Hearing God’s voice, part 6
Last time we talked about hearing God’s voice we closed with a passage from the Gospel of John.
1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
–John 15:1-8 (NIV)
This passage illustrates that our relationship with Christ must be a lifestyle. In the same way a branch cannot continually remove and re-attach itself to a tree, we cannot include God in our lives one moment; then exclude Him the next. We’ve discussed that one of the key factors in our ability to recognize God’s voice is removing immoral and amoral things from our lifestyle. We cannot live a life that bounces back and forth between morality and immorality–and still expect to recognize God’s voice–any more than a branch could remove and re-attach itself to a tree–and still expect to grow and bear fruit. So how does one know what is immoral and what is amoral? The Bible.
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
–2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
This passage shows us that God’s Word is, first and foremost, inspired by Him. Secondly, it is useful for four things:
- Teaching. The information or learned material.
- Rebuking. Providing evidence that proves a point.
- Correcting. Straightening or making something correct.
- Training in righteousness. Tutoring (which could include disciplinary action to correct).
Hearing God is the first step. Whenever we believe we have heard God’s voice we need to compare what has been spoken to what the Bible tells us. The Bible is the tool that contains the information we need to prove whether what we have heard is indeed God’s voice or not. The Bible is the instrument that determines whether the instruction we have received is correct. When we know God’s heart and His Word, we become equipped to respond when He truly speaks to us (also read John 8:31-32).
The next step is to pray about what you’ve heard. For two reasons: Firstly, to solidify in your heart that you have indeed heard God.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
–James 1:5 (NIV)
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
–Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
Approaching God with an open and honest heart about what we believe we have heard will enable God to speak to us with clarity and His Word reminds us that He has an open-door policy.
Secondly, we need to pray, depending on what has been spoken, to enable God’s Spirit to bring it into fruition.
James 5 talks about Elijah (a prophet in the Old Testament) and God spoke through him that it would not rain for a season and after that season that it would rain. Despite being told by God what would happen Elijah still prayed that God’s Word would come to pass. The principle here is that Elijah was just a person God chose–he was no different than you or I. Elijah recognized that God works through us and the element which empowers that movement is prayer.
It’s important that we understand that while God is all-powerful, He has made a choice to work through people. Our responsibility is to respond, and with that comes work.
Hearing God’s voice, part 5
We’ve been talking about hearing God’s voice and one of the elements we discussed was that God’s voice is a familiar voice. Knowing this certainly makes it easier to recognize when He is speaking to us; however, it also opens the door for potential confusion. It can be difficult to know whether we’re hearing a random thought of our own, or the actual voice of God.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome he addressed a key element that relates to this very issue.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
–Romans 12:2 (NIV)
What Paul is saying is that by changing the way we think, we change the way we act. This one verse carries a lot of meaningful insight into how a believer can and should live his or her life. When we begin to adjust how we think, our actions begin to change and reflect that new way of thinking. The result is that we become able to “test and approve what God’s will is.”
By renewing our mind we position ourselves to better recognize God’s voice from other distractions in life. The old adage “garbage in; garbage out” carries a lot of weight in the light of this scripture. If we continually feed our minds with immoral or amoral things, we hinder our ability to recognize the different between God’s will and our own.
A similar thought is communicated in Hebrews.
11There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
–Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT)
This passage expands what Romans 12 tells us. In verse 14 we see that by “training” we develop the skill necessary to recognize the difference between right and wrong. The key here is that recognizing God’s voice from our own is not always going to be instantaneous–although sometimes it will be. For day-to-day life we need to develop the skill to recognize His voice from other stray thoughts. It’s a growth process.
The word translated “training” in Hebrews 5:14 is a Greek word that means exercise. More specifically, it refers to athletes who, in that time period, would run races and compete without any clothing (i.e. naked). They stripped off everything that would hinder their ability to perform at 100%. The Bible is telling us that if we want to recognize right from wrong, God’s will from our own, we need to remove the things that cling to us and hold us back.
Ultimately, hearing God’s voice becomes radically easier when our relationship with Him is a lifestyle–included in every facet of what we do and how we live–and not just another thing included in our already busy schedules.
WordPress app for iPhone
The fantastic folks at WordPress have just released an application for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The new application, appropriately named WordPress, is now available (iTunes link) as a free download from the new iTunes App Store.
