Will I get up now?

Or will I stay in bed a little longer?

Will I drink one cup of coffee or two?

Creamer or black?

Breakfast or not?

Check my email?

Facebook?

Twitter?

Shower?

Wash my hair?

Read my Bible?

Meditate?

Exercise?

In fact, our ability to choose is one of the ways that we are made in the image of God and it is one of the things that has confounded mankind for centuries. Why would God give us the ability – and the right- to choose incorrectly? Why would God allow us to make choices that would harm us – even to the extent of choosing heaven or hell? Well, that is a theological debate for another day – or not – I’ll choose later:)

I’ve often heard it said we make our own choices, and then those choices make us. How painfully true I’ve found that to be at times! But on the flip side, our good choices make room for a good results in our lives.

Luke 10 records the story of Mary and Martha. Most Christians have heard a dozen sermons on Mary and Martha, many of which make Martha look like a selfish woman. Yet, how often can we identify with Martha? There is just so much to do in a day! Think of how you would feel if you were hosting an event at your home with Jesus and several more people. You’d want them to feel honored. You would want to serve them some great food. Everything would need to be clean. I imagine that most of us would rather quickly get caught up in the swirl of activity.

Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

We applaud Mary for sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening. We look down on Martha for her choice. It’s all so black and white to us, as most things are in hindsight. And there has been so much said about Mary and Martha, so many lessons we can look at but for today I only want to focus on a few thoughts about this real-life story.

1. Martha made a good choice by inviting Jesus into her home.

2. Sometime after her initial good choice, she got lost in the swirl of activity and failed to make the most of the opportunity which was, so to speak, right at her front door.

3. Martha got distracted. Need I say more? I assume you can apply that to your own life.

4. She got distracted by all that needed to be done. Was she distracted because of her own need to perform? Her need to impress? Perhaps it was her godly desire to serve? The Greek word used here in the original is literally “with much serving”. Ugh, she got distracted by her serving.

5. Martha complained to Jesus. I imagine that she had been stewing for quite a while before she got up her courage to actually complain to Jesus. Perhaps what she wanted to say to Jesus was, “Hey, I am doing all this because of you and if you really appreciate it, you need to tell Mary to get off her butt and help me.” (that’s the Southern translation). Call it what you will, but the heart of this matter is that MARTHA TRIED TO CONTROL MARY AND JESUS. Do you realize that if God gives us the right to make choices, we also have to give others that right?

6. Jesus cut through the exterior of what Martha was saying and got to the heart of the matter. I don’t think he was primarily rebuking her. I think he kindly addressed her, very personally, saying her name twice – purposefully. He then acknowledged her emotions. You see, I believe Jesus wanted to bring the truth about Martha’s emotions out on the table, so to speak. He wanted Martha to see that her choices had led to her emotional state of being upset and worried. Jesus wants us to honestly acknowledge our emotions, whether they be anger or worry or fear or… Then we can deal appropriately with them. Before Jesus said anything about Mary, he first lead Martha into the depths of her own heart.

7. Jesus offered Martha an opportunity to refocus. He said, “…only one thing is needed.” Basically, he didn’t bash Martha for the cooking, cleaning, and organizing, he simply offered her an opportunity to tune in her GPS. Her focus was to be on Jesus, not what needed to be done, and not on Mary. Jesus still speaks to us this way today. He kindly lets us know that we are not to compare ourselves to others in order to prove our worth, but we are to set our aim on him. I really don’t think Jesus was comparing Martha to Mary, as some suggest, because he never does that in the Word. He compared where Martha’s heart was at that moment to where it needed to be.

8. Jesus affirmed Mary’s choice. In fact, he said it was a BETTER choice. Again, I don’t think he was comparing or putting Martha down. He was addressing what I believe was underlying Martha’s frustration in the first place. SHE WANTED TO BE SITTING AT JESUS’ FEET HERSELF. Jesus affirms that the position of sitting at his feet, listening to his teaching, being with him, is truly a better position than the one that is so busy with “doing” that we forget “being”.

