Unspoken

There are things that the written word cannot communicate. A teardrop in the eye, an emphasis on a particular word, a loving smile, or a scowl. The hearer writes down what is spoken, but that's where it ends. Here's an example.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit." - John 3:5

Is Jesus saying we must be baptized with both the water and the Holy Spirit? Or is Jesus saying that we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not just water? There is a difference. Did Jesus emphasize the word "AND?" We don't know. Personally, I think He did.

Here's another conversation. This one's fictional. It exemplifies this same thing.

"So, how are you doing after the death of your mother?"

"Fine."

Without visually seeing the person's eyes, and the tears dripping off the cheeks, we would assume they were indeed fine, because they told us so. Face-to-face conversations are SO important in communication.

Here's something to remember....

When someone writes us a letter or sends us an email or text, there is, quite possibly, a WHOLE lot more going on than simple words on a piece of paper or a lit-up screen. The written word is good, but, in place of eyes to SEE the person, we need another "sense." We need another means of understanding than just simply reading.

"Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:38

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." - Romans 8:26-27

Do you truly know Jesus? I hope you do. 🙏 Only then can His children properly communicate and understand the will of God, our Father.

The Woman In The Red Dress

One of the reasons I love The Matrix movie so much is because it is filled with allegory and metaphor. Hidden meanings and subtle messages. It is therefore much like the Bible in that regard.

The Bible has many such hidden treasures, waiting for the reader to uncover. Unfortunately, many of today's Bible readers are, as Morpheus says in the movie, "not ready to be unplugged."

What good is reading something if you don't understand it?

Take Luke 23:43 for example. When Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise," do you think Jesus was talking about heaven? No. 'Paradise' in Greek means "a garden," not heaven.

Getting back to The Matrix, look at the woman in the red dress. What does she represent in the life of a Christian? The woman represents sin.

Instead of listening to his teacher, Neo becomes distracted by the woman in the red dress. Sin. Morpheus, Neo's teacher, then asks Neo, "Were you listening? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?"

There are so many distractions in this world right now. We all have our diversions, our sins, our distractions. Do they keep us from following our Teacher? Jesus? Do they keep us from understanding His Word?

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" - Matthew 7:21-23

We too must understand the will of our Father in heaven. To do that we must understand the meaning of His words. What HE thinks, not what WE think.

Morpheus: "If you are not one of us, you are one of them."

Jesus: "Whoever is not with me is against me." - Matthew 12:30

We must be in God's Word, daily. We must study it and learn from it if we are to learn and grow and know what God's will is. When was the last time you opened your Bible? Last week? Last year? Do it now and grow!

The Woman In The Red Dress - The Matrix

The Word - Sara Groves

Keep Reading

'Coffee cup verses' - short, meaningful Bible verses .... that can really screw up our theology.

We can get into trouble if we take just one verse and let it stand all alone by itself. What led up to that verse? What came after it?

Sometimes a parable can be related to the previous story. And without that background information it's hard to understand the parable.

Here's an example that loses its full meaning because someone inserted chapter breaks and verse numbers ro make things easier to read.

Jesus and Peter are talking. Jesus has just told the disciples that where He is going they cannot follow. 

"Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!" - John 13:37-38

That's where the chapter ends. It sounds like Jesus really let Peter have it, doesn't it? But the original text had no chapter break here and the story still continues in John 14 where we find Jesus reassuring His disciples in this way.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." - John 14:1-3

See what I mean? It's the same story, only by continuing to read, with no chapter break, we learn that although Jesus rebuked Peter, He also has compassion for him and the rest of the disciples.

Matthew 7 is another example. Jesus says "Do not judge" but then He goes on to explain about righteous judgement and then says "then you will see clearly" .... to judge.

The Bible can seem difficult to understand sometimes. But if we keep reading it, and do a little research, our understanding of it will increase.

Spiritual Intimacy

Imagine knowing someone so intimately that they knew when you were hurting, when you were struggling, even what you were thinking. It IS possible. Here's how.

