MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE

“MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE” (John 10:27)

 “Blah blah blah blah blah.” My best friend Jane was talking, but my mind was racing ahead on something else, and I didn’t hear a word she said. Some of us have the habit of letting our minds go ahead of where our bodies are. We’re already thinking about the next thing and our focus strays from the present moment. Sometimes we just get lazy and let our minds wander off. But this isn’t a good thing, it isn’t being considerate of other people. And if we want to get really good at hearing from the Lord, we need to practice listening better to people, especially the ones we care about.

First John 4:20 says: “For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Listening does take some real effort, especially if you know you’re not that good at it. People want to be heard. They want to have people interested in their lives. Listening is an act of love. There are more verses in the Bible about God listening to us, than verses saying we need to listen to Him. That’s because God IS Love and He’s an expert at listening. If we want to be more like Him, we have to want to be good listeners.

 

Here are a couple ideas that may help:

1. As soon as you can, after a conversation, go over the conversation in your mind and try to write down what the other person said. If you know you’ve missed some things, apologize, and try to remember to ask them again later. Most people will forgive you and be glad you made the effort to ask again.

2. If you ask a question and you get an answer that’s complicated or you aren’t clear on the person’s answer, repeat it back to the person to see if you got it right.

These are two very simple and practical ways to build listening skills with people. But we can also use these with the Lord. If you feel He’s telling you something, write it down. If you’re unclear about what He’s saying to you, repeat it back to Him. He’ll let you know if you got it. Remember, He loves you. He’s a great listener and He wants us to be great at it too.

 

To live in the moment is a gift. We can think of it as ‘the present’!

Love, Carolyn

 

NOTE: Take some time to look at nature this weekend. Nature illustrates Biblical truths. I’ve written 2 books that show us many examples of how that works.

https://www.amazon.com/BIBLE-LESSONS-NATURE-Carolyn-Molica/dp/B0CQ8PQNVG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1577X8UQ3GH66&keywords=bible+lessons+in+nature+carolyn+molica&qid=1706387165&sprefix=bible+lessons+in+nature+carolyn+molica%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-1

 

THE UGLY PERIOD

THE UGLY PERIOD

My irises and tulips are going through their ugly period. Their flowers are gone, the leaves have turned sickly yellow or brown, and it looks like the plant is totally a mess. But it’s not. It’s just going through an ugly period. Some of us look at old grammar school pictures or teen photos and cringe. We say, “I hate that picture of me,” or ”wow, that was a terrible time of my life.” But those were just ugly times, and  everyone has them. But with Jesus, we understand that the ugly times can definitely change just like with the flowers.  

 

Did you know that when tulips, irises, and other bulb plants die back, they eventually lose all their leaves, and even though it looks like they’ve disappeared, what really happens is that the old flowers dry up. The leaves die, and all the good nutrients go back down into the bulb to make it richer and stronger for the next growing season. It’s similar to our spiritual growth.

 

It feels like ugly times when we do things that we know aren’t right. But we can let them die by repenting of them. Sometimes, it’s hard to admit we’re wrong. But when we do, the ugly leaves fall off, and the bulb of Christ in us just gets stronger and bigger inside us, and the beauty of it is that we get more beautiful on the outside too.

 

Colossians 3: 5, 8, and 9 tell us to “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Also, put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”

 

We can choose to mortify (kill) all these bad parts and know that by doing so, we will get stronger in Christ.

 

God created the irises and tulips to let themselves die, so they can grow back and live even more fully. God also created within us the ability to understand and operate what the tulips do—make our bad parts die, so the good parts can be even more spectacular afterward.

 

Like the beautiful tulips and irises, we all have times when we shine and times when we’re kind of ugly. But even when we’re ugly, God sees inside us that we are stunning. He helps us through the ugly times so that we’re able to be even more magnificent afterward.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

OUR NEW NORMAL

OUR NEW NORMAL

Several years ago, when I was doing some painting for my sculptor friend (that’s me on the upper left), he asked me to paint on the figure’s hand. But I wanted to finish what I was painting on the leg. My rebellious nature wanted me to argue and give the reason why my idea was better. But I didn’t say anything because something in me had changed. That rebellious nature I’ve exhibited since childhood had dissipated and I watched myself take on a much humbler and more yielding attitude. It’s like being outside myself looking at a different person. The old carnal nature goes, and Jesus gives me a better way to react. Sometimes I hardly recognize my new normal.

 

Unfortunately, my first response too often is still a “knee-jerk” negative, but anyone who knows me knows that if they just wait a minute or two, my true spiritual nature kicks in and my response turns positive. It’s my genuine new normal.

 

Only Jesus Christ could make that change in me so remarkable and permanent.

 

I was a rebellious child, an even more rebellious teenager, and it continued in my personality over the years. I think most people have issues with rebellion of one sort or another. It’s because rebellion was inherited from the first man, Adam, and it was passed down through generations in the blood.

 

But the birth of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, changed the nature of human blood for those who receive Him: “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life]” (1 Cor. 15:45).

 

Once Jesus was born, there was one man with an uncontaminated, non-rebellious nature in His blood. That is a big deal; no wonder a multitude of angels showed up and were rejoicing at His birth: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men’” (Luke 2:13-14).

 

New blood and consequently a new nature was introduced on Earth. Jesus didn’t get His blood from His mother, Mary, but from God. Jesus’ blood was not prone to disobedience, rebellion, pride, or other human failings.

 

When people get born again, they receive that new nature of Jesus. There are at least 19 million cells in one square inch of skin, and each one is affected by DNA and blood. The pure lifeblood of Jesus impacts every cell in us.

 

The old nature begins to fade, and Jesus’ nature takes over. Some things may change immediately; others take time, but they will happen when we keep seeking the changes only He can produce.

