BACK TO CHURCH WITH PREPARED HEARTS

“Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still, small voice.”  (1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV)

Until our bodies, minds and spirits let go of the clutter we bring to our places of worship, we automatically tune out the still, small voice of God. Unless we come into stillness before God we do not detect either the fullness of His presence or the winsomeness of His voice.

-- Joyce Huggett in “The Joy of Listening to God”

You may want to make this your prayer as we come together for worship this Sunday:

Lord, I come to worship cluttered -- with noise in my mind, restlessness in my body, and distractions in my spirit. I confess that I often rush into church carrying the weight of my own agenda, forgetting that You are already there waiting for me. Teach me to release what I don’t need. Help me to place on the altar the mental lists, the emotional burdens, and the spiritual striving. Let me breathe deeply in Your presence, not to perform, but to just be.

Still my soul, Lord. Quiet my thoughts. Slow my heartbeat. Tune my ears so I can hear Your whisper -- the winsome voice that speaks peace, the gentle truth that heals, the holy presence that fills. I don’t want to miss You. So I choose stillness. I choose surrender. I choose You, Lord. Amen.

#6204

TODAY IS THE DAY

Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

Jesus calls us to take up a cross and die. Not someday when we take our last breath, but to die to ourselves today…

Bruce Thielemann is an author, he wrote these words, “Please don’t say anything to me about tomorrow. Tomorrow is a word the Bible does not know. The Holy Spirit’s word is “today.” The Bible says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). And Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day of salvation. Don’t say tomorrow. The word is “today.” 

-- Adapted from “Not a Fan” Study by Kyle Idleman

#5816

THE MASTER’S VOICE

“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,… I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.”  (John 10:14,16)

The mark of a sheep is its ability to hear the Shepherd’s voice.

The mark of the disciple is his or her ability to hear the Master’s voice.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

The world rams at your door; Jesus taps at your door. The voices scream for your allegiance; Jesus softly and tender requests it. The world promises flashy pleasure; Jesus promises a quiet dinner… with God.

Which voice do you hear?

Let me state something important. There is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking. Never. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark… a lounge so sensual… an office so sophisticated… that the ever-present, ever-pursuing, relentlessly tender Friend is not there, tapping gently on the doors of our hearts -- waiting to be invited in. 

-- Max Lucado in “In the Eye of the Storm: A Day in the Life of Jesus”

#5447

A PECULIAR BOOK

“Your eternal word, O LORD, stands firm in heaven.”  (Psalm 119:89 NLT)

The Bible is a peculiar book. Words crafted in another language. Deeds done in a distant era. Events recorded in a far-off land. Counsel offered to a foreign people.

It’s surprising than anyone still reads it. It’s too old. Some of its writings date back five thousand years. It’s too bizarre. The book speaks of incredible floods, fires, earthquakes, and people with supernatural abilities. It’s too radical. The Bible calls for undying devotion to a carpenter who called Himself God’s Son.

Logic says this book shouldn’t survive. Too old, too bizarre, too radical.

The Bible has been banned, burned, scoffed, and ridiculed. Scholars have mocked it as foolish. Kings have branded it as illegal. A thousand times over, the grave has been dug and the dirge has begun, but somehow the Bible never stays in the grave. Not only has it survived; it has thrived. It is the single most popular book in all of history. It has been the best-selling book in the world for years!

There is no way on earth to explain it. Which perhaps is the only explanation. The Answer? The Bible’s durability is not found on earth; it is found in heaven. For the millions who have tested its claims and claimed its promises, there is but one answer: the Bible is God’s book and God’s voice. 

-- Max Lucado in “Life Lessons: Galatians”

#5313

LISTENING TO THE SHEPHERD

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and My sheep follow Me.”  (John 10:27)

I believe God talks to us. Have I heard God speak to me in an audible voice? No.

Sometimes He speaks to me through Scripture. Sometimes He speaks to me through the words of a song, through reading or a sermon, through a quote of advice or admonition, through the honesty of a child, from a billboard or a bumper sticker, through a conversation with a family member or friend.

