Wilderness Wanderings

But if an individual has ever listened to my words and decided not to keep them, I am not judging that person. Because I did not come to judge the world. No, I came to save the world. The person setting me aside and not welcoming my words, however, has a reality that is judging that individual: the Word that I have spoken will judge that person on the last day. You see, I have not spoken on my own accord. No, the Father Who Sent Me has given me a command as to what I should say and as to how I should say it. And I know very well that his command means deep, lasting Life. Therefore, please know this [in the end]: The things I am saying, I am saying exactly as the Father told me to say them.' (John 12:47-50, Frederick Dale Bruner's translation from The Gospel of John: A Commentary).

These words come at the close of Jesus' public ministry in John's Gospel. The very next verse begins into Jesus' final evening with his disciples in the Upper Room before his arrest and crucifixion.

These words form a book end then, with the very first words of John's gospel, which will be familiar to many. John starts like this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life…" (selections from John 1:1-4).

Jesus, the very Word of God was already there before the world began. All the richness of life that we have come to know in this world: the sunflowers and the corn stalks, the oriels and the deer, the best of human relationship, sprang forth from him as God spoke the world into being, through his Word.

Then came God's word written and given to Moses at Mt. Saini. That's the word Moses was speaking out to the people again on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy. Pastor Michael talked about it yesterday. There too, the Word was not to be a dead word, or a word of judgement leading to death. But rather, a Word of life, a word that created the conditions in which a humane, faithful, loving human life could be lived in community with God and one another.

And then, God's Word came in the flesh. We came to know him as Jesus. And at the very end of his public ministry he utters these words that we heard at the beginning of this devotion. It Is in keeping and living out the Word that Jesus has spoken and embodied that we find life. These Words of Command, Words of Promise, the Word itself made flesh: all of these iterations of God's Word are one and the same, and they are Words of life: deep, lasting life.

So today if you search, or hunger, or are restless for meaning, purpose, identity, action, or belonging. In short, if you are looking for life: look no further. Jesus is that Word that speaks deep, lasting life into your life. For he did not come to judge the world, but to save it. And even as Creation was spoken into life and being out of nothing, so Jesus' words continue to speak life into our lives today. Listen to them, keep them, and live.

And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you (Deuteronomy 4:1).

What do we hear (or read) when we open the Bible? Hit pause for a moment so you can reflect on that question. What are the words in the Bible to you? What is their value?

Deuteronomy 4 is a kind of intro to what is coming. The whole book is about what God speaks to Israel. Moses tells the people that they ought to have a two-fold response to God's speech: listen…obey. Immediately, he tells them if they do this they will 'live'. Thus, we sometimes refer to God's words as the 'words of life.' Jesus himself said to the devil, "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

When we hear Moses say, 'so that you may live', we may tend to spiritualize these words. By that I mean, we hear them as the means of getting into heaven. There is a common mistake that Israel had to obey the law, but we must believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that is all we hear than we will miss much.

Egypt is equated with death. Hitler, in his determination to exterminate the Jews, was imitating Pharoah. Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years. All they knew was the way of death. But now, God gives them his law. They were to listen to it and obey it, so that they might live. Certainly, part of the law had to do with personal relationship with God. But a great part of it was how to live together in the land in such a way that the entire nation would live, would flourish, and foreigners too.

The law explored family relations, business practices, and agricultural principles. It taught Israel how to enjoy the blessing and favour of the Lord in the ordinary affairs of life. As such, the law that Moses gave was not primarily a set of rules: do this or incur the wrath of God! Rather, the law was God's gift of grace to his people. He had redeemed them from Egypt, from slavery yes, but also from the Egyptian lifestyle which was rooted in fear and domination. Having set them free, God now teaches them how to live in such a way that they can fully enjoy that freedom.

The Israelites were not to act like the Egyptians. They were to act like Israelites, people set free, belonging to God.

When we hear the Bible, what do we hear? Do we simply hear words we have heard dozens of times before? Do we hear laws that must be obeyed?

