LISTEN

There was a commercial on the TV several years ago for an investment company called E. F. Hutton. The company is still remembered for its catchy advertising slogan: "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen." The commercials would show people stopping whatever they were doing the moment someone would casually say, "Well, my broker is E. F. Hutton, and he says..."

The question I put before you today is, “Do you respond the same way when God speaks?” In Second Kings chapter nine, Elisha sends a young prophet to Jehu to anoint him King. Elisha instructed the young man to “open the door and run for your life (NLT)” after he had given God’s message to Jehu.

¹¹Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know very well the man and his talk.” ¹²They said, “It is a lie, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he said to me, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’” ¹³Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!” 2 Kings 9:11 - 13 (NASB)

They didn’t know this prophet. They didn’t ask for a resume or references. All it took for them to believe was “Thus says the LORD.”

When we hear Gods Word preached from the pulpit in our churches, do we respond in the same way? Do we recognize the importance of God speaking to us or do we brush it aside as the mutterings of a “mad man”?

When God speaks, do you listen? When God commands, do you obey? When God reveals, do you respond? When God leads, do you follow? When God guides, do you go?

It worked for E.F. Hutton, but does it work in your life with God?

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FOOD

As a culture, we are obsessed with food. We here in the United States are surrounded by our choice of food from around the world in restaurants and, if not available there, we have shows on television to teach us how to make these foods!

The price of our obsession is that we have the highest rate of obesity of any other country and it is worse now than it has ever been. On the other hand, we do need food to nourish our bodies and sustain us.

In the Gospel of John, we read an interesting story about food…

Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” ³²But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” ³⁴Jesus said^* to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. John 4:31 - 34 (NASB)

Jesus is saying that the thing that nourishes me and sustains me best is doing what God the Father wants. It wasn’t a burger and fries but doing God’s will.

Can you imagine if we were as dedicated to doing God’s will as we are to making sure we eat at least three meals a day? And, of course, it’s not just the eating it’s the preparation. There is the shopping for ingredients and the preparing of the meal before it can be eaten. It takes a lot of time and thought. Even if you are more prone to going out to eat, whether fast food or a sit down place, you still have to expend time, energy and finances for that to take place.

Let’s purpose to put as much time and thought into doing God’s will as we do feeding ourselves earthly foods…

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WATER

Water is an extremely valuable commodity when you live in the desert. The heat of the sun dries the skin and dehydrates the entire body. If that water is not replenished, the dehydrated person may die.

We dig wells into the earth to get it, we buy cases of it in bottles at the store, we use it as the base for coffee, ice tea, lemonade and a myriad of other drinks. Water is important.

There are even several types of water: spring, mineralized, ionized, and distilled, just to name a few. However, there is a type of water that is better for you than any other…

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13 - 14 (NKJV)

Jesus clarified what that water was in John 7:38-39a (NLT)

³⁸“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;

So, as important as physical water is, the water from Jesus is more important in our lives. When we believe in Christ the Holy Spirit indwells us and His water fills us, but we must drink from it. We must take the time to bathe in His presence and drink from His Word. Even an oasis in a desert is no good unless we go to it and drink.

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WHO

Does God have any requirements or preferences about who can enter his presence?

¹ Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

³ Those who refuse to gossip

or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

⁴ Those who despise flagrant sinners,

and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,

and keep their promises even when it hurts.

⁵ Those who lend money without charging interest,

and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.

Such people will stand firm forever.

Psalms 15:1 - 5 (NLT)

Some of those things we can do most of the time on our own, like not gossiping or harming our neighbors. However, the only way you can be sure to be accepted into the presence of God is to be adopted by Him.

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:14 - 17 (NLT)

To be led by His Spirit we must be born again, in other words, accept Jesus as our Savior. Only by having the Holy Spirit in us can we be acceptable in God’s presence. When His Spirit indwells and controls us, we can consistently do what is right and speak the truth from a sincere heart. Only when we are under the control of the Holy Spirit will we despise flagrant sinners, honor the faithful followers of the LORD and keep promises even when it hurts.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we will refuse to gossip, harm our neighbors or speak evil of our friends. We will lend money without charging interest, and will not be bribed to lie about the innocent when the Spirit of the Almighty God leads us.