I just installed the 0.3MB program on my iPhone and it works as advertised: easily allowing me to write and manage posts on my WordPress blog. The feature I appreciate most is the use of a Local Drafts folder. I don’t have a data plan for my iPhone, so while I’m out and about I can take a picture or start a post and have it stored locally on my iPhone. Once I’m near a wifi hotspot I can publish the post with ease.
The application also features options to include pictures (taken live from the camera or those already stored in the Photos application), set categories and tags, control the post status (Draft, Private, Published, etc.) and more. It even includes an option to preview the post as it would appear on your blog.
There are a few quirks that I’m sure will get addressed in the future. It would certainly be nice to be able to view published posts without having to go into the Edit screen, for instance. I also notice that it does not seem to respect my time zone setting.
For version 1.0, the application is an excellent addition to the free blogging software. No doubt this is going to be a very popular download.
Details, including screenshots and a video, are available on their web site.
Church and Apple Stores
There’s an interesting (and short!) post from a blogger on Thoughts.com. In it he explains why churches should be like Apple Stores.
If you’ve never been to an Apple Store, you should visit one. It’s a very unique shopping experience and the author of this blog post creates some really good parallels between one’s experience visiting a store and a church.
Hearing God’s voice, part 4
In our series on Hearing God’s Voice we’ve looked at different elements to help us recognize when God is speaking. This time we’re going to take a slightly different look at the same topic by starting with a passage from 1 Kings; where Solomon is preparing to build the temple.
13King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel–thirty thousand men. 14He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. 17At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
–1 Kings 5:13-18 (NIV)
The Hebrew word translated “prepared” in verse 18 of this passage is a word that means, “to be firm, be stable, be established.” It’s a word that can be used communicate “stand up straight,” or “perpendicular to the ground.” Based on the verses we just read, it’s clear that a lot of work went into building the temple. “Preparing” the wood and stone for the temple would have been an arduous task–especially without the use of modern-day machinery! It would have required skilled trades people and a lot of planning.
23If the LORD delights in a man’s way,
he makes his steps firm;24though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.–Psalm 37:23-24 (NIV)
23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand.–Psalm 37:23-24 (NKJV)
The NKJV says our steps are “ordered” and the NIV translates them as being made “firm.” The interesting part of this passage from Psalm 37 is that those two translated words are the same Hebrew word we read in 1 Kings 5:18; the word translated “prepared.” What this illustrates is that God is arduous about directing our steps. He works strenuously to shape us so that we stand straight (perpendicular to the ground) as we journey through our lives, to fulfill His plans and purposes.
The key element in all of this is that whether or not in any given moment we recognize the voice of God, God’s Word promises that He is directing and leading us. The only condition to this promise is that we set our hearts to seek Him. As the NIV says, “If the LORD delights in a man’s way,” and the NKJV, “The steps of a good man.”
An excellent example of this in practice is in Acts 16:6-10, where we find the apostle Paul roaming across the countryside to share Christ with people. At nearly each step the Bible says the Spirit of Jesus stopped him. Paul never got stressed out about being told repeatedly that he was going the wrong way. It’s almost humourous that while Paul clearly felt the Spirit’s leading to not go to certain cities, he still couldn’t recognize God’s voice as to where he should be heading. In fact, in this instance the only time God was able to get through to him was while he was sleeping.
Even if we don’t hear from God about what we’re supposed to be doing; if we set our hearts to seek Him, when we’re about to really miss the mark, He’s faithful to let us know. If we don’t hear from him–period–we can trust that our path is directed while we’re pursuing Him.
Fruitfulness Requires Toil
This Sunday I spoke at church. We’ve been talking about fruitfulness: what it means, what God expects, how be to fruitful, etc.
My message is entitled Fruitfulness Requires Toil. It’s a message that delves into what the Bible says about fruitfulness and how it’s applied in our daily lives.
Click the link below to listen.
A great poster possibly made even better
Right outside the nursery at my church there’s this poster of a baby playing in sand with the caption, “One voice can make a song. One life can change the world.” I’ve always liked the expression on the kid’s face.
One day I had an idea: Being a fan of the Apple iPhone I couldn’t help but wonder just how great this poster would be with a little product plug. Bring in Pixelmator and a few minutes with the airbrush tool and now we know.
Click the link for to see the full-size before and after shots.
My very own laptop table
Saturday we made a trip to Sweden’s favourite furnishing store, Ikea. We took the usual tour and even picked up a few things here and there.
One really interesting piece of office decor we stumbled upon caught my attention. I was tempted to buy it–although I’m not sure where I would have put it had I done so. The glorious embellishment was none other than a laptop stand named Dave.