Jesus first words to his disciples were, "Come follow me" (Matthew 4:18). Then he showed them the kingdom (23-25) and taught them about it (Matthew 5-7). He wanted his disciples to know how to live in the Kingdom. When we listen to the Bible, we hear the ways of the Kingdom of God; we hear Jesus say, 'Come follow me…let me show you the way of life." Listen…obey…live!

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:5-7)

It's good to be back with you, even if it is just digitally for now. Many of you will know that I was away on Sabbatical the past while. And, if I were to sum up what I took away from this time of rest and study—as no doubt you will all ask me to do—I think I would point to these verses from the Gospel of John. Conveniently, what I'd like to say about them also fits with what Pastor Michael said yesterday on Deuteronomy.

Namely, this: that our Life as Christians is to follow in the Way of the one True God. There is an exclusivity to Jesus' statement here that the church has long recognized. But it runs much deeper than just us clinging to the "Truth" of the Gospel. Jesus also intends that the "Way" we live our lives conforms to his.

In pursuit of Christian truth, we cannot resort to un-Christian ways and means. For example: helping out our neighbours cannot happen in a paternalistic I-know-better-than-you-do sort of way (even if we think we do!). No, it can only happen in a loving way (a Christ-like way), a way of mutuality where we humbly seek to listen, understand, and receive even as we give: because that is what Christ-like love entails.

How different might have the relationships gone with indigenous peoples had the churches chosen this humble, loving way of Jesus, and not only their culture-bound interpretation of the truth of Jesus (which at that time meant a paternalistic drive to "civilize" these new neighbours for their own good). I think Jesus' way still offers much promise to the church today as we seek out new ways of relating with our indigenous neighbours.

But: this Jesus way is a slow, inefficient, difficult, and often impractical way. A way that does not honour our time or seemingly accomplish much. A way that grinds against the grain of our culture. A way that inevitably leads to our death and the death of our own ways, before the new life-giving ways of Jesus take hold. The truth of Jesus can only be lived in the way of Jesus if we would seek to bring the life of Jesus to our neighbours and neighbourhoods.

Eugene Peterson once summed it up: "Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life." For long periods, the church has forgotten this embodied aspect of following and submitting all of life to the Jesus way. We have dissected and systematized Jesus' truth to objective clarity (for the Bible is clear, is it not?). But the Jesus way resists such clear-cut flattening.

When the "word becomes flesh and dwells among us" it all at once becomes a lot more demanding and difficult. We find that the Jesus way demands nothing less than all of our lives, in submission to him. Nothing less is involved in taking up our cross to follow.

We completely destroyed them (Deuteronomy 3:6).

There are parts of the Bible we would rather ignore. In fact, many of us would feel better if they just were not there. But there they are. Today's text is one of them.

It comes in the context of Israel entering the Promised Land and conquering its current inhabitants. Our current context of serious reflection on the atrocities the European conquerors committed in North America makes us want to run away from this biblical history.

There is no chance that we can deal with all the issues raised by Israel's conquest of Canaan in a short devotional. Yet, since we are meditating on the book of Deuteronomy, we would be negligent to ignore this. Let me offer some comments that may be of value for us.

First, there is little evidence that Israel literally did what the NIV states. In its footnote the editors offer this explanation, "The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them". It appears to be an idea somewhat common in that time and place. Many wars were understood to be religious, in the sense that the winners served a stronger god who now had more territory. The old religions were terminated. That appears to be the background in our text. The concern was that Israel not add to her worship of God things that came from other religions; that she would only worship God in the manner he prescribed in the law.

Second, whether we like it or not, the conquest was a form of judgement on the nations who lived in Canaan. Later Moses will tell Israel, "It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (9:5).

Here, as is common in scripture, God's judgement on others is not intended for our glee or religious pride. Rather, it calls us to self-examination. Our status with God is a gift of his grace as was the land of Promise. We too stand under judgement, if it were not for the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Are we living in thanksgiving and obedient response to that grace? Could it be that we are taking it for granted?

