Careless talk?

Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly. (Plutarch)

You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. (James 1:26)

I cannot help but think of the times I have droned on and on with someone about a topic I have such interest in, only to realize they have not been listening because I am the only one interested in the topic! I have had to learn to 'read the crowd', so to speak, and listen more than I speak. It was not an easy lesson to learn, but a necessary one, especially as it pertains to sharing the truth of the gospel message. I used to think I needed to preach a sermon, but then realized my life was speaking louder than my words.

Know how to listen - this is our instruction today. The tongue can wag on and on, making it hard to really 'hear' what is being said. The more 'words' we use, the more we think others will get the point. The truth is that we don't need 'big words' as much as we need heartfelt words that encourage trust. An out-of-control tongue can do much damage, turning the 'hearers' into walled off 'listeners'. As Jesus commissioned his disciples to go out two-by-two, spreading the good news about him and the freedom he brought to them, they ask what they should say. Why? They were not 'learned teachers of the Law of Moses', so they didn't think they 'knew' what to say.

Jesus' response to them? Don't worry about what to say but trust the Spirit of God to give you the right words, in the right time, delivered to the right audience. We can glean from this that if we want others to listen, speak what the Spirit gives us in that moment. How do we come to the place of knowing what to speak and when to speak it forth? We learn to listen to Jesus. At first, the disciples actually spent more time listening to Jesus than they did speaking of him. They learned by listening - taking in the teachings and then allowing them to 'ruminate' within. Learn to listen - then you will know when and what to speak!

The more 'learned' one has become is not important - books don't bring us life. The best 'learning' comes sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening intently. It is in listening that we learn to control our words. Just sayin!

Is that a wolf I hear?

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23)

Have you discovered that you no longer need to listen to sin tell you what to do anymore? If you are like the millions upon millions of others who have said 'yes' to Jesus, you likely still have a bit of a struggle in this area. Sin just doesn't 'go away' when you say 'yes' to Jesus - the ability for it to control you does, but the enticement to sin is still presenting itself. The issue is not whether sin still entices, it is really an issue of which voice we will listen to the most frequently!

We can listen to our own inward lusts (desires), or we can listen to the still small voice of God guiding us through those challenging places. The unfortunate thing for many of us is that the loudest voice is oftentimes the one we hear the clearest! The still small voice of God is heard best when we take time to get to know his voice better. We are able to sort out the noise and hear the important message better when we become more familiar with his voice.

Jesus told his disciples that his 'sheep know his voice'. He likened himself to a shepherd watching over the flock of sheep. All manner of 'calls' came in the wilderness, but there was one voice (call) they needed to respond to immediately. It was for their protection and guidance that the shepherd spoke to them. All the other calls were from 'prowling animals' out to disturb the restfulness of the sheep. That is how Satan works in our lives - he comes with different 'calls', trying to disturb our rest in Christ.

The sooner we recognize God's voice above all the other voices that may call for our attention, the better we will be at navigating our own lustful desires, the enticements to sin that the world presents to us, and the pull of 'popular opinion' that tries to dissuade us from walking uprightly. How do we get to know that voice? We have to spend time with him. The shepherd talked with his sheep, so they'd become accustomed to his voice. If we never spend quality time with him, quiet long enough to hear his speak through is Word, times of worship, or in quiet meditation, how do we ever expect to get to know his voice? Just askin!

Engage with me

We aim above the mark to hit the mark. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live... (I Thessalonians 4:11-12)

Knowing where we are aiming is important, because our aim determines our course. We don't walk with an aim in front of us and then walk backwards. We set one foot in front of the other, hopefully in the direction of our target. Living a 'quiet life' is not having our head in the sand all of the time. We must engage in life, but in a respectful, peaceful, and kind manner. Christ didn't stick his head in the sand, avoiding all the tough issues, but rather he confronted them with a positive example, loving attitude, and kindness of heart that drew people to him.

