Knowing and following His voice

John 10:3‭-‬4 NIV

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

At work, sometimes we have conference calls for research collaboration, and it is amazing how within a few conversations, you know who is speaking because you can recognize their voice.

I need to have some conversations with Jesus so that I can learn His voice.

Father, thank you for sending Jesus to make the way for us to be reunited with you.  Jesus, you are the Shepherd, and I want to know your voice.  Holy Spirit, please teach me the voice of Jesus.  I love you.

speak what is true

John 8:28 So Jesus said, "... I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me."

Many times I say what I think.  But I want to follow Jesus's example and speak just what the Father has taught me through the Holy Spirit.

Father, please teach me.  I need to spend more time listening to you.  Jesus, thank you for your example.  Holy Spirit, lead me and teach me to sit with the Father.  I am a son, and I want to live a life of freedom in the Son.  I love you.

perfect communion

As I read through John 6 this time, I was impressed with the substantial repetition of Jesus saying, "eat my flesh" or "eat my flesh and drink my blood".  These statements seem so harsh and illogical, but Jesus said it so many times.  How many times?  I counted seven.

The number seven symbolizes perfection and completion.  And I don't think Jesus was encouraging cannibalism, so perhaps His statements were about chewing and digesting His message, and/or symbolic of the elements of communion (bread and wine).

Father, please help me be humble enough to not be offended at Jesus's words.  Jesus, I trust you. Holy Spirit, please help me chew and digest the Word.  I want to know you, and I want to be completely yours.  I want to be in perfect communion with you.  May there be nothing offensive in me.  Please shape my mind so that nothing hinders me from having a better relationship with you.  I love you, and I ask in the name of Jesus.

Mother's Day reflection

At the beginning of the gathering on Sunday, Peter asked us to take a few minutes to reflect on how your mom revealed the character of God.  Here are some thoughts from my reflection about my mom:

- truth - She values the pursuit of truth through inquiry, that what is spoken is true and worthy of being said, as well as speaking the Truth of the Gospel.

- mercy - Everyone makes mistakes, and we need to forgive them and restore them, just like our Father does with us

- provision - When I was growing up, a significant fraction of my mom's time was devoted to grocery shopping and meal preparation, and she did it faithfully and generously.

- protection - Example: When we lived on the edge of the Caprock escarpment, we regularly encountered rattlesnakes, and one time she shot a rattlesnake in our front yard with a .22 rifle from the front porch.  There is also a great spiritual analogy there of snakes representing evil and/or lies.

- help - Example: I worked on a project in high school Biology about the Krebs cycle, and she helped collect the materials and layout.

- faithfulness - She operates as a genuine and faithful partner/agent in her marriage, with her children, as an employee, etc.  Example: When my parents were in charge of the high school football concession stand, my mom performed many cost comparisons and cooked thousands of baked potatoes to maximize financial support for the band. 

- grace - She blessed us with good things, just because.  Examples: pecan pie, saving money from her piano tutoring to pay for vacations, going to the city swimming pool in the summer.

- beauty - She has a general appreciation for recognizing beauty inherent in God's design of creation (e.g., sunrises and sunsets, landscapes), as well as her own artistic expression of beauty (e.g., singing in the church choir or solos, playing the piano).

Later in the gathering, Rebekah shared a comparison of attributes of God expressed in Proverbs 31 and Matthew 6, which echoed several of the points in my reflection of my mom.

Father, thank you for my mom, and thank you for her personal relationship with you through Jesus.  Thank you for the opportunity to observe her growing in closeness with you, and thank you for her emulation of you. I love you.

Short story, first attempt

There was a good king who sincerely loved the people of his land, but an enemy snuck in and deceived the people to think that the king did not love them.  The enemy convinced the people that the king was witholding good things from them and that they should defect and rebel against the king, and so all of the people of the land chose to become enemies of the king.  The penalty for being a traitor to the king was banishment from the land, and the price to be reinstated as a citizen again was 1000 years' wages, more than anyone could ever pay.  But the king genuinely loved the people, so the king sent his son, the prince, to pay the price for all of the people in the land and to leave a notice of payment in the king's official court for each and every person, and he sent heralds to announce to all people that their reinstatement had been paid for.  The king required that each rebel return to him with a white flag of surrender, humbly apologize for rebelling, thank him for paying the price of reinstatement, and make an oath of allegiance to the king.

(This was my first attempt at writing a short story to capture some of John 3, but it doesn't emphasize enough the magnitude of sacrifice.)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.

John 3:16‭-‬17, 36 NIV

Father, thank you for loving me so much.  May my life tell your story.  I love you.

water to wine

John 2

9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

I asked Holy Spirit about the symbolism of this sign.  I got a picture of Jesus at the cross when the soldier pierced his side, and blood and water flowed.  And the night before when Jesus told his disciples that the wine represented his blood, poured out for us.  Chronologically, I was reminded of Romans 5:

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

A lot of time passed between the fall in the Garden of Eden and Jesus's death on the cross.  God saved the best until then.  Jesus's humanity, symbolized by water, was turned into wine, symbolizing the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.  

Each of the six ceremonial washing jars held the equivalent of 100 to 150 modern bottles of wine, and  600 to 900 bottles of wine (enough to take a bath in) symbolize the abundant generosity of God.  Jesus's blood flowed full stream.

Father, thank you for your great love, lavished on us all, that we can be your children.  Thank you for inviting us to the abundant banquet table.  Jesus, thank you for your abundant love.  Thank you for transforming my ordinary human life into a supernatural life, imbibed with your life.  Holy Spirit, anoint me and spill over through me today.  I ask in the name of Jesus.

It's not about winning ball games

But it sure is a boost when we do!  Oh, man, the kids were so excited to win last night!  After the third inning, it was tied up at five runs. Our kids hit their seven-run limit in the top of the fourth, and we held the home team to two runs in the bottom side for the win. It was so great to see their confidence and excitement during the top of the fourth.  Even a kid who hasn't hit much this season got a double!  

I've been praying the last several days about this.  Maybe it seems inconsequential, but I really was asking God to bless these kids with an opportunity for a win.  They were so glad to break the losing streak.

Father, thank you for the opportunity for a win.  I know it's not about winning baseball games.  I want to be able to keep a good attitude, win or lose, just like I tell the kids.  I guess in the spiritual domain, there is no losing, only playing more innings until we win.  I love you.

Discipleship through coaching baseball

This coaching experience has been challenging to me.  We still haven't won a game.  I think Holy Spirit is using this situation to expose some deep-seated values/beliefs in my heart that I am valuable because of my accolades or that my happiness is conditional on preferred circumstances.  Moreover, I have learned that I need to reach out and ask for help and not expect people to see that I need help and step up.

After getting run-ruled last game, I could tell that the kids were really down.  So I reiterated that I as a coach can try to help them, but they get to choose their own attitude.  And from the perspective of eternity, we are going to care about the quality of our attitude but not how many games we won or lost.  If we (1) have fun, (2) play with integrity, and (3) get better, then we have indeed succeeded. But I am fighting a pervasive paradigm that says that your a loser if you lose.  I am fighting this paradigm among them, as well as my own heart.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to coach these kids.  May they see your truth and love lived out through me. May they know that you love them unconditionally and are proud of them because of who they are, not because of what they do. I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.