If you are having problems with any of those things and consider yourself a Christian, I suggest you reevaluate your relationship with Christ and begin to yield those areas with a humble heart to the One that gave His life for you.

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BLIND

Have you ever known someone who thought they knew everything? Well, it seemed so at least, but no human can really know everything. Why is it people act like that? Some just want to help, some can’t stand to appear as if they don’t know something (insecurity?) and others…well, who knows!

The point is we need to be willing to admit when we don’t know something…it’s really ok! We should also be willing to listen and try to understand when someone else is trying to help us. The Bible tells us that is a smart thing to do:

¹⁰ Pride leads to conflict;

those who take advice are wise.

Proverbs 13:10 (NLT)

Jesus healed a blind man and the ruling class of the Jews tried to condemn him for this because he did it on a Sabbath. They grilled the blind man several times to try to get him to admit that Jesus was a sinner. After all, if they didn’t understand it, it must be wrong.

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” ⁴⁰Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” ⁴¹“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. John 9:39 - 41 (NLT)

Don’t let pride “blind” you. Be willing to take the advice of wise and godly people.

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MESSAGE

Have you ever passed along a message for someone? If the news is good the person to whom you have delivered it is happy and thanks you. On the other hand, if the message causes the person to feel guilty, condemned or otherwise upset, they can sometimes take it out on you, the messenger.

In the Bible this was a common occurrence when God would deliver a message through a prophet to a king for example. Sometimes the king would be so upset the prophet would have to go into hiding.

In today’s society, preachers or anyone using scripture (God’s Word) to get a point across, can often be disliked or looked upon as though they were the ones who had come up with this idea that made the person feel guilty or whatever. Even now, as I write this, I am fully aware that someone will feel like I am talking directly to them rather than understanding that these daily devotionals use the Word of God.

Even Jesus, as He went around preaching and healing was condemned for the message. His response…

So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. John 7:16

We have to keep this in mind when any scripture is used in a message…

¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16 - 17 (NASB)

The important thing to remember is that the Bible, a.k.a. scriptures, is God’s Word.

Don’t shoot the messenger. Ask God what He is trying to convey to you through His Word.

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WORSHIP

There is just something about the purity of God’s Word. As I was reading the passage below, I was struck with the absolute devotion of King David to the Almighty God.

With ALL his heart, he worshiped Him, loved Him, and praised Him. I have arranged three translations phrase by phrase in the order listed so that it reads well. Remember God is a Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three is His number. Worship Him today with ALL your heart as you read and meditate on His Word.

Psalms 138:1 - 3 (CEV) (NASB) (NKJV)

¹ With all my heart I praise you, Lord.

¹ I will give You thanks with all my heart;

¹ I will praise You with my whole heart;

In the presence of angels I sing your praises.

I will sing praises to You before the gods.

Before the gods I will sing praises to You

² I worship at your holy temple and praise you for your love and your faithfulness.

² I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

² I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than ever before.

For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

³ When I asked for your help, you answered my prayer and gave me courage.

³ On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.

³ In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.

My prayer for you today is that you may find moments throughout your day to simply close your eyes and worship Him, thank Him and tell Him of your love for Him.

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SILENCE

I’ve had some interesting discussions in the past year with people regarding reverence for God upon entering the sanctuary at church.

When I was younger, you entered the sanctuary to the piano and organ playing softly and you did not hear a sound other than that. Now when you walk into a church, if the instruments are playing you can’t hear them over the drone of people catching up on each other’s lives during the past week. It seems to be less about God and more about us!

I came across this verse in 1 Kings 6:7 (NASB) this morning regarding the building of the Temple under King Solomon…

The house, while it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.

Out of reverence for God, they completed all the stone cutting and wood sawing at another location, brought to the Temple site and fit together. What an awesome thought, quietness in the House of the Lord.

Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalms 46:10 (NKJV)

Worship is to be ALL about Him.