A 'quiet life' isn't a 'sheltered' life - one in which we withdraw from what is happening around us. In fact, according to author Tim Ross, God calls us to 'upset our world'. That doesn't mean we get all radical and in everyone's face. It means we get up, go out, meet our neighbors, do life around us, and be there as Jesus was always there. We learn to 'relate' as God intended for all of his kiddos to relate to one another - in kindness and in love. The 'quiet life' isn't devoid of activity - it is action in the right direction - with the right aim!

I challenge you to begin to 'upset your world' today - not in any manner that is hostile - but with love and kindness. Every now and again, there is a man probably somewhere in his 5th or 6th decade of life, standing on the corner of our local big box hardware store, holding a sign that tells people they need Jesus in their lives. He doesn't get in anyone's face, nor does he shout 'repent or die' slogans. He just stands there during rush hour traffic and holds that sign. I don't know what made him take up this habit, but he is committed to getting the message out that people need Jesus.

He may not have a pulpit, have written a book, or even marched in a protest group, but he has an aim. Do I know if it is working? No, I don't, but I do know when God asks us to do something, no matter how 'weird' or 'out there' it may seem, he backs that plan with his presence. Someone may have seen his simple message and thought about it long enough to give their heart to Jesus - if not, the seed was planted. Is this my calling? No, it is not, but I admire him for being faithful to do what he believes God asked him to do. You and I live life daily, going about our business, sometimes without even 'seeing' or 'hearing' others, but we need to begin to both see and hear. God's message isn't always proclaimed from the pulpit, or on the street corner. It is best 'preached' by living a simple life where we engage with those God puts in our path. Just sayin!

Hearing? or Listening to Learn?

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. (John F. Kennedy)

The mind of a person with understanding gets knowledge; the wise person listens to learn more. (Proverbs 18:15)

I would like us to consider if we are listening to just 'hear', or are we listening to 'learn more'? The first option is a very common occurrence in society today - someone talks, we listen, but do we really hear their heart, understand their turmoil, or experience their grief? When we listen to 'learn more' there is an investment of ourselves in the life of the one we are actually 'hearing'. 

God wants to be the first person we listen to 'learn more' from in this walk we undertake each day with him. He also wants us to develop this sense of 'learning more' when we engage with others who come across our path each day. It is good to hear but hearing alone doesn't really require that much effort. We get 'knowledge' as we hear, but we don't see knowledge convert to wisdom until we listen to 'learn more'.

As Kennedy indicated, knowledge might just increase, but it never ensures wisdom as a result of that increase. In fact, if what he says holds true, just gaining knowledge (hearing alone) may actually reveal just how ignorant we are as a society. God's plan is that we actually take time to invest in the actions of 'hearing in order to learn more'. Yes, it requires time and effort. Yes, it means we might actually have to lay down our own agenda a bit to truly 'hear' what is being said. In so doing, we might just learn more than we bargained.

God asks us to stop and listen. Why? Ceasing the actions of our day might not always be the easiest thing to do, but when we set aside that time to actually listen to him, we find our hearts begin to 'assimilate' the knowledge he brings into the conversation. This is why I set aside each morning to 'listen' and to 'learn more'. If you have not made a special time to just be quiet and listen, do so. You will be delighted to know just how much God wants to you 'learn' at his feet. Just sayin!

Holy Spirit Come

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3)

Before thermometers were a common thing in every medicine cabinet, parents used to "test" their children for fever by placing their lips on the forehead of the child. It seemed like an odd way to do it since we have seen people repeatedly use their hands laid across the forehead to "evaluate" the feverishness of another. Using one's lips to judge 'fever' was a pretty doggone accurate process! More accurate than the hand. The lips have a great many "sensitivity" receptors which allow them to be pretty accurate at interpreting what touches them. The "sensitivity" receptors of our lips should actually work both ways - affected by what leaves our mouths, and by what touches it! Maybe this is why our psalmist prayed for God to post a guard at his mouth - the entry and exit point for many a good or bad thing in his life! He is actually probably asking God to "tune up" his "sensitivity" to what both enters and leaves. I think we all need to pray this prayer at times. We need to "increase" the "sensitivity" of our lips - not just so we "feel" things better, but so we are able to evaluate things with more "receptors".