This brings us to our third point, which builds on the first. The 'destruction' mentioned in our text appears to be not primarily about destroying people and property but creating communities that worship the Lord only. The practice destroyed all religious artifacts which were dedicated to a different god. For Israel, it was about fulfilling the first two commandments which concern worshipping only the Lord God and worshipping him properly (cf. Ex. 20:3-5a).

Thus, our text invites us to examine our own hearts and our worshipping practices. Do we honour God with the way that we worship him or does our worship reflect our own selfishness? Are we willing to tackle the work of idol destruction in our own lives? This is difficult work and time consuming. Are we willing to take the time to examine our loves? What do we love besides God? What is distracting us from worshipping God alone? Are we willing to set such things aside, to completely destroy them so that we can love God with undivided heart?

Today will be my final devotional with Wilderness Wanderings as we welcome Pastor Anthony back from his sabbatical. Thank you for the opportunity to journey with you over these past four months. I have been encouraged and uplifted by many of you. Today I am once again pulling from a student publication, this one that I wrote in January of this year.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I'm tired. I'm angry. I'm lonely. I'm overwhelmed. I'm afraid. Have you spoken, or even thought any of these words over the past months, weeks, or days? Well, if you have you're not alone. And it's easy to get caught up in the raging storm, especially when it's so long, so big, so all-encompassing. It often seems easier to put up a front, showing our friends, neighbours, family and church community that we're strong, that we're getting through this and that we're okay. And don't the physical masks we wear right now help us to achieve that? It's easy to show others that we're brave, strong and that everything's okay when half of our faces are hidden behind a physical mask when we're in contact with others. We've been through a lot over the last year, and none of us can see what's on the other side of the horizon yet. That's God's territory. He knows what's to come. And He knows where we're really at too.

As I was listening to music, a song came on that I had heard many times before, "Just Be Held" by Casting Crowns. This song gives me peace in knowing that God not only holds my life and my heart, but loves me, and never lets me go. On this day, however, as I listened to the opening verse my mind started turning beyond these truths.

Verse 1: Hold it all together, everybody needs you strong. But life hits you out of nowhere, and barely leaves you holding on. And when you're tired of fighting, chained by your control, there's freedom in surrender. Lay it down and let it go.

The first line of this song is exactly what I've been seeing around me. On social media, Facebook friends are posting cute pictures of their kids and walks in the park. Smiling faces and good times. Lots of people give "likes" for those sorts of things. That's what people want to see and read about. That's what people need. Especially right now. We want to be seen as strong and resilient because maybe, just maybe that will bring others hope.

Or maybe it's just because we don't want to let other people see our struggles and pain.

How would others view us if we allowed them to see beneath our masks? Not the physical masks we're wearing right now. Our internal ones. The masks that show us to be holding on, staying strong, doing well, getting through with a bit of breathing room to spare. As a parent, when my children see me having a rough day, I often want to hide what I'm going through. I want my children to see me as a resilient and joy-filled mom who can handle anything. But they know the truth. They've experienced stress and hardship too.

Others don't need to know that we're strong and holding it all together. They need to know that God is stronger than the best strong-front we can put on. He holds us and loves us and is our greatest strength amid our greatest weaknesses and times of trial. God's power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless (Is 40:29). This is what the Casting Crowns song is talking about! When we are tired, angry, lonely, overwhelmed, afraid…it is in these places that God reaches down to hold us, uphold us, strengthen us and reveal His power in us. He carries us when we are having trouble carrying ourselves and His power in and through us becomes our greatest strength when we are weak. We don't need to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Christ has already taken it all.

But it's hard to lay down our burdens. That involves surrender to God. Letting go of everything we hold dear. It means letting go of our pride, our self-sufficiency, and our own strength that we often rely on. Surrender means to admit that we're not enough, and never will be, and that's okay. Surrender means that we don't have to put on a front and show the world or fellow Christians that we're strong, resilient, and we're doing just fine. Surrender, although to the world's standards sounds like weakness, is in fact the place where our true strength begins, not where it ends.

