Week 4: The Voice
I want you to think for a moment about expectations. When Christmas or your birthday
comes, you have expectations about the gifts you’ll receive. When you’re about to receive a visit
from a friend you’ve not seen for a long time, you have eager expectations about what that visit
will be like. When a relative has long overstayed their welcome—you have even greater
expectations about when they will leave!
But there’s another side of expectations—the expectations that are placed on you by
others—and your own expectations as well. Someone from John Ortberg’s church made a list of
unspoken expectations that the average person in their community and church has, based on the
culture in which they live: [Pastors, feel free to make your own list that fits your community.]
• You will have good health, live a long life, be slim and physically fit, be toned, have
great hair, make-up, and body shape.
• You will be intelligent, articulate, and computer savvy.
• You will get into a good school and do well in school. Of course you’ll be popular.
• You will be sexually desirable without being promiscuous.
• You will pursue all your gifts and talents to the point of mastery.
• Of course you’ll marry a Christian (who has met all these criteria).
• Once married you’ll communicate wonderfully, your life will be filled with romance,
and as a couple you’ll share chores and have regular date nights.
• Your home will be beautiful (all the walls are naturally painted this year’s cool
colors).
• Your home will be clean, well-decorated, and organized. The landscaping (and your
home will be landscaped professionally) will be picturesque.
• All your meals will be gourmet, low-fat (or low-carb, or high-protein). When you
have children, all the baby food will be made from scratch.
• The kids will be naturally cute, healthy, smart, well-behaved, get into the right
schools, escape all danger of peer culture but still be well-liked and popular.
• As a Christian you’ll do ministry, be wise, respected, humble, have a daily quiet time,
be a prayer warrior and a knowledgeable Bible student.
• Your goal is to be rich without being snotty, confident but not abrasive.
• You will create family traditions, with your holidays being beautiful and meaningful.
• Your children will be raised in the faith, and you won’t do anything to damage their
spiritual relationship with God.
• You will maintain deep friendships, extended family relationships, write letters,
remember birthdays and anniversaries and send gifts, keep in touch with old friends,
come to Bible study, stay relaxed, friendly, and easygoing … did I leave anything
out?
All of these expectations are the result of various voices that have spoken into our lives
through the years.
There are other voices which speak into our souls that shape us as well. Some are voices
of affirmation:
“I believe in you.”
“You are important to me.”
“I know you can do it.”
“I love who you are.”
And others are voices of minimization:
“You’re an idiot!”
“You can’t do anything right!”
“You’ll never accomplish much in life!”
“Why aren’t you as good as your brother (or sister)?”
Painfully, some of those negative voices may have even come from home. A demanding
parent. A demeaning sibling(s). Or a parent who wasn’t demanding—they were silent—and you
never heard their voice of love or affirmation.
Add to those voices the voices we hear from TV, radio, print media, work, etc.—and
there are a lot of noises competing for our attention.
Out of all the voices … what if the voice that was booming through your heart and mind
was God’s and you heard it clearly? What if, during the course of every day, you recognized and
responded to God’s voice speaking directly to you? Do you think that might have a reorienting
effect on your days? How can we hear the voice of Jesus—our Shepherd—and lock in on that
voice and follow him?
When we talk about being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, it means that we know
what he desires and we follow through. We can pick his voice out from all the others—and we
don’t veer away from where our Shepherd leads. Jesus had some pretty profound things to say
about this. Listen to how he describes the relationship he has with his true followers:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father.… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me.” (John 10:14–15a, 27)
In the original language, the word that Jesus uses for “know” doesn’t mean to simply be
aware of something. It means to have an intimate relationship that is trusting and safe.
Around here we talk a lot about becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus. How do you
know if you are one? How do you really know? What’s the indicator? According to Jesus, a key
indicator of our followership is if we are listening for his voice and responding immediately to
what he says. We’ll talk a little later about how to distinguish his voice.
In the New Testament, the word for a fully devoted follower is “disciple.” It means to be
a student or an apprentice to someone. It was quite easy to tell if someone had entered into that
kind of learning relationship in the first century. Disciples like Peter, James, and John had made
a decision—to spend every day with Jesus to learn from him how to be like him. They watched
him, studied him, talked with him, worked with him. He had invited them to be his students—his
friends and partners. That’s how they spent every day. That’s what it meant to be a fully devoted
follower.
It’s important to understand that mostly they did the same activities as everyone else.
They ate, slept, worked, played, and learned. They just did them all with Jesus, and they couldn’t
believe they got to do this. Sure, they had left a lot of things—jobs, families, friends,
security—but they did that with great joy. They couldn’t believe they had an opportunity to be
with Jesus and listen to him.
For the disciples, the worst day of their lives was Good Friday when Jesus died. They
thought their lives had died with him. The best day of their life was Easter Sunday, when Jesus
defeated death and was raised again to life. Jesus said that now nothing—not even death
itself—nothing could keep his friends, his students, his disciples from being with him. Jesus’
final words, recorded in the gospel of Matthew are, “I am with you always, even to the very end
of the age.” Always.
That promise of Jesus is just as true for you and for me today. If you have asked Jesus to
be your forgiver and to lead every area of your life, then you can be assured that he is with you
and will never leave you. And not only that, but he desires to be in a conversational relationship
with you as well.
It’s strange and scary that in many Christian circles we have lost touch with the fact that
God actually speaks to us. In fact, that thought alone can be a bit unnerving for most of us. We
feel like it would be presumptuous to think that we might possibly have “heard” from God. And
even scarier that he may want us to either do something or change something. So like a little
child, we theologically stick our fingers in our ears and make noise with our life so that we can’t
hear his voice.
Besides, many of us have been taught through our religious upbringing that God only
speaks directly to the “paid professional”—the clergy—who will interpret what God said for
everyone else.
When it comes to hearing God’s voice, one of the things that holds us back from
believing he could be speaking to us is the list of misguided, wrong, or evil deeds done because
someone has claimed to have “heard” from God.
A guy named Roger Barrier has written a book called Listening to the Voice of God and
in it he tells about an experience he had with one of these misguided persons before he got
married. Here’s how he tells it:
“One evening I was sitting beside my fiancée in a little church we occasionally attended
during college. Shortly before the service began a woman spoke quietly to Julie.
“‘I have a word from the Lord for you,’ she said. ‘You will be like the prophetess Anna
in Luke 2. You will be widowed after seven years and spend the rest of your life ministering in
sweet service to God.’
“My first instinct was to tell the intruder I doubted God told her anything—that she had
imagined it. If God had something to tell Julie, he was perfectly capable of telling her himself,
but I held my tongue and looked at the young girl who would soon be my wife.”
Barrier continues, “I hate to admit that I worried occasionally during the first seven years
of our marriage. On the evening of our eighth anniversary, I intentionally stayed awake until
midnight. As I stood in the bathroom, I finally knew that woman’s dismal forebodings were
nothing more than a figment of her misguided imagination.”
Think about that … over seven years of worry because someone claimed to have “heard”
from the Lord. Even so, far worse things have been done in humanity because some person or
group claims to have “heard” from God.
On a personal level, every one of us knows the sin and junk in our lives, and we think
that there’s no way that God would choose to speak to us. We begin to subconsciously—and
sometimes consciously—rule ourselves out from the possibility that God could even want to talk
to us. We think:
• I’ve done too many wrong things in my life … there’s no way that God would have
much interest in me.
• I’m not a good enough Christian yet. When I get to the place where my act is cleaned
up … then maybe I’ll be ready for God to speak to me—but he wouldn’t choose to do
that any sooner.
• I don’t know enough of the Bible … when I know more, then he might choose to
speak to me.
• God wouldn’t be interested in me … I’ve never done much good in my life—it’s not
like I’m an important person in the church or anything.
I’ll try to say this as subtly as possible: DON’T YOU BELIEVE A WORD OF IT! Those
are the voices that need to be ignored, discounted, and rejected. If you have those words or
anything like them going through your mind when we talk about hearing from God, then it’s
your place to say something like:
“On the basis of the authority of the Bible I reject those ideas as contrary to it. When I
asked Jesus into my life, he joined me right then. Imperfect, a sinner, not knowledgeable about
the Bible—he loves me ‘as is’ and wants a relationship with me just as I am.”
Over the last three weeks we’ve talked about God’s promise to pursue a relationship with
us. We’ve spent time studying about our choice to be with Jesus—that he doesn’t force us into a
relationship with him, but it’s entirely up to us. And we talked last week about the Holy Spirit’s
role of guiding and empowering us each day. Each of these builds on the other.
And if all this is true—and it is—that God wants a relationship with us, that we can
choose to have a relationship with him (or not), that God places his Spirit in us to guide us, then
we’d best become students at hearing God talk to us.
The truth is that God is not distant, but close—closer than you think. Listen to these
verses from the pages of the Old and New Testament which reflect God’s ongoing voice being
heard:
“And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God …” (Genesis 3:8)
“The LORD … said to Abram …” (Genesis 12:1)
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“God said to Moses …” (Exodus 3:13)
“The LORD said to Joshua …” (Joshua 1:1)
“The LORD said to me [Isaiah] …” (Isaiah 8:1)
“The word of the LORD came to him [Jeremiah] …” (Jeremiah 1:2)
“The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel …” (Ezekiel 1:3)
“The Spirit told me [Peter] …” (Acts 11:12)
The same God who spoke in the Bible is the same God who speaks today. As we talked
about last week, for those who are Christ-followers, God has placed his Spirit within you as a
gift to lead, guide, empower, convict, comfort, and equip you. It is a gift you can never lose—but
one which you can quench, subdue, and ignore because he will not force his way on you.
In fact, you have to decide if you want to hear from God or not. The writer to the
Hebrews writes this warning: “See to it that you do not refuse him [God] who speaks.” (Hebrews
12:25)
Pay very close attention to this: the desire to hear from God also means a desire to obey
him and not refuse him. So if we really desire to hear his voice, it means that we are ready and
willing to submit to what he is going to say and follow through with immediate obedience. It
does not mean that we are going to weigh it out and decide through selective listening what
we’re going to do with it.
We’re going to take a closer look at a couple biblical accounts of God speaking and then
list some guidelines to help us discern God’s voice through each day.
One of the most famous Bible stories of God speaking and making his presence known is
centered around the prophet Elijah. The incident occurs in 1 Kings 19, but first let’s get some
context by checking out 1 Kings 18, which describes a huge spiritual victory that takes place on
Mount Carmel.
There Elijah meets evil King Ahab and a huge gathering of people, including 450
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Elijah sets up the ground rules for the
confrontation about to take place. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to set up an altar of
rocks, sacrifice a bull and put it on the altar—and pray for Baal to send fire from heaven to
consume the sacrifice. When they are done, he gets a turn. Whoever gets an answer has a real
God. Fairly straightforward rules of engagement.
To make a long story short—but it’s worth your reading when you go home—Elijah
wins. God sent such intense flames from heaven that even the rocks of the altar burned up. The
prophets of Baal lost big-time. In fact, they didn’t survive the day.
However, even though Elijah won, even though God got glory … the king and queen
were pretty angry about losing their prophets and so they were gunning for Elijah’s life. So he
takes off and hides in the desert wanting to die. Now take a look at 1 Kings 19:9–13:
“There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him:
‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
“He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have
rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’
“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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the
LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When 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, Elijah?’
God was showing Elijah that, yes, he can do huge and spectacular things to make his
presence known—like sending down fire from heaven. But lasting spiritual work doesn’t happen
in big “extravaganza” moments of God’s power, but in the ongoing quiet of his voice and
presence in the lives of his followers.
One of the best books you can read on discerning God’s voice is called Hearing God by
Dallas Willard. In it he writes: “The still, small voice—those inner promptings—is still the most
preferred and most valuable form of individualized communication for God’s purposes.”
Another account of someone hearing God’s voice in the Old Testament occurs in 1
Samuel 3. It’s the story of a young boy who was dedicated to serving God at the tabernacle by
his mom. Beginning at about the age of three, Samuel grew up serving in God’s house.
Eli is the high priest and Eli and God are watching out for this little boy, Samuel. One
night Samuel is lying in bed, and he hears his name. And he figures Eli called him, so he runs
into Eli’s room. “Here I am.” And Eli says, “I didn’t call you.” It happens again, and he runs into
Eli’s room again and Eli says, “I didn’t call you.”
Did you ever know of kids who interrupt their parents’ sleep at night for all kinds of odd
reasons? But Eli finally realizes what’s going on. Look at 1 Samuel 3:7:
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been
revealed to him.”
So when it happens a third time, Eli knows that God is speaking to Samuel, but Samuel
does not know it’s God.
In other words, it’s possible for God to speak to somebody and for that person not to
know it’s God speaking. Learning to discern the voice of God is an acquired skill. It’s learned
behavior. And the ministry of Eli is to help Samuel learn to recognize the voice of God in his
heart.
I want to point out right now one of the most critical variables in entering into a life of
partnering with the Holy Spirit, and it is a beautiful phrase. Take a look at 1 Samuel 3:19.
Samuel is learning from Eli how to discern God’s leading, God’s guiding, God’s whispers in his
life. The Bible says:
“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up”—and here’s the phrase—“and he let none of
his words fall to the ground.”
In other words, Samuel let none of God’s words go unheeded. Anything God said,
Samuel did. Any time God said, “Go,” Samuel went. Any time God said, “Speak,” Samuel
spoke. He let none of God’s words fall to the ground. He caught them all. He said, “God speak,
your servant listens.”
I want to tell you, in this whole business of learning to discern the voice of God, being
immersed in Scripture, having wise friends to get counsel from, and so on—those are all
important. But perhaps most important is that you make the decision to say, “God, speak, and
whatever you tell me to do, I will do. Even if it feels a little awkward or a little hard, I will let
none of your words fall to the ground.”
If you have a prompting and you think its from God, and it’s consistent with Scripture,
and it moves in the direction of the fruit of the Spirit—toward love and toward joy and peace,
etc.—do it! Don’t let a single word fall to the ground.
If it’s to encourage somebody, to share your faith, to do an act of kindness, to confront in
love, do it. Don’t let a single word of God fall to the ground. And some of you today need
guidance. And your prayer today just needs to be, “God, guide me.” God really does that.
In his book, Listening to the Voice of God, Roger Barrier offers ten excellent guidelines
for discerning God’s voice. You might find these helpful …
1. God tends to speak with gentle leadings. Don’t be looking for the spectacular “fire from
heaven,” but listen for the gentle whisper, the inner promptings. Let your spiritual ears
become sensitized to God’s voice.
2. God’s voice produces freedom. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:30)
3. God tends to speak when I am seeking him. The prophet Jeremiah reported God as saying:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek
me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12–13)
4. When God is speaking, there is a sense that everything is under control. God wants us in
control of our faculties and decisions. God related that “the spirits of prophets are subject to
the control of prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). Paul warns in 2 Timothy 2:24–26 that Satan
wants to ensnare and control people when he speaks. Paul’s hope is that the Christians “will
come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will.” When self and Satan speak, there is an inner sense that something is out of control.
5. God convicts of specific sins. John 16:8 teaches that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world
of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” As Barrier writes: “My experience
is that when God convicts of sin, his voice is quite specific: ‘Yesterday at 2 p.m. you did
this.’ Satan and self, on the other hand, often accuse in broad generalities, leaving me with an unfocused sense of haunting guilt centered around poor choices, questioned priorities,
unfinished responsibilities, or unmet expectations. Now when I feel accused or have a
nagging sense of unspecified guilt, I pause and consider why I feel so guilty. If there is not a
definite sense of conviction about a specific sin, I know the feelings are not from God’s
Spirit.”
6. God speaks with 100 percent truth that can be tested by the Bible. Make sure that your
prompting is in agreement with the overall teaching of Scripture and with basic biblical
themes. Anybody can pick one or two verses out of context, twist it around, and build a cult.