Pictures are available after the link.
APC saves the day from a shocking experience
Thursday was an interesting day. As is my normal custom, I was up late–well into the morning. About four hours into what would have been a great sleep, I was startled awake by a rather loud bang. At first I thought to ignore it; however, some unusual sounds continued to echo throughout the house.
I stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to our main floor. It was then that I noticed the torrential rain fall. It was also then that I discovered the source of the unusual noise: our Philips surround sound system. Oddly enough, it was in standby mode (i.e. turned off) yet there were crackling, static sounds ringing from the speakers. As I drew closer I was greeted with the pungent smell of burning electronics. I immediately realized that for the first time in over two decades of using computers and electronics, I was experiencing had experienced a power surge–no doubt from the storm taking place outside.
I immediately unplugged everything (a single plug connects the TV, DVD-Recorder, Apple TV, Nintendo Wii, and surround sound system through an APC surge protector–and yes, I have a lot of toys, but that’s not the story being told here). I was still quite groggy so I quickly made sure there was no smoke, fire, etc. emanating from any of the gadgets and then laid down on the couch to have brief rest (and wake up).
After about 30-minutes I arose and woke my computer from its sleep to send an e-mail to Sophia and share the interesting story. At this point I figured our surround system had bid us adieu; and considering it, along with several hundred dollars in other equipment, were connected to the same power source, I was not optimistic about the state of our remaining entertainment appliances.
I was surprised when I noticed my laptop running on battery power. I discovered the surge protector it was plugged into (also APC, and different from the first) was switched off. I assumed it was a result of the surge and pressed the reset button. It was then I noticed the base unit for our cordless phone was also not on. Regretably, it was not plugged into a surge protector, but directly into the outlet. The power brick was incredibly hot, I removed it before it did any further damage.
After sending a preliminary e-mail I began to examine the “damage.” When I opened the glass door of the entertainment unit, I found black soot everywhere. As I continued to look around inside I found the APC surge protector had selflessly sacrificed its life for that of our equipment. I grabbed a spare power bar and slowly began to turn on all the pieces in our entertainment cabinet. Thankfully, every last one worked! The APC had saved the day (and literally hundreds of dollars).
The APC’s sacrifice did come at a price. The unit itself is not longer able to suppress power surges; it’s been decommissioned now. The intensity of the power surge also caused the plastic on the underside to melt a hole through the unit as it spewed black soot everywhere. After the clean up and set up of a new surge protector, I looked at our cordless phone.
I had a spare A/C adapter from a previous Panasonic cordless phone and it was actually the exact same power rating as the one damaged in the storm. Unfortunately, the surge not only fried the original A/C adapter, but the base unit as well. Rest in Peace, (Model) KX-TG5571.
Regrettably, the surge protector guarding the safety of my laptop, Sophia’s laptop, and an external hard drive used for our Time Machine backups had also sacrificed its life. Blowing the same black soot everywhere (I didn’t notice this earlier in the morning when I was still mostly asleep). The cordless phone base unit and the second surge protector (which connected to the laptops and hard drive) were plugged into the same outlet. Not-so-regrettably, the laptops and hard drive survived without incident as the second surge protector took one for the team.
I must hand it to APC, they make great products. They are a bit pricey, but it’s more than worth it. For the price of about $70, the two surge protectors literally saved us thousands. I can’t imagine how my heart would have sank into my chest at the thought of both computers and a backup drive being lost in one fell swoop.
The story does have a happy ending. Since I now needed to replace two surge protectors, I found an APC UPS (Uninterupted Power Supply, A.K.A. battery backup for computers) online for only $40. When I went to APC’s web site I had an online chat with one of their customer service representatives; he agreed to cover the more expensive surge protector under warranty. APC also agreed to pay all shipping costs, including the return of the spent unit back to their facility.
The house still has a burned electronics scent after nearly a full 24-hours; however, I’m grateful that throughout a horrible experience, a little ounce of prevention saved us from what would have been a horrifically expensive and inconvenient situation.
It’s worth mentioning that if you don’t protect your expensive (and sensitive) electronic equipment, you’re setting yourself up for a disappointing moment at some point in the future. A small investment more than paid off for us, and APC gets a thumbs-up in my books!
Update: The Welland Tribune has an article posted on their site about the incident.
Click the link for some pictures of the APC unit that suffered brunt of the damage, as well as a memorial to the phone/answering machine that served without fail for only a few years.