Two of the top areas of "sensitivity receptors" in our bodies are the lips and the fingertips. My mom suffered from having lost the feeling in her fingertips, not to mention her vision, so was it any wonder she used her lips to assist her in identifying something she may not have been sure about? The little candy wrappers with the twisted ends were a challenge for her. She used to put the first end in her lips and then pulls with the fingers of one hand. In turn, she managed to open it. She had "adapted" to using what remained consistently "sensitive" even when her other nerve endings failed her. Did you know your brain has dedicated more area to receiving the messages from your "sensitivity receptors" on your lips and from your fingertips than any other "receptor" area of your body? This means we have dedicated more "brain power" to interpreting the sensations from those two types of "receptors" than any other. Sometimes I think we rely solely upon our "brain power" to do the interpreting of what it is we are receiving and sending out. I learned a little song a long time ago. It goes something like this:

"Holy Spirit come. Make my ears to hear, my eyes to see, my mouth to speak, my hands to reach, and my heart to reach out and touch the world with your love."

I wish I could give credit for these lyrics, but I honestly don't even remember the title of the song, much less the author. These words have stuck with me in good times and bad. They have been sung over and over as I rely upon God doing just what these words imply - making me more sensitive to the things I need to be sensitive to and less sensitive to the other stuff. We all have "sensitivity" receptors in our lives. One of the purposes of these receptors in our physical bodies is to keep us from harm. The receptors actually warn us to things like hot, cold, bitter, or sweet. In a spiritual sense, we have been given similar "sensitivity" receptors in areas such as our emotions, mind, and spirit. It is good to post a watch over these in order to avoid undue injury. Without being aware of what "comes" and "goes" in our lives, we would be opened to all kinds of harmful stuff.

A couple of these "sensitivity" receptors God has given to us in a spiritual sense might not be evident at first, but they are there nonetheless. Maybe we hear words with a little "twang of jealousy" spoken. Our "ear" receptors have the ability to "filter out" the words to see the real intent of the one speaking them - to divide, to disgrace, or to destroy. Our "heart" receptors have an ability to reject or accept the words spoken - but first the "ear" receptors must do their job! If only one set of our receptors is working, we have a skewed perception. It is good to use the "sensitivity" receptors of our lips to judge how well the other receptors are working in our lives. What comes "out" of our mouth is a good indicator of how well the other "receptors" are doing at protecting us from harmful input. When our ears have filtered out destructive input, our words are likely to reflect back words of grace to the one who spoke with the "twang of jealousy". When our hearts have not succumb to the emotional roller-coaster of latching onto the emotion behind the words heard, our speech will likely reveal words of forgiveness, not judgment. The truth of the matter is - we need our "sensitivity receptors" to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Once we become familiar with the "sensation" created by his touch, we will not be as susceptible to allowing other things past the "receptors" of our ears, eyes, mouth, heart, or hands! Just sayin!

A picture is worth a thousand words

I'll throw out the old plan I set up with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt. They didn't keep their part of the bargain, so I looked away and let it go. This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; this time I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean. (Hebrews 8:7-12)

The old saying "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water" always made we wonder. Just how many parents and nannies of those tiny children actually made them disappear with the bath water? Silly as it seems to consider that one, these little sayings can present a reflection of something which is not reality, at least we hope it isn't! Whenever mom prepared "hot dogs" for supper, did you ever look for the dog? I did because I remember my dad quipping that hot dogs were made from ground up puppy dogs, and me wanting to hide my little Manchester Terrier in fear she'd become dinner! When someone told you they got "creamed" in their baseball game that day, did you wonder if it was by whipped cream, shaving cream, or cream cheese? Not likely. We use words to express meaning oftentimes different from the primary meaning of the words. When God tells us he threw out the old plan and set up a new one - there is no mistaking what he means here - it is more than just a 'word picture' that depicts something else entirely. There are some "word pictures" God does use to describe how this new plan was to function in our lives.