You want to try to keep it all in balance with Scripture. That’s why it is so important to be
sure that you’re spending regular time each day reading the Bible, building it into you, so that
it’s the framework for your thinking, for your responding.
7. God’s voice always leads to a deep, abiding sense of peace. Sometimes that peace comes
when we surrender to his voice and not let his words “fall to the ground.” Obedience
sometimes precedes peace. For example, Philippians 4:7 promises, “The peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
That sounds great and it’s a very true promise from God. And yet many people claim
that verse and wonder why they don’t have peace. But they don’t realize that it’s predicated
on the obedience of the previous two verses. Philippians 4:4–6 says: “Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
8. Get wise counsel from Christ-followers you trust!
9. Make sure that what you are sensing is from God really agrees with the character and nature
of God. For example, God’s voice wouldn’t approve of a couple living together outside of
marriage or of an extramarital relationship so that a person can be “happy.” Those things
would be contrary to what the Bible teaches and contrary to God’s holy and pure character
and nature.
10. Ask yourself, “Does this agree with my conscience?” You need to know that it’s real natural
to ask yourself, “Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, after going through this checklist—I
could be mistaken about God’s promptings? Could I possibly have missed something and be
heading way off-base?”
I love what Dallas Willard says about this. He writes: “Of course you could be wrong.
God doesn’t intend to make us infallible by his conversational walk with us, but you are
usually correct.”
In other words, don’t minimize, don’t rationalize. Don’t compromise.
So here’s how it’ll play out in our lives this week—how we’ll make the choice to be with
Jesus and listen for his voice—to begin to increase our sensitivity to hearing the voice of our
Shepherd.
Tomorrow you’ll have some leisure time. Of course, in our society, there’s one primary
activity that people engage in during leisure time, so it leads to the question: “Would Jesus watch
TV?” Well, it depends on what’s on.
If you watch TV, watch it, but watch it with Jesus and talk to him about what you see. If
he wants to change your habits, he’ll speak to you about that. You can trust him to do that. He
really will.
When you read tomorrow, read with Jesus. Talk with him about what you’re reading. The
newspaper then becomes an invitation to pray for the world, for what’s happening on the streets
of your neighborhood, your city, in Washington, in Afghanistan, and in the West Bank. Just talk
to God about the world.
Tomorrow, whatever the day holds—household errands, interruptions—every one of
them is an opportunity to be with Jesus. When you forget, and you will, when you mess up, and
you will, here’s a real important rule just for tomorrow: no beating yourself up. No failing
tomorrow because every moment is another chance. God just keeps sending them. That’s grace.
Every moment is a chance for you to be with him.
Tomorrow night when you lay down your head on the pillow, review the day. Thank
Jesus for going with you. Thank him for his gentle whispers. Remember the moments when you
heard his voice. Decide if you’d like to spend another day with him on Tuesday. If you would,
invite him because he’d love to.
One thing you must do is decide. You will not drift into this way of life. Our culture will
not make it happen; you must decide. So I’m going to give you a moment right now to decide.
I’m going to invite you to write one last thing on your bulletin right now, so take your pen.
Maybe it’s just one word like, “yes,” to express your heart or, “together,” to remind yourself that
you’ll go through the day together. Maybe it’s a phrase, “I’ll walk with you.”
Right now, as you write that on your bulletin, tell Jesus, “I want to spend tomorrow with
you, listening to your voice.” Put that paper someplace where you’ll see it all day, maybe on
your desk, taped to a mirror, or maybe in your calendar. Remember that this same offer came so
many years ago to Peter, James, and John, and it changed their lives.
This is the best offer you’ll ever have. You will never in your life—I don’t care what
happens, I don’t care how much money you make or what ladder of success you climb—you will
never have another offer like this one. People miss it all the time. People miss it every day, day
after day, until the end of their lives. Some people go through their whole lives and they never
take it. It’s your day. Don’t miss it.
Let’s pray. [Let the room become still and silent] “Speak God … your servants are
listening.… [LONG PAUSE] … Amen.”
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
God is closer than you think pt3
Week 3: The Presence
The late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ told this story of a famous oil field
called Yates Pool:
“During the Depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr.
Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on
the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his
family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
“Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no
doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil
company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission
to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
“At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a
day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, thirty years after the
discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000
barrels of oil a day.
“And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and
mineral rights. Yet he’d been living on relief. He was a multi-millionaire living in poverty. The
problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.”*
I think that many Christians today—though they have salvation through Jesus
Christ—are still living in spiritual poverty because they haven’t begun to live in the power of
God’s presence within them. It is as though we are living in the land of Christianity, but unaware
that beneath the surface—in the depths of our souls—there are riches at our disposal which God
has made available to us.
Two weeks ago we talked about God’s promise and desire to be with us. From cover to
cover the Bible talks about God’s steps to have that relationship with you and with me. Last
week, we looked at our choice to be with him—that it isn’t pushed on us, but that we make the
decision on whether or not to be with him.
After that decision is made, how do we move toward living in God’s riches instead of in
spiritual poverty? The very premise of our adventure during these six weeks is that we desire a
closer relationship with God, right?
Do you know one of the most amazing verses in the Bible? It’s John 16:7. It is when
Jesus tells his disciples that instead of coming closer to them, he is going away from them. As he
tries to prepare them for his departure, he says these words:
“I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away.”
Just for a moment, consider the disciples’ shock. Imagine if you were in their place.
Your life has been turned upside down by this man.
For three years you’ve been captivated by his every word.
You lived to hear him teach.
You lived to watch him heal.
You lived to see him love.
You left everything to follow him, convinced that he held the key to the future of the
human race. You’ve bet the farm on it.
And now he says he’s going to leave? That’s the end of your world!
You’ve sacrificed everything for him … and now you’re going to lose him!
But then Jesus has the audacity to add: “—and it’s a good thing.”
Sure. Kind of like what parents say before they spank their child: “This is going to hurt
you, but it’s good for you.”
But Jesus is quite serious and gives the reason why it’s a good thing that he leaves. He
says: “Because unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him
to you.”
Now I want you to think about that for a moment. That’s a staggering statement.
We often think: “I’d give anything to have lived when Jesus did—to hear his voice; to see
his face; to watch him perform miracles.”
But Jesus says, “No. It is better to live in the era of the Spirit than it is to walk with me on
the earth.” Jesus is saying we are more fortunate than the disciples were. You and I have an
advantage over those who actually walked with him!
Since Jesus says it, it must be true … so doesn’t it make sense that if we want to be close
to God we had better thoroughly know and lean on the person of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t we
be crystal clear on his identity and ministry?
For Christ-followers to miss this would be disaster.
In the Bible, the image Jesus uses of the Spirit in our life is a river.
Take a look with me at John 7:37–39:
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in him were later to receive.”
The King James version reads: “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
The word that’s used for “belly” is koilios—it means the “center of your being; the
deepest part of your authentic self.” The belly is that place that gets tied up in knots when you’re
anxious, where squadrons of butterflies fly in formation when you’re afraid, where you are
angry, or unsatisfied, or unhappy.
You may be able to manage your face. You maybe be able to make it look confident
when you’re dying inside. You may fool people by forcing your body language to appear relaxed
when you’re under stress. But your belly is not fooled. It is your inner core. It is where every
major emotion gets registered. It is where you carry the real truth about strength and weakness
with which you face life.
Jesus is basically saying, “If you follow me right down in your guts, your belly—you will
be flowing with energy, hope, love, and power.”
Did you notice in verse 39 what this picture of flowing waters stands for? The Holy
Spirit. This new kind of life is tied to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He’s in you.
For the most part, Israel is desert. The audience to whom Jesus was speaking didn’t see
many rivers. What they saw were wadis—troughs that ran through the sand. Wadis were usually
just dry gulches, but after a rain storm they would be filled with water.
So for the people Jesus was teaching in Israel, a full river is life. The opposite, a dry
gulch, is death.
The Bible uses the images of rivers and streams to depict spiritual reality: there is a flow
of God’s presence and power that gives life.
For example, Psalm 46:4 reads, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God.…”
In Jeremiah 17:7–8 the prophet wrote:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be
like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit.”
If a river flows unobstructed, all kinds of good things will happen. It will nourish trees. It
provides a home for fish and plants. It gives drinking water to human beings.
But if a river gets dammed up; if it gets blocked, obstructed, polluted, cut off—there’s
death:
“As the deer pants for the water,
So my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
In the desert country, when all the wadis are dried up, a deer is going to die if it doesn’t
find water.
The way this applies to our lives is to understand that it is not primarily a statement about
our level of desire. It’s not primarily talking about how much we want to come to church and
sing songs of worship.
It’s a simple observation of fact. It is the predicament of the human race, even if we’re
not aware of it. If the water—availability of Spirit—is blocked off, we will experience loss,
unsatisfied desire, spiritual death.
We see this again in the very last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:1–2:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of
the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And
the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
From the opening scene of Genesis to the closing chapter of Revelation, God creates,
redeems, and then re-creates a world that is to be full of life. The life he creates and offers flows
like the power and purity of a river.
Jesus says that he came so that you would be filled with life—that if someone asked how
you’re doing you would say, “I’m living the most complete, filled up, God-centered, peaceful,
empowered life you could imagine.” I wonder how many of us would answer that way today?
Let’s look at exactly what Jesus said. Turn in your Bibles to John 10:10…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
Over the years I’ve noticed something quite interesting. In some churches almost the only
thing they say about Jesus is how he’ll get you into heaven after you die. They don’t elaborate
much about life on this side of heaven. It’s almost like a fatalistic, foregone conclusion that we
simply slog along until we finally die and go to heaven.
Yet when you read the Gospels Jesus almost never talks about getting people into heaven.
Jesus talks about getting people into life.
Of course that includes life beyond the grave. But it always starts here.
Who does the thief represent? The thief is the Evil One, Satan. We should expect
opposition as Christ followers, but not be fearful of it. The Bible reminds us that “the one who is
in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Turn to any book in the New Testament, and you see this picture of amazing life painted.
For example, 1 Peter 1:8 says:
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
A little later Peter says of the people he’s writing:
“You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your
brothers.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Peter is saying that these first-century Christians have rid themselves of malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander. They have humbled themselves under God’s mighty hand.
How many here would say this pretty much describes you?
That you are filled with inexpressible joy?
You are ridding yourself of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and slander?
When people are around you, they notice your belly is flowing with rivers of living
water?
If you’ve more or less mastered humility—raise your hand!
Here’s what I think happens.
Many people hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. They are overwhelmed by this
vision of hope, and they say, “Yes! I want Jesus in my life!”
And so, for a time, there’s a kind of honeymoon period. They are drawn toward Scripture
in a new way. They get excited and want to tell other people about Jesus. They love to worship.
And some things change in their life. Coarse language gets cleaned up. Certain addictions
may be overcome. They get involved in serving in the church.
But over time this process of change seems to stall. And instead of my life looking like
this amazing picture painted in the New Testament, it looks like this:
—I yell at my children.
—I worry too much about money and my job.
—I get jealous of people more successful or attractive than me.
—I use deception to get out of trouble.
—I pass judgment on people all the time.
When I read the New Testament words about putting off the old nature and being a new
creature in Christ, I’m not jumping with joy at the change. Instead of feeling inspired by them,
these words make me feel discouraged or guilty or confused or just tired.
I get overwhelmed with all the stuff I’m supposed to do. And so I’m stuck with this gap
of what I’m supposed to be as a Christian and what I’m actually experiencing. Have you ever
been there?
Do you know what people do when they’re not closing the gap? These are real strategies.
A lot of people try harder.
They think, “The problem with this gap in my life is I’m just not being heroic enough in
my effort.”
I see this in a lot of you. “I’ll close the gap by sheer spiritual elbow grease—I’ll get up
earlier, pray longer, read another book, listen to more tapes, learn new disciplines, serve more,
work hard to be nicer to my family.”
Then you hear about somebody else who gets up at 4 a.m. to pray, and you feel
guilty—so you resolve do that too. Even though you’re not a morning person.
Even though at 4 a.m. you’re dazed and confused and groggy and grumpy and nobody
wants to be around you. Even Jesus doesn’t want to be with you at 4 in the morning!
But you say to yourself, “This is hard, exhausting, and miserable—so it must be
spiritual.”
You do your absolute best to keep it up for days, weeks, or even months—but you can’t
sustain it. And when you stop, you feel guilty. Pretty soon you start something else.
I’ll tell you a secret that deep inside you may already know, but are afraid to admit—
You’re tired. Not just physically tired. You are weary in your soul.
You are one of those to whom to whom Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Those are confusing words to you right now, because for you, coming to Jesus is
exhausting. But he wants to close the gap. He wants you to experience rivers of water … the
Spirit … flowing through you. And trying harder isn’t going to sustain you in your journey.
Other people who aren’t closing the gap between who they should be in Christ and who
they are simply pretend.
They know they’re supposed to be different, so they decide to “fake it till they make it.”
When you talk to them, their life is a miracle a minute. They smile a lot. Every prayer
gets answered. Every decision is a word from God. Every sentence ends with “praise the Lord.”
These Christians get good at impression management. One woman John Ortberg knows
had a son who was going through severe depression. But his depression violated the family
image of everything they were trying to portray as “Christian.” And do you know what her
counsel was to her son? She told him to smile because “fake happiness is better than genuine
depression.”
For the pretenders, inside … when everything’s quiet … and they’re alone—the gap’s
still there.
Others try to close the gap by rededication.
One of the places you’ll especially see this in some churches is in their youth groups.
John Ortberg experienced this quite often when he grew up. Here’s how he describes it:
“We’d be sitting around a campfire and the speaker would tell a real emotional story.
He’d say, ‘Last year, there was a group of teenagers who were driving home from this very camp
who got in a car crash and died.’
“Every year it was the same story. By the end of high school it was amazing we had any
teenagers left to go to camp—they apparently kept dying in crashes on the way home!
“But the rededication didn’t close the gap between who we knew we were supposed to be
and who we were.”
Some people try to close the gap by switching spiritual venues.
I have seen this hundreds of times.
Somebody grows up in a non-charismatic church and thinks, “If I just go to a charismatic
church, where they take a different approach to tongues/healing/prayer/worship—that will close
the gap.”
Someone else grows up in charismatic church and thinks, “Things here are so experienceoriented
and shallow; if I just to a church that’s got some deep theology.…” And so they go to
real “heady” church.
Some people choose to go to a church that takes some particular approach to teaching or
evangelism or the sacraments or social action—and they think, “If I just went to another kind of
church—that would close the gap.”
Sometimes it’s like watching a giant game of musical pews.
And some people don’t try to close the gap any longer—they just give up.
They’ve tried all the supposed solutions and feel completely discouraged. Or hopeless.
So inwardly they decide such a different way of life is really not possible. They stay a
Christian. They keep going to church. They maintain their involvement in church life. They sure
hope they’re going to heaven when they die. But they decide that not much can be done about
that gap in this life. So secretly, they give up.
Some of you have.
[PAUSE]
But what if there is another way?
What if Jesus was right?
What if it is possible for you to come increasingly alive with love, joy, peace—and it’s
not by trying harder?
What if the Spirit of God is like a river, flowing all the time in your life?
What if your job isn’t to try harder or run faster or get up earlier?
What if God is at work all the time, in every place that you are?
What if your job is simply to jump in the river?
Your job is to figure out, from one moment to the next, “How do I just stay in the flow?
How do I not do those things that close me off to the Spirit? How do I keep myself aware and
submitted—so that those rivers of living water are running through my belly? How do I learn to
flow with the Spirit?”
Let’s take a look at John 16:12–15 where Jesus teaches about some of the roles the Holy
Spirit has in our lives:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only
what he hears, and he will tell what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what
is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the
Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
The Spirit is a funnel through whom the blessings of God come to us. The Christian life
is life lived in the Spirit.
