hear His voice calling us to reach the least and the lost?  Can you hear His voice calling us outside the walls of our churches and into the lives of the ‘other flock’?  Can you hear the call to share the good news?  He is calling.  Will you follow?

Scripture reference: John 10: 15b-18


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A Voice Calling

Job description: challenge the status quo, push people to grow and stretch themselves, be directly accountable to God

Any applicants?

Many jobs can be thankless.  Among them the job ‘prophet’ could be pretty high on a lot of people’s lists.  For most that were called in the Bible,”Yes!” was not their first reaction.

Prophets of old and prophets today have pretty much the same role.  A prophet has two primary job functions.  The first is to keep people oriented towards God.  A prophet calls us to live our lives with God at the center, following His ways and commands.  This runs counter to what the world so often tries to tell us and is therefore difficult.  A prophet tells us that ‘me’ does not come first.

The second role is to call for justice and equality for those whose voices are not heard by the those in power and in positions that can affect change.  A prophet calls for the care of the weak, for fair treatment of all, and for the stranger to be welcomed into our midst.  These calls too run counter to society’s norms.  A prophet tells us to give of ourselves and to become less so that others can become more.

Today most of us like to be comfortable, to maintain the status quo.  Change can be hard.  No wonder being a prophet is difficult.  But a faith that is not active and growing, bringing light into darkness, is dead.  That is not a good place to be.

May we learn to hear and welcome the prophet’s voice, both for what it calls us to spiritually and for the words spoken on behalf of the poor and powerless, words that bring hope, healing, justice, and love.

Scripture reference: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20


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Attuned to the Voice

Who would we identify as prophets of God in our world today?  Is it the big TV evangelists or the mega church lead pastors?  Is it the pastor of your local church or the leader of your small group?  Is it your spouse or best friend?  Yes, yes, yes, and yes!  A prophet can be all of these at certain times and points in our life an it can be others not mentioned above.  God can still speak in many ways through a wide variety of people.

Surely prophets are people like Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.  While this is a pretty impressive list, the Bible is full of prophets – many of whom came from out of nowhere.  Many spoke the word God gave them and faded back into regular life.  In this sense, we live today among many prophets.  Some are here for a while and others only for a short period of time.

One of the main jobs of a prophet is to align the people of faith with the will of God.  In this sense they help guide like a shepherd.  A prophet can also offer correction as we stray from God’s plan.  In our personal lives this comes mostly when we pursue worldly idols and when we fall to temptation.

In these terms, the voice of God can be heard from the many prophets in our lives.  We too may be a prophet to others.  We all need to be attuned to the voice that God has given a message to.  God is still very much alive and well and active in our world.  May His voice continue to lead and guide us all.

Scripture reference: Deuteronomy 8: 15-20


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Allow His Voice

This morning I hear wave after wave of rain as it lands on the windows, buffeted by the wind.  In the quiet of the early morning, the rain is an audible presence.  A few days ago the sunrise broke over the horizon in a beautiful fashion.  The streaks of light and glow of the sun came forth in the stillness of the morning.  God and all of that creative ability shines forth in so many of the things in nature.  We can connect to God so easily in the beauty and stillness of creation.  To sit alone under a tree listening to the birds sing or to sit on a rock listening to the crash of the waves can renew and refresh our soul.  We can come into tune with God in these moments.

Sometimes though, we struggle with silence or the lack of noise.  We turn on the radio or TV or make small talk to fill the void of sound.  But if we always surround ourselves with noise, it is easy to miss God’s still, small voice.  In daily prayer time, allow God a moment or two.  Give Him a space to speak into your life.  In your time of reading and study, do the same.  God has so much to offer into the silence if we only slow down and seek out His voice.  Allow His voice to speak to you.  It may be to reveal something, to give you guidance, or simply to say, ‘I love you, my child.”

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6