Whose ear wouldn't bend to that invitation?
Don't we all like to be chosen as intimate?
Jesus often said that he who has ears to hear, let him listen. What has amazed me anew, recently, is that the Son of God wants to speak and reveal things to us. Are we in anticipation and are we listening?
I'm currently involved in a group study of the book of Revelation. The curriculum steers us away from pinning times and seasons and methods of conjecture on how things will actually go down in the end, and instead guides our thinking to the faithfulness of a God who has always desired to reveal his plans and purposes to the people he loves. In the end, rather than wipe everyone and everything out in one fell swoop, he brings judgment on a portion of peoples or a part of the earth, allowing another chance for more to come to repentance.
What kind of God is this? Who so passionately loves the ones he's made. Who is not willing that any should perish. Who gave us his one and only son to die, so we could have right standing with him and so be with him forever.
Amos 3:7. "Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." God wants us to know his heart and his purposes. So he...
warns us in our foolishness,
pursues us when we get side-tracked,
shows mercy when we mess up,
forgives when we confess,
imparts encouragement and endurance when we read his written Word,
calls us to partner with him in his work on the earth,
woos us to intimacy with him,
and never, never lets us go!
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15 NIV
What a promise!
But what if you don't seem to be hearing anything?
Recently, a pastor attempted to answer this question by suggesting that God had such a big download coming that it was just taking time to transfer the files. We need to be patient and wait on him. I can imagine that the 'everything' Jesus speaks about making us privy to, needs to be shared in small bytes or our systems would crash with overload.
I am comforted knowing my God will share with me what I need to know when I need it. He is such a Good Friend.
What a Father we have! A beautiful list of what God does to show us His heart.
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for your visit to my Joy4Today blog! In returning the visit, I was interested in your statement on your profile - "-trained as a Conflict Coach and Mediator with Peacemaker Ministries" Wow! As a person who hates confrontation but loves peace, I bet that is a challenging job! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI've got something to tell you! lol
ReplyDeleteNot a juicy bit of gossip, but some thoughts to chew on. I read recently:
"God loves His glory more than He loves us. If God loved us most, then WE would be at the center. Only God deserves to be there." (my paraphrase of John Piper)
"The central character in the Bible is not us, but GOD. There's not a lot of character development in the scriptures of anyone else but Him. The aim and goal of all of the Word is to show us God so that we can respond to Him in love and obedience." (my paraphrase of Gordon Fee)
"the ONE purpose of the Universe from all Eternity is the production and preparation of an eternal companion for the Son, called the Bride, the Lamb's Wife." (Paul Billheimer)
I'd love to know your thoughts if you would like to share!