In the passage I read earlier from John 16:7, the word Jesus used for “counselor,”
referring to the Holy Spirit, in the original language is parakletos. This is an extremely rich
word.
It comes from two different Greek words: kaleo—which means “to call” and
para—which means “alongside.” The picture is of someone called to come alongside another
person and stand by them.
It could be translated “comforter,” “helper,” or “advocate.” It was a word which was used
in that day in the legal arena. The parakletos was one who would serve the defendant, acting as a
character witness or a kind of legal counsel.
This word is used only one other time in the New Testament. It’s found in a shorter letter
of John called 1 John, where he writes:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we
have one who speaks to the father in our defense [parakletos]— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.” (1 John 2:1–2)
With the Spirit as our counselor we do not have to live in fear about judgment of God, for
Jesus stands next to us, in effect saying: “On the basis of the cross, this one is mine. They are
innocent. This one belongs to me.”
Turn to John 14:16–18 and let’s look at it together. Jesus is talking with his disciples and
he says:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I
will come to you.”
He says he’ll send “another parakletos”! Who is the first one? It’s Jesus. And he tells his
friends that he won’t leave them as orphans. They won’t be alone and on their own. In fact, he
gives them this amazing promise about the Spirit:
“For he lives with you and will be in you.”
Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit of almighty God is inside you. He takes up residence
in your life!
Think about your need for a good counselor. Have you ever made a dumb decision? Do
you ever worry about things even though worrying didn’t do you any good? What about people
problems?
I once saw a cartoon of a woman with frazzled hair. She wore a haggard expression and
had dark circles under her eyes. Her face was lined with care and she was saying: “When I woke
up this morning I had one nerve left and now you’re getting on it!”
Does anybody here have people problems? Do some of you have a problem managing
anger? Do some of you beat yourselves up all the time for things that aren’t your fault?
Jesus says he will send what Lloyd Ogilvie calls “the Greatest Counselor in the world.”
I believe there is a deeper adventure of the Spirit open to us. I’m jealous of that for you
and me.
Let me ask you, if you had the ideal counselor—whether a professional counselor or a
trusted friend—wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing?
For example, you would know that you are accepted. With the perfect counselor, you
could say anything and they would always listen. They’d never turn away or reject you or laugh
at you. As you spent time with that counselor, healing and change would begin to take place.
Time spent with the perfect counselor would yield perfect wisdom in your life. Your
ideal counselor could diagnose you with great accuracy. You would find yourself filled with
insight and clarity, guided toward truth and able to make decisions which yield far less negative
consequences and have exponential benefits.
With the ideal counselor, you wouldn’t be stuck with the status quo … but empowered
for change and better living.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to pay for your counselor’s time. Better yet, it would
be nice if your counselor could just go with you wherever you are.
All of this is what the Holy Spirit does.
I have said to the Spirit,
“I want to be your counselee.
I want to have deep, private sessions with you.
I’m tired of trying to solve my problems myself.
I’m tried of carrying life-draining anxieties.
I want to ruthlessly follow your counsel.
I want you to be my counselor.”
The greatest counselor in the world helps us grow. And some of the ways that people
grow in the knowledge of God and insight into the Bible is through the work of the Spirit within
them. That’s why, when someone becomes a Christ-follower, the truths in the Bible become
more clear to them—there’s a partnership taking place because of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Listen to what the apostle John writes about this in 1 John 2:20 and 27:
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.… As for
you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach
you.”
Does this mean we don’t need pastors or sermons anymore? (I know some of you are
getting excited.) Does this mean we can just stop paying their salaries? (More of you are getting
excited.)
The answer to both questions is no! You see, there were people in the church who were
teaching false doctrine—they were creating dissension and fear. These false teachers claimed
that they had special authority based on a superior anointing of the Spirit.
John is encouraging the Christians to whom he was writing (and us today) by basically
saying: “You all have the Spirit. Don’t just be like sheep. Don’t let someone intimidate you by
claiming superior spirituality. You as much as anybody are in direct contact with Spirit of God.”
Another role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is that of guiding us.
When Jesus was teaching he referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s role
of guidance by saying:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
To illustrate, let me tell you about a young man named Scott. Scott had asked Christ into
his life when he was young, but through the years he just drifted away from God and desired to
simply control his own destiny—call the shots—live his life however he wanted regardless of the
consequences.
By the time he was in his mid-thirties everything he held onto for security was slipping
through his fingers. As a result of back surgery he could no longer work. His closest friend had
died. He was losing his home … if there was a bottom to be hit in his life he was there and
excavating to go deeper.
Full of despair, Scott was driving around town asking God to show him what to do. He
saw a road sign that said “Dead End” and that was how he felt. For some reason, he decided to
see what was at the end of the road. When he reached it, he found a church.
It wasn’t Sunday, but Scott pulled into the parking lot to cry and pray. He had tried other
churches through the years and never felt accepted. But because of his prayer for guidance he
decided to give this one a try the next Sunday.
He showed up and continued to come, week after week, and found the healing and hope
through Jesus and that community of Christians which he had longed for all his life.
The Holy Spirit can even guide drivers to their destination. You may have a GPS in your
car or use Mapquest—but they fall way short of the directing work of the Spirit of God!
What was prompting Scott to turn down that road? The Holy Spirit.
The Spirit gives us insight into truth. The Spirit gives us guidance. The Spirit also gives
us wisdom. Listen to this promise from the Bible found in the book of James:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
God gives wisdom that we need through the Spirit.
Usually we’ll approach someone and say, “I have a problem.” Then we proceed to lay it
out in great detail and finish by saying, with great emotion: “I need your wisdom on this. Please
give it.”
The Bible is quite clear that it is good to seek counsel from wise people around us. But
wouldn’t it make sense to first go to the Greatest Counselor?
Here’s what we should do.
This week when you face a situation that needs wisdom, insight, and guidance, whether
it’s a:
• Significant decision
• A tough parenting situation
• A relational challenge
• A dilemma at work
• A need for time management
First, stop. Be still—even at work, just take a moment to quiet your heart.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and insight.
And listen.
The Spirit will bring Scripture to mind. You will have insights—sometimes a nudge to
make the right choices. He’ll guide! But you must listen.
When we partner with the Spirit through the course of each day, a greater dependence on
him builds within us. We become sensitized to his presence. It is as though he is flowing through
us with the freshness of a mountain river.
No longer will we be seeking to close the gap by trying harder, or pretending, or
switching, or even giving up. But we will discover that from within rivers of living water are
flowing from our belly … and the fullness of life that Jesus promised will be ours because God is
closer than we think.
*SOURCE: Untapped Spiritual Resources, by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, IL. Citation: Bill Bright, “How to Be
Filled with the Spirit” (Campus Crusade publication)
The late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ told this story of a famous oil field
called Yates Pool:
“During the Depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr.
Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on
the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his
family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
“Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no
doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil
company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission
to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
“At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a
day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, thirty years after the
discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000
barrels of oil a day.
“And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and
mineral rights. Yet he’d been living on relief. He was a multi-millionaire living in poverty. The
problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.”*
I think that many Christians today—though they have salvation through Jesus
Christ—are still living in spiritual poverty because they haven’t begun to live in the power of
God’s presence within them. It is as though we are living in the land of Christianity, but unaware
that beneath the surface—in the depths of our souls—there are riches at our disposal which God
has made available to us.
Two weeks ago we talked about God’s promise and desire to be with us. From cover to
cover the Bible talks about God’s steps to have that relationship with you and with me. Last
week, we looked at our choice to be with him—that it isn’t pushed on us, but that we make the
decision on whether or not to be with him.
After that decision is made, how do we move toward living in God’s riches instead of in
spiritual poverty? The very premise of our adventure during these six weeks is that we desire a
closer relationship with God, right?
Do you know one of the most amazing verses in the Bible? It’s John 16:7. It is when
Jesus tells his disciples that instead of coming closer to them, he is going away from them. As he
tries to prepare them for his departure, he says these words:
“I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away.”
Just for a moment, consider the disciples’ shock. Imagine if you were in their place.
Your life has been turned upside down by this man.
For three years you’ve been captivated by his every word.
You lived to hear him teach.
You lived to watch him heal.
You lived to see him love.
You left everything to follow him, convinced that he held the key to the future of the
human race. You’ve bet the farm on it.
And now he says he’s going to leave? That’s the end of your world!
You’ve sacrificed everything for him … and now you’re going to lose him!
But then Jesus has the audacity to add: “—and it’s a good thing.”
Sure. Kind of like what parents say before they spank their child: “This is going to hurt
you, but it’s good for you.”
But Jesus is quite serious and gives the reason why it’s a good thing that he leaves. He
says: “Because unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him
to you.”
Now I want you to think about that for a moment. That’s a staggering statement.
We often think: “I’d give anything to have lived when Jesus did—to hear his voice; to see
his face; to watch him perform miracles.”
But Jesus says, “No. It is better to live in the era of the Spirit than it is to walk with me on
the earth.” Jesus is saying we are more fortunate than the disciples were. You and I have an
advantage over those who actually walked with him!
Since Jesus says it, it must be true … so doesn’t it make sense that if we want to be close
to God we had better thoroughly know and lean on the person of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t we
be crystal clear on his identity and ministry?
For Christ-followers to miss this would be disaster.
In the Bible, the image Jesus uses of the Spirit in our life is a river.
Take a look with me at John 7:37–39:
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in him were later to receive.”
The King James version reads: “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
The word that’s used for “belly” is koilios—it means the “center of your being; the
deepest part of your authentic self.” The belly is that place that gets tied up in knots when you’re
anxious, where squadrons of butterflies fly in formation when you’re afraid, where you are
angry, or unsatisfied, or unhappy.
You may be able to manage your face. You maybe be able to make it look confident
when you’re dying inside. You may fool people by forcing your body language to appear relaxed
when you’re under stress. But your belly is not fooled. It is your inner core. It is where every
major emotion gets registered. It is where you carry the real truth about strength and weakness
with which you face life.
Jesus is basically saying, “If you follow me right down in your guts, your belly—you will
be flowing with energy, hope, love, and power.”
Did you notice in verse 39 what this picture of flowing waters stands for? The Holy
Spirit. This new kind of life is tied to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He’s in you.
For the most part, Israel is desert. The audience to whom Jesus was speaking didn’t see
many rivers. What they saw were wadis—troughs that ran through the sand. Wadis were usually
just dry gulches, but after a rain storm they would be filled with water.
So for the people Jesus was teaching in Israel, a full river is life. The opposite, a dry
gulch, is death.
The Bible uses the images of rivers and streams to depict spiritual reality: there is a flow
of God’s presence and power that gives life.
For example, Psalm 46:4 reads, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God.…”
In Jeremiah 17:7–8 the prophet wrote:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be
like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit.”
If a river flows unobstructed, all kinds of good things will happen. It will nourish trees. It
provides a home for fish and plants. It gives drinking water to human beings.
But if a river gets dammed up; if it gets blocked, obstructed, polluted, cut off—there’s
death:
“As the deer pants for the water,
So my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
In the desert country, when all the wadis are dried up, a deer is going to die if it doesn’t
find water.
The way this applies to our lives is to understand that it is not primarily a statement about
our level of desire. It’s not primarily talking about how much we want to come to church and
sing songs of worship.
It’s a simple observation of fact. It is the predicament of the human race, even if we’re
not aware of it. If the water—availability of Spirit—is blocked off, we will experience loss,
unsatisfied desire, spiritual death.
We see this again in the very last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:1–2:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of
the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And
the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
From the opening scene of Genesis to the closing chapter of Revelation, God creates,
redeems, and then re-creates a world that is to be full of life. The life he creates and offers flows
like the power and purity of a river.
Jesus says that he came so that you would be filled with life—that if someone asked how
you’re doing you would say, “I’m living the most complete, filled up, God-centered, peaceful,
empowered life you could imagine.” I wonder how many of us would answer that way today?
Let’s look at exactly what Jesus said. Turn in your Bibles to John 10:10…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
Over the years I’ve noticed something quite interesting. In some churches almost the only
thing they say about Jesus is how he’ll get you into heaven after you die. They don’t elaborate
much about life on this side of heaven. It’s almost like a fatalistic, foregone conclusion that we
simply slog along until we finally die and go to heaven.
Yet when you read the Gospels Jesus almost never talks about getting people into heaven.
Jesus talks about getting people into life.
Of course that includes life beyond the grave. But it always starts here.
Who does the thief represent? The thief is the Evil One, Satan. We should expect
opposition as Christ followers, but not be fearful of it. The Bible reminds us that “the one who is
in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Turn to any book in the New Testament, and you see this picture of amazing life painted.
For example, 1 Peter 1:8 says:
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
A little later Peter says of the people he’s writing:
“You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your
brothers.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Peter is saying that these first-century Christians have rid themselves of malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander. They have humbled themselves under God’s mighty hand.
How many here would say this pretty much describes you?
That you are filled with inexpressible joy?
You are ridding yourself of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and slander?
When people are around you, they notice your belly is flowing with rivers of living
water?
If you’ve more or less mastered humility—raise your hand!
Here’s what I think happens.
Many people hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. They are overwhelmed by this
vision of hope, and they say, “Yes! I want Jesus in my life!”
And so, for a time, there’s a kind of honeymoon period. They are drawn toward Scripture
in a new way. They get excited and want to tell other people about Jesus. They love to worship.
And some things change in their life. Coarse language gets cleaned up. Certain addictions
may be overcome. They get involved in serving in the church.
But over time this process of change seems to stall. And instead of my life looking like
this amazing picture painted in the New Testament, it looks like this:
—I yell at my children.
—I worry too much about money and my job.
—I get jealous of people more successful or attractive than me.
—I use deception to get out of trouble.
—I pass judgment on people all the time.
When I read the New Testament words about putting off the old nature and being a new
creature in Christ, I’m not jumping with joy at the change. Instead of feeling inspired by them,
these words make me feel discouraged or guilty or confused or just tired.
I get overwhelmed with all the stuff I’m supposed to do. And so I’m stuck with this gap
of what I’m supposed to be as a Christian and what I’m actually experiencing. Have you ever
been there?
Do you know what people do when they’re not closing the gap? These are real strategies.
A lot of people try harder.
They think, “The problem with this gap in my life is I’m just not being heroic enough in
my effort.”
I see this in a lot of you. “I’ll close the gap by sheer spiritual elbow grease—I’ll get up
earlier, pray longer, read another book, listen to more tapes, learn new disciplines, serve more,
work hard to be nicer to my family.”
Then you hear about somebody else who gets up at 4 a.m. to pray, and you feel
guilty—so you resolve do that too. Even though you’re not a morning person.
Even though at 4 a.m. you’re dazed and confused and groggy and grumpy and nobody
wants to be around you. Even Jesus doesn’t want to be with you at 4 in the morning!
But you say to yourself, “This is hard, exhausting, and miserable—so it must be
spiritual.”
You do your absolute best to keep it up for days, weeks, or even months—but you can’t
sustain it. And when you stop, you feel guilty. Pretty soon you start something else.
I’ll tell you a secret that deep inside you may already know, but are afraid to admit—
You’re tired. Not just physically tired. You are weary in your soul.
You are one of those to whom to whom Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Those are confusing words to you right now, because for you, coming to Jesus is
exhausting. But he wants to close the gap. He wants you to experience rivers of water … the
Spirit … flowing through you. And trying harder isn’t going to sustain you in your journey.
Other people who aren’t closing the gap between who they should be in Christ and who
they are simply pretend.
They know they’re supposed to be different, so they decide to “fake it till they make it.”
When you talk to them, their life is a miracle a minute. They smile a lot. Every prayer
gets answered. Every decision is a word from God. Every sentence ends with “praise the Lord.”
