God's voice

Psalm 95:6-7 (NLT)

6 Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, 7 for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!

Here the psalmist declares that we should come and joyfully worship The Lord, who is our creator and our God. For God watches over us like a shepherd watching over his flock. Listen, listen closely for God’s voice today.

In the movie, The Horse Whisperer, Tom Booker, played by actor Robert Redford, employs his special gift of "gentling" horses.

A tense, New York magazine editor can't believe her eyes as she witnesses the gradual transformation of her daughter's horse from traumatized to tamed. In one telling scene, the horse, frightened by the editor's ringing cell phone, gallops off into the far end of a large pasture. Booker walks into the pasture and sits down, where he waits for what appears to be hours. The horse, drawn by its curiosity, inches closer and closer. Finally, it cautiously approaches close enough to touch the "whisperer," and allows itself to be led back to the safety of its stall.

That's the way it is with God, as he "gentles" the untamed or traumatized people who run from him. [Clark Cothern, author and pastor, Tecumseh, Michigan]

I love the words of this old hymn, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling— Calling for you and for me; Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching— Watching for you and for me! Come home! come home! Ye who are weary, come home! Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner, come home!

Fix your thoughts on God

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

It is the character of every good man that he trusts in God, puts himself under his guidance and government, and depends upon him that it shall be greatly to his advantage to do so. Those that trust in God must have their minds stayed upon him, must trust him at all times, under all events, must firmly and faithfully adhere to him, with an entire satisfaction in him; and such as do so God will keep in perpetual peace, and that peace shall keep them. When evil tidings are abroad those shall calmly expect the event, and not be disturbed by frightful apprehensions arising from them, whose hearts are fixed, trusting in the Lord. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Chuck Swindoll shares the following story about a conversation with a Christian leader who started a new ministry for the Navigators in Uganda. The man told Swindoll that after much discussion and prayer, he and his wife were convinced that God wanted them to move to Uganda. So they uprooted their family and flew to Kenya, where he put his family up in a hotel so he could rent a Land Rover and travel across the border into Uganda.

At this point he definitely needed the kind of encouragement only God can give. The man told Swindoll, "I dropped to my knees, and I said, 'Lord, look, I'm afraid. I'm in a country I don't know, in a culture that's totally unfamiliar. I have no idea who sleeps in that bed. Please, show me that you're in this move!'"

And then, he said, "Just as I was finishing my prayer, the door flung open, and there stood this six-foot five-inch African frowning at me, saying in beautiful British English, 'What are you doing in my room?'"

"I kneeled there for a moment, and then I muttered, 'They gave me this bed, but I'll only be here one night.'"

"What are you doing in my country?" the African asked.

"Well, I'm with a [Christian] organization called the Navigators."

"Ahh! The Navigators!" Suddenly the tall African broke into an enormous grin, threw his arms around his new roommate, and laughed out loud as he lifted him up off the floor and danced around the room with him.

"Praise God, praise God," said the African. "For two years I have prayed that God would send someone to me from this organization." And he pulled out a little Scripture memory-verse pack and pointed to where, at the bottom of each of the verses, it read, "The Navigators, Colorado Springs, Colorado."

This Ugandan eventually became a board member for the new Navigators ministry in Uganda. He helped the American leader find a place to live, assisted him with the language, and became the Navigator staff member's best friend. [Chuck Swindoll, Embraced by the Spirit (Zondervan, 2011)]

Fix your thoughts on God and He will provide you with the perfect peace you need.

Members of the body

Romans 12:4-5 (NKJV)

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Each member hath its place and office, for the good and benefit of the whole, and of every other member. We are not only members of Christ, but we are members one of another. We stand in relation one to another; we are engaged to do all the good we can one to another, and to act in conjunction for the common benefit. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Many Christians have been infected with the most virulent virus of modern American life, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls “radical individualism.” They concentrate on personal obedience to Christ as if all that matters is “Jesus and me,” but in doing so miss the point altogether. For Christianity is not a solitary belief system. Any genuine resurgence of Christianity, as history demonstrates, depends on a reawakening and renewal of that which is the essence of the faith—that is, the people of God, the new society, the body of Christ, which is made manifest in the world—the church. [Chuck Colson, The Body (Word, 1992), p.32]

We may be individuals, but we are members of a greater body, The Body of Christ. While each of us have a relationship to Christ, we also have a relationship to one another, working together for the greater good of all.

The peace of God's law

Psalm 119:165 (NKJV)

165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.