He always tells me things that are in line with His Holy Word. He does not always give me all the details. His information is always correct. When I follow His directions I will make no mistakes. He brings to pass everything He says.

I am amazed and humbled to realize that an awesome, omnipotent, sovereign God would want to communicate with me. But that’s one of the reasons He created us: He wants us to have fellowship with Him. People have tried to explain how to hear the voice of God. In my opinion, nobody has been able to describe it fully. I believe God’s sheep know the Shepherd’s voice by faith. 

-- Thelma Wells, quoted in “In This Quiet Place: Discovering the Pleasures of Prayer”

#4963

THE HEART’S GREATEST DESIRE

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”  (Psalm 37:4-5 ESV)

What kind of life does my heart want?  I find no easy answers to that question, but I know the answer means giving up the fantasy of always moving forward and allowing instead for seasons of dormancy.  And it is always time to listen.  Perhaps the heart's single greatest desire is to listen attentively to the voice of God … My heart wants the kind of life that leaves room for God… 

-- Elizabeth J. Canham in “Heart Whispers” 

#4934

PAUSE, WAIT, AND LISTEN

 “Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.”  (1 Kings 19:11-13a NKJV)

We must listen for God day by day. We must keep an ear open to our neighbor, an ear to our hearts, and a third ear to God.

Faith is a journey led by God. We pause, wait, and listen for the Guide who speaks more often than not in a still, small voice that requires careful, patient attention. 

-- J. Marshall Jenkins in “A Wakeful Faith” 

#4916

 

THE VOICE OF OUR GUIDE

“Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”  (Psalm 119:105 NLT)

My friend Danny went spelunking in the caves of Iowa.  The man guiding took him deep underground, then said he would lead Danny through a passageway into a spectacular chamber.  The passageway was small enough that Danny had to stoop at first.  Then as it grew still smaller, he had to get on his hands and knees.  Eventually the only way to go forward was to lay on his back and push his body forward with his feet.  Then the ceiling was so low that when he inhaled he could not move at all!  He had to stop, inhale, and exhale, and only then was his chest low enough to allow him to move.  By this point it was physically impossible to back out.  If the passageway had gotten any smaller they would have lain there and died in that cave.

Danny is a sky-diving, mountain-climbing, hang-gliding thrill-seeker, but there in that cave he felt sheer panic.  He was terrified.  He tried fighting his fear, but he kept picturing his dead body moldering in the cave.  Finally, he told his guide he was about to lose it, and the guide said, “Danny, close your eyes and listen to my voice.  I will keep talking, calmly, and guide you through this.  We will be okay.  I have been here before.  I will get you to the other side.  But you must listen to my voice.  It will not work for you to let your thoughts run wild.  Just focus on my voice.”

Danny did so.  What freed him from panic and fear was not trying hard to quit thinking fearful thoughts.  It was listening to another voice.

What voice do you listen to when you’re in the cave and it’s dark, when the ceiling is low and you can’t back out?  The Spirit longs to flow in our minds all the time.  One reason why people have found memorizing Scripture helpful is that it helps us listen to the voice of our guide when we are in the cave.  We set our minds on those thoughts that equip us for life.

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be”


#4653

LISTENING TO THE SHEPHERD

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and My sheep follow Me.”  (John 10:27)

I believe God talks to us. Have I heard God speak to me in an audible voice? No.

Sometimes He speaks to me through Scripture. Sometimes He speaks to me through the words of a song, through reading or a sermon, through a quote of advice or admonition, through the honesty of a child, from a billboard or a bumper sticker, through a conversation with a family member or friend.

He always tells me things that are in line with His Holy Word. He does not always give me all the details. His information is always correct. When I follow His directions I will make no mistakes. He brings to pass everything He says.