These Christians get good at impression management. One woman John Ortberg knows
had a son who was going through severe depression. But his depression violated the family
image of everything they were trying to portray as “Christian.” And do you know what her
counsel was to her son? She told him to smile because “fake happiness is better than genuine
depression.”
For the pretenders, inside … when everything’s quiet … and they’re alone—the gap’s
still there.
Others try to close the gap by rededication.
One of the places you’ll especially see this in some churches is in their youth groups.
John Ortberg experienced this quite often when he grew up. Here’s how he describes it:
“We’d be sitting around a campfire and the speaker would tell a real emotional story.
He’d say, ‘Last year, there was a group of teenagers who were driving home from this very camp
who got in a car crash and died.’
“Every year it was the same story. By the end of high school it was amazing we had any
teenagers left to go to camp—they apparently kept dying in crashes on the way home!
“But the rededication didn’t close the gap between who we knew we were supposed to be
and who we were.”
Some people try to close the gap by switching spiritual venues.
I have seen this hundreds of times.
Somebody grows up in a non-charismatic church and thinks, “If I just go to a charismatic
church, where they take a different approach to tongues/healing/prayer/worship—that will close
the gap.”
Someone else grows up in charismatic church and thinks, “Things here are so experienceoriented
and shallow; if I just to a church that’s got some deep theology.…” And so they go to
real “heady” church.
Some people choose to go to a church that takes some particular approach to teaching or
evangelism or the sacraments or social action—and they think, “If I just went to another kind of
church—that would close the gap.”
Sometimes it’s like watching a giant game of musical pews.
And some people don’t try to close the gap any longer—they just give up.
They’ve tried all the supposed solutions and feel completely discouraged. Or hopeless.
So inwardly they decide such a different way of life is really not possible. They stay a
Christian. They keep going to church. They maintain their involvement in church life. They sure
hope they’re going to heaven when they die. But they decide that not much can be done about
that gap in this life. So secretly, they give up.
Some of you have.
[PAUSE]
But what if there is another way?
What if Jesus was right?
What if it is possible for you to come increasingly alive with love, joy, peace—and it’s
not by trying harder?
What if the Spirit of God is like a river, flowing all the time in your life?
What if your job isn’t to try harder or run faster or get up earlier?
What if God is at work all the time, in every place that you are?
What if your job is simply to jump in the river?
Your job is to figure out, from one moment to the next, “How do I just stay in the flow?
How do I not do those things that close me off to the Spirit? How do I keep myself aware and
submitted—so that those rivers of living water are running through my belly? How do I learn to
flow with the Spirit?”
Let’s take a look at John 16:12–15 where Jesus teaches about some of the roles the Holy
Spirit has in our lives:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only
what he hears, and he will tell what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what
is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the
Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
The Spirit is a funnel through whom the blessings of God come to us. The Christian life
is life lived in the Spirit.
In the passage I read earlier from John 16:7, the word Jesus used for “counselor,”
referring to the Holy Spirit, in the original language is parakletos. This is an extremely rich
word.
It comes from two different Greek words: kaleo—which means “to call” and
para—which means “alongside.” The picture is of someone called to come alongside another
person and stand by them.
It could be translated “comforter,” “helper,” or “advocate.” It was a word which was used
in that day in the legal arena. The parakletos was one who would serve the defendant, acting as a
character witness or a kind of legal counsel.
This word is used only one other time in the New Testament. It’s found in a shorter letter
of John called 1 John, where he writes:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we
have one who speaks to the father in our defense [parakletos]— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.” (1 John 2:1–2)
With the Spirit as our counselor we do not have to live in fear about judgment of God, for
Jesus stands next to us, in effect saying: “On the basis of the cross, this one is mine. They are
innocent. This one belongs to me.”
Turn to John 14:16–18 and let’s look at it together. Jesus is talking with his disciples and
he says:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I
will come to you.”
He says he’ll send “another parakletos”! Who is the first one? It’s Jesus. And he tells his
friends that he won’t leave them as orphans. They won’t be alone and on their own. In fact, he
gives them this amazing promise about the Spirit:
“For he lives with you and will be in you.”
Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit of almighty God is inside you. He takes up residence
in your life!
Think about your need for a good counselor. Have you ever made a dumb decision? Do
you ever worry about things even though worrying didn’t do you any good? What about people
problems?
I once saw a cartoon of a woman with frazzled hair. She wore a haggard expression and
had dark circles under her eyes. Her face was lined with care and she was saying: “When I woke
up this morning I had one nerve left and now you’re getting on it!”
Does anybody here have people problems? Do some of you have a problem managing
anger? Do some of you beat yourselves up all the time for things that aren’t your fault?
Jesus says he will send what Lloyd Ogilvie calls “the Greatest Counselor in the world.”
I believe there is a deeper adventure of the Spirit open to us. I’m jealous of that for you
and me.
Let me ask you, if you had the ideal counselor—whether a professional counselor or a
trusted friend—wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing?
For example, you would know that you are accepted. With the perfect counselor, you
could say anything and they would always listen. They’d never turn away or reject you or laugh
at you. As you spent time with that counselor, healing and change would begin to take place.
Time spent with the perfect counselor would yield perfect wisdom in your life. Your
ideal counselor could diagnose you with great accuracy. You would find yourself filled with
insight and clarity, guided toward truth and able to make decisions which yield far less negative
consequences and have exponential benefits.
With the ideal counselor, you wouldn’t be stuck with the status quo … but empowered
for change and better living.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to pay for your counselor’s time. Better yet, it would
be nice if your counselor could just go with you wherever you are.
All of this is what the Holy Spirit does.
I have said to the Spirit,
“I want to be your counselee.
I want to have deep, private sessions with you.
I’m tired of trying to solve my problems myself.
I’m tried of carrying life-draining anxieties.
I want to ruthlessly follow your counsel.
I want you to be my counselor.”
The greatest counselor in the world helps us grow. And some of the ways that people
grow in the knowledge of God and insight into the Bible is through the work of the Spirit within
them. That’s why, when someone becomes a Christ-follower, the truths in the Bible become
more clear to them—there’s a partnership taking place because of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Listen to what the apostle John writes about this in 1 John 2:20 and 27:
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.… As for
you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach
you.”
Does this mean we don’t need pastors or sermons anymore? (I know some of you are
getting excited.) Does this mean we can just stop paying their salaries? (More of you are getting
excited.)
The answer to both questions is no! You see, there were people in the church who were
teaching false doctrine—they were creating dissension and fear. These false teachers claimed
that they had special authority based on a superior anointing of the Spirit.
John is encouraging the Christians to whom he was writing (and us today) by basically
saying: “You all have the Spirit. Don’t just be like sheep. Don’t let someone intimidate you by
claiming superior spirituality. You as much as anybody are in direct contact with Spirit of God.”
Another role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is that of guiding us.
When Jesus was teaching he referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s role
of guidance by saying:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
To illustrate, let me tell you about a young man named Scott. Scott had asked Christ into
his life when he was young, but through the years he just drifted away from God and desired to
simply control his own destiny—call the shots—live his life however he wanted regardless of the
consequences.
By the time he was in his mid-thirties everything he held onto for security was slipping
through his fingers. As a result of back surgery he could no longer work. His closest friend had
died. He was losing his home … if there was a bottom to be hit in his life he was there and
excavating to go deeper.
Full of despair, Scott was driving around town asking God to show him what to do. He
saw a road sign that said “Dead End” and that was how he felt. For some reason, he decided to
see what was at the end of the road. When he reached it, he found a church.
It wasn’t Sunday, but Scott pulled into the parking lot to cry and pray. He had tried other
churches through the years and never felt accepted. But because of his prayer for guidance he
decided to give this one a try the next Sunday.
He showed up and continued to come, week after week, and found the healing and hope
through Jesus and that community of Christians which he had longed for all his life.
The Holy Spirit can even guide drivers to their destination. You may have a GPS in your
car or use Mapquest—but they fall way short of the directing work of the Spirit of God!
What was prompting Scott to turn down that road? The Holy Spirit.
The Spirit gives us insight into truth. The Spirit gives us guidance. The Spirit also gives
us wisdom. Listen to this promise from the Bible found in the book of James:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
God gives wisdom that we need through the Spirit.
Usually we’ll approach someone and say, “I have a problem.” Then we proceed to lay it
out in great detail and finish by saying, with great emotion: “I need your wisdom on this. Please
give it.”
The Bible is quite clear that it is good to seek counsel from wise people around us. But
wouldn’t it make sense to first go to the Greatest Counselor?
Here’s what we should do.
This week when you face a situation that needs wisdom, insight, and guidance, whether
it’s a:
• Significant decision
• A tough parenting situation
• A relational challenge
• A dilemma at work
• A need for time management
First, stop. Be still—even at work, just take a moment to quiet your heart.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and insight.
And listen.
The Spirit will bring Scripture to mind. You will have insights—sometimes a nudge to
make the right choices. He’ll guide! But you must listen.
When we partner with the Spirit through the course of each day, a greater dependence on
him builds within us. We become sensitized to his presence. It is as though he is flowing through
us with the freshness of a mountain river.
No longer will we be seeking to close the gap by trying harder, or pretending, or
switching, or even giving up. But we will discover that from within rivers of living water are
flowing from our belly … and the fullness of life that Jesus promised will be ours because God is
closer than we think.
*SOURCE: Untapped Spiritual Resources, by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, IL. Citation: Bill Bright, “How to Be
Filled with the Spirit” (Campus Crusade publication)
Monday, August 30, 2010
god is closer than you think pt2
Week 2: The Choice
Pastor John Ortberg, who wrote God Is Closer Than You Think, tells of a relative of
his—a young woman and her husband—who bought an older home a few years ago and were
fixing it up.
The husband was going through the attic during one of those fix-up days and found an
old paper bag. Knowing it wasn’t something they had put there—and out of curiosity—he
decided to look inside. There was money in the bag. In fact, it turned out to be thousands and
thousands of dollars!
They looked at the dates on the bills and they were all from many decades ago—that bag
had been up there for ages. There was no way to track who put it there first—if it was a miser’s
savings or left over from some bank heist.
The husband said, “What are ethics of this—what do we do with it?”
John’s relative replied, “Maybe we should call John.”
The husband paused for a moment and said, “No—he’s a pastor. He’ll tell us we have to
give it back.”
Instead, they decided to call a lawyer so they wouldn’t get any ethical advice at all! He
said they could keep it.
They did end up calling John anyway. He also said that they could keep it … as long as
they tithed … to a pastor that they were related to.
[PAUSE]
Here’s the strange thing … somebody put a treasure in the attic and then forgot it was
there.
Just think about all the other owners between then and now, living in that house for years.
Imagine the flood of financial obligations and crises that existed during that time: bills, mortgage
payments, taxes, debt. There were, no doubt, some sleepless nights and anxious moments in that
house about financial concerns.
And the whole time there was a treasure in the house.
Here’s the point:
There was a huge gap between the riches available to those people … and the reality in
which they lived. They never made the effort to go to the attic. They never saw the treasure.
The reality for many people today is that there is a gap between what they are
experiencing in their relationship with God and what they know they could be experiencing.
It is as though they are living and walking around in the house knowing that there is
treasure in the attic—but it is a treasure that they have rarely, if ever, experienced. They know
that there’s something more, but haven’t been willing to visit the attic.
The choice is theirs, but they haven’t made the choice to be with God.
Last week we talked about God’s desire from the beginning of creation to be with
us—and all the different ways he has expressed that. But even with all his desire and effort, he
still leaves it up to you and me to make the choice to be with him.
And remember, God is closer than you think.
Today we’re going to talk about our choice … to go to the attic … to move toward God.
And we’re going to consider what it means to pursue a relationship with him.
Jesus said anyone who makes his way into the kingdom of God is like a man who finds
treasure buried in a field; in his joy he sells everything he owns because this is the one thing he
needs.
This guy didn’t go out treasure seeking. He wasn’t some Indiana Jones or on a hunt for
“national treasure” … it was discovered through the natural course of doing life—of working the
fields. And when he invested in the field he got a lot more in return than just a plot of land.
You see, when we make the choice to be with God, it doesn’t mean that we have to go
and sit on a mountain and learn how to chant; or eat one meal a week; or read our Bibles and
pray twenty-three hours a day … we can learn to be with Jesus through every part of every day.
As Christ-followers, as disciples, there’s a treasure to be found by being with Jesus and it
is worth everything we can invest to spend every day with him. A disciple is someone who seeks
concretely to make each day a chance to be with Jesus, to learn from Jesus …
To become like Jesus.
As we consider what it means to make the choice to be with Jesus every day, I’m going to
cover four aspects of life which illustrate how interwoven this concept can be in the fabric of our
days.
Let’s start with work. How do you work with Jesus?
Did you know that the single largest block of waking time in most of our lives is spent
working? How we work—and the way we approach our work—can actually be a life-or-death
decision for us.
This is very significant. There was a survey done which discovered that outside of
genetics, the single most important predictor of longevity of life was work satisfaction!
[PAUSE]
Now that you know that, are some of you wondering if you’re going to die at any
moment?!
Since work is such an important part of our lives, I think it’s important that we say a bit
about what work is from a biblical perspective.
Over the last few centuries, arising from the Industrial Revolution, we’ve come to equate
work with having a job which in turn yields our paycheck.
The result has been that we have sort of distinguished between those who “work” and
those who “do not work.” In fact, many people—those who are retired, or stay-at-home parents,
or the unemployed—are thought of as not working.
Do you remember in school when you were told, “There’s no such thing as a stupid
question?” Oh yes there is …
Go ask a mom of young children: “Do you work?” THAT’S a stupid question!
We have to reclaim the biblical definition of work because it encompasses far more than
our culture has defined. The biblical perspective is that work is the creation of value as I serve
God, as I care for his creation, and as I seek to benefit the lives of other people.
Work includes our paid employment. And work also includes doing household chores. It
includes study and schoolwork. It includes our volunteer service at church or in the community.
Here’s a simple test you can take right now to evaluate whether or not you are
functioning with a biblical perspective of work. Ask yourself this question:
“If tomorrow, Jesus were to show up while I’m working, looking just like me, would
things go any differently?”
Every day, no matter what work you are doing, equals an opportunity to learn from Jesus
how to do your job as he would. Every day we should be working a little bit better than the day
before. Some days it’s no more than an incremental improvement in our attitude. Other days, it’s
not robbing our employers of the energy, or focus, or time for which they are paying us.
There’s a fundamental statement about work in the Bible which serves as kind of a
recalibrating directive that I try to remember in all that I do. Here it is:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.…
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23–24)
Rate yourself on a scale of 1–10, with 1 representing “Whatever I do I do as little as
possible when I do it” and 10 representing “I have ‘HWJW” on a bracelet, on my screensaver,
and on posters around my office and home that remind me: “How Would Jesus Work?” Where
are you on the scale?
Here’s a true story—I’m not making this up:
A husband was at home on the couch reading the newspaper. His wife, who was eight
months pregnant, was in the kitchen—on her hands and knees—waxing the kitchen floor.
His mother-in-law walks in and exclaims: “How can you let my daughter do this?”
He peers over his newspaper and replies, “I tried to help. I told her if she’d tie a rag
around her middle, she’d get done twice as fast.”
[PAUSE]
No one ever saw him again!
Dallas Willard writes this about work: We “routinely sacrifice our comfort and pleasure
for the quality of our work, whether it be ax handles, tacos, or the development of a student
we’re teaching … We do the job well because that is what Jesus would like, and we admire and
love him. It is what he would do.”
Here’s a few more questions to ask yourself:
Am I making an idol of my work?
Do I sacrifice time and energy that ought to go to my family, or friendships, or rest, or to
prayer?
How do I treat my coworkers?
If I’m in a position of authority, do I treat those who report to me as Jesus would? Am I
truthful and fair? Do I work for their growth and development?
Do I regularly ask God for help, wisdom, and guidance in my work?