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. (I John 4:18)

Word pictures are something which convey meaning. When a word picture is used, it lends a "graphic" impression to the thought being expressed. Going back to my first word picture presented about the baby and the bath water, the thought is for us not to consider every failure as having nothing worthwhile in it. Even a failure has some redeeming feature - some lesson we can take away at the end. What the word picture reveals is that in trying to rid ourselves of the worthless stuff, we can inadvertently get rid of some of the good stuff if we aren't paying attention. Researchers have proven that word pictures actually help our brain to work faster - processing the idea a little quicker. It drives us to look for the meaning behind something. I think this is the main reason God uses so many word pictures in scripture - to help us get the point quicker, without having to expend a whole lot of energy just listening to words. The picture actually portrays the thought in a way which engages our emotions and the emotions help to "lock" the idea in our minds.

This new plan God speaks about isn't written on paper, nor chiseled in stone, but carved into the lining of the heart - evidently the place he 'takes up residence' in. We all grasp the idea of a pen scrawling on paper, producing some semblance of a story as the writing forms. We also get the idea of a hard object like stone being unaffected by the pen - a chisel is actually needed. What is behind every chisel - a hammer. Why does the stone need a hammer and chisel - it is hard. Now, take this word picture and allow it to expand your imagination. The paper we carry around with us is affected by time, is it not? I possess a couple "first edition" Sugar Creek Gang books. They are tattered by time and the pages are brittle with age. As they have yellowed, they are harder to read, fragile, and fading ink makes it difficult to see the original form of the image on the cover. 

Thinking of the stone being chiseled, I turn to the idea of a pretty big bolder which does not lend itself well to being "portable". In fact, it is pretty cold, impersonal, and just downright rigid. God's old plan - the Law - was chiseled in stone. I wonder if this was a "sign" of what God already knows about all of us - starting out well, dedicated to his service, but in time drifting into service which reveals nothing more than hardened hearts (much like stone)? We might be "rigid" in our practice of religion - keeping rules / regulations - but without any personal attachment to our God. Paper and stone does very little to ensure people obey what was written, does it? God needed a more "reliable" means of establishing his new plan - the human heart - the place of his residence. In affecting the heart, he assures allegiance. What better way to convey meaning than to paint the word picture of our "heart" being the place he writes his promises and his assurances of grace?

The idea of learning about God at a special school, or by buying a book outlining the easy steps to follow seems a little silly, but it conveys big meaning. We have a tendency to want God in five easy steps, don't we? Let's get this "God thing" into a nice, easily understood, pretty package and tie a bow on it to boot. We want the "steps" to follow because we don't want to deal with uncertainty. God is quite the opposite - becoming all things for all men where 'love has the run of the house'. He is experienced by any who seek - in the way we each need to experience him. No two creatures experience him the same - yet he is the same God. We cannot find a formula which defines how we grow close to God - it happens in the discovery of him in our very own personal way.

The concept of a slate being wiped clean is presented as a word picture of forgiveness. Grace is the "eraser" God holds in his hand - as grace passes over the slate where all our sins are recorded - it is wiped clean because love has the run of the house. Not even a tell-tale outline of the sin remains - there is no fear of the judgment, nor of being 'too far gone' for God to reach us. We "get" this one because we all have seen the ability of the eraser to eliminate the "former image" of what was once on the slate. God's grace and his intense love "erase" the "former image" we each possessed - that of a sinner, condemned and unclean. In the passing of grace over our hearts time and time again, we move from being "written upon by sin" to being open to be written upon by grace and inhabited fully by love! Don't pass by these word pictures, but allow them to begin to engage your emotions. In the engaging of your emotions, God will use those emotions to ignite the reality of his word within your heart. Just sayin!