Nothing shall offend them; nothing shall be a scandal, snare, or stumbling-block, to them, to entangle them either in guilt or grief. No event of providence shall be either an invincible temptation or an intolerable affliction to them, but their love to the word of God shall enable them both to hold fast their integrity and to preserve their tranquility. They will make the best of that which is, and not quarrel with any thing that God does. Nothing shall offend or hurt them, for every thing shall work for good to them, and therefore shall please them, and they shall reconcile themselves to it. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Anne Morrow wrote, I want first of all ... to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact--to borrow the language of the saints--to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus, when he said, "May the outward and inward man be one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God. [Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea. Leadership, Vol. 13, no. 2.]

The love of God’s word can bring peace into a person’s life and keep them from stumbling. It is important to know peace so peace can grow inside a person’s soul and become apparent and external to others so they may know peace too.

An open heart of thanksgiving

Psalm 116:1-2 (NKJV)

1 I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

He had experienced God's goodness to him in answer to prayer: He has heard my voice and my supplications. David, in straits, had humbly and earnestly begged mercy of God, and God had heard him, that is, had graciously accepted his prayer, taken cognizance of his case, and granted him an answer of peace. He has inclined his ear to me. This intimates his readiness and willingness to hear prayer; he lays his ear, as it were, to the mouth of prayer, to hear it, though it be but whispered in groanings that cannot be uttered. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

A growing body of research has tied an attitude of gratitude with a number of positive emotional and physical health benefits. A November 2010 article in The Wall Street Journal summarized the research:

Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They're also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy, or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly, and have greater resistance to viral infections.

Now, researchers are finding that gratitude brings similar benefits in children and adolescents. [Studies also show that] kids who feel and act grateful tend to be less materialistic, get better grades, set higher goals, complain of fewer headaches and stomach aches, and feel more satisfied with their friends, families, and schools than those who don't.

The researchers concluded, "A lot of these findings are things we learned in kindergarten or our grandmothers told us, but now we have scientific evidence to prove them …. The key is not to leave it on the Thanksgiving table." [Melinda Beck, "Thank You. No, Thank You," The Wall Street Journal (11-23-10)]

Keep your heart open to giving thanks to The Lord. For The Lord hears our voice and responds with love, mercy and grace.

The Lord is with us

Psalm 16:8 (NLT)

8 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

The psalmist knows The Lord is always present in his life. He knows God is close by and hears him when he speaks. He knows God is watching after him. And he knows God keeps him on the right path for God is right beside him.

I was visiting on death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I asked one man if he would like to talk, and he said he would. He was a smallish man whose wire-rimmed glasses and intelligent expression made him look a little professorial. I asked him how he spends his days. He picked up his NIV Bible, hefted it, and said, "I spend a lot of time reading our book. I'm glad it's so big. I'll never get to the bottom of it." Then he said something I'll never forget. "You know," he said, "there are 2 billion of us Christians in the world, and everything today that any of us does that's any good has something to do with our book. And I have a copy of it right here in my cell!" [Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Reading for Preaching (William B. Eerdmans, 2013), pp. 9-10]

God is always close, even visiting those who have sinned. For God loves a repentant heart and one who turns back to Him. When we stay close to God we will not be shaken, for He is right beside us!

Love one another

John 13:34-35 (NIV)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The disciples knew the Ten Commandments of the law, but here Jesus gives them a new commandment to love one another as Christ loved them. For Christ loved them where they were in life and brought them close to Him.

In her funny, off-beat memoir, journalist and writer Heather Havrilesky reminds us how community (whether in a family or a church family) implies carrying one another's burdens. Havrilesky writes:

If I get sick or lose my mind, I'll ask my husband or my kids or my friends to rise to the occasion and come to my aid. And they'd better come through for me, [darn] it! I dried your tears and paid too much for replicas of lost teddy bears on eBay. I took care of cats and plants and talked you through home purchases and career dilemmas and bad breakups. …

I'll continue to be there, as long as I can be. But someday, you might have to come to my rescue. Brace yourselves, because it won't be pretty. Isn't that what love and friendship are really about?

We weren't meant to suffer alone! We weren't meant to … escape the indignity and frustration of asking for help, for needing help, from someone who might not always enjoy giving it, someone who gets on our nerves, who has never made much sense to us, someone whom we break down and bicker with occasionally. We were meant to lean on each other, as messy and imperfect as that can be, to be capable when we can, and to allow the world to take care of us when we can't. It won't be all bad. Or it will be. But at least we'll have each other. [Heather Havrilesky, Disaster Preparedness (Riverhead Trade, 2011), page 57]

Heather is right when she says “we weren’t meant to suffer alone” and we should not allow others to suffer alone either. We should be able to love and be loved. We should follow the example of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 below and express love to those who need it.

1 Corinthians 13 says, “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”