Listen to our Father

Who is going to share your word with us. I

pray the Father God, we would open our hearts, our minds,

our spirit, soul to receive what you have for us.

Bless her, bless hear Father, God actually brings the word

in Jesus' name. Amen, good morning.

So today is our last message on the theme of

family matters, and the title of this morning's sermon is

listen to our Father, Our heavenly Father gave me a word,

actually for two of his daughters. I don't know whether

you're in the room, whether you're watching online or listening

to the podcast later. It's the same word for both

of you, although your situations are very different. I had

a picture of a beach and you're looking out to

see it's calm, there's a blue sky and gentle waves,

but the beach itself is very dirty. You've got to

get over a lot of seaweed and rubbish to get

to the sea, which is clean, and there's no straight path.

I believe that the Lord's saying I have plans and

purposes for you, but to you, it seems like the

rubbish is insurmountable to get to where you need and

want to be. You're not even sure how to go

about it. I'm telling you get up, take a step,

then another, then another. Don't look at the whole path

and allow the thought of the challenges to discourage you

from even trying. I'm not going to say that it'll

be easy all the way, but sometimes things change through prayer,

and sometimes I change you and enable you to deal

with what you didn't think you could do. What I'm

saying to you is in Isaiah sixty verse one. I'm

going to read from the English Standard version. That's Isaiah

sixty verse one. Arise, shine, for your light has come

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Arise,

shine in the amplified it says, be radiant with the

glory and brilliance of the Lord. This isn't something that

you have to manufacture. Your light has come, and the

glory and brilliance of the Lord has risen upon you.

Believe and receive it by faith. Don't wait until you

feel it. Get up by faith and take that first step.

Your light has come. Make this verse Isaiah sixty verse

one your life verse for this next season. What you

go to in your thought life as you consider what

lies ahead. When it comes to family matters. We really

need to listen to our heavenly Father, who is the

head of this family. Let's turn to Isaiah fifty one

versus one to tea. That's Isaiah fifty one versus one

to two, and I'm reading from the NIV. Listen to me,

you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord. Look

to the rock from which you are cut, and to

the quarry from which you were hewn. Look to Abraham,

your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When

I called him, he was only one man, and I

blessed him and made him many, so as I have

fifty one verse one. Listen to me, you who pursue

righteousness and who seek the Lord, Listen to me. We

can take different approaches to listening, can't we. We can

look like we're listening, even not in the right places,

but be somewhere completely different in our heads. Here, the

Hebrew word for listen means here intelligently, often with the

implication of listening attentively and obeying. It's an active verse,

telling us to actively respond to what the Lord is saying.

Who or what are we listening to or paying active

attention to? Is it helpful or not. Do we need

to refine our focus on God and his word to

ensure that we're giving priority to what he says. Listen

to me, you who pursue righteousness. The meaning of the

Hebrew word for pursue includes to run after hunt. It's

very focused. It reminds me of when I was a

child going upstairs in our house. If my middle sister

was behind me, the times she'd chase me up, smacking

my backside all the way. I learned to sprint up

those stairs, but it's hard to outrun and all the

sibling when you're a child. Trust me, she pursued me

up those stairs. She was very focused. Is there anything

that we need to do in order to pursue righteousness

with real focused attention. That's a question for each of

us to ask the Lord. In saying that, it's worth

remembering that according to two Corinthians five, verse twenty one,

we are the righteousness of Christ. In other words, we

are acceptable to God, who is holy and pure, as

well as love. I believe that Lord just wants me

to explain this by essentially saying what it says in

two Corinthians five, verse fifteen. Jesus died for all. He

took the punishment for all our sins. In other words,

everything we've ever done or will do that breaks the

law of love, that we should no longer live for ourselves,

but for Him who died for us and was raised again.

When we believe that and receive the truth of it

in our hearts in Jesus, we become the righteousness of God.

We become acceptable to our heavenly Father, approved by Him.

So back to Isaiah fifty one, verse one, Listen to me,

you who pursue righteousness. So how do we pursue? How

do we hunt in a really focused manner what we

already are? How do we read and understand this Old

Testament truth through the eyes of New Testament understanding by

meditating on what it means to be the righteousness of

Christ acceptable in God's sight, and what it means to

us personally, and allowing it to shape our thinking and

guide our behavior as I have fifty one one, Listen

to me, you who pursue righteousness, and who seek the Lord.

The Amplified says, who seek and inquire of the Lord,

we have the promise in the New Testament in James four,

verse eight, come near to God, and He will come

near to you. The point is if we do the above,

if we listen to God, pursue righteousness, and seek the Lord,

not necessarily perfectly. This is about a heart attitude. If

we do this, then the following message is for us.

Look to the rock from which you are cut, and

to the quarry from which you were hewn. We've been

cut from the rock of faith. To stand on the

rock who is our redeemer. Look to the rock from

which you are cut. This is about our spiritual dna.

Abraham is called the father of faith in Romans four

eleven to twelve. He believed, and it was credited to

him as righteousness. As it says in Romans four verse three,

I read this recently. Believing is much simpler than doubting.