 

Jesus’ meek nature was working in my blood for years until it just suddenly popped out as the new true me, and I’m so much happier now.

 

Jesus says this about being faithful: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:23).

 

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). He knows that if we continue to love Him, the gift of His son Jesus Christ will continue to bless us and change our very natures to be more like His.

 

Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

 

The word “glory,” that we change into is translated from the Greek word “doxa” which means “magnificence, majesty, brightness, personal excellency, dignity, and grace.” When we continue to read the Bible and apply it to our lives, we change from glory to glory, sometimes instantly and sometimes over a period of time.

 

God created us, every human being, with the ability to assimilate the spirit and nature of Jesus Christ into ourselves. We hopefully are willing to let God’s Holy Spirit filtrate throughout our bodies, minds, and emotions. The Spirit of Christ in us (Col. 1:27) can change us into the new and better version of us. We don’t want to ever give up on reading the Bible, praying, and doing our best to communicate with the Lord often. Stay faithful, because like me with the disappearance of a huge rebellious nature, we never know when those good changes will show ups and we become a new person in our habits with the new normal of the Christ within us.

 

Love, Carolyn

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

 

WELLS OF LIVING WATER

WELLS OF LIVING WATER

I was involved in a Bible group for several years until it became spiritually corrupted. I knew I had to leave it behind, but what to do next? At first, I felt at a bit of a loss, but after a while, I recognized I’d been given a gift of free time to get closer in my relationship with the Lord alone. I didn’t want to immediately jump into another Bible organization, but rather, to explore my personal relationship with God, through Bible reading and prayer. But I had a bit of a dilemma.

 

In 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 we’re told: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” And Ephesians 4:25 tells us: “We are members one of another.” So how was I going to stay away from another organized church denomination, yet remain an active part of the body of Christ and continue to receive the living water Jesus promised? And my journey began.

 

In Genesis 25, God shows us, through the life of Isaac, a real-life way to take this life journey.  In Genesis 25:11 He tells us Isaac was settled near Beer-Lahairoi (“the well of the Living One who sees me”). He was there for quite a while, raised his sons there, and had a good life. But then “there was a famine in the land” (Gen. 26:1). And that was the beginning of his next journey.

 

No matter where we are on our spiritual journey, we all have felt the famine a time or two. It’s when we feel we are lacking something necessary for the abundant life God promises us in the Bible. We may feel we don’t know enough about healing; we don’t have the skills to deliver people from demons; we don’t have the loving human relationships we seek. We’ve all been there. When famine hit Isaac, he knew he had to move on. He trusted God. He needed to find a new well for his life. One of the great keys to walking by the Spirit is truly walking out on a limb in trusting God, and not automatically going where others have gone.

 

When Isaac’s father, Abraham, found himself in a famine, he went to Egypt, so Isaac would have thought to do the same. But God told Isaac differently: “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of” (Gen. 26:2).

 

We have Holy Spirit in us, and if we are willing to be led by God’s spirit, rather than our own will, He will show us where to go physically, like with Isaac, or as in these days, traveling the highways of the internet.

 

Isaac had a big need, but his journey with God was different from Abraham’s. When you listen to different Bible people on the internet, or you try out different church groups, the Holy Spirit within you will resonate with some and not others. We need to test it out as quickly as we can, so we don’t waste time with preachers and teachers that are not part of our path right now.

 

God told Isaac to go to where the Philistines were, in Gerar, which was North, the opposite direction from Egypt. He went, and he prospered. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds and great store of husbandry: and the Philistines envied him: (Gen. 26:12-14).

 

Isaac prospered in Gerar, but now he was met with another type of famine. The people around him were not favorably responding to him anymore. It became time for him to move on. He had a big need for water for all the people and animals who relied on him. He tried to dig in the old wells, but “the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth” (v.15).

 

Then Isaac found what he thought was a great well of water. “And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of springing water” (v. 19). “Springing water” is “living water.” Verse 20 says: “And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, ‘The water is ours.’”  Isaac had to keep moving.

 

This part of the story is so amazing and pertinent. Isaac found living water, good water, and others said it was theirs. He called the well, “Esek,” because there was contention there. It wasn’t for him at this time. So, he kept looking. He dug another well, and again, it wasn’t good for him. Then he dug another well, and the Philistines finally let him be. It was good for the time being, but the journey continued. Eventually, Isaac left the wells in Phillistine, and he went East to Beersheba and dug a new well, where he stayed and prospered.

 

When we feel like we are in any kind of spiritual famine, we need to keep moving until we find something that truly resonates with our Spirit, something that feels totally right. We check it out with God and test it. Then if it doesn’t really resonate in our heart, and if it’s not giving us the living water we need, we mustbe willing to move on.

 

One of the great things about the story of Isaac and the Philistines is that after Isaac moved to his well in Beersheba, the Philistines came to him.

 

“And Isaac said unto them, ‘Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have sent me away from you?’ And they said, ‘We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, ‘Let there be now an oath betwixt us.’” (vv. 27-28). And he [Isaac] made then a feast, and they did eat and drink” (v. 30).

 

Walking by the spirit of God is a marvelous journey. Let’s be sensitive to where we are on the journey and sensitive to the Lord’s urging to move on if need be. Let’s not criticize others on their journey or doubt our own. Instead of getting mad or disappointed with others who aren’t on our same journey, let’s let God play it out and let’s be willing to feast with all the body of Christ in the end, (or along the journey, any time we can.)

 

Our individual journeys may take many turns, and like Isaac, we’re not afraid if a well dries up. We never quite know where Jesus, who is the living water, will lead us. We trust and we follow.

 

As a side note: Why do you think we find so often in the Bible that our God is called “The father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”? What is it with each of these men that God is showing us? And it’s not just their genealogy.   

 

Love, Carolyn