Listening

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Luke 10:39 NIV

https://luke.bible/luke-10-39

The verse from Luke we just read says that Mary listened. In the cacophony of today’s world that can be one of our biggest challenges - to truly listen. There’s always another beep or buzz distracting us from what matters. The “have to’s” are relentless in their demand. They are a constant drip, drip, drip on our souls. Till we are bone dry and parched inside.

When Mary turned her gaze to Jesus, everything else faded. I don’t know about you, but I often come to him with one eye on the clock or my phone. And then I wonder why I didn’t hear from Him that day. 

Listening involves drawing close to Him. Listening involves an intentional shutting out of distractions so He can hold our thoughts and our hearts captive. Listening involves being still enough to hear God whisper. 

We have to choose whether we prefer the cacophony or whether we choose to shut everything else out to hear Him speak. He longs for us to draw close so we can hear Him when He whispers.

Lean In

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27 NIV

https://john.bible/john-10-27

Lord, there are so many things in my day that clamor for my attention. Sometimes, the din is overwhelming. Sometimes, though, the noise is from within me – a cluttered mind drowning out Your voice. Help me to listen for Your whispers. I need You, Oh I need You. Amen

Mary annoints Jesus

She was unreserved in her love for him. She worshiped him. Not a casual, what’s-next-on-the-agenda worship. But an extravagant worship where she didn’t count the cost. It was a reverential worship, an extraordinary worship, perhaps even an irrational worship. She didn’t look at the clock or her wallet or at people around her who were wagging their fingers in judgement. Instead, she looked at Jesus. She allowed him to fill her vision and eclipse everything else around her. 

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10 NIV
https://galatians.bible/galatians-1-10

Be still.....Mary and Martha

In contrast to Martha’s looking at the people in the house, her to-do list and her own sense of fairness, Mary was sitting down on the floor, looking at Jesus.  Her whole posture was one of humility. Her body language reads: “I need Thee, oh I need Thee,” rather than, “I got this.” In that humility of trusting God rather than her own abilities, Mary took the pressure off herself.  She was embodying Psalm 46:10 - “Be still and know that I am God.”  What does “be still” mean?  The Hebrew for “be still” translates to let go of your grip, to make oneself weak. What a freeing idea! In our complete dependence on a God who won’t ever fail us, we find freedom.  Mary modeled a restful worship as she settled down and settled in or abided with Jesus. She abided in the Vine and realized that apart from God she could do nothing.  What is it you and I need to let go of? Could it be our tight grip on our schedules? Could it being saying “yes” all the time so we have only leftovers for God?  We have to be still so we can know that He is God. And we are not. 

Earning approval?

Like Martha, we may find ourselves striving in our faith walk. We may have unintentionally subscribed to a brand called performance-driven Christianity. We subconsciously buy into the idea that we can earn God’s approval. We may believe that we’re working hard for God’s kingdom, when in reality our ministry has become more important than the Messiah.

We forget that Christ died for the ungodly, for the broken, for the bruised, for those who don’t have it all together. Scripture says in Romans 5:8 that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 

Still sinners. God doesn’t need for us to be perfect. He doesn’t want us to present a clean slate to Him. He is in the business of taking the broken pieces of our lives and melding it together to create something so beautiful that He calls us His “treasured possession.”

If you’re thinking, “I’m not good enough for this whole Christian thing,” you’re absolutely right! The truth is, none of us are “good enough.” We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard of holiness. Recognizing that we’re not ever going to make it on our own merit is the first step to finding rest for now and for all eternity. 

Take your mess to Him. Take your brokenness to Him. It’s not too much for Him to handle. 

Life aim

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Colossians 1:10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/col.1.10.NIV

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Philemon 1:7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/phm.1.7.NIV

Life aim

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Colossians 1:10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/col.1.10.NIV

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Philemon 1:7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/phm.1.7.NIV

You already possess

Have you ever been in a rush to go somewhere, but couldn’t find your keys? You pat down your pockets. You check your purse. You search in between the couch seats, on the kitchen counter tops, and through all your drawers. Only to discover… they were in your hand the entire time!

How frustrating and tiring it is to search for something you already possess. And yet, many Christians live like this. They’re searching for peace, power, victory, and spiritual success, not realizing that God has already blessed them with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. 

Moving kingdom

Branding iron.....God placed the Holy Spirit on us as a seal—a permanent mark of ownership. We have transferred kingdoms and now belong to God

Like a letter .....He registers the letter and seals it—indicating that He is its owner and the only one qualified to open it. In the same way, believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit. 

Paul also says the Holy Spirit is God’s promise to us—acting like a pledge or down payment for the rest of our inheritance. God placed a little bit of heaven in you now by giving you Holy Spirit as a first installment on a bigger purchase. 

It’s like buying a house.......
We put a down payment on the house as a promise that we will make the rest of the payments on the mortgage until the house is ours. It’s a promise of future redemption. 