Because in surrender we find that our weakest, most broken place has room to start the journey towards healing and wholeness. In the act of surrender, that is, our every weakness and strength, hope for the future and despair from the past, we will find a peace and a strength like no other. And that is because in our weakness God is made strong.

Do we need others to see that we're always strong and holding on? It is in our weaknesses, brokenness and imperfections that God's strength is most acutely seen. And isn't that who we really want the world to see in us? So maybe right now we don't need to hold on and be strong. Maybe this is the time to let it all go and let some of our weakness and brokenness show through. It is there that our True Strength is found.

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Romans 12:14-21 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

Dive IN Questions

1. Is it easy to submit to authority? Why is it easier in some situations than others?
2. What two reasons does Paul give for submitting to those in authority?
3. Compare and contrast authority in the Roman Empire with our own situation.
4. In what ways can you live out Paul's instructions in this passage?

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything (Deuteronomy 2:7).

Here is portrait of the mercy and grace of God. On the internet mercy is defined this way: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. That is exactly what this passage illustrates.

Here is how.

Recall, Israel is on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Forty years prior they had been in the same position. However, at that time Israel insulted God by not trusting him. After everything he had done for them in delivering them from Egypt and providing for their original journey the wilderness and defeating their enemies, they gave in to fear and said, "God, you can't do it. We don't believe you can give us this land. Its current occupants are too strong. We're going back to Egypt."

One can imagine God saying, 'Fine, go back, see how you manage.' Many of us would have washed our hands of the matter and found somebody else. How ungrateful can one be?

But our text tells us that God had a very different reaction. Yes, he did punish them for their unbelief. That whole generation died in the wilderness. They were unable to enter that land flowing with milk and honey.

As Moses recounts the story of their most recent travels, he mentions that they needed to go through the territory belonging to Esau's descendants. Esau was Jacob's twin brother. And Jacob was renamed Israel. God instructed them to pay for everything they ate and drank in Esau's territory (2:6).

Now hold on for a moment. After a 40-year journey, they have money left over? They were slaves in Egypt. Yes, the Egyptians loaded them up with goods as they left, but that is all they had. After 40 years they have money left to pay for food and drink. End of a 40-year journey and they are flush with cash? How can that be?

The people who had insulted God by not trusting him have been blessed by him so that they can pay their way through Esau's territory. They want for nothing! The Lord gave them food, clothing, and protection.

The words from the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation", seem appropriate in this setting: "Fear not, I am with Thee; O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I'll strengthen thee, help thee; and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."

But even that hymn does not do justice to this story. The people in our text just do not deserve anything, certainly not a financial windfall. Yet, that is essentially what happens. The people didn't believe God can do it, so what did God do? He provided for their needs and then some.

This is the God of the Bible, full of love and mercy and grace. He does not give us what we deserve. Instead, he showers us with grace. Remember what Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). God is calling!

Over my last few devotionals I am going to be pulling from student publications that I wrote for the seminary during the winter term earlier this year. Some bits have been changed or updated, but otherwise you're reading what the body of Calvin Seminary read a few months ago.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galations 2:20)

I am not religious. It seems like a strange statement for a Christian to say perhaps, but I realized long ago that there are key differences between Christianity and religion. Religion is a set of observances, statutes, ways that must be followed in order to obtain new life either in this life or in the next (whatever that means according to one's personal beliefs). Religion involves adherence to a personal code of ethics and morals in order to appease God (or a god), often hoping that you have done enough, prayed the right words, shared your faith with enough people, performed the right rituals in the right way. Religion can be subjective and it often involves the fear of not measuring up to God's standards in some way, shape or form and what the consequences are to the individual as a result. Christianity is different. Christianity is about a living, loving God who first reached out to us, not to force us into His presence, but to enfold us in it. God is altogether incomprehensible and yet still knowable. He draws us to Himself and calls us into an intimate, abiding relationship rooted in His Love. This is a distinct difference between religion and Christianity. Relationship in love.

