Listen well

 You do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

John 10:26-28

I confess, sometimes as a husband I drift into selective listening when my wife says things that I either don’t want to hear or my mind becomes deaf when I am preoccupied with a project or a problem. The consequences of my unwillingness or inability to listen well, or not at all, is at best being insensitive to my sweetheart and at worst being disrespectful and unloving. When she calls me out of my fog I’m wise to not lamely defend myself and say, “I was listening”, but to confess my folly in checking out while in her presence and ask her forgiveness. Listening requires attention!

Jesus illustrates very clearly that I am truly a sheep in His flock if I believe. If I believe in Him as my Shepherd who leads me, I listen to His voice and follow. All types of voices compete for mindshare, but it’s the voice of my Lord that deserves my undivided attention and discernment. Do I listen intently to His directives to beware straying into the danger areas of temptation and disobedience? Am I seeking my approval from the One whose acceptance matters the most? Jesus says, if I truly love Him I will listen to Him, learn from Him and follow Him wholehearted.

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21).

Are you in tune with the Lord? What is He saying that might be counter-cultural, but best for you and your family? Courage to say no or faith to say yes, both require the Holy Spirit’s leadership and Christ’s peace that surpasses all understanding. Don’t dismiss the example of other faithful followers in the flock of God. Look to those who have labored to listen, who know how to hear the voice of their sympathizing Shepherd, who feast with delight in green pastures of His provision and rest by still waters at peace, secure. The Lord’s voice becomes clearer in quietness.

Get quiet, focus and learn wisdom in the secret place of the soul, where only your Savior dwells. Your Father finds great pleasure in sharing His ways with the humble and upright of heart. Your integrity is an instrument of God’s will—He uses it to bless you so you can bless others. Whatever success you experience, offer it to Jesus as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. You are the most vulnerable to temptation when you are triumphant, so stay surrounded by those who will tell you the truth. Listen to their godly advice as you listen to the one who spoke in your mother’s womb!

“She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said” (Luke 10:39).

Rule of life

 All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:44-47

Do you live by a rule of life? If you’re honest, the only answer to that question is “yes.” However, whether it is an intentional rule of life is another question altogether. While “rule” may have certain negative connotations, at a basic level it simply points to an ordered way of life, a rhythm that we live by day in and day out. In this way, we all have rules of life that order our days. The “rule” of morning coffee. The “rule” of making lunch for your kids. The “rule” of Netflix in the evening.

We all live by a rule of life, yet the question to ponder today is this: what rules do you live by? Sometimes, these rules are seasonal, and by design should be. For example, necessities at work and commitments at home look different in various chapters and seasons of life. Yet these rules of life also change through outside forces that press upon us whether we want them to or not! If you’ve been betrayed by someone you love, that betrayal affects your rule of life overnight. If you are diagnosed with a severe allergy or medical condition, your rule of life as it relates to food and wellness also changes overnight. Interestingly, this pandemic season is in its own way an outside force that presses upon us and is disrupting our rule and rhythm of life in ways most of us have never seen before.

As a pastor, I talk daily to people about life’s joys and sorrows, and as I’ve processed over the past months the impact of the pandemic on people’s daily lives, the thing I’ve heard over and over again is the loss of all rhythm and people grieving the loss of what they knew before. However, as noted above, we never truly lose rhythm, we just begin living by different rules. We aren’t necessarily grieving the loss of rhythm, we’re grieving the loss of redemptive, healthy, and life-giving patterns of life.

Acts 2 paints a picture of the early Christian community thriving as they live a rhythm of life shaped by the life of Jesus and obedience to his commands. Yet as idyllic and compelling as this picture may be, we must not miss that it was also in a time of great persecution, suffering, and trial. These early followers of Jesus were saying, “How do we live and order our entire lives around the life of Christ even while we navigate the sorrows and sufferings of this world?” Their faith was not something they could easily take on and then put off. It was not shaken when life was hard or disrupted.

The faith of the early Christians not only survived but flourished, growing and expanding even in the face of pandemic and persecution because men, women, and children lived every aspect of their lives ordered and oriented to a different kingdom and a different king. Will you and I do the same?

Disciplined Life

 But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers. ‘You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother’s child. These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. Psalm 50:16-21

For most of my life, especially my early life, to be disciplined meant to be punished. At least, to be fair to my parents, that’s how I viewed their discipline. Likely it was done in love and meant for my good, yet in the moment I simply saw it as punishment inflicted for my disobedience or failure to live by the rules of our household. As such, I never welcomed or wanted their discipline. It was to be avoided at all costs! In the words of the psalmist, I “hated discipline.”

