The Most Important Things

Communication with God is essential. God wants to communicate with us. It was His design, from creation, that He and man have a relationship and communicate with each other. God is the perfect communicator. He never miscommunicates. If there was a ever problem hearing God, the fault is squarely on us and our sin nature. We are the ones who hear what we want to hear, or disregard the voice of God entirely. Jesus says, “he who has (spiritual) ears to hear, let him hear.” This is God’s desire for us: that we hear what He is speaking to us. To do that we need some surgical work done in our life so that we can properly hear God.

In Hebrews 4:12 it reads, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This verse has a lot of hidden meaning in the original greek. Much of it’s original description is based on surgical precision to remove, expose, and analyze our brain, bones, and heart. Throughout the New Testament we see that the word is likened to a sword. We are, as disciples of Christ, to wield this sword effectively. Jesus was the master of sword-wielding. Paul was a skilled swordsman, as well. Peter, well, he is easier to look at and draw examples of what most of us would do and have done with the word. So, let me give you 3 surgeries that will repair your hearing and help you to wield the sword more accurately.

Surgery #1: Brain Surgery

Mark 8:33 – “Get behind me Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Jesus just called Peter, Satan. He equated Peter’s human perspective to that of the guy who originated sin. The guy that introduced mankind to sin and it’s horrible effects on humanity. Why did He do that? Peter’s thoughts and intentions were not God’s. They were Peter’s. Jesus is looking for disciples who will accept and proclaim the mind of Christ. He is looking for our thoughts to be as close to His thoughts as we can. He wants our intentions to be His intentions, His intentions are: holiness, purity, salvation, discipleship, Kingdom, etc.

What happens when you don’t get your way? Or when you don’t agree with other believers? What about when God doesn’t answer a prayer or do something on your time table? Where are you thoughts and intentions then? Do you see things from a human point of view? Or can you still accept God’s thoughts and intentions?

The word of God in this first surgery is like a surgeon taking his scalpel and light to shine into the dark crevices of your brain. He is searching for cancerous tumors that need to be removed before they spread. He is looking to remove man’s thoughts and put His in their place.(Note: He’s not looking to lobotomize you, He doesn’t want mindless robots. He wants to remove the doubt, unbelief, and error.)

So, are you seeing things from a human point of view today? Or from God’s? Let God remove the wrong thoughts and intentions today!

Stay tuned for Surgery #2, Bone Marrow Transplant!

This little phrase has been rolling around in my spirit for a little while now, “willing to yield.” It comes from James 3:17. James is talking about the wisdom that comes from above or descends from heaven. He lists a number of different things that are important to remember. But James also drops “willing to yield” in there.

Probably most of our references to the word, “yield” come from our daily driving experiences. We see yield signs everywhere. Here, in Baton Rouge, it seems as if most driver’s ed courses skipped the definition of this sign. 99% of the drivers here in BR stop, when they see a yield sign. This ruins the flow of traffic and makes me want to yell, “it’s A YIELD SIGN!” (Full disclosure: I often yell, “it’s A YIELD SIGN, dear child loved by God!”)

Yield, according to the US DOT, means to proceed with caution. Not stop! In a spiritual context, willing to yield can easily be applied with the same definition. Wisdom that comes from above allows us to willingly proceed with caution, where necessary. It doesn’t mean that we stop moving forward or that we proceed cautiously everywhere. It means that when the Holy Spirit prompts us once (or more times as is often the case) that we willingly respond to Him and proceed with caution. It means that we are so submitted to His Lordship that we are prepared to move at the pace He defines. That pace can be fast and full of faith, it can also be proceeding with caution and walking by faith, not by sight.

Is there an area in your life where the Holy Spirit is prompting you to proceed with caution? Are you willing to yield?

Do work that matters. What does that mean? To each person it will be different. To me, since I am working for God as a disciple of Jesus, work that matters is work that builds the kingdom. Work that matters is work that pleases God. If you read Luke 12, you will see what kind of work matters to God. Here’s a couple samples:

Verse 14, “Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Verse 21, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Verse 33, “Store up treasure in heaven…And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes.”

Verse 42, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.”

So, do work that matters…to God. That kind of work matters for eternity. Don’t just talk about it, do it. Do work that matters.