If I were to ask you what your relationship with Jesus is like, how would you answer? "I pray" you may say, or "I meditate on the Word of God" or "I worship Him on Sundays." These are all really good and really important things and we need to be doing each one of them both individually and corporately. But I wonder if we can dig further into the meaning of relationship itself? When I looked up the definition of the word "relationship," Mirriam-Webster offered the word "kinship" and Google dictionary talked about a connection by blood. I love these looks at relationship when it comes to Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ in this large family of believers through the blood of Christ.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Eph 2:13).

Relationship. Kin. Blood.

"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God" (Rom 7:4).

Christianity is about belonging. Belonging to Christ so that we might bear fruit for God. Belonging to Christ isn't a feel-good pre-requisite for the good life in His company. When we belong to someone we become a part of them and they of us. So it is with Christ, we cannot grow or shrink back in belonging. We are the beloved of God, we are no more or less than that. And as His beloved, we are to bear fruit for God. We don't bear fruit in order to measure up to a standard or as a pre-requisite to entering into heaven, but because we love God and a tangible way to show our love for him is by bearing fruit, doing good works, building others up, taking care of the temple of our own body.

Christianity is not about adherence to the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law. Christianity is about a relationship of belonging with God who loved us so much that He took our place unto death, out of pure love. Jesus wasn't coerced, His Father didn't force Him to walk the road to Calvary, or talk Him into it, or reason with Him. The relationship of Jesus and His Father was so personal and so intimate that Jesus willingly stepped forward into suffering because he knew and set His eyes on the ultimate goal. Why? Because of His love for us. His beloved. Because He knew that it was the only way for intimacy like that which He has with His Father to be available to us too. Relationship in love.

"I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."

This quote by C.S. Lewis is stirring, timeless and full of truth. On the surface it sounds like a quote about happiness and comfort in life and faith, but take a look deeper and you will find relationship and love hidden beneath the words. You see, relationships aren't comfortable. They're not always happy...even the good ones. They're messy, topsy-turvy, loving one minute and despising the next some days. Relationships take time, take grit and take devotion to each other. Relationships rooted in love, even more so. It's easy to follow a religion, but less so to maintain a vibrant relationship with the living God, with Christ. God is not in the business of cushioning, coddling and entering us into the comfortable and the good places of life. If you want comfort, grab a seat in a recliner and lean back. Or grab hold of religion. Where the rules are all laid out for you and all you need to do is follow. No, God is in the business of loving, redeeming, purifying and regenerating us. Although God Himself never changes, He takes our lives and if we are willing, He will change, transform and conform us more and more into His own image. It's not always a comfortable place to be.

Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place" (Deuteronomy 1:29-31).

It used to be that on the first day of my work week, I needed to pick the texts for the following Sunday's sermons. In those moments the Bible seemed like a very big book. I did not enjoy that exercise. Some years ago, I learned that it was much simpler to prepare a series or to use the Common Lectionary. The same thing has been true with these Wilderness Wanderings. I had made no plans for post-vacation.

So, let's spend some time together the book of Deuteronomy. It's a series of sermons or lectures Moses gave to Israel before he died. His intention was to help God's people to finally live in the Promised Land. Hopefully, we are exiting the wilderness of COVID-19 and Deuteronomy might have some wisdom for us as we immerge into a new normal. Its not that we are going into the Promised Land, in fact, our road still seems quite uncertain.

Uncertainty tends to breed fear. Our text for today addresses this reality. A whole generation of Israelites have travelled in the wilderness. It's the only home they knew. Travelling the wilderness was their way of life. There was security in the familiar. Now they had to go fight enemies and settle down in cities.

Moses begins by reminding them of the last time Israel had stood at the doorstep of the promised land. Their parents had been afraid too. They could not overcome their fear. As Moses tells this story he is essentially saying, "Don't be like your parents, living in fear; trust the Lord."

