TRUTH or CONSEQUENCES

Hearing God must be pretty important! Jesus said seven times in his letters to the churches (Revelation, chapters 2-3), " He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches ."  Jesus addressed our hearing issue in John chapter 10 verses 2-4... " The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gates 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 ."  I want it to be said of me that I KNOW His voice!  I often pray, "Lord, give me ears to hear what Your Spirit is speaking. Why do I pray that prayer?  God is at work all around us and has many things on His heart that He wants to share with us.  We are His legs, His arms, His smile, His voice to the people around us.  So it only makes sense that we know what it is He is interested in doing! 

Isaiah, the prophet, prophesied about Jesus in chapter 50 verse 7, "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint , and I know I will not be put to shame." Luke 9:51 says, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem."  These two scriptures paint a picture of determined choice! Jesus had made up His mind that He would go to the cross for the good of everyone on the earth, then and now.  He knew He was facing torture and death.  He was born to die.  But He also chose to do it as a man.  He had flesh and blood, as well as feelings and emotions, just like you and I.  He developed very close relationships with people on the earth, shared His life with them.  He was a young man still, only 30 years old.  His whole life was before Him.  However, He did not waver in His choice to restore us to relationship with the Father!  He was determined to do what H

      I have a staff in my office that I bought several years ago at a Jewish Festival. It has a lion's head on the top and for a long time it just sat in my office.  One Sunday morning, when I was in charge of the service, I was deeply offended by something that happened before service. I had to get up and preach.  I knew that I could not go out and preach if I didn't let this go and have a clear conscience before God.  I had about a half hour before service was to begin to talk to God about what I was feeling.  I saw that staff sitting there and I grabbed it and began to write the names of God on it.  All the names of who God was for me.  It brought me comfort and reminded me of how good He was to me, of how much He loved me.  That staff still sits in my office and reminds me of who God is for me. Recently I heard that a shepherd's staff was indeed a place where a shepherd would record his history with God.  In fact, the shepherd David, carried a staff.  Imagine fo