To Hear or Not To Hear
Father, thank You for the focus to get through so much today in preparation for Sunday’s services. I would humbly ask that You would continue to direct my thoughts. Make this time together what You would have it to be. Amen.
John 8:33-47(<<click here to read the passage)
There has been a joke circulating for a little while. Maybe you’ve heard it?
An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for several years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100 %.
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.” The gentleman replied, “Oh, I haven`t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!”
In our home, a common banter back and forth consists of, “I think you need hearing aids!” and the response is, “What?”
In reality, hearing loss is no laughing matter. As we get older many of us need help. Without our hearing, we miss out on so much of life. With the help of hearing aids, life is greatly enhanced.
My mom’s hearing aids are Bluetooth. When I call her, her smartphone automatically links my call directly to her hearing aids and she can hear me loud and clear. On occasion, I have called earlier in the morning and when she answers, she asks me to hold on for a moment. When she comes back, I usually find out that she was washing her hair and had taken her hearing aids out. If they are on the counter and not in her ears, they are just useless pieces of plastic and hardware.
Throughout this discourse between Jesus and his Israeli listeners – they listened to Him to a degree but didn’t really hear Him.
In verse 43, Jesus said,
“Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.”
Jesus plainly points out that they were spiritually deaf. Though they claimed to be followers of God, the heavenly Father, in reality, they were followers of their father, the devil. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil…” v44
He continues by saying that the devil is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths. They did not believe Jesus [and continued in their unbelief] even though He spoke the truth. (v45)
Jesus’ final statement in this passage is,
Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him.” v47 AMP
As creations of God, we have physical ears and we have spiritual ears. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can hear His guidance loud and clear, if we are really striving to hear Him speak. It is another one of those “free will” things. He will not force us to listen. He wants us to. And we are so much better off when we do. But it is our choice. If we are of God, we belong to Him and we will hear the truth of His words. To hear or not to hear, that is the question.
July 6th, 2021, Tues, 10:09 pm
Square Watermelon
Because you are my helper,
….I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
….your strong right hand holds me securely. Psalm 63:7-8 NLT
John 8:33-47(<<click here to read the passage)
A while back I came across an article that talked about square watermelons. This is what Wikipedia had to say.
Square or cube watermelons are…grown into the shape of a cube. [They] are common in Japan, but are essentially ornamental and are often very expensive, with prices as high as $100.
They were intended to fit more compactly in fridges and be able to be cut more easily (without rolling). They were invented by graphic designer Tomoyuki Ono in 1978. He presented the watermelons in a gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
…grown in boxes, [they] take the shape of the container… Although…created with practicality in mind, the cost now is prohibitive. The cube shape…can only be achieved at the expense of its contents. To retain the proper shape, [they] must be harvested before they are ripe, rendering them inedible.
They may look fun but that’s all they’re good for! I enjoy the refreshing fruit of a good watermelon on a hot summer’s day! They’re not meant to be something to look at but to eat!
In today’s passage, Jesus was talking to a wall. His listeners had already made up their minds about him and nothing He said or did made any difference. They weren’t going to change…but the Apostle John recorded His conversation so that his readers could learn from the words Jesus spoke.
As I read the end of verse 37 from the Amplified Bible, I, of course, thought of square watermelons! Yeah, I may be a bit looney but stay with me. First read that portion of the verse.
My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart]. v37b AMP
When a square watermelon is grown in its container, it cannot be what a watermelon was created to be. It’s restricted. It is literally stuffed into a box. It conforms to the box. It cannot grow any other way. It has no place to grow.
Every single person is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Sin warps what we were created to be. It restricts our growth. By following the path on which sin sets us, the box it places us in, we conform to its distortion. We cannot grow any other way and God’s word has no place [to grow] in us.
If square watermelon could think, no matter how much they would want to be a real watermelon, they would not be able to. They cannot escape the confines of their container.
If we remain in sin, we cannot change who we are either. Only through Jesus’ grace and mercy can we break free of the confinement sin places upon our souls. Then and only then will His word be able to make a change in our hearts.
The devil, the perpetuator of sin, wants to keep us enslaved to sin. That’s how he molds and shapes, better yet, deforms us into whatever depraved state he desires.
Later in John 10:10, Jesus speaks of being the gateway to what He intends for us, as opposed to what the devil’s intentions are.
The thief [the devil] comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. Verse 10a AMP
Our challenge today is to allow Jesus to free us from the confines of sin, freeing us to have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. Verse 10b AMP
Amen!
July 5th, 2021, Mon, 9:21 pm
Tradition
Father, thank You for Your presence in our services today. I am also grateful for a relaxing afternoon at home with my family. My cup runneth over!
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This weekend Karen and I visited a dear friend. While there she asked if I would like to read a book she had finished and because I love to read, I gladly accepted her gracious offer.
I’ve been an avid reader since childhood but in that last year or so, after a bit of a hiatus from reading a lot, I started to use an app called Libby. It’s very handy to have my “books” with me wherever I go – no more torn covers, no more spills, no more trying to balance everything. Whenever, wherever I want to read I just pull out my phone and open the app and I’m off and reading!
But I have to admit, it is nice to have the weight of the book in my hands. Modern technology may be taking a ding out of book publication, but many diehard readers want ink and paper in their hands! It’s the way it’s supposed to be! It’s a tradition – my parents and their parents before them read books!