First, Let's clarify the word 'spiritual.' That's a pretty broad term. Today, and every day, I am writing about the God of The Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of the Trinity - God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus.

Another thing we need to get out of the way before we can talk about spiritual intimacy is that God already knows everything about us. He knows everything we've done, everything we have thought, and everything we WILL do. Every intimate detail. The problem with our lack of spiritual intimacy with God is us.

Do you have a close friend you share your inner most feelings with? Is it God?

The problem with many of our earthly relationships is that we are "unequally yoked." We believe in different things, we have different interests. We don't actually know the other person or where they are coming from. The same thing can happen in our relationship with God.

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" - 1 Corinthians  6:14

Are we "equally yoked" with God? Probably not. God is God. All-knowing, all-loving. We are not. And that's the problem. So, how to we become equally yoked with God? Well, we can't, but we can try. We can start by reading our Bibles. Get to know Him, His likes and dislikes. His laws.

I just finished reading the Book of Psalms. There's a lot on information inside that book. All of it good. We should read it. A lot!!

"For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." - Psalms 57:10

"Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!" - Psalm 63:3

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." - Psalm 103:13

"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:8

The best way to have an intimate spiritual relationship with God is to get to know Him more and more. We do that by reading. We do that by praying. We do that by following His commandments. If WE are the problem in our relationship with God, shouldn't we try to change that.

Your Love, O Lord - Third Day

Whispers

During this time of shouting in our world, it is often difficult to hear God's whispers. They ARE there. We're just too busy yelling at each other to hear them.

Consider the reactions to shouting verses whispering though. Which one you you think is more receptive? When someone shouts their message we often recoil. "Could you turn it down a notch?" We withdraw from that person AND their message.

But consider the whisper. "What did you say?" or "I didn't hear that" are the more likely responses. There is a desire to understand what the person is saying. We are desiring to hear.

When God spoke to Elijah, did God yell at Elijah with a loud, thunderous voice? No. He spoke in a whisper.

"The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here?" - 1 Kings 19:11-13

Has God been whispering in YOUR life? Have you heard it? Or is Satan yelling so loudly that you can't hear anything else?

There is plenty of noise in the world these days. In my opinion, it is all driven by Satan. We must instead listen for the whispers. The expressions of love we show to one another. The tiny nudges we receive from God's Holy Spirit.

It is up to us to hear. After all, God gave us two ears and one mouth. Why do you think God did that?

Nuance Perfume Commercial

Ears To Hear

When I was volunteering as a youth leader at church I watched the youth pastor as he delivered his weekly message to the high school kids. It had to be frustrating for him. No one was listening. Some were doing homework on a table off to the side. Others, their faces all aglow, lit up by their phone screens as they texted with friends. No one seemed to be paying any attention at all.

We adults were the ones who weren't paying attention.

The youth of today are pretty darn smart. Pretty attentive too. Despite outward appearances they retain more information than I did when I was a kid. And they are bombarded with so much of it. Social media, television, movies, school activities, homework . . . there are plenty of things to distract them. It's a wonder anything gets through to them at all.

A year or so ago I was helping a young adult work through some personal issues. Her best friend had committed suicide, her boyfriend was in jail, her parents both had issues and she dropped out of school.

If you think that was pretty depressing you'd be right . . . and she was. That's why the text I received the other night meant so much. The text said both she and her boyfriend were going back to school to get their high school GED. I almost fell over.

I vaguely remember to help them, our financially if they would go back to school. They never responded. I figured, "Oh, well" but then the text asking if I'd still like to help.

"ABSOLUTELY!!"

Kids don't miss a thing. Be careful what you say. Ha ha! But more importantly, know that people are listening even when you think they're not. God gave them ears to hear and they're using them.

It seems like it might be hard to be heard in a world with so many distractions. People hear. It's just that sometimes they don't listen. Speak with your heart and others will hear your words. But when someone listens with their heart, then you have something. :)

"43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" - Matthew 13:43

With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear - Sleeping With Sirens