Listening As Spiritual Hospitality

"To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations.  True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known.  They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.  Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond.  Listening is paring full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings.  The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their true selves.  Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you."

Satisfy The Lord

Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.

Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?

-Oswald Chambers utmost.org

Hosea 6:1-6 Acknowledge the Lord

¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD. 
He has torn us to pieces 
   but he will heal us; 
he has injured us 
   but he will bind up our wounds. 
² After two days he will revive us; 
   on the third day he will restore us, 
   that we may live in his presence. 
³ Let us acknowledge the LORD; 
   let us press on to acknowledge him. 
As surely as the sun rises, 
   he will appear; 
he will come to us like the winter rains, 
   like the spring rains that water the earth.”

 ⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
   What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
   like the early dew that disappears.
⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
   I killed you with the words of my mouth—
   then my judgments go forth like the sun.
⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
   and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

All God wants is for us to acknowledge Him, spend time with Him, be with Him, let Him dwell in the innermost parts of our heart. Return to Him again and again for He will appear again and again and He will heal you, He will bind your wounds, and most of all he will love you relentlessly.

True Ambassadors For Christ

I think that this translation of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 is amazing and truly speaks to what we should be doing with our life and truly allowing God to live through us.

"Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized - whoever.  I didn't take on their way of life.  I kept my bearings in Christ - but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.  I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.  I did all this because of the Message.  I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!"

Immediately after reading this I think of two questions:
1. Am I living my life like this?
2. How can I live more like this?

Take some time to reflect on this passage and these questions.

Obedience Is A Necessity For Spiritual Success

"Without God’s instructions, Joshua would have failed at leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The first step was to “be strong and of good courage” (Josh. 1:6). Next, he was to continually meditate on the Book of the Law, and finally, he was to do everything it said. As long as Joshua followed the directions, God promised him “good success” (v.8).

God’s “recipe for success” can work for us too, but His idea of success has little to do with money, popularity, or even good health. In the original Hebrew, “then you will have good success” means “then you will act wisely.” Just as God called Joshua to walk in wisdom, He wants us to “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise” (Eph. 5:15).

As we take courage in the Lord, feast on His Word, and obey Him, we have a recipe for godly success that’s better than anything we could cook up on our own.

You will surely find at the journey’s end,
Whatever the world may afford,
That things fade away, and success is seen
In the life that has served the Lord. —Anon.

Obedience to God’s Word is the recipe for spiritual success."

-www.obd.org