Hey, listen up!

We can become quite 'selective' in our hearing. Guess what? That might just make us a little too 'selective' in our "hearting", as well! Our heart may be less than responsive at times - a little to calloused for anyone or anything to actually break through. When this happens, it is time to get alone with God, spend some 'quality time' allowing him to renew that heart through the Word and times of worship! The most amazing thing about God's method of "dealing with us" is his ability to get right at the heart of the matter - what it is we need to have dealt with at that very moment! He certainly does not beat around the bush when it comes to "focusing" on an area of "opportunity" in my life, but I don't always pay attention to those areas he is trying to focus on. God does not mince his words - in turn, we can learn the right way of living that is reliable (trustworthy) and then walk in it - but to have our heart affected, our hearing has to be tuned up and tuned in.

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7-8)

If you have children, or grandchildren, you probably have had at least one opportunity to point out to them the path they are taking as maybe not the best. Maybe it was in the choice of a friend they were making, or the lack of progress they made with their scholastic accomplishments this semester. They may have made unwise choices in how they interacted with each other when they didn't get their way. Whatever the "opportunity" for improvement might have been, you had one thing in mind by "pointing out" that opportunity - it is time for them to embrace change! Your sharing was meant to open their eyes to the fact change was needed.

God uses much the same method with us - he points out the opportunities for improvement, then expects us to embrace the change! God speaks straight from the heart! The question I pose this morning is: With what "ears" are we listening to what he says? I put "ears" in quotations because I think we have some differing "tactics" for "listening" that we use on occasion. For example, when our least favorite part of our television shows are blaring, we hit the TV remote "mute" button, or have learned to 'turn a deaf ear' to them. We "began" to hear what was advertised, got annoyed with hearing about the same product for the 50th time in the two hour movie, and "muted" the volume in our brains. We are being "selective" in our hearing!

Whenever we use the "mute" mode in our hearing process, we are essentially making a judgment of the worth of what we are hearing spoken. This may work well for us when "shutting out" the commercials during our movie, but it does not work so well when it comes to "selecting" what it is we will listen to when God speak into our lives! We often don't "want" to hear what God is speaking - but the lesson in the hearing is in the receiving of the message. To receive, one has to be actively engaged! There is not "selective muting" with God! He hears all we speak - knows all we think - and his "remote" does not have a "mute"! So, don't we owe him the same respect? Some of us hear what we want to hear! We run the "ingredients" of God's message through the filter of our mind, emotions, and/or experience. The message takes on a whole different "look and feel" when this occurs. What came from God's heart as something as pure as water gets "colored" by our perceptions, emotional state, and/or past experiences.

If we want to be "connected" to the heart of God, we need to learn to hear what his heart is speaking. Filters need to be removed - muted messages need to be avoided. We need to be straight with God and he will be straight with us. It is in the true "engagement" of our heart in the listening process that we realize the intention of his heart toward us. So, listen well; listen actively; and listen in order to truly hear! God's is just itching for that kind of attention to his heart's message! Just sayin!

Be quiet - - - very, very quiet...and hear

What or who do you listen to because you feel you "have to"? For some of us, it is our parents - we listen because we know we are to respect them and to listen to their wisdom. For others of us, it is our supervisors - because they are the ones who guide our days and provide that paycheck at the end of the week. For still others, we listen to no one and nothing, other than our own minds and hearts. How's that one been working out for you? I know it didn't work out for me! My heart and mind doesn't always know what it wants - it can be rather indecisive and vacillate with the ups and downs of what is going on around me. It isn't worth listening to sin tell us what to do - and it isn't worth thinking our own mind will actually always know how we are to respond. We need to be aware of the presence of God in our lives, learning to listen to him FIRST and foremost. Only then will we experience all the glory of the goodness he has prepared for us!

