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Monthly Archives: May 2013

Are You Talking to Me?

30 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Shellynne in Christian living, Faith, Humor

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christian, humor

bigEarsDog     With three women in the house, my husband has learned to ‘tune out’ much of the daily conversation. He works on the assumption that very little of it pertains to him.  But there are those moments when he suddenly notices that all three of us are staring at him waiting for a response. “Oh,” he says “are you talking to me?” And even if we repeat the question, at this point he has no context for the conversation because he hasn’t been paying attention. Can you blame him? The constant flow of conversation is probably exhausting for someone of his personality.  And even we girls would agree that every word out of our mouths is not necessarily worthy of his attention!

We all probably have times we are not really paying attention when someone is talking. But what about when God is talking? Do we make the same choices? Do we consider it overwhelming and so we just ‘tune out’?

You have to admit, there is a lot to learn about being a Christ follower! With 66 books in the Bible and only one lifetime to study them all, we may think it is a daunting task. And it may be tempting to dive into the ‘love one another’ passages and ignore the ‘be holy as I am holy’ passages. We think we understand love better than holiness.  The problem is if we do not listen because it is hard, we will miss so much of what He wants to tell us.

Unlike we humans, every word from God is worthy of our attention. After all, it is God, JEHOVAH, talking, right? 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Certainly, if it is all God-breathed, it is all worthy of our attention. If we are not being good listeners, we may misunderstand or be easily confused. We may miss the context in which He is communicating, and therefore miss the meaning of the message.

But maybe we are not paying attention simply because we do not realize He is talking to us?

I know I am not alone in this. I am thinking of those times when you are sitting in the pew, the Pastor is speaking, and you can see so clearly  how his teaching applies to so and so. You think to yourself “I hope they are paying attention.” In fact, if they are sitting next to you and you know them well enough, you may even give them a gentle nudge with your elbow. Then  as the message continues, the Spirit suddenly pricks your heart getting your attention and you pause to ask the Lord. “Oh…are you talking to me?”

Suddenly confronted with the realization that the God of heaven is speaking to you, to your heart, you stop and turn your full attention to Him.

God is so patient and there is so much He wants to say to us. He told Job  “Pay attention, Job and listen to me; be silent and I will speak.” (Job 33:31) There was no mistaking who God was talking to!  Today He still is constantly communicating through His created world, His Word and His people.  Pay attention, He IS talking to you and me!

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Barking Dogs

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Shellynne in Boldness, Christian living, Compassion

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

boldness, character, Christian, compassion

barking dogs“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” I Corinthians 13:1 “…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” Acts 4:29

It was another beautiful morning for a walk on the trail. Alot of people were out walking their dogs. I guess that’s why I heard so many other dogs barking. You know the type. They make a lot of noise and sound brave as they bark at you from behind their safe fenced in yard. But they have no real impact on what happens on the trail. They are nothing but an amusing and sometimes annoying distraction.

Too often, we (I am including myself in this) are like those barking dogs on the side of the trail. We make a lot of noise from behind the safety of our church walls. We sound brave as we proclaim God’s truth loudly to one another about what is going on outside the walls. But while desperately trying to make our point, we actually make nothing but noise. We have little impact. To the world around us we are just an amusing and sometimes annoying distraction.

I’m not suggesting that we go outside the walls and continue to bark loudly. J I am suggesting we go outside the walls and speak boldly. Boldness and compassion are not mutually exclusive. At least they do not have to be. Our greatest historical heroes were known for being both bold and compassionate. When you think of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, do you think of them as people who minced words? Hardly.  They are known for their bold stands, bold statements, and bold lives. They are also known for their great compassion. They not only spoke of love they loved through their actions.

And then there is Jesus, our precious Savior. Was Jesus compassionate? Immeasurably. Did Jesus boldly proclaim God’s truth? Absolutely. If we are to be like Christ, we must do the same.

We must not be silent. But we must not simply bark loudly behind our safe walls. We should step out on the trail and engage others. We should speak boldly – we need not make apology for the truth of God’s Word. Our lives should mirror our words – the world needs to know we Believe what we say. And we must speak with great compassion, for love is the most eloquent language God has given to man. May we learn to stop our incessant barking, to step out and engage our lost world, and to speak love’s language as we communicate His truth.

Photo credit: Sri Lankan Photos / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

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