Am I scrupulously honest in my work? Am I careful with expense reports? Do I
reimburse the company for personal use of phone or equipment?
Is my work in line with my sense of how God has gifted and called me? If not, what steps
can I take to move in the right direction? How can I continue to serve with diligence in the
meantime?
Whatever activity may constitute work, how we choose to do it reflects our choice to be
with God or to move away from God.
It’s important to remember that work is one of best learning opportunities most of us
have to discover truth about ourselves. It is an intensive environment which God uses to test and
shape us to become more like Jesus.
When we receive feedback, or performance reviews, and when there’s an honest
assessment of our attitudes and habits it can be very significant—if we’re truly open.
Attitude is huge.
Concerning attitude, how many of you are defensive?
Perhaps you are sitting next to someone who is so defensive they won’t admit it … so
why don’t you just raise your hand for them in a spirit of community?!
Teachability in the workplace is a key attitude which honors Christ. Asking for and
learning from honest feedback in your work is one of the greatest growth opportunities you’ll
ever have.
So tomorrow when you go to your work, take a moment before you start and say:
“Here’s my chance to learn from Jesus how to live in his kingdom.”
Now let’s turn the corner and talk about the opposite of work. Another area where we can
make the choice to be with Jesus is in our …
Recreational activities and leisure time
God did not make you to work all the time.
This may come as a shock to some of the “type A’s” here, but part of God’s will for you
is to rest, relax, create, play, and be renewed.
Each moment of free time that you have equals a chance to be with him.
But we need to be intentional, because the default mode with our time often goes toward
what one sociologist calls an eight-hundred-pound gorilla of leisure: the television. Time
researchers John Robinson and Geoffrey Godbey found that television took almost 40 percent of
American’s free time in 1995—and that was an increase of a third from thirty years earlier!
Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone, writes, “Dependence on television for
entertainment is not merely a significant predictor of loss of community; it is the single most
consistent predictor I have discovered.”
Nothing—not low education, not full-time work, not long commutes, not poverty or
financial distress—is more broadly connected with loss of community and relational
disconnection than is dependence on TV for entertainment.
People who rely on TV for entertainment are least likely to volunteer, least likely to stay
in touch with friends, least likely to attend church—and most likely to give another driver the
finger.
Television is surely habit forming and may be mildly addictive. In 1977, the Detroit Free
Press was able to find only five out of one-hundred and twenty families willing to give up TV
for a month in return for five-hundred dollars.
People who do give up TV report experiencing boredom, anxiety, irritation, and
depression. One woman observed: “It was terrible. We did nothing—my husband and I talked.”
So why are we so hooked on it? Does it produce high levels of joy, growth, and meaning?
No.
In fact, in one study, researchers had subjects carry beepers, and when the beeper went
off they’d write what they were doing, and how they felt. Here’s what they discovered: TV
watching was associated with feelings of passivity and lowered alertness. It was rated below
every other leisure activity—even below work!
So why are we devoted to it? In Putnam’s book he quotes British researchers Sue
Bowden and Avner Offer who say that: “Television is the cheapest and least demanding way to
avert boredom.… TV’s dominance in our lives reflects not its sublime pleasures but its minimal
costs.”
So how can you reclaim your recreational and leisure time—and choose to be with Jesus
instead of Hollywood?
Limit how much you watch. We have rule in our house about how much the TV can be
on—decide on a limit.
Limit the number of TVs in your house.
Here’s a shocking factoid: In 1970—6 percent of all sixth graders had TVs in their
bedrooms. But by 1999—77 percent of sixth graders had their own bedroom TV!
Perhaps you would choose to go for a day/weekend/week of no TV. Take it even further
and go on a “media fast.”
As you are reclaiming the time lost to TV, ask yourself: “What are some of the activities
that God uses to breathe life into me? What do I engage in that produces gratitude, joy, and
renewal?”
Some people love to get out into nature—either riding a motorcycle, hiking, or biking.
Others enjoy cooking—so for them reading cookbooks and creating new dishes is their
way of feeling refreshed and renewed.
Maybe your deal is eating—you need to find someone whose deal is cooking and strike
up a spiritual friendship!
Tomorrow you’ll probably have some free time. Before you pick up the remote control,
stop … and say, “Here’s my chance—to be with Jesus, learn how to become like him.”
A third area where we can make the choice to be with Jesus is through our …
Lifestyle choices
We all make choices about the way we’ll spend our time. The way we spend our money.
What our pace of life will be. How much debt we’ll live in. How many commitments we’ll
make. How much pressure we’ll be under—
These have an enormous impact on whether we’re able to get closer to God, or if we are
moving farther away.
The apostle Paul basically said: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” (Romans
12:2)
But what happens is that the world says: “Move faster!”—and so we do!
But when we move faster it cuts us off from prayer. We become more anxious and
increasingly angry … and eventually unable to love.
Media tycoon Robert Maxwell was being picked up at the airport by an employee. But
the employee was late picking him up, so Maxwell fired him. The employee was Maxwell’s own
son.
It’s not just media tycoons who wrestle with this. If Satan can’t make you defy God
outright, he’ll settle for just making you real busy.
John Ortberg tells about a time when he was in Germany for a weekend ministry
assignment. It was a full weekend—he flew out from Chicago on a Friday night and arrived
Saturday afternoon. Here’s how he describes the weekend:
“I arrived Saturday afternoon and did four talks, a question-and-answer session, a couple
of magazine interviews, and a radio broadcast in forty-eight hours. There was still one interview
left to go, so we decided to do that in the car on the way to the airport.
“On the autobahn—where there is no speed limit—we didn’t have much time to catch the
plane. I looked up—and we were driving 230 kilometers—something over 140 miles per
hour—and I’m saying into the tape recorder—
“hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day …
“you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life …
“Next to me the German countryside is an absolute blur out the window. The guy from
Willow with me was in the front seat and he sat there thinking: This is how I’m going to die;
traveling at the speed of sound in Germany, listening to someone drone on in the backseat about
eliminating hurry from my life.”
So what’s the pace of life at which you can live and still be intimately connected to God?
What’s the pace of life at which you will be able to effectively love people and live with joy?
Another lifestyle choice has to do with our stuff. Our world says: “Accumulate more.”
We live in a consumer culture:
—Holidays, which once existed for rest and worship, are now primarily excuses to shop
and consume.
—Malls have replaced churches and town squares as gathering places.
And the rise in consumerism has led to an increase in clutter in our lives. One of the ways
that we can choose to be with God is to clear out the clutter so that we are freer to focus on him.
Go on a forty-day de-clutter campaign in your home. Clean out your closets and donate excess
stuff to charity.
Dr. Paul Pearsall writes, “You may need help with this assignment, because many of my
patients cannot seem to bring themselves to get rid of their stuff. You may require a closet
exorcist experienced in dealing with the demons of closet clutter. A trusted friend can also
prevent the ‘restuffing phenomenon.’ Restuffing happens when in the process of cleaning out
closets and drawers, we somehow are stimulated to acquire more stuff.
“One of my patients said: ‘Until I tried to get rid of all my junk I didn’t need or use, I
didn’t realize how much I didn’t have. I really had to go out shopping.’ This ‘stuff logic’ can
sometimes be blocked by a friend who is better disciplined in simplification.
“Beware of the stuff co-addicts who may see a closet cleaning as a chance to acquire stuff
for themselves from your stuff supply. Such friends are likely to go with you on a restuffing
expedition or even to trade stuff with you.”
Obviously that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to shop. It’s fine to love beauty and enjoy
excellence and fine design—those are good things.
The point is, we each need to come to the place where we can say: “I will need God’s
help to make purchasing decisions wisely.”
Carry that wisdom principle into other areas of life. A job change. Relocation. A new
relationship. Any time you make a major life decision, you need to ask the question: “How will
this impact my ability to follow Christ—as a worker, dad, friend, husband, and so on.
If you are going to make the choice to be with Jesus through your lifestyle choices,
saying yes to Jesus means you are going to have to say no to some other things.
What do you need to say no to?
—Maybe you say no to debt. Perhaps you’ll want to take a financial management course
at your church. Start to make the move from financial pressure to generosity.
—Maybe you say no to certain time commitments. There could be an activity you or the
kids are involved in—and it’s not a bad thing in itself, but it’s contributing to an overall
pace of life for you or your family that is not healthy.
—Maybe it’s a major purchase that could put you under financial pressure that would not
be healthy.
—Maybe it’s a need to honor the Sabbath.
Be sure to have times of rest or vacation with people you love that will be renewing to
you and remind you of God’s goodness. Bring a healthy rhythm to your life’s pace and balance
with your stuff. Make the choice to be with Jesus in your lifestyle choices.
The fourth area where we can make the choice to be with Jesus is in our …
Relationships
Have you ever considered that when you are with other people, you are making the
choice to either be with Jesus in those relationships or to exclude him?
Every day you are interacting with people. Every interaction is a chance to learn from
Jesus how to form a loving heart.
For instance: The moment of greeting is a very important moment. Every culture has
certain expressions or rituals or questions used in greeting that say:
“You are significant. You matter to me.”
The Bible says a lot about greetings. There was a standard greeting in the Old Testament
which was simply “peace.” The Hebrew word is shalom, which means, “I hope you flourish in
God’s good order.”
Now apparently, some people got overly zealous with their greeting and it was anything
but “peace.” In the book of Proverbs there’s a warning not to get super-spiritual in your greeting.
It says, “If a man loudly blesses his neighbor in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”
Jesus warns of the religious leaders, saying, “They … love to be greeted in the
marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at
banquets.” In other words, the act of greeting for these pious folks was all about being sure their
sense of status and importance was propped up. Am I being greeted by the “right people” in the
“right way”? Do important people remember my name? Do they say nice things to me?
Four times when Paul wrote to the churches he instructed them to “greet one another with
a holy kiss.” It was part of their culture.
It sounds kind of weird to me. Though I’m not sure we have a lot to brag about. In our
culture, we’ve become the first in history where the standard greeting is: “Whassssup?”
Here are some ways to make the choice to be with Jesus when you greet someone:
—As you greet them, say a silent prayer asking God to bless them (I would recommend
that you not drop to your knees, clasp your hands, and close your eyes—doing this may actually
keep them from ever choosing to meet you!).
—Consider the gift of a touch. Some people never get touched. A handshake or a hand on
a shoulder can make a huge difference in a person’s life.
Go through the New Testament and see how often Jesus touches people. He especially
touches people who didn’t normally get touched—sinners, lepers, children—and they expressed
authentic joy as a result!
Another facet of choosing to be with Jesus in our relationships is through our friendships.
On March 3, 2000, the Wall Street Journal printed an article called, “Whatever Happened
to Friendship?” In it, Nancy Ann Jeffrey states that we’re living in the midst of what could be
called “the marginalization of friendship.”
“People are saying—‘It’s the one thing I can give up,’ says sociologist Jan Yager.
“They’re diminishing the value of friendship.”
Even though the TV comedy Friends was a hit, the reality is that friendships are
becoming less common. When friendships are formed, they are more short-lived and more
superficial.
A friendless life is not God’s plan for human life. When we make a choice to live with
marginalized friendships—or no friendships—we are choosing to be less “with” Jesus—because
he reveals himself to us through the community of friendship. The Bible says, “A friend loves at
all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Friendship is necessary for spiritual growth. In the book of Proverbs it says: “As iron
sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Are you devoting enough time, attention, and energy to cultivating deep spiritual
friendships?
Another kind of relationship where we not only make the choice to be with Jesus, but
cling to him is when we have to deal with difficult people.
You may not believe this, but you need difficult people in your life.
Jesus was very emphatic about this. He said (and I paraphrase), “Love your
enemies—those who are difficult for you to like. If you love only those who love you
back—where’s the goodness in that? Even the mafia does that much. And if you greet only your
brothers, what are you doing more than others? Drug dealers do the same thing.”
The ability to love difficult people is like a litmus test of spiritual growth.
This means—you need difficult people in your life. It is absolutely necessary for your
development. Through those relationships you are drawn more closely to Christ because your
new intention is to treat these people the way Jesus would, and you can’t do that apart from him.
If you’ve got some difficult people in your life—be glad.
If you don’t—we have a list here at the church. We can assign you some.
I want you to think of someone who is difficult for you to love:
Maybe someone at work.
Maybe someone in your family.
Maybe an ex-spouse.
Maybe it varies—a relationship that sometimes goes smoothly, sometimes doesn’t.
Every time you have an encounter with someone who’s difficult for you to love,
remember:
Here’s my chance to learn from Jesus how to live in his kingdom. Here’s my chance to be
with Jesus in the stuff of everyday life.
Every day, woven into the fabric of our activities and relationships, are choices to be with
Jesus or to attempt life on our own.
Every day we face choices to go into the attic where the treasure is, or to go through that
day missing the richness of life found in the choice to be with Jesus.
Moses once prayed, “Teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain a heart of
wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
I pray that God would help us to wake up every morning and say, “Here’s my
opportunity…
To be with Jesus,
To learn from Jesus,
How to become like Jesus.
And treasure this day.”
Pastor John Ortberg, who wrote God Is Closer Than You Think, tells of a relative of
his—a young woman and her husband—who bought an older home a few years ago and were
fixing it up.
The husband was going through the attic during one of those fix-up days and found an
old paper bag. Knowing it wasn’t something they had put there—and out of curiosity—he
decided to look inside. There was money in the bag. In fact, it turned out to be thousands and
thousands of dollars!
They looked at the dates on the bills and they were all from many decades ago—that bag
had been up there for ages. There was no way to track who put it there first—if it was a miser’s
savings or left over from some bank heist.
The husband said, “What are ethics of this—what do we do with it?”
John’s relative replied, “Maybe we should call John.”
The husband paused for a moment and said, “No—he’s a pastor. He’ll tell us we have to
give it back.”
Instead, they decided to call a lawyer so they wouldn’t get any ethical advice at all! He
said they could keep it.
They did end up calling John anyway. He also said that they could keep it … as long as
they tithed … to a pastor that they were related to.
[PAUSE]
Here’s the strange thing … somebody put a treasure in the attic and then forgot it was
there.
Just think about all the other owners between then and now, living in that house for years.
Imagine the flood of financial obligations and crises that existed during that time: bills, mortgage
payments, taxes, debt. There were, no doubt, some sleepless nights and anxious moments in that
house about financial concerns.
And the whole time there was a treasure in the house.
Here’s the point:
There was a huge gap between the riches available to those people … and the reality in
which they lived. They never made the effort to go to the attic. They never saw the treasure.
The reality for many people today is that there is a gap between what they are
experiencing in their relationship with God and what they know they could be experiencing.
It is as though they are living and walking around in the house knowing that there is
treasure in the attic—but it is a treasure that they have rarely, if ever, experienced. They know
that there’s something more, but haven’t been willing to visit the attic.
The choice is theirs, but they haven’t made the choice to be with God.
Last week we talked about God’s desire from the beginning of creation to be with
us—and all the different ways he has expressed that. But even with all his desire and effort, he
still leaves it up to you and me to make the choice to be with him.
And remember, God is closer than you think.
Today we’re going to talk about our choice … to go to the attic … to move toward God.
And we’re going to consider what it means to pursue a relationship with him.
Jesus said anyone who makes his way into the kingdom of God is like a man who finds
treasure buried in a field; in his joy he sells everything he owns because this is the one thing he
needs.
This guy didn’t go out treasure seeking. He wasn’t some Indiana Jones or on a hunt for
“national treasure” … it was discovered through the natural course of doing life—of working the
fields. And when he invested in the field he got a lot more in return than just a plot of land.
You see, when we make the choice to be with God, it doesn’t mean that we have to go
and sit on a mountain and learn how to chant; or eat one meal a week; or read our Bibles and
pray twenty-three hours a day … we can learn to be with Jesus through every part of every day.