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23 MSG)

All manner of sin will attempt to tell us what to do - from the voice of a well-meaning 'friend' misguiding us by some 'advice' they have for us, to the outright listening to the appeals of our own fleshly lusts and desires. We don't have to listen to either of them - we can turn a deaf ear to them, politely dismiss them, and move on. We don't have to 'do as we are told' when it comes to listening to sin's voice any longer - because we have discovered what it means to really listen to God's voice. There are times when people ask me how they know they are hearing God's voice in their lives. I'd have to say this - is what you are being told consistent with what scripture reveals about God and his ways? Is what you are being asked to do in alignment with the principles of grace and truth? If not, it isn't God's voice! It is either clearly some other voice, or a mixture of a good message combined with a not so wholesome one!

If we want a 'put together' life - one that is whole and consistent, we need to learn to listen for that consistency in what we are hearing. The consistency of alignment with the principles of grace and truth we find revealed in the Word of God. Some ask what to do when they cannot find a specific example of what they need an answer to in their lives within the explored scriptures. I'd have to say it is then a matter of conscience. God actually gave us that little tool to help us when we don't have any other 'judgment' factor that seems to address the issue. If there is any 'niggling' to do or say something that is against your conscience, it is wrong for you! It isn't the voice you want to follow. Our conscience doesn't 'override' scripture, but it can help us when we don't clearly find the specific issue addressed within scripture.

The good news is that we have a good God tell us how to live. We don't have to be confused about all the other voices in our lives - for his is the clearest, simplest, and quietest! It is quiet because it operates in an atmosphere of peace. Jesus spoke to the brewing storms to be still - only then did the disciples know it was him and receive from him that day. He spoke to the disease that created havoc in lives to be gone - only then did the disease-riddled soul hear the truth in his voice. There are times when Jesus needs us to shut out all the other voices - even when they 'storm' around us. Only then will we truly hear and understand his purposes. Just sayin!

In one, out the other

Do you all get things right the first time you attempt them? Have you ever heard from someone there is a better way of doing something? What did you do with that advice? If you are like me, there are times you have embraced it, while there are other times you have 'let it go in one ear, then out the other'. Wisdom comes through a process of learning. Good judgment is something that must be developed. We'd like both to be "instant", but they only come in the process of time. They are a result of exposure to learning opportunities and time invested. The matter I choose to let out the other ear is not always the right matter!

Listen, friends, to some fatherly advice; sit up and take notice so you'll know how to live. I'm giving you good counsel; don't let it go in one ear and out the other. (Proverbs 4:1-2)

Ever see someone limping around after they have done some type of activity that they are not "used to doing"? It is like when I spend a day out in the garden or shop working, then feel it in every bone and muscle the next day. I try to bend over like it is no problem, but instead of "bending" I find myself creeping slowly back to an erect position, regretting each movement because of the pain. Why do I feel the pain? Simply because I don't use those muscles often enough - my back aches because I have spent more time doing what I don't usually do in the course of a day than my body is used to doing!

The same is true in the development of wisdom and good judgment - they are spiritual, emotional, and intellectual muscles that must be used over and over again to not get "flabby" and out of shape. We can lose what we don't use. Let us not forget we are to guard our heart above all else - because it affects every choice we make - we don't want 'flabby spiritual hearts' more than a flabby heart beating in our chest. Our emotions affect our choices - so we must be on top of our emotions. Our intellect gives us the basis for choice - we choose what we believe because we think it will make the most sense. Our spirit guides our choice - acting as a governor over choice when neither intellectual insight nor emotional pull can be trusted. If not maintained, these "muscles" of wisdom and good judgment will cause us to live a pretty "halting" walk.

