John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

The Problem Of Noise

We are bombarded with noise every day.

I’m not just talking about the kids whooping and hollering around the house about this and that and the unfairness of it all. I’m talking about stress factors in general.

In the case of children, the noise is aural. It impacts the ears. Other noise we introduce to ears is music and talk radio. TV impacts the ears and the eyes.  We have to leave the radio and TV off at dinner time so that we can listen to each other.

There’s another kind of noise that impacts the mind. It comes from email telling us that we need to accept money from a Nigerian foreign minister. It comes from 24-hour news. Dare I say, it also comes from Twitter and Facebook conversations.

Every time we introduce these things to our minds we are presented choices. What do I do with this information? Chuck it or store it? Where do I store it? What do I do with all of this stuff I stored?

We don’t realize just how much noise we are taking in. If we’re not careful we will lose the ability to listen to ourselves, to remember where our true passions exist, to remember the things God has called us to do.  We will grow deaf to His whispers.

Jesus showed us how he handled this problem:

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”  (Mark 1:35, NIV)

So my challenge to us today is this: unplug from the noise. Go somewhere quiet where there are no inputs except those generated by nature itself. Breathe. Relax. Pray. Listen.

Then come back here and share your experience.

A Call To Obedience

The subject of Christian obedience has greatly eluded the dialogue of Contemporary Christianity.  It is often based on feelings of love for God rather than behaviors of love written about in the Word of God.  As for myself, due to spiritual abuses in my past, I’ve associated obedience with legalism for far too long.  I’m so thankful to be in a church that has helped me come away from that mentality.  I have also begun to read a 19th century book called, “The School of Obedience” by Andrew Murray.  The Holy Spirit has been using this book among other things to convict me of areas of disobedience in my life, and has helped me to understand some practical ways to surrender daily.  I wanted to share these thoughts with you.

The Call to Obey

As I read about the subject of obedience I am discovering that it permeates every pore of Scripture.  You will often read in the Old Testament statements like, “And ____________ did as the Lord commanded him, and the Lord honored/blessed him.”  God often predicated His promises with a call to obedience with statements like, “IF you do as I have commanded you, THEN will I bless you and honor you.”  So the doorway into His honor and blessing is found in a life of obedience.

Our Failure to Obey 

When God calls us to obey, He is not only concerned with His glory; He is concerned about us.

Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”  (Luke 6:46-49, NIV)

What kind of house am I building?

The First Step of Obedience

The first step of obedience is found in Romans where Paul talks about the “obedience of faith”.  (Romans 1:5, 16:26, NAS)   

The Scriptures do not speak of “inviting” someone to Christ.  Rather, it commands that every human “repent and believe”.  And on that account, all men stand guilty. 

Paul said, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30, NIV) 

Later he said, “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20, NIV)

So obedience starts when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The next steps are futile and meaningless without this first step.

The Object and Motive of Obedience

What differentiates true obedience from legalism is the object and motive of our obedience.  Legalism elevates man as the master to be obeyed.  The Lord Jesus Christ is and should remain our true Master.  It is love for Him that drives us to obey.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”  (John 14:15, NIV)

Paul wrote, “The love of Christ constrains/compels/controls us.”  (2 Corinthians 5:14, NIV)

What kind of love is this?  It is a love characterized by a longing to please the Father in every way.  It knows there is only one thing that pleases Him above all else–our loving obedience.

Our Example of Obedience

There is no greater example of this than the loving obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:31, NIV)

Jesus’s primary goal was to give us eternal, abundant life; but his primary motive was to please His Father.  This should be our primary motive as well.

The Power to Obey

To help us in doing the same, Jesus Christ sent us the Holy Spirit to inhabit our hearts, convict us of sin, and convince us of our new identity in Him.

Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”  (John 16:8, NLT)

Paul wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”  (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV)

The Next Steps

1. If it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict us when we disobey, we must ask Him, “Holy Spirit, show me areas in my life where I am not being obedient to the Father.”  He will show us because this is His greatest desire for us. 
2. Take a sheet of paper and create two columns.  Above the first column write, “Areas of Disobedience”.  In the first column write down everything the Holy Spirit brings to mind.  Meditate on the following verses: 
   • “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17, NLT) What am I neglecting or refusing to do because I lack self-discipline.
   • “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  (Colossians 3:17, NAS)  What am I saying and doing that does NOT bring honor to the name of Jesus, whom I claim to serve?
3. Confess your disobedience to your Heavenly Father, asking Him for forgiveness.  Receive His forgiveness by faith.  His Son was crucified and buried, but He rose from the dead and now sits at the Father’s right hand interceding for you.  “This is mine.  I died for him/her.”  Recognize your new identity in Christ.  Your old self has passed away, and your new self is here.  Bask in His mercy and His grace towards you.  You are His adopted child.  Sit in your Father’s lap and let him hold you and tell you how much He delights in you.  Stay there for as long as you need.  He has all the time in the world for YOU.
4. On your sheet of paper, above the second column, write “What Obedience Looks Like”.  
   • Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom to know where to start.  You’re going to need His power to do this.  You want to follow His plan, not your own.  
   • Choose ONE item from the left column that you know the Holy Spirit wants you to tackle first.  For me, it was setting a bedtime for myself.  The sin of not giving my body, the “temple of the Holy Spirit”, proper rest has been hanging over my head for years, and since many of my areas of disobedience hinged on that one thing, I believed that is the place to start.
   • Spend the next week focusing on that ONE area of obedience.  Be much in prayer, dependent on His strength, and giving yourself wholeheartedly to the change.  If you fall off the wagon, repent, believe in His forgiveness and get back on right away.  Each day is a new day.  Every morning give yourself to complete surrender to your Master’s desire for you.
   • After you have surrendered to Him in that one area of your life, you will likely find that other items on the left column have also been surrendered.  Write down what obedience looks like in those areas.  Add to the left column anything else the Holy Spirit brings to mind as you study His Word and pray.  Repeat this whole process with each area of disobedience.  If you fall back into a pattern of disobedience in one area, repeat steps 3 and 4.  
   • Don’t worry if your list keeps growing.  It will.  This is called sanctification, and it will happen till the day you die.  Only then will you be perfect as He is perfect.  Only then will your list be complete.  But each day you do this, you will become more like Christ.  More of Him, and less of you.
5. Thank God for the honor and the blessing that comes with each victory.  Share your victories with the world.  Your motive is not to get honor and blessing; it is to please your Heavenly Father and glorify Him to the world.  Your Father has promised to reward your obedience with honor and blessing as you give yourself to the sweet surrender of obedience daily, one victory at a time.  There is no room for boasting.  He did it.  He made the change.  You simply surrendered, and followed His directions in faith.

I have a lot more to learn about this subject, and I hope to come back and go into more detail on each section.

By His Wounds We Are Healed

In grieving with a childhood friend as she deals with cancer treatment and other things, I thought of this beautiful and raw poetic meditation on Christ’s suffering by Bernard de Clairvaux.  In our own pain we must enter into His suffering, and we will find that He is with us even in this.

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

My Shepherd, now receive me; my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.