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WISH

What we wish for, says a lot about who we are. In the book of First Kings, God appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he wishes God to give him.

Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷“Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸“Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹“So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3:6 - 9 (NASB)

In essence, help me to do your will. Is that what you would have wished for? Or, would you have said, “I need this…, I need that….”?

Let’s say you were a guitar player for a church. You could pray, “God don’t let anybody take my job.” On the other hand, you could pray, “God help me to be the best guitar player I can be so that everything I play causes people to see and understand you.” Which prayer do you think would most please God?

It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, ¹²behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ¹³“I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ¹⁴“If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.” 1 Kings 3:10 - 14 (NASB)

The principle: Please God first and He’ll bless your socks off!

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ENCOURAGEMENT

Every once in awhile things seem like they couldn’t get worse:

• The dogs knocked over the trash and spread it throughout the house.
• The delivery man left your package next to the pond and the wind blew it into the water.
• Your emergency brake failed, the car came out of gear and rolled backwards down a hill where it promptly found a telephone pole to knock down that had a transformer on it and…

You get the picture.

While these may seem like exaggerations, the idea is that something or someone comes into your life now and then that causes you to be discouraged. When that time comes, and it will, think about Paul’s words to the church at Thessalonica:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸So encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 18 (NLT)

If that doesn’t cause you to get a little happy nothing will! Jesus Christ coming for me…wow!!! What an awesome day that will be.

In addition to that personal attention we get to be with Him forever. The One for whom and through whom all things were created. The One who gave His life for us at Calvary….

Look up…it won’t be long now

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HEAD

Somebody has to be in charge! Too many cooks spoil the soup, or whatever the saying is! Everybody wants to be in charge, but nobody wants to take responsibility.

God designed the church, the body of Christ, to have Jesus as its head. Jesus Christ is the boss, the head honcho, the top banana. He has the first and final word as to what we are to be and do.

Speaking of this, Paul said in Colossians 1:18 (NASB)

He (Jesus) is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

The body of Christ is made up of all believers and all are important to the body.

But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 1 Corinthians 12:24b-25

Each member of the body of Christ has a different function.

²⁰But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 1 Corinthians 12:20 - 21 (NASB)

Neither can the foot say to the eye, “let me show you how to see” or the hand to the nose “pick that up for me.” God put every part of the body in place with a specific gift to function for the glory of Christ, not for self.

Notice at the end of 1 Corinthians 12:25 it says have the same “care for one another.” He does not admonish us to care for self, but for each other. For this same reason, Paul ends the chapter with “and I show you a still more excellent way.” He was referring to agape love as he explains in chapter 13 where one of the descriptive phrases says love “does not seek its own (vs. 5).”

Let all be done for the glory of Jesus Christ, everything we do and everything we say, for He alone is the Head of the Church. Jesus alone is our Savior and Lord.

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TRANSFERRED

When you work for a big company, there is often a chance that you will be transferred to one of their other locations. It’s usually a compliment, because they need your skills at the other facility.

There is a transfer that occurs just because we are loved!

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13 - 14 (NASB)

There is another meaning for the word transfer. The online dictionary, Wiktionary, says it is also “a design conveyed by contact from one surface to another.”

I was in the office supply section of a store the other day and a package labeled “T-Shirt Transfers” caught my attention. I bought it, took it home, printed a design onto the special paper, placed it on a new t-shirt and applied heat with an iron. The result was that the design was transferred onto the t-shirt.

When God transfers us into His kingdom, He also transfers His image onto and into us through His Holy Spirit. Wow, that’s way better than a t-shirt! Thank you, Lord.

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AMBIGUITY

Do you remember getting in trouble as a kid and not really knowing why? Sometimes the lines between right and wrong were ambiguous, a little blurry or maybe Mom and Dad just hadn’t quite gotten to that specific subject or behavior yet.

We can’t say the same about our heavenly Father. He has outlined those behaviors, which are wrong. Just look at this passage in Galatians 5:19 - 21 (NASB)

¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:

immorality,

impurity,

sensuality,

²⁰idolatry,

sorcery,

enmities,

strife,

jealousy,

outbursts of anger,

disputes,

dissensions,

factions,

²¹envying,

drunkenness,

carousing,

and things like these,

of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now if there is a particular word you’re struggling with, just look it up in the dictionary. It probably means what you thought!

