Listen to Learn and Be Changed
- Listening Is the Primary Pathway of Personal Transformation
- God shapes us more through grace than striving, more through reception than toil.
- Listen well to those who are speaking.
- We cannot be formed by what we refuse to hear.
- “… Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak …” James 1:19 NIV
- Selective listening leaves us stuck and unchanged.
- Poor Listening Protects the False Self
- We often listen to confirm what we already believe.
- Defensive listening protects what we believe and resists exposure, correction, and growth.
- True listening requires humility and surrender.
- What we won’t hear determines where we won’t grow.
- “You will be ever hearing but never understanding…”
— Matthew 13:14–15
- Jesus Models Listening as Submission, Not Passivity
- Listening precedes clarity, authority, and fruitfulness.
- Jesus listened to the Father to align His actions.
- Listening is active alignment with God’s will.
- Listening Requires Slowing, Softening, and St...
Don't Be A Goldilocks!
When you hear someone speak or teach, do you consider who they are or just what they say? There can be merit in both approaches. Sometimes it is good to receive a message or an understanding from anyone – the content is critical. At other times it is important to consider the source … Are You Like Goldilocks? Do they know what they are talking about? Do they know how to do what they are teaching? Do they have experience in this area, or is their understanding based solely upon what they have read or heard?
When you really want to make changes or take new steps in life, you usually want to hear from those who have made the change and have walked in the direction you want to go. Their words carry weight.
But, what if their words seem difficult or require more change than you want to make – will you still listen?
Most people I know are like “Goldilocks;” they continue to search for insight until they find instruction that seems to feel just right. In certain circumstances, this is a valu...
Are You Thirsty?
How alive are you?
How abundant is your life experience in God?
The New Testament starts with the book of Matthew, but the first Gospel written was most likely the book of Mark. It reads, “The beginning of the Good News about Jesus …” It then starts with the ministry of the John the Baptist – the one who Isaiah prophesied would prepare people to receive Jesus, the Messiah.
John called everyone to repentance – to turn from their sinfulness – their self-referenced, self-promoting, self-protecting and self-justifying lives. John the Baptist proclaimed a new spiritual season in the Messiah that had two powerful stages:
1. Turn from sin and receive fresh forgiveness from God.
  Baptism (emersion) in water would be the sign of this spiritually cleansing reality.
2. Look for and be alert to the Promised One – Jesus, the Son of God.
  Baptism (emersion) in the Holy Spirit will be the reality of this new life.
As we consider Jesus, the eternal God-man, we need to consider the inauguration...
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