I am amazed and humbled to realize that an awesome, omnipotent, sovereign God would want to communicate with me. But that’s one of the reasons He created us: He wants us to have fellowship with Him. People have tried to explain how to hear the voice of God. In my opinion, nobody has been able to describe it fully. I believe God’s sheep know the Shepherd’s voice by faith.

-- Thelma Wells, quoted in “In this Quiet Place: Discovering the Pleasures of Prayer"

#4160

ADVENT LISTENING AND LOOKING

I once saw a quote -- maybe it was on a bumper sticker -- that went something like this: “If you feel distant from God, just ask yourself, ‘Who moved?’” If God seems hidden to us, maybe it is because we have stopped looking for God in the midst of our daily lives. In the Scriptures, heaven is not a far away place “way beyond the blue” as the old song says; but rather it is God’s realm, God’s dwelling, and it is quite near to us. All we need to do is put down the mirror and open a window in the relationship God wants to share with us. Rather than a booming shout from the clouds, God more often is revealed in the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 KJV). We can hear if we are focused enough to listen.

Advent reminds us, too, that if we want to see the face of the hidden God, we do not do so by looking up for a heavenly sound or light spectacular. Rather, we find it by looking into the dark recesses of a stable and into the eyes of a humble, helpless child.

-- Robert Kaylor in Come to the Manger

#3994

THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS

NOTE: Yesterday was the 16^th anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.  It was begun on March 29, 1999, in memory of our son, Dustin, who had died on March 29, 1998. While today's quote is a repeat from over a year ago, it speaks to what I believe SOUND BITES is all about.

On this 16^th anniversary, as I have done each year, I invite you to share how SOUND BITES has ministered to you and how you have used SOUND BITES to minister to others. Since SOUND BITES is now available via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and Twitter, you are welcome to respond through any of those means.

Blessings…

Rev. Dave Wilkinson
SOUND BITES Ministry™

 

THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS

 

To make my mind a home for Jesus, I deliberately fill my mind with the kinds of things God says are important.  Paul puts it like this: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

 

We often want to be able to hear guidance from God about important decisions such as whom to marry or what job to take.  But we also want to reserve the right to feed our minds on whatever junk comes along.  Whatever repeatedly enters the mind occupies the mind, eventually shapes the mind, and will ultimately express itself in what you do and who you become.  The events we attend, the material we read (or don't), the music we listen to, the images we watch, the conversations we hold, the daydreams we entertain -- these are shaping our minds.  And ultimately they make our minds receptive or deaf toward the still small voice of God.

 

-- John Ortberg in God Is Closer Than You Think

 

 

#3625

GOD'S POWER AND DIRECTION

That the Almighty does make use of human agencies and directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the Bible.  I have had so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above.

-- Abraham Lincoln


#3603

LISTEN TO HIS VOICE

"You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him." (Deuteronomy 13:4 NASB)

God is our true Friend, who always gives us the counsel and comfort we need.  Our danger lies in resisting Him; so it is essential that we acquire the habit of hearkening to His voice, or keeping silence within, and listening so as to lose nothing of what He says to us. 

-- Francois Fenelon


#3090

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

Silence is as common as the air we breathe. It is a vast pool always available to us where we can refresh and renew ourselves, or simply stop in for a while. Silence is God's gift to our minds, a gift that modern life seems to have lost or crowded out. We need more silence in our lives, more stillness in our homes. We need, in our increasingly complex and frenetic world, to silence ourselves -- and to listen… The key ingredient is not so much the total absence of noise as receptivity and access to the "still small voice within".
The cultivated ability to hear that voice is the most enduring value of silence. In silence we can discover the divine within, which is universally accessible but speaks to each of us in a unique voice. If we can locate, at the very center of silence, our individual "still small voice," we will have found our greatest ally in life. Because if we listen to that voice with an open heart, it will guide us through the most challenging crossroads of our lives: in work, in love, in distinguishing right from wrong.

We need only trust the voice that speaks to us out of the silence.

-- Robert Lawrence Smith in A Quaker Book of Wisdom


#2779