drifting – week 3

A while back I was listening to a really good series by Larry Ragan and Rob McDowell called “Drifting.”  I decided to go back to the series this morning.

The topic was listening.  So many Christians have a problem with this.  Sometimes when we feel the strongest spiritually, we’re still pretty weak because we lack the capacity to listen.   We’re so quick to share the gospel, give guidance, share a word of encouragement, or even a verse.  But we’re slow to listen.   It’s almost like, we’d rather speak for God rather than listen.  So many of us just end our prayers with Amen (Emunah in Hebrew). Emunah means faithfulness. Shouldn’t we put all of our faithfulness and just listen to God at the end our prayer.  I think that’s what God wants.  God wants more of us… he wants us to wait, and listen.

Then Samuel said, “Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.”
1 Samuel 15.21

God longs to tell us that He love us. He wants us to receive His love, and to rest in it. It could be that God is trying to turn your face toward Him. It could be that you are so distracted by life that you’ve lost your desire to hear. He wants to restore that desire to you, but you must listen. He wants you to know that you are loved, and that there is nothing in this world that compares to Him. Nothing.

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 6.22

Filed under: daily blogging, drifting, verses

Drifting – Week 1

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.  This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Hebrews 1:3-4

The beginning of the chapter address how great God is and how majestic he is – and then just one chapter later, a warning…
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

Hebrews 2:1

I love how this is written.  Just 30 minutes ago, we were talking about this – and this is exactly what the church needs.  They are drifting, but they don’t realize it.  Why have they gotten this way? They’re restless.  God has a way out.  But it requires you go through Him!

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Filed under: daily blogging, drifting, restless, verses

Drifting – Week 2

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord

Lamentations 3:25-26

Most of our lives we spend waiting, or at least it feels that way.  But what are waiting for?  Are you waiting for change? Or are waiting for God?

Then the Lord said to me, “….This vision is for a future time.  It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”

Habbakuk 2:2-3

You must wait for God to make the changes – he promises he will…. but on his schedule not on yours.

Filed under: daily blogging, drifting, verses