There is no sense in living in the past and we all know there are more than ample opportunities that present themselves as distracting forces in our lives. The past is just that - it is not the present. Too many times, we attempt to revisit the past, finding nothing more than disappointment in the process. The past is simply not what we are to be focusing on - it is the present that has the power to affect our wisdom and good judgment the most. The past served a purpose - learn from it and then move on. Don't dwell on it; it will hold you back if you do. Maybe it is okay to let the 'past' be the thing that goes out the other ear!  We can be assured of this one fact: God knows our heart very well. When he speaks words of wisdom and works on developing good judgment within us, he is doing so with the knowledge of how our heart works (what it responds to, what moves it the most). His call to us is this: "Don't let his wisdom go in one ear, and out the other!" Act on it - live it - exist in it. Just sayin!

Shhhhhhhhh.......

Our challenge is NOT in having the right advice to offer - it is allowing enough time to pass for the other person to actually WANT our advice! When I was in Bible College, one of the classes we took was designed to give us the skills to "listen" - really intent, serious listening. It was probably the longest and hardest semester learning the skills of biblical counseling - beginning with the skills of listening and ending with the skills of, oh yeah....listening. What was that all about? Somewhere along the way, our professors had learned that answering before listening is both stupid and rude. People were going to want to confide in us, hard things would be shared, and answers would be sought - but we had to learn to hear them out before offering the advice we were just chatting at the bit to get out!

Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. (Proverbs 18:13)

The failure to listen long enough or allow the time to build the trust that would be required to really share the issues could result in a wrong perception of the issues and a truly faulty answer to the problem. That would benefit no one. The entire eighteenth chapter of Proverbs is about words - how a fool speaks in ramblings and without thought; how a few words of gossip are nothing more than cheap words that really turn your stomach in the end; or teaching about how fights are started by the words that are chosen - be it your words or the other guy's. This is only one chapter of the Bible, and it has so much to say about what comes out of our mouth!

God has much to say about how we speak, what we listen to, and when it is that we are to speak or be silent. He commends us for bringing forth truth instead of lies. He exhorts us to listen before we speak. He encourages us to consider the audience and the timing of the message before we bring it. It must be an important thing for us to learn how to listen if God speaks to us so much about our speech and about our listening ears and responsive hearts! Words are weapons or wealth - they have the power to heal and the power to restore - but a lot depends on who is wielding the weapon or sharing the wealth.

We are encouraged to learn the skill of being good listeners. That may mean that we have to learn to NOT speak - something we might just benefit more from than any other instruction we embrace from scripture! I was often taught that all I think may be true, but not all I think needs to be spoken (although I struggle with keeping my thoughts inside sometimes). I need to give others time to come to a place of clarity in their thinking - eventually they will come to a place of sharing that may include the things I knew before they even said it. If that is so, they needed that time in order to be ready for the answer God wants them to receive. This is called wisdom - learning to speak when the time is appropriate.

I have learned that words do more than describe a situation - they expose a heart. The 'skill' comes in allowing the other person enough time to connect with their heart. When we take the time to truly listen, we give them the time they need to make that connection themselves. You'd be surprised what you learn about the heart of another when you give them time and opportunity to share it without jumping in to offer advice at the first opportunity. Our challenge is NOT in having the right advice to offer - it is allowing enough time to pass for the other person to actually WANT our advice - godly wisdom comes in allowing the time for the other person to be ready to receive that advice! So, tune up those listening ears and shut off that constant flow of "free speech". It is time to listen! Just sayin!

It is more than receiving

I want to pose a question to the readers today.  When was the last time you took notes on a sermon?  It could have been something kind of formal like typing them into your iPad or even the app you use on your smart phone, or even a paper journal of sorts.  It may have been "on the fly", such as when you take a portion of the bulletin and write in the margins or something, just to not lose track of that poignant point the preacher made.  It doesn't matter how you made those notes, I want to ask each of us what we "did" with those notes once we were finished recording them.  I think we'd all have to agree it is the "doing" which actually made those notes important - not the "taking" of them.  When we actually "used" those notes to change something we were about to do, had been doing a while, or just didn't realize was a habit we might not want to be doing any longer, we benefited from the note-taking.  Taking is one thing - doing is another.  Receiving is one thing - putting what we receive into use is very different.