What I find interesting is the way Moses encourages Israel to overcome her fear. We might think a really dazzling sermon on trust would do the trick, or maybe a dramatic children's story. But none of that for Moses.

Instead, he tells Israel to remember. Remember how God fought for them in Egypt, leaving Pharoah impotent to stop Israel's departure. Remember how God carried Israel through the desert like a parent carries a child.

This is the key to overcoming fear, to see God, to remember. The God who led them this far is going ahead of them into the promised land. He will settle them in green pastures and beside still waters. I think Jesus took up Moses' mantra when he told his disciples to consider the birds and the flowers and the grass. Look at what God does. Look how God cares for them. How much more will he not care for us?

Yes. The future is quite uncertain. There is plenty of reason to be afraid. We can look at all the obstacles. We can look at all the unknowns. But Moses and Jesus both encourage us to look to God and remember what he has done. He has been with his people since the beginning, there is no need to fear he will abandon us now.

I'm reminded of a quote I tucked away long ago, "I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air" (Dr. E. Stanley Jones, Transformed by Thorns).

When he had finished speaking, [Jesus] said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4)

"Put out into deep water," Jesus instructed Peter. Jesus wants us to go deeper with Him. How can we go deeper with Jesus? I want to suggest a few ways today.

Go deep into the Word of God. This is the roadmap for life that God has given to us. Other Christian traditions put much less emphasis on Scripture than we do in the Reformed Church. I believe that emphasis on Scripture is something that we Reformed folks do well. We are all of us in many different seasons of life and so digging into the Word may look different for each one of us. But it is our lifeline. When you are in despair or when you are bursting with joy, turn to the Word of God, when you are starting your day and when you are ending it turn to the Word of God. "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).

It is not only to be read after meals or as a part of a devotional, but the Word of God is meant to be chewed on, savoured, swallowed, and digested until it becomes a part of who we are. Jesus, the Word of God wants to speak to us through the written Word. When we read the Bible we are getting a glimpse into the very heart of God. His faithfulness, love, patience, kindness for His beloved children.

Get personal with God. When Jesus asked Peter to push the boat out a little way from shore so that He could preach from it without being crushed by the crowds, that was impersonal. But when Jesus instructed Peter to "put out into deep water," suddenly the impersonal became personal. Jesus wanted Peter to become bodily involved. God is a personal God. He doesn't just sit back waiting for us to make the first move, like in a game of chess. He pursues us, nudges us, instructs us, and personally invites us to partner with Him in His work in the Church and in the world.

Pray. Prayer is not just an act of thanks or petition. Prayer is a relationship between us and our God. When Jesus died, the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two, and Jesus opened the way for us to come directly to God through Him. How marvelous! But we often still treat God like a vending machine in prayer. We consider prayer our duty, our obligation, a need. But Jesus went often to solitary places to pray. It was a time for Him to commune with His Father, to recharge so He could continue to minister to the many crowds that pressed for His attention every day. Prayer was how Jesus filled His depleted bucket. And He learned from His Father through prayer throughout His days as well. The Holy Spirit is with us always and everywhere. There is nowhere that we can go where He is not. That means that He is always available for us to talk to about anything and everything whether 2pm or 2am.

Listen for what God is saying to you. Jesus was preaching from the fishing boat when He instructed Peter to put out into deep water. Peter, the other fishermen and the crowds on shore were all listening to Him. Then Jesus finished speaking to the crowds and turned to Peter to speak to him directly. Jesus teaches us corporately and individually. In this passage He speaks to Peter one on one. Is there a thought, attitude, situation or circumstance that the Holy Spirit has been impressing on your heart lately?

Obey what God says. It's not always easy to know what the Holy Spirit is speaking to our hearts, but we can discern a thought, attitude or action by turning to the Bible. It has instructions for the way that God wants us to live. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and instruction in righteousness." (2 Tim 3:16) Are you listening to what God is saying to you, and what are you doing about it? Jesus wants us to seek His heart, to do it daily.