Musings of Wind and Rustling Leaves

This morning I was led in prayer to John 3: 1-8

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

Nicodemus was a man who came to see Jesus in the cover of darkness. He was compelled by questions. Questions that stirred inside of him into a whirling storm of belief, doubt, and wonder. His heart longed to know who Jesus was. Who was this man that healed the sick, fed thousands, spoke boldly in the temple, and caused such sickening hatred among the Pharisees? Yet, even they knew there was something special about him.

Sometimes I will sit and look out my bedroom window as I still myself to hear from God. As I gaze at the tree outside, I watch as the leaves bounce up and down in the breeze and I often think, "That is how God's Spirit moves." I don't see the breeze coming. I don't see where it ends. I only see the bobbing of leaves and hear the rustling of it's movement as it passes by.

Such is God's Spirit. It is unpredictable. We can't see it, but we can hear it and see the rippling effect as it passes by. Jesus says, "you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. "Did you get that? "you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going." In other words, I cannot know all the answers and see the full picture before I respond. 

It's in allowing to be moved that we can say, "Yes, did you see how God moved!" Sometimes God's voice is a nudge, "Go there. Talk to that person". Sometimes it's a stronger wind, and sometimes it's a full forced tornado. 

The questions is: Are you willing to be pliable to God's nudge? Do you hear him nudging you...do you hear the wind blowing? Are you willing to accept that "you cannot" know all the "whys" or "hows" and respond to His Spirit?

A morning chat with a neighbor

This morning as I was sitting in God's presence and wondering what I would write about, I felt inspired to talk with other believers about how they hear God's voice. I thought of my neighbors downstairs, a renowned theologian and his wife. Since Gordon has written many books about theology, I thought he would be the perfect one to ask. I was eager to hear what he would say.

I prayed, "Lord, do you want me to talk to my neighbor?" and I heard "Yes". As soon as I heard this, all kinds of excuses began to fill my mind, including a desire to simply be lazy, but I could not stop thinking about following this prompting no matter how much I tried. I asked God, again, whether I should go downstairs, and when I heard "Yes" a second time, I got up, descending the stairs, and knocked on my neighbors' door. To my surprise, he was not home, but his wife Maudine was home so, after a moment of indecision, I asked if she had a few minutes to chat. (You might notice that I did not actually ask God if I should speak with Gordon, but with my "neighbor". )

To give a little background, Maudine is a quiet, quick-witted woman, who has deep and insightful perspectives on scripture. Although her husband, Gordon, is the author of many books on theology, she is his trusted "editor" helping him to refine his writing.

When I asked her how she hears God's voice, she shared that she hears God through His Word. She and her husband had just completed reading the bible from cover to cover out-loud. Each day, they would take turns reading the daily scriptures and discussing what they had read.

Maudine also shared how she had once felt God's leading in writing something, but had second guessed herself. As she spoke about her manuscript I immediately saw the value in what she has written about and encouraged her in her writing, requesting to read her manuscript and meet with her again to talk about it. Maudine replied, "You are very encouraging. I'm so glad you came to chat. God must have prompted you to come."

God is my shepherd...

This morning I'm meditating on a new song that was introduced to our group on Sunday, "The House of God, Forever" by Jon Foreman. Have a listen while you're reading the lyrics.

How about closing your eyes and making the words of the Psalm your own? The words are actually quite radical. Can you believe that God is your shepherd? Yes, you! Allow yourself to believe the words and you might find your fears, sorrows, and loneliness comforted and healed by the love of our heavenly Father.

God is my shepherd

I won't be wanting

I won't be wanting

He makes me rest

In fields of green

With quiet streams

Even though I walk

Through the valley

Of death and dying

I will not fear

'Cause you are with me

You are with me

Your shepherd staff

Comforts me

You are my feast

In the presence of enemy

Surely goodness

Follow me

Follow me

In the house of God, forever

Don't You Know I've Always Loved You

Yesterday as I was sitting and waiting to hear from God, I asked, "Lord, what do you want to tell me today?" This is what came to mind, "Liz, I love you-and have loved you before the beginning of time." As I wrote down those words, a vague feeling came over me that those were lyrics from a song. I didn't know the name of the song, the group who sang it, or any of the lyrics but opened up my computer and typed, "I love you before there was time" into the search engine box. Within a few moments I found the song: "I've Always Loved You" by Third Day.

This is a song that my husband and I used in a video we showed at our wedding reception. I'm sure you've seen similar videos with images of the bride and groom growing up and then beginning their lives together. Well, that's exactly how this song was used. At the time, my brother chose the song, and I'm not sure I even knew who sang it then.

After listening to the song, I immediately downloaded it and have listened to the song maybe 15 times in the last day. The lyrics have ministered to me, even in silents moments when the song was not playing, like a quiet whisper in my ear:

"Don't you know I've always loved you, even before there was time."