9. Jesus said, “It will not be taken away from Mary.” He basically said, “I am not going to ask her to get distracted with all the doing because she is being and that is something she will never lose.” Fast forward, what about a few years later. Mary still had, in her spiritual bank, the deposit she made that day by sitting at Jesus’ feet. And perhaps Martha took the opportunity to do so after her conversation with Jesus, but assuming that she did not, what did she have in her spiritual bank from that day? Was it a deposit or a withdrawal?

Well, there is so much more we could say on this topic, but let’s end by reflecting on these questions.

Is your approach to the Christian life one of “doing” or “being”?

Is your approach to the Christian life filled with “shoulds” and “have tos”?

Does your service for Christ leave you feeling pressured, distracted, and disconnected from Jesus?

Are you centering your life on knowing Jesus, sitting at his feet, and receiving from his presence?

Do you spend time enjoying God?

Do you try to control others and even God Himself?

There is so much that does need to be done in this life in our service of Christ. But let’s all take some time out to check and see if our service is being done in a way that builds us up or tears us down – spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. Our body, soul, and spirit are to be sanctified for the glory of God.

Are there changes you need to make today? Take a deep breath – or two – or several. Quiet your busy mind and emotions and spend some time at Jesus’ feet today. What you gain will never be taken away from you. It’s the right choice!

I could paint with a broad stroke and speak of His love for  all humanity. I could talk about the affection of God as it relates to the Church. Those aspects of God’s love form an important framework, but what we all long to know – or perhaps to know increasingly -is the love of God for each of us individually.

And lest you think that is selfish, let me assure you that that is precisely what God wants for you! God has moved from the beginning of time to insure that any who wanted, could have a very personal relationship with Him and receive the affections of His heart.

As a child, when I first committed my life to God through Christ, I was looking to escape judgment. I came to the foot of the cross in fear. I was motivated more by the fear of God than the love of God. Yet the longer I walk with God, the more my understanding of Him becomes relational. The more I have come to know Him, the more I understand that our relationship is anchored in love and the less I am motivated in immature ways by my fear of God.

As the disciples of Jesus grew in their understanding of God, Jesus challenged their thinking. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing; but I call you friends…” John 15:15 Jesus gave us picture of a friendship that flows from love in John 15:13. “Greater love has no one than this, than one lay down his life for his friends.” On the cross, Jesus became a literal offering for us, laying down his life so that we could be personally related to God. He took care of everything that could separate us from God. This sacrificial unconditional giving is at the heart of understanding the love of God. Truly, no one loves us like God loves us.

The Love of God Motive

Although fear can bring us to God, God wants us to move so far beyond that! He passionately desires that we know His love.

If I am afraid of you, I won’t feel safe in your presence. I won’t be able to share my heart with you freely. It is the same with God. Yes, we are to reverence Him but when our obedience and worship flow from a place of love instead of a place of fear, we are free to truly offer all we are to God. The safety we find in this unconditional love of God transforms our hearts, purifies our motives of service.

1 John 4: 17-19 tells us that the love of God will bring us to completion, maturity, and we will be able to be confident in the day of judgment. There is NO fear in love; but perfect, mature love casts out fear. Fear involves torment and judgment. Understanding God’s love will remove fear from our hearts as we are made mature in His love. The reason we love Him is because He loved us first! His unending passionate and patient compassion for us is amazing.

Relating from the Love of God

I’ve heard it said that fear and love are opposites and that they are the two primary emotions from which all other emotions flow. If we can operate from that thought for a moment and evaluate your relationship with God in terms of how much you relate to God from a basis of love or how much you relate to God through fear, where would you find yourself on such a continuum?

LOVE——————————————————————- FEAR

Of course, our relationships aren’t linear but using this illustration as a point of examination, can you ask yourself the following?