In addition to the Psalms, the book of Proverbs speaks a good deal about discipline. Two verses in particular come to mind. “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them” (Proverbs 13:24). “A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother” (Proverbs 29:15). When read through my childish lens, these verses seem to only confirm my assumption that discipline = punishment. However, now living life on the other side of the discipline relationship as a parent of three young children, punishment in and of itself is never my intention or desire towards my kids.

The most loving thing I can do for my children is to direct them to the source of true love. Discipline, at its best, is an invitation into the life and light of God, not a punitive response to poor decisions. A disciplined life is one that has learned which ways lead to life and which lead to death. As it says elsewhere in Proverbs, “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray” (Proverbs 10:17).

While this vision of discipline clearly applies to the parent/child relationship, its application is much broader. Wherever you find yourself in life today, you are invited by the Lord to live a disciplined life. In fact, a true sign of your love for God is your ability to receive his discipline with joy and to believe it is for your good. Furthermore, discipline is not simply something God does to us but is just as much a way of life that we, by faith, choose to walk in.

A disciplined life is a life ordered by and oriented toward the kingdom of God. It is an integrated life that considers, not only what we say, but how we live and what (or whom) we love. In fact, the psalmist is so bold as to say “the wicked” are those who have the words of God on their lips but the ways of the world on their hearts and hands. As St. John reminds us, “Whoever says, ‘I am in the light,’ while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling” (1 John 2:9-10).

Choose today to see the way of the Lord as light that leads you out of the darkness, and may he give us each the faith and courage to lead a disciplined life

All about we

 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27

There is a larger context to life than just living for self. A self-focused life is chronically frustrated and unable to reach its full potential. Its demanding marginalizes wise counsel and only attracts insecure individuals. However, those who pray for what’s best for the whole, become whole. Everyone is honored in an environment where individual contributions are valued. “We not me” is the vocabulary of those who honor each other.

Every disciple is stronger when they are connected to other disciples. Isolation contributes to spiritual impotence, but community gives spiritual life and strength. Encouragement and accountability are exalted in relationships that serve what’s best for the group. A leader who serves the team sees other team members serve well. A man who serves his family experiences a family that serves each other. “We overcomes me” with unselfish service.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Our spiritual birth engrafted us as a member of Christ’s body. We cannot detach an appendage of the Lord’s any more than a member of our physical body can be disassociated from the other body parts. So, we pray for those around us who know Christ and we get to know each other. Oh the joy of being known and knowing others who love Him. Life that is truly life is lived in the margins with those submitted to Jesus.

Are you motivated first by “He”, second by “we” and lastly by “me”? If so, you are set up for relational fulfillment. The sequence for successful thinking is Him, them and you. “Me” will try to squeeze in and monopolize relationships, cannibalize conversations and hijack heaven’s agenda. Thus, by God’s grace, put to death the “me monster” and replace it with love for the Lord and people. “We not me” is the motto of mature disciples.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

Managing Change

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 

Daniel 2:20-21

Change can make us uncomfortable and uncertain about the future. If we ignore change, we lose our opportunity to influence the process. If we embrace change, we treat it as a friend who wants to help, instead of a foe who wants to hurt us. The reality of change requires a Spirit-led response, not a naive dismissal. Change can manage us or we can manage change. 

In the same way we are confronted with change we find that Daniel experienced the radical transition of moving into a new country with its unique culture and demands of godlike loyalty to its king. Daniel was a person of prayer and principle, thus he would not worship anyone but his one and only sovereign King, the Lord God Almighty. He did not cower under the pressure to compromise his convictions. He managed change by rejecting expectations of political and religious expediency. He challenged the status quo by offering dietary options that yielded better outcomes. Managing change requires courage.

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

What change do you face that requires great faith? You may feel your body has betrayed you. Ask the Lord for wisdom in how to leverage these new physical limitations for His purposes. Work associates may have transferred, laid off, resigned or terminated. You are left carrying the load of their job responsibilities. By God’s grace be a team player. Do your best and trust the Lord with the rest. Be a problem solver, not a chronic complainer. Perhaps a relationship has gone rogue and you feel alone. Use this season as an opportunity for solitude with your Savior.

Managing change takes a magnitude of wisdom and discernment from your Heavenly Father.

Almighty God is unchanging. He is a rock of reassurance and stability. Just as the weather can be sunny one day and cloudy another, so life has its dramatic changes, curves, and turns. Therefore, we are wise to let life’s drama draw us closer to Christ. Our dependable Jesus wants us to go deeper with Him. He is especially near when we face the pressure to compromise our beliefs for the accommodation of an unjust authority. Prayerfully, we manage change so it doesn’t manage us.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).