Hearing or Following God?

Hi Y'all.  We have a post from our very own Jonathan Gross (the guy with the Jesus hair):

Last week at Charge Stephen Siebert challenged us with the question: is it more difficult to hear God or to follow God?

My answer to the question came quickly: I have more difficulty following God. I can think back to instances in my life where I understood (or strongly suspected) God wanted a certain action out of me. Times when I was to pray for someone, confess a sin, or give up material possessions. Too often I have convinced myself that my friend suffering from a headache didn't actually need my prayers, or that the lady on the other side of the counter would take offense at my offer. Too often I have decided to trust in my own resolve to overcome my weaknesses, instead of trusting the power of God in the presence of my fellow Christian. And too often I have concluded that loosening my grip on worldly goods is a slippery slope that will leave me destitute and unable to “really” help people.

By God's grace I have been able to break that pattern at times. It hasn't always been pretty. I have memories etched into my brain of people refusing my prayers and taking advantage of me financially. Sometimes it has been beautiful, though. Last semester I shared how God brought me healing from addiction through confession. Similar steps of faith in different relationships have brought the most profound senses of peace I have ever felt, and remain some of the treasures available to us on this earth that I most long for.

Those successes, even when outnumbered by the times I ignored God and the times when I didn't hear correctly or when the fruit of the obedience was hidden, give me a great desire to hear God again, because hearing is clearly a precondition for following. What I have been reminded of this week is that whether we choose to follow can also affect our ability to hear in the future. Every time we choose to ignore the voice of God in our lives, our actions reveal that we don't actually want to hear. I think the parable in Luke 19:11–27 offers a sobering perspective on the consequences of wasting graces God gives us. I pray that the Lord would have mercy on us and grace us with more words to follow in our individual and communal walks.

Testimony

Hi All!  How are you?  Last week we talked about the man born blind in John 9.  Jesus healed him by making clay from dirt and His spit.  Upon his healing, controversy arose over his testimony of being healed.  The man born blind (aka Steve) willingly shared his testimony with all who wanted to hear it (except for the Pharisees who wanted to hear it again but didn't want to believe in God).  He didn't have a fine tuned speech, he told what happened.

Talking about testimony, I would like to share a bit of my testimony.  For those who don't know who even writes these posts, this is Lisa - dark haired girl who usually sits in the back with tall husband named Nathan - currently serving as volunteer staff with IV.

When I was a kid, I went to a kids bible club called AWANA (Approved Workmen are not Ashamed).  We had games, memory scripture recitation, and lesson time.  When I was about 7 years old, during the lesson time, a lady got up to give the lesson.  She had a big red felt heart hanging around her neck.  She talked about sins she committed, and every time she sinned, she put a black dot on her big heart.  I felt convicted, and I remember bowing my head during the lesson and telling God I didn't want to sin anymore.  I knew He entered my heart then.

Since then many more things have happened which I would be glad to share with you, but would be too long for this blog post.  Remember that no matter what your testimony, it is valid proof of the living God, Jesus Christ inside of you.