11 May 2015 - attention deficit re-ordered

We're slow to listen. We need the Lord to open our hearts to pay attention.

and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.

Paul testifies to the LORD Jesus. But it is even more important that the Spirit of truth also testifies at the same time.

the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

The Holy Spirit is the one who opens our hearts to pay attention to the words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit transforms the words of revelation from being lifeless letters on a page to a living word. They become Spirit and life (cf. Joh. 6:63). Even though they are transmitted by humans they become more than mere human words. Jesus speaks these words to us through his Spirit. They are the word of God. We need to receive them as such, not as merely human words. We need hearts which Jesus himself opens to pay attention.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (cf. 1 Thes. 2:13).

It is then that we experience the power of this word.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (cf. Heb. 4:12).

The blessings of the word are many. It is a word which can completely alter the course of our lives. It can change the entire world.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Holy Spirit, come. Give us a new and profound love for this word you speak. Open our hearts to it. Only if we are rooted in your word can we survive the persecutions which are to come. Only this word can strengthen us to carry our crosses. You speak this word so that we may not fall away. Let us not neglect it. Indeed, let it be the source of our joy. May it lead us on to the victory of Easter and of Pentecost!

Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.