Or it’s like an engagement ring....... It’s not the whole thing, but it means there's a big day coming. The engagement rings points to a lifelong commitment. It's a pledge—a down payment. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of your inheritance of eternal life, and He was given to you in anticipation of eternal life with God that is to come.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13‭-‬14 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.1.13-14.NIV

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30 NIV

https://ephesians.bible/ephesians-4-30

Redemption

Redemption is not an original Christian concept. The word itself means “to buy or purchase.” In the ancient world, this term was used frequently in the context of slavery. A person who wanted to purchase a slave would go to the slave market and redeem one. Often times, the term connected a slave with their freedom. That is, a slave could be redeemed once a price was paid in exchange for their freedom.  Scripture says that we were slaves to sin, but Christ redeemed us. But what was the price? It wasn’t silver. It wasn’t gold. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t any monetary amount. It was the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. The payment for our release was the life of the sinless Son of God. His death fulfilled God’s plan to adopt us as children, and secure our eternity in Heaven. 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.  In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:7‭-‬12 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.1.7-12.NIV

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 NIV
https://john.bible/john-8-32

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
1 Peter 1:18‭-‬19 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1pe.1.18-19.NIV

Chosen

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.2.8-9.NIV

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1jn.3.1.NIV

We live in two realms

If you need $1,000, and you have $1,000 in your bank account, then you do not need to go beg for that money. Why? Because it’s already yours. All you must do is withdraw the money that has already been deposited into your account. Paul says everything God is ever going to do for believers He has already done. He’s blessed them with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” That is, he has deposited spiritual blessings in every believer’s account. Not only that, but Paul will go on to say that believers are seated with Jesus in the heavenly places. It’s like a video teleconference where you’re in two places at once—seated physically in one place but operating in another. Believers are present in two realms at the same time: physically on earth but operating from heavenly places.  But what are the “heavenly places”? They comprise the spiritual realm where God and Satan battle for your allegiance. We live in the physical realm with our problems, needs, struggles, and sins. However, the authority and power to address our problems proceed from the spiritual realm. We must understand an important principle: everything that happens in the physical realm originates in the spiritual realm. This means that our problems are never merely physical in nature, but they always have spiritual implications. The problems are the visible fruit, but their root is always spiritual in nature.  So if we want to fix our physical problems, we need to look for spiritual solutions, which means we must have a spiritual worldview. God wants our position in heavenly places to dictate our actions on earth. Only by operating from a spiritual perspective will you have access to God’s kingdom power and provisions to deal with life in the physical realm. And remember, we do not need to beg for it because God has already deposited it into our accounts! What are some issues or problems you have personally faced (or are facing) in which you were tempted to overlook the invisible, spiritual causes of the problem?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 NIV
https://ephesians.bible/ephesians-1-3

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:6 NIV
https://ephesians.bible/ephesians-2-6

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12 NIV
https://ephesians.bible/ephesians-6-12

Temptation

The enemy is not after your relationships, money or your wealth but He is after your Identity and Purpose! He hates and trembles when a child of God discovers their true self and steps out to accomplish a heaven ordained mission. Remember Jesus in the wilderness? Right after heaven was opened, and Jesus was introduced as the ‘Son of God’, launched into public ministry, the devil came and challenged his Identity. He tempted Jesus to deviate him from the very thing that Jesus had come to fulfill on earth. Satan promised pleasure, power and fame but Jesus stayed focused on heaven’s assignment. Christ knew where He had come from and what He had come for! Today, like Jesus, will you stay focused on who you really are and what you are called for? Because heaven is behind you and Holy Spirit will help you to overcome evil. 

Priorities

It’s not the wealth of life but the depth of life that matters the most. When you seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness, all these things will be given to you! Health, wealth and all that you need, God will provide. If we prioritize God and his Kingdom above everything else, guess what? We become Heaven’s responsibility! God becomes the source of our security. His wealth is at our disposal, to use for His glory! And it is greater than all of the human wealth and wisdom put together on this earth. 

Obedience Inspired by Faith

Obedience to God unlocks understanding. What are you waiting for? Sometimes we wish that God would show us the entire picture before we can obey Him. Have you restricted your walk with God to only what you understand? Guess what?! Our minds can never fully grasp what God wants to do through our lives. Our logic would never dare to go there. But faith will! Obedience inspired by faith unveils the hidden things of God. Your knowledge and intelligence will only accomplish the dreams and destiny designed by man. But your Faith and Obedience will get a hold of heaven’s plans and God-designed destiny for you. Abraham’s extraordinary faith and act of obedience to God connected him to a supernatural plan of heaven. 

Do you want to live for something greater? What is stopping you from believing and obeying? Fear? Doubt? Anxiety? This will only cripple you. Today, let me challenge you to replace it with Faith, Strength and Courage. It liberates you! You are called for something greater. I pray that you walk in extraordinary faith believing only in the One who has called you and in simple obedience to the One who knows you. For obedience inspired by Faith will take you where your knowledge and intelligence would never dare to go.

Be available

Let me give you the most important key to hear from God: BE AVAILABLE .By now we know that God is still able to speak, but are you available to hear from him? Allocate time and space in your daily schedule to hear from God. Be available to hear from Him!

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jer.33.3.NIV

Start each day right

We need God’s grace, and we want to be reminded that we can choose to set our mind on God or we can choose to set our mind on self. If we awaken and allow our thoughts to be consumed by self or with our circumstances, what will we feel in the end? Discouraged! By contrast, if we choose to pray and seek the Lord instead, there can be peace, hope, and renewal. Remember, you can choose each day whom you will serve. And though it will take a moment-by-moment reorienting of your mind throughout your day, this choice begins first thing in the morning. So as you enter into this daily choice, trust in the One who created the new day and you. He will provide the grace you need to make each new day His.

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord .”
Joshua 24:15 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jos.24.15.NIV