Now, because He is God and loves us so much, He also tells us the kind of behaviors and attitudes that will occur when we allow our lives to be controlled by the Holy Spirit…

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is

love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

²³gentleness,

self-control;

against such things there is no law.

²⁴Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22 - 24 (NASB)

I don’t think anyone will have to look up any of those words. The basic principle: less of me and more of You, Jesus.

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FOLLOW

We had a nice discussion in Bible Study last night. One of the things we talked about was accountability. If we have someone close that we are accountable to for our actions, it can help us as we try to follow Jesus.

However…ultimately we are responsible for our own walk. We cannot live a life comparing ourselves to someone else. For example, “Well, Lord, since that deacon doesn’t really follow you in that area, I guess I don’t have to.” NOT !

Look at the conversation that Jesus had with Peter in John 21:19 - 23 (NASB). He had just finished telling Peter what would happen to him when he was old.

Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said^* to him, “Follow Me!” ²⁰Peter, turning around, saw^* the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” ²¹So Peter seeing him said^* to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” ²²Jesus said^* to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” ²³Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Peter was curious about what would happen to John. Jesus said, in essence, it doesn’t matter. I told you to follow me.

He’s telling you and me that today. It doesn’t matter if this person did this, got this or said that. What matters is whether we, you and I, are following Jesus. We will each have to answer to Jesus…

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NASB)

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BONUS

Buy one, get one free…

Buy this super fantastic thing-a-ma-jigger and we’ll throw in a what-cha-ma-call-it absolutely free…

In the world of shopping, there is nothing like a “bonus” to provide incentive to purchase something. Some employees get bonuses at certain times of the year. They may be based on performance or simply because the employer is feeling generous. Everybody loves a bonus!

Paul tells us that when we give to ministries (the Lord’s work) there is a special bonus…

For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. 2 Corinthians 9:12 (NASB)

Not only does our gift help people in various areas of need, it causes all of them to give thanks to God. We are actually giving a “bonus” of thanksgiving to God. How cool is that!!

So remember next time you give to a God-based charity, there is a bonus that doesn’t benefit you when you fill out your taxes, but it sends up showers of praise to your heavenly Father.

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SUPPLY

Where do your groceries come from? Take milk, for example, where does it come from? You might respond…

The grocery store!

Where do they get milk?

The wholesaler…

Where do they get milk?

The dairy…

Where do they get milk?

The cow…

Where does the cow get milk?

From an internal mechanism designed to produce milk…

Who designed it?

Where did the cow come from?

¹³For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:13 - 16 (NASB)

¹⁰Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; 2 Corinthians 9:10 (NASB)

God supplies all our needs so that we can give to those in need. Will we ever run out? Not with God supplying! Note, it says he will also multiply the seed He provides.

Thinking about giving to a church or another Christian ministry? God is the One that supplied what you have to give AND, whatever you give will be multiplied!

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FACTS

You probably have seen one of those TV lawyers like Matlock, Perry Mason or one of the newer ones in action. If you have, you may have heard someone object and say “Speculation, your honor.” At this point, the judge usually says, “Sustained” because speculating on what might have happened is not allowed in the courtroom. In the words of an illustration police officer, “Give me the facts, m’am, just the facts.”

People attempt to do the same thing in regards to the things of God. Rather than looking simply at what He has given us in His Word (the Bible) they try to draw some spectacular conclusion of their own, speculating on the “what ifs” in order to make it appear intelligent.

Paul dealt with speculations in a bold manner…

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)

The New Living Translation considers these speculation OBSTACLES…

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT)

The New King James Version simply calls them ARGUMENTS…

casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)

So, what is left when you take out all the speculation, obstacles and arguments?

THE WORD OF GOD.

Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. ¹⁷The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. 2 Timothy 3:16 - 17 (CEV)

Nothing more, nothing less…

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