As Christ-followers, as disciples, there’s a treasure to be found by being with Jesus and it
is worth everything we can invest to spend every day with him. A disciple is someone who seeks
concretely to make each day a chance to be with Jesus, to learn from Jesus …
To become like Jesus.
As we consider what it means to make the choice to be with Jesus every day, I’m going to
cover four aspects of life which illustrate how interwoven this concept can be in the fabric of our
days.
Let’s start with work. How do you work with Jesus?
Did you know that the single largest block of waking time in most of our lives is spent
working? How we work—and the way we approach our work—can actually be a life-or-death
decision for us.
This is very significant. There was a survey done which discovered that outside of
genetics, the single most important predictor of longevity of life was work satisfaction!
[PAUSE]
Now that you know that, are some of you wondering if you’re going to die at any
moment?!
Since work is such an important part of our lives, I think it’s important that we say a bit
about what work is from a biblical perspective.
Over the last few centuries, arising from the Industrial Revolution, we’ve come to equate
work with having a job which in turn yields our paycheck.
The result has been that we have sort of distinguished between those who “work” and
those who “do not work.” In fact, many people—those who are retired, or stay-at-home parents,
or the unemployed—are thought of as not working.
Do you remember in school when you were told, “There’s no such thing as a stupid
question?” Oh yes there is …
Go ask a mom of young children: “Do you work?” THAT’S a stupid question!
We have to reclaim the biblical definition of work because it encompasses far more than
our culture has defined. The biblical perspective is that work is the creation of value as I serve
God, as I care for his creation, and as I seek to benefit the lives of other people.
Work includes our paid employment. And work also includes doing household chores. It
includes study and schoolwork. It includes our volunteer service at church or in the community.
Here’s a simple test you can take right now to evaluate whether or not you are
functioning with a biblical perspective of work. Ask yourself this question:
“If tomorrow, Jesus were to show up while I’m working, looking just like me, would
things go any differently?”
Every day, no matter what work you are doing, equals an opportunity to learn from Jesus
how to do your job as he would. Every day we should be working a little bit better than the day
before. Some days it’s no more than an incremental improvement in our attitude. Other days, it’s
not robbing our employers of the energy, or focus, or time for which they are paying us.
There’s a fundamental statement about work in the Bible which serves as kind of a
recalibrating directive that I try to remember in all that I do. Here it is:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.…
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23–24)
Rate yourself on a scale of 1–10, with 1 representing “Whatever I do I do as little as
possible when I do it” and 10 representing “I have ‘HWJW” on a bracelet, on my screensaver,
and on posters around my office and home that remind me: “How Would Jesus Work?” Where
are you on the scale?
Here’s a true story—I’m not making this up:
A husband was at home on the couch reading the newspaper. His wife, who was eight
months pregnant, was in the kitchen—on her hands and knees—waxing the kitchen floor.
His mother-in-law walks in and exclaims: “How can you let my daughter do this?”
He peers over his newspaper and replies, “I tried to help. I told her if she’d tie a rag
around her middle, she’d get done twice as fast.”
[PAUSE]
No one ever saw him again!
Dallas Willard writes this about work: We “routinely sacrifice our comfort and pleasure
for the quality of our work, whether it be ax handles, tacos, or the development of a student
we’re teaching … We do the job well because that is what Jesus would like, and we admire and
love him. It is what he would do.”
Here’s a few more questions to ask yourself:
Am I making an idol of my work?
Do I sacrifice time and energy that ought to go to my family, or friendships, or rest, or to
prayer?
How do I treat my coworkers?
If I’m in a position of authority, do I treat those who report to me as Jesus would? Am I
truthful and fair? Do I work for their growth and development?
Do I regularly ask God for help, wisdom, and guidance in my work?
Am I scrupulously honest in my work? Am I careful with expense reports? Do I
reimburse the company for personal use of phone or equipment?
Is my work in line with my sense of how God has gifted and called me? If not, what steps
can I take to move in the right direction? How can I continue to serve with diligence in the
meantime?
Whatever activity may constitute work, how we choose to do it reflects our choice to be
with God or to move away from God.
It’s important to remember that work is one of best learning opportunities most of us
have to discover truth about ourselves. It is an intensive environment which God uses to test and
shape us to become more like Jesus.
When we receive feedback, or performance reviews, and when there’s an honest
assessment of our attitudes and habits it can be very significant—if we’re truly open.
Attitude is huge.
Concerning attitude, how many of you are defensive?
Perhaps you are sitting next to someone who is so defensive they won’t admit it … so
why don’t you just raise your hand for them in a spirit of community?!
Teachability in the workplace is a key attitude which honors Christ. Asking for and
learning from honest feedback in your work is one of the greatest growth opportunities you’ll
ever have.
So tomorrow when you go to your work, take a moment before you start and say:
“Here’s my chance to learn from Jesus how to live in his kingdom.”
Now let’s turn the corner and talk about the opposite of work. Another area where we can
make the choice to be with Jesus is in our …
Recreational activities and leisure time
God did not make you to work all the time.
This may come as a shock to some of the “type A’s” here, but part of God’s will for you
is to rest, relax, create, play, and be renewed.
Each moment of free time that you have equals a chance to be with him.
But we need to be intentional, because the default mode with our time often goes toward
what one sociologist calls an eight-hundred-pound gorilla of leisure: the television. Time
researchers John Robinson and Geoffrey Godbey found that television took almost 40 percent of
American’s free time in 1995—and that was an increase of a third from thirty years earlier!
Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone, writes, “Dependence on television for
entertainment is not merely a significant predictor of loss of community; it is the single most
consistent predictor I have discovered.”
Nothing—not low education, not full-time work, not long commutes, not poverty or
financial distress—is more broadly connected with loss of community and relational
disconnection than is dependence on TV for entertainment.
People who rely on TV for entertainment are least likely to volunteer, least likely to stay
in touch with friends, least likely to attend church—and most likely to give another driver the
finger.
Television is surely habit forming and may be mildly addictive. In 1977, the Detroit Free
Press was able to find only five out of one-hundred and twenty families willing to give up TV
for a month in return for five-hundred dollars.
People who do give up TV report experiencing boredom, anxiety, irritation, and
depression. One woman observed: “It was terrible. We did nothing—my husband and I talked.”
So why are we so hooked on it? Does it produce high levels of joy, growth, and meaning?
No.
In fact, in one study, researchers had subjects carry beepers, and when the beeper went
off they’d write what they were doing, and how they felt. Here’s what they discovered: TV
watching was associated with feelings of passivity and lowered alertness. It was rated below
every other leisure activity—even below work!
So why are we devoted to it? In Putnam’s book he quotes British researchers Sue
Bowden and Avner Offer who say that: “Television is the cheapest and least demanding way to
avert boredom.… TV’s dominance in our lives reflects not its sublime pleasures but its minimal
costs.”
So how can you reclaim your recreational and leisure time—and choose to be with Jesus
instead of Hollywood?
Limit how much you watch. We have rule in our house about how much the TV can be
on—decide on a limit.
Limit the number of TVs in your house.
Here’s a shocking factoid: In 1970—6 percent of all sixth graders had TVs in their
bedrooms. But by 1999—77 percent of sixth graders had their own bedroom TV!
Perhaps you would choose to go for a day/weekend/week of no TV. Take it even further
and go on a “media fast.”
As you are reclaiming the time lost to TV, ask yourself: “What are some of the activities
that God uses to breathe life into me? What do I engage in that produces gratitude, joy, and
renewal?”
Some people love to get out into nature—either riding a motorcycle, hiking, or biking.
Others enjoy cooking—so for them reading cookbooks and creating new dishes is their
way of feeling refreshed and renewed.
Maybe your deal is eating—you need to find someone whose deal is cooking and strike
up a spiritual friendship!
Tomorrow you’ll probably have some free time. Before you pick up the remote control,
stop … and say, “Here’s my chance—to be with Jesus, learn how to become like him.”
A third area where we can make the choice to be with Jesus is through our …
Lifestyle choices
We all make choices about the way we’ll spend our time. The way we spend our money.
What our pace of life will be. How much debt we’ll live in. How many commitments we’ll
make. How much pressure we’ll be under—
These have an enormous impact on whether we’re able to get closer to God, or if we are
moving farther away.
The apostle Paul basically said: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” (Romans
12:2)
But what happens is that the world says: “Move faster!”—and so we do!
But when we move faster it cuts us off from prayer. We become more anxious and
increasingly angry … and eventually unable to love.
Media tycoon Robert Maxwell was being picked up at the airport by an employee. But
the employee was late picking him up, so Maxwell fired him. The employee was Maxwell’s own
son.
It’s not just media tycoons who wrestle with this. If Satan can’t make you defy God
outright, he’ll settle for just making you real busy.
John Ortberg tells about a time when he was in Germany for a weekend ministry
assignment. It was a full weekend—he flew out from Chicago on a Friday night and arrived
Saturday afternoon. Here’s how he describes the weekend:
“I arrived Saturday afternoon and did four talks, a question-and-answer session, a couple
of magazine interviews, and a radio broadcast in forty-eight hours. There was still one interview
left to go, so we decided to do that in the car on the way to the airport.
“On the autobahn—where there is no speed limit—we didn’t have much time to catch the
plane. I looked up—and we were driving 230 kilometers—something over 140 miles per
hour—and I’m saying into the tape recorder—
“hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day …
“you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life …
“Next to me the German countryside is an absolute blur out the window. The guy from
Willow with me was in the front seat and he sat there thinking: This is how I’m going to die;
traveling at the speed of sound in Germany, listening to someone drone on in the backseat about
eliminating hurry from my life.”
So what’s the pace of life at which you can live and still be intimately connected to God?
What’s the pace of life at which you will be able to effectively love people and live with joy?
Another lifestyle choice has to do with our stuff. Our world says: “Accumulate more.”
We live in a consumer culture:
—Holidays, which once existed for rest and worship, are now primarily excuses to shop
and consume.
—Malls have replaced churches and town squares as gathering places.
And the rise in consumerism has led to an increase in clutter in our lives. One of the ways
that we can choose to be with God is to clear out the clutter so that we are freer to focus on him.
Go on a forty-day de-clutter campaign in your home. Clean out your closets and donate excess
stuff to charity.
Dr. Paul Pearsall writes, “You may need help with this assignment, because many of my
patients cannot seem to bring themselves to get rid of their stuff. You may require a closet
exorcist experienced in dealing with the demons of closet clutter. A trusted friend can also
prevent the ‘restuffing phenomenon.’ Restuffing happens when in the process of cleaning out
closets and drawers, we somehow are stimulated to acquire more stuff.
“One of my patients said: ‘Until I tried to get rid of all my junk I didn’t need or use, I
didn’t realize how much I didn’t have. I really had to go out shopping.’ This ‘stuff logic’ can
sometimes be blocked by a friend who is better disciplined in simplification.
“Beware of the stuff co-addicts who may see a closet cleaning as a chance to acquire stuff
for themselves from your stuff supply. Such friends are likely to go with you on a restuffing
expedition or even to trade stuff with you.”
Obviously that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to shop. It’s fine to love beauty and enjoy
excellence and fine design—those are good things.
The point is, we each need to come to the place where we can say: “I will need God’s
help to make purchasing decisions wisely.”
Carry that wisdom principle into other areas of life. A job change. Relocation. A new
relationship. Any time you make a major life decision, you need to ask the question: “How will
this impact my ability to follow Christ—as a worker, dad, friend, husband, and so on.
If you are going to make the choice to be with Jesus through your lifestyle choices,
saying yes to Jesus means you are going to have to say no to some other things.
What do you need to say no to?
—Maybe you say no to debt. Perhaps you’ll want to take a financial management course
at your church. Start to make the move from financial pressure to generosity.
—Maybe you say no to certain time commitments. There could be an activity you or the
kids are involved in—and it’s not a bad thing in itself, but it’s contributing to an overall
pace of life for you or your family that is not healthy.
—Maybe it’s a major purchase that could put you under financial pressure that would not
be healthy.
—Maybe it’s a need to honor the Sabbath.
Be sure to have times of rest or vacation with people you love that will be renewing to
you and remind you of God’s goodness. Bring a healthy rhythm to your life’s pace and balance
with your stuff. Make the choice to be with Jesus in your lifestyle choices.
The fourth area where we can make the choice to be with Jesus is in our …
Relationships
Have you ever considered that when you are with other people, you are making the
choice to either be with Jesus in those relationships or to exclude him?
Every day you are interacting with people. Every interaction is a chance to learn from
Jesus how to form a loving heart.
For instance: The moment of greeting is a very important moment. Every culture has
certain expressions or rituals or questions used in greeting that say:
“You are significant. You matter to me.”
The Bible says a lot about greetings. There was a standard greeting in the Old Testament
which was simply “peace.” The Hebrew word is shalom, which means, “I hope you flourish in
God’s good order.”
Now apparently, some people got overly zealous with their greeting and it was anything
but “peace.” In the book of Proverbs there’s a warning not to get super-spiritual in your greeting.
It says, “If a man loudly blesses his neighbor in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”
Jesus warns of the religious leaders, saying, “They … love to be greeted in the
marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at
banquets.” In other words, the act of greeting for these pious folks was all about being sure their
sense of status and importance was propped up. Am I being greeted by the “right people” in the
“right way”? Do important people remember my name? Do they say nice things to me?
Four times when Paul wrote to the churches he instructed them to “greet one another with
a holy kiss.” It was part of their culture.
It sounds kind of weird to me. Though I’m not sure we have a lot to brag about. In our
culture, we’ve become the first in history where the standard greeting is: “Whassssup?”
Here are some ways to make the choice to be with Jesus when you greet someone:
—As you greet them, say a silent prayer asking God to bless them (I would recommend
that you not drop to your knees, clasp your hands, and close your eyes—doing this may actually
keep them from ever choosing to meet you!).
—Consider the gift of a touch. Some people never get touched. A handshake or a hand on
a shoulder can make a huge difference in a person’s life.
Go through the New Testament and see how often Jesus touches people. He especially
touches people who didn’t normally get touched—sinners, lepers, children—and they expressed
authentic joy as a result!
Another facet of choosing to be with Jesus in our relationships is through our friendships.
On March 3, 2000, the Wall Street Journal printed an article called, “Whatever Happened
to Friendship?” In it, Nancy Ann Jeffrey states that we’re living in the midst of what could be
called “the marginalization of friendship.”
“People are saying—‘It’s the one thing I can give up,’ says sociologist Jan Yager.
“They’re diminishing the value of friendship.”
Even though the TV comedy Friends was a hit, the reality is that friendships are
becoming less common. When friendships are formed, they are more short-lived and more
superficial.
A friendless life is not God’s plan for human life. When we make a choice to live with
marginalized friendships—or no friendships—we are choosing to be less “with” Jesus—because
he reveals himself to us through the community of friendship. The Bible says, “A friend loves at
all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Friendship is necessary for spiritual growth. In the book of Proverbs it says: “As iron
sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Are you devoting enough time, attention, and energy to cultivating deep spiritual
friendships?
Another kind of relationship where we not only make the choice to be with Jesus, but
cling to him is when we have to deal with difficult people.
You may not believe this, but you need difficult people in your life.
Jesus was very emphatic about this. He said (and I paraphrase), “Love your
enemies—those who are difficult for you to like. If you love only those who love you
back—where’s the goodness in that? Even the mafia does that much. And if you greet only your
brothers, what are you doing more than others? Drug dealers do the same thing.”
The ability to love difficult people is like a litmus test of spiritual growth.
This means—you need difficult people in your life. It is absolutely necessary for your
development. Through those relationships you are drawn more closely to Christ because your
new intention is to treat these people the way Jesus would, and you can’t do that apart from him.
If you’ve got some difficult people in your life—be glad.
If you don’t—we have a list here at the church. We can assign you some.
I want you to think of someone who is difficult for you to love:
Maybe someone at work.
Maybe someone in your family.