On Instagram the other day someone posted the quote, “Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.” I chuckled a little when I read it but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
We have to admit that some traditions are positive, encouraging part of our lives and others may be what we used to refer to as “sacred cows”, at least in the church. “Oh, we’ve always done it this way! To do it any other way, would be…well it would be downright sacrilegious!” I’m sure you can fill in the blank – the way certain things are done, the timing of events, pieces and parts of what we consider worship, programs that have been a part of church way before we started doing them.
There are lots of instances where eliminating traditions would be for the betterment of all. Effort and resources could be better used elsewhere. But other things – very important things – we need to safeguard. Some may think they are traditions, but instead, they are absolute necessities.
Take, for example, Deuteronomy 6:5-7. It is just one portion of the Law that God gave Moses to give the Israelites.
…you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. NLT
Some things have to be passed on; the salvation of the world depends on it!
July 4th, 2021, Sun, 7:28 pm
God’s Card Glove
Father, we’re grateful for an overall good day! A little rain early on and then an opportunity to get some things done – even time for a good walk and some browsing in some of the shops in downtown Mt. Vernon. Thank You, Father!
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In my wallet, I keep a couple of my credit cards in “card gloves”. They date back to when I served the First Church of the Nazarene in Marietta, Ohio as Minister of Youth and Music in the late 1980s. The “card gloves” are from People’s Bank which is headquartered in Marietta. Being the 10th largest bank in Ohio, they also have locations in Mt. Vernon.
This statement is on the back side.
This CARD GLOVE is provided for the protection of your magnetic striped card. It will greatly extend the life of your card and assures its usability when you need it. Please keep your card in this envelope when not in use
I’ve had them for almost as long as Karen and I have been married – 34 years! And though my wallets have fallen apart and needed to be replaced, these two gloves, though obviously worn, continue to cradle my cards protecting their magnetic stripes! My Discover Card and a MasterCard are kept in tip-top shape until I need them.
Before Jesus even returned to the Father, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to help us. He was sent to help us as a counselor, a comforter, as well as an intercessor. Essentially, as the third part of the Godhead, He did all that Jesus did for His followers but as a spirit, He was not limited to one place at one time. He can be everywhere with everyone simultaneously!
When the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians 1:14, he was speaking of the idea that the Holy Spirit is our guarantee – some translations use the word deposit – of all that God has promised us.
The Spirit is God’s guarantee [the Amplified Bible adds – the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. NLT
To some degree, the Holy Spirit is to us as the card glove is to my credit cards.
The HOLY SPIRIT is provided for the protection of our very souls! He will greatly extend the durability of our lives and assures productivity and resilience when we stand against the evil of this world. Please keep your life in the Personification of God’s grace and mercy protecting our very souls and with it, we will secure eternal life, as well!
Obviously, the Holy Spirit helps us far more than any envelope could! But you get the idea. Along with that, He helps us discover all the many blessings that are found in our relationship with Jesus. But we must realize that a big part of that understanding that He alone should be the Master of our lives!
We must make sure that we are interacting with the Holy Spirit each and every day! He is there to help us accomplish what we could not otherwise accomplish – to be God’s children in the world! Amen!
July 1st, 2021, Thurs, 7:51 pm
Set Free
It was a full day of taking family to doctor’s appointments. Thank You Father for Your watchcare over us and for giving us a good day together – a day of blessings!
John 8:31-32 (<<click here to read the passage)
Interestingly enough this is one of the passages of Scripture in my July 4th sermon this coming Sunday. On this date here in the U.S., we celebrate Independence Day when we formally declared our separation from the rule of King George and England. In and of itself it’s an important date in our history, but a day that is of utmost importance to followers of Jesus is the day we believed in Him.
Freedom from things we as a collective body find oppressive is cause for celebration but freedom for something we could never overcome – not even with a collective effort – brings joy and celebration that cannot be measured!
In Romans 6:23 the Apostle Paul communicates the truth with which many are familiar. It begins, For the wages of sin is death…
There is not a single “maybe” in the phrase. It is not just a possibility. It is the absolute truth, though grave it may be. Any effort we may make as individuals or as a whole cannot overcome the fact that sin equals death. But I’m so glad that Paul’s proclamation contains a “but”!
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT (emphasis mine)
It doesn’t have an exclamation point but I’d put one there if it were me!
And that is where today’s verses come in.
So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word [continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples. And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin].” AMP
That, my friends, gives us no wiggle room whatsoever! Jesus requires far more than part-time obedience. We are called to continually obey His teachings.
Accordance means agreement and that is a harmony of opinion, action, or character. We are to live in accordance with Jesus’ teachings. There is no room for picking and choosing. We cannot just abide by what we are comfortable with, and we cannot omit things we don’t agree with.
Note too that there is a point of division in who Jesus spoke to and to what they – and we! – must abide by. Jesus was talking to those who believed Him. The belief was already there but believing wasn’t enough…action was required, as well.
Let me close with the note for verse 32 in my Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation reads,
Jesus himself is the truth that sets us free (8:36). He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from continued slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He shows us clearly the way to eternal life with God. Thus, Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to follow God. As we seek to serve God, Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be.
Amen!
June 30th, 2021, Wed, 8:25 pm