Meditating on those words...really listening...has been a healing balm to my spirit. Images from my childhood scroll in time to the music, as if I am seeing my entire life played to a soundtrack.

Don't you know I've always loved you, even before there was time."

Clearly God intended for me to hear this song. I've needed to hear, ached to hear, these very words.

Here is the link, if you'd like to listen to the song.

Baby Steps Toward Joy

Have you ever experienced a powerful time of worship and clearly heard the voice of God? I remember when I was about 14 years old hearing God calling me to go up to a microphone at a Christian camp during our campfire. I heard him insistently calling me, but I had no idea what he wanted me to say and was terrified of responding. I remember sitting there with my heart pounding, saying, "I can't" to God. This would be the first of many times that I would say to God, "I can't" or "I don't want to God." For many years I have felt that because I have closed my ears to God, afraid of what he might tell me, that I don't hear him as clearly as I might. It all boils down to something I remember saying to someone in my youth group in high school, "I want to be a Christian, but I don't want to be THAT kind of Christian." By "that" I meant sold out, which in my mind meant "a little crazy" because even at that time I knew that not only was God real, but that he would sometimes show up and do things and ask things that were scary and unpredictable.

I wrote several blogs ago about meeting Kenny, a homeless man that I had known many years ago. It might seem from that blog that I am a bold or super spiritual person. Well, I'm not. For that one time I stopped and spoke with Kenny, there were probably hundreds of times in New York City that I have walked by a homeless person saying, "Please God, please don't tell me to talk to that person." It's the honest truth.

So, where am I getting with all this? Well, listening to the voice of God AND responding is a journey I am on. The more I listen AND obey, the more I hear. In my heart I want to say, "God you can count on me. I'm listening." But there are a lot of "but"s..."but not if...", "but not now....", "but I don't feel like it". How about you? I suspect if you are reading this that I am not alone. Now that this is established, I want you to know that you are not alone either.

What now? Well, how about trying baby steps? That's the path I'm on. I take a small step of faith with other believers. I might think, "That person seems like she might need prayer. God, do you want me to ask her if she would like prayer?" I might hear "Yes." and ask the question again and receive another "Yes." Then, I might ask her, "Would you like me to pray with you?". She may or may not answer '"yes", but most times, I do find that there is confirmation that I was hearing correctly. Other times, I have to have faith and trust God and leave it. It's scary, yes, but the more I take these baby steps instead of finding rejection, anger, or confusion, I find great unpredictable joy. It's not just happiness, but deep, deep joy in being used by the Father.

What about you? How might God be calling you? Are there small opportunities for you to take a baby step of faith and respond to the voice of God? If you don't know, ask God and be ready for what he wants to tell you.

Come......

Have you ever been invited to a party that you just couldn't wait to attend? Maybe all your friends were going to be there or last year's party was a blast, not to mention the incredible food and festivities. 

This year, whether you are invited to this kind of party or not, remember that Jesus has invited you to a feast, a party of unimaginable splendor. Laughter. Reunions. Feasting. It will all be there, including someone who has been dying to meet you face to face.

Jesus.

He's been waiting for you. Forever.

It won't matter that you're not perfect. It won't matter what you've done. It won't matter. Nothing will matter because He's taken care of it.  

Come.

See his smile. See his arms stretched out wide for you. He's waiting. 

Come.

Shhhhh...... it's okay. My arms are big enough for you, strong enough to hold you.

Come. 

Rest in my arms. Rest, my little one. My love. My child. Daddy's here.  

The Power of a Seed

Have you ever seen the look of excitement in a child's face when she talks about the imaginary and magical world she lives in? Whether talking about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy magically leaving money under pillows, or imaginary worlds with princesses, superheroes, or aliens, kids live in a world full of possibilities.

Today I read Mark 4:1-20 about the sower and the seeds. It's amazing to me that a small seed can lead to faith, but that's how it happens. Whether you have faith in the Tooth Fairy or a belief in anything else in your life, it always starts with a seed.

Sometimes God wants to plant a seed of hope in us. It might be a hope for our future or a hope about His character, or a hope in the impossible. Whatever it is, we have the task of believing what God has told us. (How do we know if He has truly told us something? That's a harder one. Listening is hard, but fortunately God has given us His Word to make things a whole lot clearer and mature believers who can also help us discern if what we are hearing is correct.) Believing what God has told us is not believing other things. It is not believing what our circumstances seem like to us. It is not believing what others might think. It is not believing God is like anyone else, including our fathers or mothers or friends who have let us down. It is choosing to believe God.

When God tells us something and we don't believe him, we choose to allow "thorns" to choke the seed. So my question to you is: What seed has God planted in you? 

If nothing comes to mind pray, "Lord please show me what seed you have planted in me?" What comes to mind?

Isaiah 43:19 says:

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

The wondrous thing about seeds is that when they are allowed to grow, they grow. And, pretty soon that seed of faith is a full-blown belief.