Do I understand my relationship with God more from a view of His love or my fear of Him?
Do I approach God intimately or through a system of rules?
Do I know more of God’s love than I did a year ago, two years ago, ten years ago?
Do I feel secure in God’s love for me or am I afraid He is just waiting to judge me?

I think of the words from an old hymn, The Love of God, that Lehman wrote in 1917:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

The love of God! It frees us from fear and leads us into deeper levels of intimacy with God. May we all live experientially in the love of God today and in all the days to come.

Is it really that complicated? Doesn’t God want us to be able to hear Him? We often believe that God wants to speak to us but feel totally inept at knowing what to do in a given situation. How then do we hear the voice of God?

Let’s begin with the basics and go on from there.

1. God speaks.

   From the very beginning, God spoke. Actually it was His voice that spoke everything into existence. The Spirit hovered and God spoke. When mankind was created, God blessed them and SPOKE to them. He clearly laid out their purpose – fruitfulness, multiplication, dominion- and He clearly laid out their boundaries. He SPOKE these things to Adam and Eve.

2. Satan also speaks.

   Gen. 3:1 He said to the woman….

3. Satan’s voice tempts us to question God’s voice.

   Has God really said…?

4. We have two natures. In Romans 7, Paul beautifully, and with great anguish, describes the two natures. …For the good that I want to do, I do not do; but the evil that I don’t want to do, I find myself practicing.  

So what is a believer in Christ to do? How do we insure that we hear and follow God’s voice? After all, didn’t Jesus say that his sheep hear his voice and follow him? Yet, we all must readily acknowledge that we don’t always hear and follow. Here are some principles on hearing God:

1. Because of our sin nature, our own personal histories,etc., we sometimes don’t clearly hear God.

2. God has literally moved heaven and earth, giving His son Jesus, so that we can learn to hear His voice. He is our Father. As believers, we are in relationship with God. God took the initiative to bring us into this relationship. He wants us to hear Him.

3. We primarily hear God through our spirit. (I Cor. 2:14). This does not mean that God doesn’t speak through our minds, our emotions, and even our physical bodies. God can and does speak in a myriad of ways, however the Word teaches us that His Spirit will “bear witness” with our spirit (Romans 8:16). His Spirit will “referee” over our thoughts if we will listen. Colossians 3:15 says that we are to let the peace of God “rule” in our hearts. This is the picture of a referee who “calls” things, whether thoughts or actions, out of bounds. In our Western civilization, we exalt the mind and the realm of “knowledge” and this oftentimes makes it difficult for us to “hear” with the ears of our spirit. Our spirits are our “on-board’ equipment which enables us to hear God. This does not mean that our minds and emotions are not important. We hear God’s voice in our spirit; our mind and emotions then process this communication so our mental, physical, and emotional health is vitally important. God equipped us with a spirit, mind, body, and emotions so we are not to despise any of them, but we are to sanctify all of ourselves to God.

4. God wants to “renew” our minds so that they conform to His intended design for them (Romans 12:2). This scripture tells us that the renewing of our mind allows us to understand God’s will and hear His voice. This renewing is a life-long process. Spending time in God’s Word is one way to co-operate with this process.

5. Prayer and meditation are ways to acknowledge our desire to hear God.

6. We can grow in our ability to hear God. Just as my Yorkie, Gabriel, know the sound of my vehicle when I drive up to my house, the sound of my footsteps in the house, the sound of my voice, because he has been my dog for many years, he has spent time with me, we also can learn the sounds of God by spending time with Him, walking throughout our lives with Him.

    There is so much more, but for today, let’s close with this prayer:

God, I thank You that You speak. I want to hear Your voice. Help me to be aware of Your voice today. Help me to discern the difference in Your voice, the voice of my enemy, and the voice of my flesh. Forgive me for every time I have ignored Your voice or disobeyed Your voice. Renew my mind, purify my emotions, and speak to me today in any way you choose. I am Your servant and I am listening. Fill me with Your Spirit in Jesus’ name.

Feel free to leave comments about times when you heard God speak to you.