Maybe an ex-spouse.
Maybe it varies—a relationship that sometimes goes smoothly, sometimes doesn’t.
Every time you have an encounter with someone who’s difficult for you to love,
remember:
Here’s my chance to learn from Jesus how to live in his kingdom. Here’s my chance to be
with Jesus in the stuff of everyday life.
Every day, woven into the fabric of our activities and relationships, are choices to be with
Jesus or to attempt life on our own.
Every day we face choices to go into the attic where the treasure is, or to go through that
day missing the richness of life found in the choice to be with Jesus.
Moses once prayed, “Teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain a heart of
wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
I pray that God would help us to wake up every morning and say, “Here’s my
opportunity…
To be with Jesus,
To learn from Jesus,
How to become like Jesus.
And treasure this day.”
god is closer than you think pt1
Week 1: The Promise
How many of you would like a closer relationship with God than you have right now?
(me too)
How many of you have ever thought that it seems as though God is distant or removed
from your situation? (me too)
How many of you would be willing to engage in a journey of discovery over the next
forty days that could set you on a course to grow closer to God and recognize his presence? (me
too!)
Over the next six Sundays we are embarking on a spiritual adventure. And I expect that
every single person who authentically engages in this endeavor will discover that …
God Is Closer Than You Think!
For some of us this will mean a course correction in our spiritual journey. Somewhere in
the past we started to spiritually drift away from the vibrant relationship with God that we once
knew.
For others it’s going to be a season of discovery. Maybe you’ve never been close to
God—but you’ve desperately wanted to have a relationship with him.
It could be that your relationship with God is perking along just fine. But because of your
closeness to God there is an inner drive to be even closer—for prayer to be more personal, for a
sharper awareness of his activity in and around you.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey … the next six weeks are designed to bring us
even closer in our relationship with God.
I’m going to ask you to pray with me as we ask God’s blessing on our spiritual
expedition.
[PRAYER]
A woman at Willow Creek Community Church was telling John Ortberg about her threeand-
a-half-year-old daughter. This woman overheard the little girl talking to her sibling and
going over some ground rules for life.
“Obey God!” she said. “You must obey God! You gotta obey God! I want you to obey
God!”
After a moment’s pause, she said: “I’ll be God.”
I want to give you a chance to put yourself in God’s place for a moment.
Given all the pain and grief it caused him, why did God create the human race?
What’s he after? What’s his purpose in it all? In a sense—what does he want to get out of
it?
I’m going to tip my hand. Let me read you a recent quote from the best Christian
philosopher I know:
“The Bible is all about life ‘with-God.’ It is about how God made this ‘with’ life possible
and will bring it to pass. The unity of the Bible is discovered in the development of life
with God as a reality on earth, centered in the person of Jesus.”
For example, let’s consider the very first relationship God had with any people.
God creates Adam in the garden of Eden.
I think most people picture it this way: Adam lived in the garden—and God lived
someplace else far away called heaven and occasionally came down to earth to visit. But it was
not that way.
You see, the Bible is real clear that God is omnipresent—he isn’t restricted to any
location.
So in the garden of Eden, God and Adam—in a sense—hung out together. When Adam
worked—God was right there.
When Adam named animals, God was right there. The Bible says that “whatever the man
called each living creature—that was its name.”
God would say: “Hey Adam, good name. You’re a good namer.”
When Eve was created, and Adam first saw her—God was right there.
Adam said: “God—nice job on the woman! I had no idea you could do that.”
Adam and God were—among other things—inseparable friends.
What Adam did—he did with God.
Where Adam went—he went with God.
Until Adam and Eve’s fateful decision to disobey God. A day some people call “the fall.”
After the fall, God comes to the garden to walk with Adam in the cool of the day.
Apparently, that was part of their routine together. They’d go for a walk.
But this time, Adam is not there. And God calls out: “Adam—where are you?”
There’s a rustling behind some shrubbery and a timid voice answered God: “I heard you
in the garden, and I was afraid. So I hid.”
God wanted to be with Adam. But Adam didn’t want to be with God.
And God’s heart breaks. But God does not give up.
You see, God’s great desire was to be with Adam. And even though the relationship had
been violated because of Adam and Eve’s choice—because of their sin—God continued to want
that relationship restored. God longed for the intimacy of their walks—of just hanging out
together.
So God worked with Adam’s descendants. And every once in a while one of them would
get it. For example, the Bible says of Enoch: “and Enoch walked with God.”
Later, the Bible says of Noah: “and Noah walked with God.”
God wasn’t being elusive or developing huge hoops for a person to jump through to be
with him. The simple truth of the matter is that most people didn’t want to be with him. Mostly
they hid.
But God kept wanting to be with people.
One day, it’s kind of like God said to the angels: “Now watch this. I’m going to start a
new people—called Israel. I’m going to teach them to be with me, so everyone will want to be
with me.”
And the Bible records a new pattern of relationships with God. Talking about a
grandfather, his son, and his grandson it says that “God was with Abraham. God was with Isaac.
God was with Jacob.”
And in those relationships, God would do surprising things to teach people about what it
meant for them to be with him.
Jacob had a son named Joseph for whom life didn’t work out well for a long time, but the
strangest thing kept happening.
Joseph was sold into slavery, but “the Lord was with Joseph” in slavery.
He was put in prison, but the text says: “but while Joseph was there in the prison, the
Lord was with him.”
Later on, when the people of Israel were led out of Egypt, the text says the Lord was in a
pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night—so the people would know he was with
them.
It’s like God just keeps saying:
• I want to be with you. I want to hang out with you.
• I’ll be with you in the garden.
• I’ll be with you in the flood.
• I’ll be with you in prison, in slavery, in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the Promised
Land—
• I just want to be with you.
Moses came to prize this “life-with-God” so much that once when Israel was in the
wilderness, God told them they could go on to the Promised Land.
“Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from
here. How will anyone know that you are pleased … with your people unless you go with
us?’” (Exodus 33:15–16)
In other words: I’d rather live in the wilderness with you than in the Promised Land
without you.
Are you picking up on the great desire of God’s heart? On and on this theme goes, until
finally God wants to be with his people so badly he comes up with a really wild idea.
It’s like God says to the angels: “I can’t stand it anymore. I’m just going to go on down
there my own self.”
And the angels say: “You can’t do that. How are you gonna do that?”
And God says, “Watch this!”
He sneaks down. And in the middle of the night, he is born in a manger. He grows up in a
one-horse town. And then he gets a job pounding nails eight hours a day.
Do you remember the conversation the angel had with Joseph when he informed him
about Mary’s pregnancy? The angel said that Jesus would be called “Immanuel.”
Do you know what that means? It means: “God with us.” In fact, I believe a central theme
of the Bible could be called the “Immanuel Principle.” The Immanuel Principle is God’s
constant desire that we should be in every aspect a dwelling place for him.
At the end of his ministry Jesus confirmed this when he said: “Surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
When you asked Jesus to be your leader and forgiver, God sent his Spirit into your life to
always be with you. Your body really is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Think about it: you can be
Beth-el, the house of God.
It’s like God is saying: “I just want to be with you.”
God’s desire is so central that at the very end of the Bible—when God sets everything
right—the fulfillment of human existence is described in the same terms:
“Now the dwelling of God is with[ human beings], and he will live with them. They will
be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” ( Revelation 21:3)
God’s desire and plan leads all the way to eternity! Now, let’s get specific and talk about
what this means for us today—and this week.
When the Bible says “the Lord was with Joseph,” what exactly did that look like? How
do we experience that?
God can use an infinite variety of ways to express his presence: creation, other people,
Scripture, teaching, art, solitude, world events, even the joy of eating a greggs doughnut!
But the place where we always must record these expressions of his presence is in our minds and
our thoughts and feelings.
My part is to learn to continually focus my attention on God. I think about him, talk to
him, ask for his help, tell him my plans, pour out my heart; I complain about my problems; I give
thanks for what makes me happy.
So this week, start here. When you’re at work and you sense anxiety or worry—think
about the greatness of God. He’s big enough to take care of you through whatever is looming.
Talk to him.
When you’re faced with some kind of temptation—be up-front with him about the
temptation—he already knows what you’re facing. Ask for his help to show you the best route of
escape and then the courage to take it.
If you’re facing problems in your life—pour out your heart to him. He is waiting to hear
from you … let him know from your perspective how difficult or impossible it seems.
If you’re thankful or happy—tell him … and be specific.
Are you getting the idea? If I were going to boil down the practice of all spiritual life in a
single statement from Scripture, it would be this:
“I have set the LORD always before me.” (Psalm 16:8)
When I do that, there are certain thoughts that are characteristic of God that settle into my
soul. When these are present, there is a good chance that they are the result of God’s presence
with me. I want to walk through these signs of God’s presence so you can recognize them when
they come.
Start to set God always before you. One of the indicators of God’s presence is:
1. Reassurance
When God was talking to Joshua, just before Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised
Land, God reassured him of his presence and said:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the LORD
your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Somebody sent me a list of statements that are supposed to be actual quotes from
employee performance evaluations:
—I would not allow this employee to breed.
—This employee is not really so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won’t-be.
—He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.
—This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
—He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.
—If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he’s the other one.
I mention this because for a lot of people, when they think about God, they think about
him primarily as a kind of divine performance evaluator. If you think about God in this way, you
will find yourself avoiding him in your mind. You won’t talk to him much.
Understand—in the history of the universe, God has never asked anyone to do something
by themselves.
Whatever God calls you to do, he calls you to do in partnership with him. And one of the
ways you will know God is present is when you experience his reassurance.
—Somebody rejects you, but in the midst of the pain the thought occurs to you: I am
loved by God.
—You face a challenge at work—maybe even losing your job—but in the middle of all
that anxiety an idea comes into your mind: I can handle this. This will not destroy me.
—You’re in transition. Facing a big change, not sure how it will work out, suddenly you
have this sense that you’re not alone.
—It hit a man named Paul in prison one day when he realized: “I can do this. I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me.”
When those thoughts come into your mind—whether through Scripture that you know,
through a book or tape, through another person—be open to the possibility that this is not a
random occurrence.
This is “God-with-you.” This is the “Immanuel Principle” at work.
A second sign of God’s presence with you is his …
2. Guidance
The psalmist wrote: “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me, even at night my heart
instructs me.” (Psalm 16:7)
Sometimes guidance will come to you:
—You’re in a store, there’s a clerk behind a counter that everyone treats like a machine,
and you get a sudden inclination to look her in the eye, to say an inner prayer of blessing.
—You’re stumped at work and all of a sudden an idea breaks through that is just what
you need.
—You’re feeling distant from your child, all of a sudden an opportunity to build a bridge,
reconnect is just dumped in your lap.
—You’re about to say something stupid/self-promotional/damage-inflicting when a still,
small voice in your head whispers, “Shut … up.”
Remember the Immanuel Principle and be open to the possibility that God is doing what
he said he would do. He is with you. He is reassuring you. He is guiding you.
The third sign of God’s presence with you may not feel like he is “for” you. But it is one
of the greatest expressions of his love and desire to be with you and that is …
3. Conviction
Jesus said that when the Spirit of God is present “he will convict the world of guilt in
regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:8)
This is the hardest aspect of God’s presence.
The truth is: my desire for God can be pretty selective. Sometimes, I want God not to be
around.
An example of this is seen in children’s behavior when they’re doing something they
know they shouldn’t do.
two-and-a-halfyear-
old Larissa who was enjoying water in the backyard with “Nana.”
Nana gently counseled her to water the potted flowers, but she had just discovered mud
for the first time by pouring the water on a small patch of dirt. Nana told her not to put water on
the dirt because it makes mud and mud will “get everything dirty.”
Well, mud it was anyway, and the little girl even put the mud into a small tub of water
nearby, calling it “warm chocolate.”
Nana, who had been reading facing away from the action, soon discovered and cleaned
up what to her was a mess. Then Nana returned to her reading, but now she was seated so as to
be facing Larissa.
But the little girl soon resumed her “warm chocolate” routine, saying sweetly: “Don’t
look at me Nana. OK?”
Nana of course agreed (Nana was a little codependent) and continued her reading. Then
Larissa would make black mud, and put some of it in the tub. Then some more.
Three times she said as she continued her work, “Don’t look at me Nana. OK?”
The tender soul of a little child shows how necessary it is to us that we be unobserved in
our wrong. Most of the evil and darkness in our lives requires hiddeness to continue to exist.
The soul that chooses wrong runs from God.
The Scripture writer says that when the face of God will no longer be avoidable, the soul
will cry out in agony “to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of
him who sits on the throne.’” (Revelation 6:16).
You know, it may be that out of all the prayers that are ever spoken, the most common
one, the most quiet one, the one that we least acknowledge making, is simply this:
Don’t look at me, God.
It was the very first one spoken after Adam and Eve’s sin.
God came to walk in the garden, to be with the man and the woman, and asked: “Where
are you?”
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, so I hid …”
Don’t look at me, God.
A businessman on the road checks into motel room late at night. He knows the kind of
movies that are available to him right there in the room.
No one will know. His wife won’t find out. His kids won’t see. (He knows the drill and
that hotels have a disclaimer, “The name of the movie you watch won’t be on your bill.”) Go
ahead. No one will know.
But first he has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”
[PAUSE]
A mom with an anger problem decides to berate her kids because she’s so frustrated,
because she will get a twisted rush of pleasure from inflicting pain—
But first she has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”
[PAUSE]
• An executive who’s going to pad an expense account
• An employee who is going to deliberately make a coworker look bad
• A Christ-follower who makes financial decisions that will keep him from tithing,
keep him from being the kind of steward he knows God wants him to be
• A student who looks at somebody else’s paper during an exam
• A longtime church attender who relishes the opportunity to pass judgment on
somebody else
• A couple who claims to follow God but refuses to give up sleeping together
• A participant in a bitter divorce who chooses to hang on to resentment and selfrighteousness
First you have to say a little prayer.
You don’t say it out loud, of course.
Probably don’t admit it even to yourself.
But it’s the choice your heart makes:
Don’t look at me, God.
Here’s a key question when you experience the sign of God’s presence through
conviction—will you at that moment stop?
Listen to God’s Spirit.
Be honest with God: “God—the truth is I don’t want you here right now. I want to do
what I want to do. But I’ll stop. I’m willing to surrender. I’d rather let go of my
anger/addiction/pride than let go of you.”
Spiritual growth, in a sense, is simply increasing our capacity to experience the presence
of God.
The fourth sign of God’s presence is…
4. Joy
The Bible says: “You have made me to know the path of life; you will fill me with joy in
your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)
Rate your joy-capacity on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “Some people actually mistake
me for a mannequin” and 10 being “You have to paint a frown on my face for it to exist.” What’s
your capacity for joy?
[PAUSE]
Jesus said to people who refused to follow him, refused to be with him—it’s like this:
“We played the flute for you—and you wouldn’t dance.”
Sometimes, when God is present with you, you’ll know because a little voice inside your
head will say: “Dance!” —Some of you will be in your car, driving away from the church service, music playing
that makes you happy—you will be singing and dancing and looking like a fool: that will
give you joy.
—Some of you will be driving next to someone who is singing and dancing and looking
like a fool—that will give you joy!
—Others of you will have put in intense effort at work and accomplished something
significant—it’ll be really good. You get a surge of satisfaction and that will give you
joy.
—Or you see a sunset, or a tree in a forest preserve, or the face of a friend you love—that
will give you joy.
—You will feel a rush of gratitude for no reason at all. Just the sheer goodness of being
alive. And you feel joy.
God’s great desire is to be with you! He has expressed it from cover to cover in the pages
of the Bible. He has gone to extreme lengths to be sure you know it. He is showing you signs
through every day of his presence.
This week … experience the reassurance … the guidance … the conviction … the joy of
his presence.
