Read I Corinthians 2:6-14

“How do the geese know when to fly to the sun? Who tells them the seasons? How do we, humans, know when it is time to move on? As with the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within, if only we would listen to it, that tells us so certainly when to go forth into the unknown."             Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

 

The Lord still speaks today. Those who belong to Him learn to recognize His voice and listen carefully to it. God’s goals in speaking to us include that we: Comprehend the truth. God wants His perfect Word to take root in our mind and become a permanent part of our thinking. (Romans 12:2) Scripture is central to God’s plan that we understand who He is and what His purposes are. His Spirit explains everything we need to know as children in His royal family. Conform to the truth. God desires that we bear a strong resemblance to His Son, so He uses both His Spirit and the Scriptures to shape us from the inside out. His objective is that biblical truth will be reflected in our daily choices and lifestyle. Communicate the truth. God not only wants us to assimilate His Word and be transformed by it; He also desires to work through us to impact others’ lives. People will take notice when our responses show the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) However, unless we have submitted to the truth and been changed by it, our words will lack divine power and have little effect on the listener. If we are absorbing the Scriptures and allowing God to mold us, then His divine “fingerprints” will be visible in our plans, schedules, thoughts, and attitudes. As a result, our conversation will reflect His viewpoint and include topics important to Him. Achieving God’s goals requires a teachable heart, a cooperative spirit, and a listening ear. Do you have all three?  Our hearts lie to us and tell us that we are in control, that we know what is best for us and our family and no one can tell us any different.  Sometimes we just do not want to do what we know is right and then there are the times, like a little child, we ignore our heavenly Father.  God desires to be intimate with us: to whisper with His still small voice into our lives.  He does not want to have to yell through the whirlwind.  Are you ready to listen?

Read John 1:1-18

“Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on the surface

  Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden.”

      Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Many things stir my emotions: worship, silence, a kiss from my wife, my son’s belly laugh or the voice of treasured friends from around the country. Most of the time, however, my feelings are awakened by something slightly less than a Hallmark moment: being misunderstood, driving in rush hour traffic, restless nights, and customer assistance numbers that do not let you speak to a human. Whether pleasant or painful, our emotions are in need of cautious and careful monitoring. Why? Because we live in a world that loudly proclaims, “What feels good is good. What feels bad is bad.” It is in such an environment we can easily mistake feeling for fact. Emotions are not always accurate reflections of reality or of God’s will. They are not always truth’s vocal twin. The perspective for your life based on emotions will be one of many ups and downs, twists and turns and near constant turbulence. Our safeguard in a world where culture and media seek to benefit by manipulating our emotions is God’s unchanging Word. God’s truth is subject neither to circumstance nor to news broadcasts. His Word is nonperishable, immutable, and eternally free of decay! If we live our life based upon the precepts of what God has already spoken through His Word, whether the sun shines or the clouds hang low, in good times and not so good times, we will, nevertheless, obtain a peace that passes all understanding. The main reason that we fail in our emotions is because we believe that the Bible is a good book, but we fail to realize that it is the embodiment of God Himself. John lets us in on a little secret right from the beginning of his gospel when he states that the Word became flesh. The reason why we need, and have the opportunity, to trust His Word, is that we are really trusting Him. What was your last storm that caused you to question everything about God? When did you face dire situations that caused your entire life to turn upside down? Now, how did you feel? No matter how you felt, God and His Word never changed. It is forever established in heaven.  

Read Philippians 1:1-6

“Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.”

Jean Cocteau

Faded, broken, graceful lines are still visible upon the canvas of the painting’s original magnificence. Possibly hundreds of years earlier an artist had taken up a brush and with simple paint created this incredible scene. Now worn and weathered, the painting barely echoes its former brilliance. Through the cracks and tears, it gives silent testimony to the skill of its original artist. Wind, rain, heat, admirers—with each touch glory has departed. Centuries after its creation one cannot help but wonder about the creator, whether he was a pained soul or happy individual. One can feel a surprising connection with a painting of this magnitude. There is something familiar in comparison to anyone that dares to look closely in the mirror. The reflection too feels weathered.  Pain, conflict, disappointment, sin—with each touch, glory has departed from that individual’s life. The cracks, and chips of life with those same faded, broken lines, are only a faint reflection of what God had originally intended. Any thoughts that are present drift to the future of the painting. New artists could attempt to restore it, but its original artist could no longer take up a brush. Only one could truly return the painting to its intended magnificence. Only one saw the painting in his mind and felt the painting in his soul before others could see it with their eyes. That one master artist passed long ago. There ends the similarity between the painting and the picture in the mirror because the Original Artist of that face in the mirror—He still lives! He still remembers His master design. Our Creator is able and willing to restore the faded and broken portions of poor man’s souls. Hope exists for us--the weathered and worn--because our Original Artist lives! It is a wonderful thing to experience the molding and restoring of the Master’s hand. Can you feel those gentle hands forming you? Will you allow Him to enter your life and continue the work that He so desires to finish? 

“The swiftest steed to bear you to your goal is suffering... Nothing is more gall-bitter than suffering, nothing so honey sweet as to have suffered. The most sure foundation for this perfection is humility, for he whose nature here creeps in deepest depths shall soar in spirit to highest height of deity; for joy brings sorrow and sorrow brings joy.”

Eckhart

“I wouldn’t have written the script of my life this way, Lord.” 

“What would you have changed my son?” 

“I would have deleted unnecessary pain.” 

“What kind of pain is that?” 

“Senseless misunderstandings, incurable illnesses, and undeserved injustice. These produce nothing but aches in my heart and anguish in my soul. I could have done without them Father.” 

“I too could have done without sin’s shadows and pain’s piercing. But because of choices made long ago and choices re-made every moment I myself had a choice to make: turn my back on sin’s shadows or personally embrace pain’s piercing.” 

“What did you choose Father?”

 “I chose the path of what you call ‘unnecessary’ pain.”

 “Why? How?” 

“Actually, You helped me. Before you were born, I saw you and my love for you was greater than life. Through sweat and blood, I measured my love for you and its passion fixed my life willingly to a cross. By embracing pain, I robbed sin of its power to crush you.” 

“Then the shadows will not destroy me! But there are still tears in my heart and aches in my soul.” 

“Yes. They are in mine as well. But even there you can find a treasure if you allow the tears in your heart and aches in your soul to grow dependence upon me in your spirit.”  

Aren’t you glad our Father loved us enough to suffer for us?  There is nothing in our lives as great as the pain and suffering that He endured for our opportunity to have life.  What things in your life seem to be one of the pains of life that you just cannot get rid of?  Take the time to thank God for them now, and you will fulfill the words of Paul in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”