Rain, Rain, Go Away

By Brenda W. McIntyre    

Do you remember the children’s rhyme ‘rain, rain, go away, come again another day?’ I’ll bet I uttered that rhyme under my breath at least a hundred times lately as the rain drenched the area where I live. Georgia experienced heavy downpours and flash flooding for several days straight. Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in seventeen counties. Four of those counties were federally declared as disaster areas.

Although the more saturated areas were to the north and northeast of my home, Middle Georgia received an excessive amount of rain. The Ocmulgee River threatened to spill over its banks. Gray clouds covered the sky day after day, blocking the sun. I was surprised one afternoon to see a tiny portion of blue sky surrounded by angry gray thunder clouds. As the wind blew, the clouds swirled about. I was sure they would block out the small patch of blue the color of an inviting swimming pool. For as long as I watched, the patch of blue remained – a testament that the storm would eventually pass and the sun would shine again.

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What Does a Quarter Buy?

By Susan Dollyhigh  

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

 What can you buy with a quarter?  Not even a pack of gum today, but in 1963 a quarter would buy my lunch at school.  With this bit of trivia I’m telling my age but it’s worth it to tell the rest of the story.

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Passion

By John McNeal  

How many people do you know who are very passionate about something?  Just look around.  It’s October, and the football season is just getting started.  Hockey season is on the way, while baseball and NASCAR racing are finishing up.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the bend.  As for myself, I have a small passion for hunting this time of year.

In today’s society many people dish out a lot of money and time to enjoy their passion.  They pay big dollars to sit in a crowded cold stadium with people they don’t know, giving them high-fives when their team scores a touchdown.  They buy the biggest televisions that they can’t afford in order to get a better glimpse of the action.  People purchase clothing, big foam hands and cheese hats, letting everyone know what they are passionate about.

Passionate sports fans know the stats of their favorite team and they can quote the roster by heart.  If a person is rooting for a rival team or individual, they might have swift words with someone if they blaspheme the team at hand.  Sometimes people even get physical in order to prove their point.  I always know when it is race season or football season; my neighbor yells passionately for his favorites.

Several years ago, my pastor stood on stage and told a story how he met Faith Hill while traveling back from a Christian conference.  He said that she would be in Atlanta for a day or two and that she was at our church that day to give her testimony.  After he gave her an introduction, he asked us to welcome her to Chestnut Mountain Church.  Over 95% of the Church stood, whistled, clapped and cheered as if she were about to give us a private concert.  The stage door swung open and nobody came through the door.

Pastor Jeff’s point was well taken that day, at least by me.  We stand up, clap, and cheer for our favorite team or celebrity, and we pay all kinds of money to support our passions.  When is the last time you were passionate about going to church?  What about singing the hymns or worshipping with your whole heart?  What about giving money in the name of the One who gave up everything to die for you?  If Jesus is really our passion, why do we cheer harder, clap louder, and spend more money on other pursuits than we do at church?

Pastor Jeff turned to us after he walked up and closed the door.  “Would you have cheered as hard if it was for Jesus?”  Now can you imagine if your pastor did this and was introducing someone of importance, and that person did not come through the door?  Faith Hill wasn’t at our church that day.  But Jesus was there.

‘“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind.’  Matt 22:36-73(NIV)  

 

Who Is Calling? How to Discern the Voice of God

By Dianne Butts

Go visit Archie.  His cancer has advanced.  I wanted to visit, but my schedule was full.  Was this thought from God?  My own nagging conscience?  Or the enemy drawing me away?

When we hear a spiritual “voice”, how can we tell if it’s God?

Constant.

When I first felt the inkling to write, I thought.  Me?  Write?  Was God asking me to write for Him?  “Is this my idea or God’s?”  I asked my friend, Linda.  “Our desires come and go,” she said, “but God’s desires persist”.

God called Samuel three times (1 Samuel 3), but young Samuel didn’t recognize God’s voice either.  When Eli figured it out, he instructed Samuel to respond to the Lord.  God didn’t knock Samuel out of bed with a blast of thunder, but His persistent calling didn’t let Samuel rest.

Calm.

How can we differentiate between God’s nudges and impulses that are not from God?  Impulses feel urgent, often coming in “shoulds” and “oughts”.

Jesus and the disciples certainly felt the pressure of impulses.  One day a message arrived from Mary and Martha: “Jesus, come quick!  Lazarus is sick!”  “Yet…Jesus stayed where he was two more days” (John 11:6).  When He left for Bethany, Lazarus was dead (vs. 7, 14).  Jesus calmly continued His work.  Then, He went to Lazarus.

Do impulses pull us away from God’s work?  Distinguishing between God’s nudges and other impulses brings less fruitless busywork, more eternal fruit — and calm.

Convicting or Condemning?

We can distinguish between our enemy’s voice and God’s by where it leads.  Surely when the religious leaders brought the adulterous woman to Jesus, she wanted to run away.  After He ordered anyone without sin to throw the first stone and the people left, He asked, “Has no one condemned you?”  “No one, sir,” she said.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared (John 8:10, 11).

Satan’s voice condemns us causing us to want to run from Christ.  But as believers, we no longer stand before God condemned (Romans 8:1).  God’s voice leads us to Christ for forgiveness.

Character.

Sandy grew up in a home filled with anger.  “I associated these angry ‘voices’ in my mind with the voice of God.  Now,” she said, “when I ‘hear’ a negative voice, I ask, ‘Is it characteristic of the God I know and love through Scripture?’”

God’s voice reveals His character.  He is holy (Leviticus 11:44), righteous (Psalm 11:7), just (Psalm 9:16), merciful and forgiving (Daniel 9:9).  He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15).

When the voice within us causes us to mistrust God or believe He won’t forgive us, we are not hearing the voice of God.

Clear.

“My husband and I wanted another child,” said author Tricia Rhodes.  But six years passed, before a familiar voice said, “Tricia, your pain isn’t because you haven’t had another child but because you’ve come to believe I’m not good”.  I heard Him because I was still listening [i] Jesus prayed, “‘Father, glorify your name!’  Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (v. 28).  The crowd said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken (v. 29).  Thunder?  An angel?  Did they not recognize the voice of God?  God speaks clearly, but are we listening?

Go visit Archie.  I left my writing and headed to Archie’s house.  We had a wonderful visit, I still completed my writing work, and Archie soon went home to the Lord.  Step by step, God is teaching me to recognize His voice.

Dianne E. Butts (www.DianneEButts.com, http://Twitter.com/DianneEButts) has written for more than 50 Christian publications and fifteen books. Read about her current book-in-progress at www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com.

This article first appeared in the February/March 1999 issue of Virtue.

Scripture quotes are from the New International Version.

In Your Face

By Courtney Rogers 

Have you ever met someone who was completely in your face about something?  Maybe it was a car dealer who just wanted you to buy a car from him.  What did he do?  He tried everything he could possibly do to make you want to buy a car.  Isn't it a complete turn off sometimes?  You walk away agitated and not wanting anything to do with that dealer or what he is selling.

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