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. (James 1:22 ERV)

I received a lovely gift from my son this Father's Day.  Yep, before you wonder if this is a guest blogger today, my son gave his Momma a very nice gift on Father's day.  Why?  As he put it, I was the best father he ever had and he just wanted to remember me for being both parents for him.  As a single parent, you often worry you haven't done the right things for your children - as you can only be "one side" of the parent equation.  Yet, you tend to "compensate" in some ways you may not really know until one of your children tells you somewhere down the road that you did a pretty good job with the circumstances you had to live through.  So, as I opened my set of Ryobi power tools, complete with battery charger and even the tool bag, I was delighted.  It was not just that he had honored me with such kind words and a tremendous gesture of love, but that he met one of my unspoken desires.  

Before you think too hard on that one, I know most women wouldn't be delighted to receive power tools at any time of the year, much less on Father's Day.  I like using my hands to create things and one of my newest passions is to turn my backyard into place where there is comfort, color, and creative expression of my passion for nature.  I want to garden, but Arizona soil doesn't lend itself well to gardens - unless they are raised.  So, he has been reclaiming all kinds of wooden pallets for me and bringing them by on occasion.  As they have been accumulating, I take a few hours here and there to disassemble them and place the wood in neatly stacked piles.  I was doing all this by hand - until he brought me the nice reciprocating saw, circular saw and power drill!  Now I can disassemble quickly and have all the wood neatly stacked in a matter of minutes instead of hours!  

That wood is being recycled into my raised beds.  It may be a little marred in spots and not perfectly even like all that wood I could buy at the local lumbar yard, but it has tremendous character and I am recycling to boot!  I tell you all this to bring us to the point I started with.  My son could have given me this tool set and it could have joined a variety of other tools on the shelves in the garage, just being a gift I have received, but not really used.  I have a food processor I rarely use.  It is in a cabinet above the stove, but it takes up so much space on the counter, I don't bring it down very often.  It is easier for me to spend a little time chopping up the veggies by hand than bringing it out and then cleaning it all up after I am done with it.  It wasn't really one of those things I wanted - I just inherited it when my uncle passed away and there it sits.  It was "received", but never put to use.  It is kind of like when I take notes at church on that one salient point and then forget about it when I get into the car!

I am not unlike the rest of us, as I take notes, tuck them away carefully, and once in a blue moon, I actually go back to them to see what I wrote.  If something really catches my attention, I may spend a little time recalling why I took those notes at that time with such attention to detail, often realizing those words spoke me through a tough time.  What we put into action in our lives is what we have come to value the most.  I am a little sore this morning, and find a few mosquito bites on my body, with a bruise here and a scrape there.  It isn't because I spent the weekend camping or hiking.  I put those tools to use again this weekend, building another one of those beds with what wood I had piled up from those pallets I had been taking part little by little.  I still have a long ways to go to realize my dream for my yard, but I am getting closer and closer.  The tools received have become a blessing to me because they have made the job much easier.  Mom watches as I take on the projects with determination.  She worries about me losing too much fluids as I sweat in this summer heat, but as she sees what I accomplish in the end, she realizes the effort brought me much satisfaction.

It is the effort we apply to a matter that makes the difference.  We can be hearers of a great many teachings and then simply walk away unchanged.  We have the opportunity to just receive pallets, tools, and ideas - or we can spend the time "taking apart" those things which can become the building materials for great things in our lives!  We have the "supplies" and "tools" to do great things and realize tremendous blessing in our lives, we just need to do more than receive them!  Just sayin!