Let’s make a commitment together … that we’ll do everything in
our power to show up for a small group—even if it’s way outside our comfort zone.
That we won’t miss a Sunday if it’s at all within our ability to be here.
That we’ll be faithful to do our reading of the book.
And that we will stretch out our hand to grasp the hand that is reaching down to us from
heaven.
God is playing the flute for you.
You’re at the foot of Jacob’s ladder.
You’re living in “Beth-el,” the house of God.
God is closer than you think.
How many of you would like a closer relationship with God than you have right now?
(me too)
How many of you have ever thought that it seems as though God is distant or removed
from your situation? (me too)
How many of you would be willing to engage in a journey of discovery over the next
forty days that could set you on a course to grow closer to God and recognize his presence? (me
too!)
Over the next six Sundays we are embarking on a spiritual adventure. And I expect that
every single person who authentically engages in this endeavor will discover that …
God Is Closer Than You Think!
For some of us this will mean a course correction in our spiritual journey. Somewhere in
the past we started to spiritually drift away from the vibrant relationship with God that we once
knew.
For others it’s going to be a season of discovery. Maybe you’ve never been close to
God—but you’ve desperately wanted to have a relationship with him.
It could be that your relationship with God is perking along just fine. But because of your
closeness to God there is an inner drive to be even closer—for prayer to be more personal, for a
sharper awareness of his activity in and around you.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey … the next six weeks are designed to bring us
even closer in our relationship with God.
I’m going to ask you to pray with me as we ask God’s blessing on our spiritual
expedition.
[PRAYER]
A woman at Willow Creek Community Church was telling John Ortberg about her threeand-
a-half-year-old daughter. This woman overheard the little girl talking to her sibling and
going over some ground rules for life.
“Obey God!” she said. “You must obey God! You gotta obey God! I want you to obey
God!”
After a moment’s pause, she said: “I’ll be God.”
I want to give you a chance to put yourself in God’s place for a moment.
Given all the pain and grief it caused him, why did God create the human race?
What’s he after? What’s his purpose in it all? In a sense—what does he want to get out of
it?
I’m going to tip my hand. Let me read you a recent quote from the best Christian
philosopher I know:
“The Bible is all about life ‘with-God.’ It is about how God made this ‘with’ life possible
and will bring it to pass. The unity of the Bible is discovered in the development of life
with God as a reality on earth, centered in the person of Jesus.”
For example, let’s consider the very first relationship God had with any people.
God creates Adam in the garden of Eden.
I think most people picture it this way: Adam lived in the garden—and God lived
someplace else far away called heaven and occasionally came down to earth to visit. But it was
not that way.
You see, the Bible is real clear that God is omnipresent—he isn’t restricted to any
location.
So in the garden of Eden, God and Adam—in a sense—hung out together. When Adam
worked—God was right there.
When Adam named animals, God was right there. The Bible says that “whatever the man
called each living creature—that was its name.”
God would say: “Hey Adam, good name. You’re a good namer.”
When Eve was created, and Adam first saw her—God was right there.
Adam said: “God—nice job on the woman! I had no idea you could do that.”
Adam and God were—among other things—inseparable friends.
What Adam did—he did with God.
Where Adam went—he went with God.
Until Adam and Eve’s fateful decision to disobey God. A day some people call “the fall.”
After the fall, God comes to the garden to walk with Adam in the cool of the day.
Apparently, that was part of their routine together. They’d go for a walk.
But this time, Adam is not there. And God calls out: “Adam—where are you?”
There’s a rustling behind some shrubbery and a timid voice answered God: “I heard you
in the garden, and I was afraid. So I hid.”
God wanted to be with Adam. But Adam didn’t want to be with God.
And God’s heart breaks. But God does not give up.
You see, God’s great desire was to be with Adam. And even though the relationship had
been violated because of Adam and Eve’s choice—because of their sin—God continued to want
that relationship restored. God longed for the intimacy of their walks—of just hanging out
together.
So God worked with Adam’s descendants. And every once in a while one of them would
get it. For example, the Bible says of Enoch: “and Enoch walked with God.”
Later, the Bible says of Noah: “and Noah walked with God.”
God wasn’t being elusive or developing huge hoops for a person to jump through to be
with him. The simple truth of the matter is that most people didn’t want to be with him. Mostly
they hid.
But God kept wanting to be with people.
One day, it’s kind of like God said to the angels: “Now watch this. I’m going to start a
new people—called Israel. I’m going to teach them to be with me, so everyone will want to be
with me.”
And the Bible records a new pattern of relationships with God. Talking about a
grandfather, his son, and his grandson it says that “God was with Abraham. God was with Isaac.
God was with Jacob.”
And in those relationships, God would do surprising things to teach people about what it
meant for them to be with him.
Jacob had a son named Joseph for whom life didn’t work out well for a long time, but the
strangest thing kept happening.
Joseph was sold into slavery, but “the Lord was with Joseph” in slavery.
He was put in prison, but the text says: “but while Joseph was there in the prison, the
Lord was with him.”
Later on, when the people of Israel were led out of Egypt, the text says the Lord was in a
pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night—so the people would know he was with
them.
It’s like God just keeps saying:
• I want to be with you. I want to hang out with you.
• I’ll be with you in the garden.
• I’ll be with you in the flood.
• I’ll be with you in prison, in slavery, in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the Promised
Land—
• I just want to be with you.
Moses came to prize this “life-with-God” so much that once when Israel was in the
wilderness, God told them they could go on to the Promised Land.
“Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from
here. How will anyone know that you are pleased … with your people unless you go with
us?’” (Exodus 33:15–16)
In other words: I’d rather live in the wilderness with you than in the Promised Land
without you.
Are you picking up on the great desire of God’s heart? On and on this theme goes, until
finally God wants to be with his people so badly he comes up with a really wild idea.
It’s like God says to the angels: “I can’t stand it anymore. I’m just going to go on down
there my own self.”
And the angels say: “You can’t do that. How are you gonna do that?”
And God says, “Watch this!”
He sneaks down. And in the middle of the night, he is born in a manger. He grows up in a
one-horse town. And then he gets a job pounding nails eight hours a day.
Do you remember the conversation the angel had with Joseph when he informed him
about Mary’s pregnancy? The angel said that Jesus would be called “Immanuel.”
Do you know what that means? It means: “God with us.” In fact, I believe a central theme
of the Bible could be called the “Immanuel Principle.” The Immanuel Principle is God’s
constant desire that we should be in every aspect a dwelling place for him.
At the end of his ministry Jesus confirmed this when he said: “Surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
When you asked Jesus to be your leader and forgiver, God sent his Spirit into your life to
always be with you. Your body really is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Think about it: you can be
Beth-el, the house of God.
It’s like God is saying: “I just want to be with you.”
God’s desire is so central that at the very end of the Bible—when God sets everything
right—the fulfillment of human existence is described in the same terms:
“Now the dwelling of God is with[ human beings], and he will live with them. They will
be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” ( Revelation 21:3)
God’s desire and plan leads all the way to eternity! Now, let’s get specific and talk about
what this means for us today—and this week.
When the Bible says “the Lord was with Joseph,” what exactly did that look like? How
do we experience that?
God can use an infinite variety of ways to express his presence: creation, other people,
Scripture, teaching, art, solitude, world events, even the joy of eating a greggs doughnut!
But the place where we always must record these expressions of his presence is in our minds and
our thoughts and feelings.
My part is to learn to continually focus my attention on God. I think about him, talk to
him, ask for his help, tell him my plans, pour out my heart; I complain about my problems; I give
thanks for what makes me happy.
So this week, start here. When you’re at work and you sense anxiety or worry—think
about the greatness of God. He’s big enough to take care of you through whatever is looming.
Talk to him.
When you’re faced with some kind of temptation—be up-front with him about the
temptation—he already knows what you’re facing. Ask for his help to show you the best route of
escape and then the courage to take it.
If you’re facing problems in your life—pour out your heart to him. He is waiting to hear
from you … let him know from your perspective how difficult or impossible it seems.
If you’re thankful or happy—tell him … and be specific.
Are you getting the idea? If I were going to boil down the practice of all spiritual life in a
single statement from Scripture, it would be this:
“I have set the LORD always before me.” (Psalm 16:8)
When I do that, there are certain thoughts that are characteristic of God that settle into my
soul. When these are present, there is a good chance that they are the result of God’s presence
with me. I want to walk through these signs of God’s presence so you can recognize them when
they come.
Start to set God always before you. One of the indicators of God’s presence is:
1. Reassurance
When God was talking to Joshua, just before Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised
Land, God reassured him of his presence and said:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the LORD
your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Somebody sent me a list of statements that are supposed to be actual quotes from
employee performance evaluations:
—I would not allow this employee to breed.
—This employee is not really so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won’t-be.
—He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.
—This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
—He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.
—If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he’s the other one.
I mention this because for a lot of people, when they think about God, they think about
him primarily as a kind of divine performance evaluator. If you think about God in this way, you
will find yourself avoiding him in your mind. You won’t talk to him much.
Understand—in the history of the universe, God has never asked anyone to do something
by themselves.
Whatever God calls you to do, he calls you to do in partnership with him. And one of the
ways you will know God is present is when you experience his reassurance.
—Somebody rejects you, but in the midst of the pain the thought occurs to you: I am
loved by God.
—You face a challenge at work—maybe even losing your job—but in the middle of all
that anxiety an idea comes into your mind: I can handle this. This will not destroy me.
—You’re in transition. Facing a big change, not sure how it will work out, suddenly you
have this sense that you’re not alone.
—It hit a man named Paul in prison one day when he realized: “I can do this. I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me.”
When those thoughts come into your mind—whether through Scripture that you know,
through a book or tape, through another person—be open to the possibility that this is not a
random occurrence.
This is “God-with-you.” This is the “Immanuel Principle” at work.
A second sign of God’s presence with you is his …
2. Guidance
The psalmist wrote: “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me, even at night my heart
instructs me.” (Psalm 16:7)
Sometimes guidance will come to you:
—You’re in a store, there’s a clerk behind a counter that everyone treats like a machine,
and you get a sudden inclination to look her in the eye, to say an inner prayer of blessing.
—You’re stumped at work and all of a sudden an idea breaks through that is just what
you need.
—You’re feeling distant from your child, all of a sudden an opportunity to build a bridge,
reconnect is just dumped in your lap.
—You’re about to say something stupid/self-promotional/damage-inflicting when a still,
small voice in your head whispers, “Shut … up.”
Remember the Immanuel Principle and be open to the possibility that God is doing what
he said he would do. He is with you. He is reassuring you. He is guiding you.
The third sign of God’s presence with you may not feel like he is “for” you. But it is one
of the greatest expressions of his love and desire to be with you and that is …
3. Conviction
Jesus said that when the Spirit of God is present “he will convict the world of guilt in
regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:8)
This is the hardest aspect of God’s presence.
The truth is: my desire for God can be pretty selective. Sometimes, I want God not to be
around.
An example of this is seen in children’s behavior when they’re doing something they
know they shouldn’t do.
two-and-a-halfyear-
old Larissa who was enjoying water in the backyard with “Nana.”
Nana gently counseled her to water the potted flowers, but she had just discovered mud
for the first time by pouring the water on a small patch of dirt. Nana told her not to put water on
the dirt because it makes mud and mud will “get everything dirty.”
Well, mud it was anyway, and the little girl even put the mud into a small tub of water
nearby, calling it “warm chocolate.”
Nana, who had been reading facing away from the action, soon discovered and cleaned
up what to her was a mess. Then Nana returned to her reading, but now she was seated so as to
be facing Larissa.
But the little girl soon resumed her “warm chocolate” routine, saying sweetly: “Don’t
look at me Nana. OK?”
Nana of course agreed (Nana was a little codependent) and continued her reading. Then
Larissa would make black mud, and put some of it in the tub. Then some more.
Three times she said as she continued her work, “Don’t look at me Nana. OK?”
The tender soul of a little child shows how necessary it is to us that we be unobserved in
our wrong. Most of the evil and darkness in our lives requires hiddeness to continue to exist.
The soul that chooses wrong runs from God.
The Scripture writer says that when the face of God will no longer be avoidable, the soul
will cry out in agony “to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of
him who sits on the throne.’” (Revelation 6:16).
You know, it may be that out of all the prayers that are ever spoken, the most common
one, the most quiet one, the one that we least acknowledge making, is simply this:
Don’t look at me, God.
It was the very first one spoken after Adam and Eve’s sin.
God came to walk in the garden, to be with the man and the woman, and asked: “Where
are you?”
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, so I hid …”
Don’t look at me, God.
A businessman on the road checks into motel room late at night. He knows the kind of
movies that are available to him right there in the room.
No one will know. His wife won’t find out. His kids won’t see. (He knows the drill and
that hotels have a disclaimer, “The name of the movie you watch won’t be on your bill.”) Go
ahead. No one will know.
But first he has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”
[PAUSE]
A mom with an anger problem decides to berate her kids because she’s so frustrated,
because she will get a twisted rush of pleasure from inflicting pain—
But first she has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”
[PAUSE]
• An executive who’s going to pad an expense account
• An employee who is going to deliberately make a coworker look bad
• A Christ-follower who makes financial decisions that will keep him from tithing,
keep him from being the kind of steward he knows God wants him to be
• A student who looks at somebody else’s paper during an exam
• A longtime church attender who relishes the opportunity to pass judgment on
somebody else
• A couple who claims to follow God but refuses to give up sleeping together
• A participant in a bitter divorce who chooses to hang on to resentment and selfrighteousness
First you have to say a little prayer.
You don’t say it out loud, of course.
Probably don’t admit it even to yourself.
But it’s the choice your heart makes:
Don’t look at me, God.
Here’s a key question when you experience the sign of God’s presence through
conviction—will you at that moment stop?
Listen to God’s Spirit.
Be honest with God: “God—the truth is I don’t want you here right now. I want to do
what I want to do. But I’ll stop. I’m willing to surrender. I’d rather let go of my
anger/addiction/pride than let go of you.”
Spiritual growth, in a sense, is simply increasing our capacity to experience the presence
of God.
The fourth sign of God’s presence is…
4. Joy
The Bible says: “You have made me to know the path of life; you will fill me with joy in
your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)
Rate your joy-capacity on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “Some people actually mistake
me for a mannequin” and 10 being “You have to paint a frown on my face for it to exist.” What’s
your capacity for joy?
[PAUSE]
Jesus said to people who refused to follow him, refused to be with him—it’s like this:
“We played the flute for you—and you wouldn’t dance.”
Sometimes, when God is present with you, you’ll know because a little voice inside your
head will say: “Dance!” —Some of you will be in your car, driving away from the church service, music playing
that makes you happy—you will be singing and dancing and looking like a fool: that will
give you joy.
—Some of you will be driving next to someone who is singing and dancing and looking
like a fool—that will give you joy!
—Others of you will have put in intense effort at work and accomplished something
significant—it’ll be really good. You get a surge of satisfaction and that will give you
joy.
—Or you see a sunset, or a tree in a forest preserve, or the face of a friend you love—that
will give you joy.
—You will feel a rush of gratitude for no reason at all. Just the sheer goodness of being
alive. And you feel joy.
God’s great desire is to be with you! He has expressed it from cover to cover in the pages
of the Bible. He has gone to extreme lengths to be sure you know it. He is showing you signs
through every day of his presence.
This week … experience the reassurance … the guidance … the conviction … the joy of
his presence.
Let’s make a commitment together … that we’ll do everything in
our power to show up for a small group—even if it’s way outside our comfort zone.
That we won’t miss a Sunday if it’s at all within our ability to be here.
That we’ll be faithful to do our reading of the book.
And that we will stretch out our hand to grasp the hand that is reaching down to us from
heaven.
God is playing the flute for you.
You’re at the foot of Jacob’s ladder.
You’re living in “Beth-el,” the house of God.
God is closer than you think.
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