REVIVALTALK

  James 1:9 - “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” The Apostle James, the half-brother of our Lord, instructs us be “quick to listen.” There are many voices that compete for our attention. When I was young, we only had three television channels in our home. We had NBC, CBS, and ABC. I remember when we first signed up for cable, there were just a few channels. Today we have hundreds of channels along with YouTube and other internet streaming services. There are so many voices competing for our attention. Radio, internet radio, podcasts, and even shortwave radio all have voices competing for our attention. When I was a child, we learned a song in Sunday School entitled, “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See.” The second verse reads: Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,  Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear. There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love, Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear. Who...

  Psalms 23:5 – “My cup runs over.”             The God we serve is the God who is more than enough. I love the words of Jesus in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The words “more abundantly” literally mean to the full, till it overflows.” The Complete Jewish Bible reads, “I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.”             God doesn’t just meet our need, but desires to over meet our needs. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” The latter part of verse 5, “my cups over,” is a picture of overflow and abundance. The Great Shepherd receives us with extravagance. Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.”...

  Psalms 23:2 – “He makes me to lie down in green pastures..”             David writes this Psalm from the perspective of a shepherd. He begins with “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This speaks of relationships and resources. Verse 2 reads, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”   Phillip Keller writes in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalms 23 , “The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very makeup it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met.” 1.     Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear.   2.     Because of the social behavior within a flock, sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind.   3.     If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax.   4...

The Discipline of Listening James 1:19 – “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”             Paul Tillich writes, “The first duty of love is to listen.” [i]   One of the primary responsibilities of the believer is to learn to listen to the voice of the Lord.  Fifteen times in the New Testament, more than any other command, the believer is commanded, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.” [ii] If we are going to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then we need to learn the joy of hearing His voice.  Listening requires discipline.  We must become good listeners. There are times in our lives that we need to still ourselves, stop talking, stop praying, and learn to wait in His presence and hear what the Spirit is saying to you.  You might ask, “How do I know that God...