Doubting brings in confusion and often depression. It causes us

to speak doubtful and negative things out of our mouths. Believing,

on the other hand, releases joy and leaves us free

to enjoy life whilst we trust God with our circumstances

and situations. In the Second Book of Samuel twenty one, David,

King of Israel, had to deal with various battles. At

the beginning of Samuel twenty two, David spoke these words

to the Lord. So to Samuel twenty two, in verses

two to three, he said, the Lord is my rock,

my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock

in whom I take refuge. Rocks provided shelter during sudden

storms and could be a place of safety when enemies

were coming against them. We too have to do with

various battles at different times. This is our God. He

is our rock, our shelter and place of safety. He

is the same yesterday, today, and forever, as it says

in Hebrews thirteen eight. Whilst this verse refers to Jesus,

Jesus is God. God is God, the Father, God the

Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit, like David prayed

in Psalm sixty one, verse two. Psalm sixty one, verse two,

when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock

that is higher than I. When my heart is overwhelmed,

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Are you weary, discouraged, or ready to give up? When

circumstances threatened to overwhelm you go straight to our God,

our Rock, who is higher than you are. We've been

cut from the rock of faith to stand on the

rock who is our redeemer, as I have fifty one

verse two. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah,

who gave you birth. When I called him, he was

only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.

God promised seventy five year old Abraham he would make

of him a great nation. That was in Genesis twelve

three and twenty five years later Isaac was born to

him and his ninety year old wife, Sarah. Abraham had

a long wait before the promise that God had made

him came to pass. Sarah had to deal with pain

and physical effort in birthing the dream that God had

for them. Birthing something, even that which has been ordained

by God can still involve painful labor, Waiting, pain, and

physical effort were all involved in birthing God's dream in

Abraham and Sarah's lives. I'm not saying that we will

always have to deal with all three, but if we

have to deal with any or all three of these,

it doesn't necessarily mean that God is not involved. It's

important that we don't allow the pain to cause us

a question if something is truly of the Lord, when

we know that we have a promise from him. Let's

not assume that God has forgotten us just because we

have to wait, or if we have to deal with

pain and or physical effort. As it says in Genesis

twenty eight fifteen, I am with you and will watch

over you wherever you go. I will not leave you.

Back to Isaiah fifty one, verse two, look to Abraham,

your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When

I called him, he was only one man, and I

blessed him and made him many. Abraham was God's choice.

Abraham didn't choose him, He chose Abraham. This same promise

to us is reiterated in John fifteen, verse sixteen, where

Jesus says, you did not choose me, but I chose you.

I'm conscious that there's more to this verse, and it's

really important not to take a verse or truth out

of context, because that can lead to a lot of misunderstanding. However,

in this instance, I believe that it's really important that

we understand this fundamental truth before looking at the rest

of the verse. Jesus said, you did not choose me,

but I chose you. This, in my opinion, is a

really helpful verse to counter the impact of any rejection

that you may have experienced or be experiencing. This is

the truth, God's truth that we can keep going back

to and spend as long as we need to thinking

about it, praying it, and saying it to ourselves. For example,

thank you, Loving Father God, Thank you Jesus. You chose me,

and I know that you never make mistakes and you

will never deselect me. I am chosen and not rejected.

Today I'm talking about listening to our heavenly Father, and

it's really important that we take his word on board,

that we believe him more than anyone else, because his

word is the truth and it will eternally be true

because his word is eternal, as it says in several places,

including one Peter one verse twenty five, John fifteen sixteen

says you did not choose me, but I chose you

and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit,

fruit that will last, and so that whatever you ask

in my name, the Father will give you. This is

the context which have included on principle here, although we

won't look into it now. Moving on to Isaiah forty one,

verse one. So Isaiah forty one, verse one, listen to

me in silence. I've read this verse often, and although

I'm not going to look at the context here, neither

am I adding or taking away from God's word in

doing so. God has spoken to me with just these

few words more than once. The main thing is to

ensure that we're not confusing or changing the meaning of

God's words when we don't consider the context. I remember

going to see some friends years ago when their three

girls were small, and I remember the dad telling us

that he was quite proud of himself because that morning,

at some point, all the girls had been talking at

the same time, and he thinks he thought that he'd

answered each one of them correctly. That's listening, and very

active listening, and a helpful skill as a parent, but

clearly not the same thing. There isn't the same focus

as listening in silence. Listening in silence is about focus,

in my opinion, as well as respect. I was reading

a novel recently and I like one particular quote. Sometimes

you say the most when you say nothing at all.

Silence can be both positive and negative. When it's positive,

it can be about active listening, paying full attention to

someone or something. It can be about resting and relaxing,

and it can be all the above at the same time.

But some people find silence difficult for different reasons. For example,

silence can be sulky, it can be angry. What are

we saying to the Lord when we're silent before him?

Is there anything that we need to repent of? If

there is, let me encourage you to ask God to

help you to repent and get on with it. We

need him. Silence isn't always comfortable, is it? Including silence

in the Lord's presence? Sometimes we think what's going on?

I once read trust was made for the dark times.

I think that's really powerful. When I was listening to

the Lord to prepare for today, I believe that he

gave me some more words for people. Again. I don't

know if you're in the room, if you're watching online

or listening to the podcast later, but one person is

going through severe mental and emotional challenges and finds it

very hard to listen in silence before the Lord because

inner peace has been elusive for so long. This changes today.

The Prince of Peace is visiting with you and will

blanket you with his holy spirit. He will comfit you

with his love. Zephaniah three seventeen says he will quiet

you with his love. He will silence the inner storm

so you can rest in his presence. To another person,

the Lord is saying, your soul is at rest in

my presence, but you're not sure which direction to go in.

Keep pushing doors. This may sound basic, and you may

be thinking, but I'm already doing that. What I'm saying

is that you're doing the right thing. Keep doing what

you're doing. I promise you that a door will open,

and it won't take long. It won't necessarily be a

dream come true, but more of a stepping stone, but

it will be a step in the right direction. I

am with you. I am your shepherd. You shall not

be in lack or in want. I'm going to finish

by looking briefly at a well known passage in John twelve.

So it's John twelve verses one to eight. John twelve

one to eight. Six days before the Passover, Jesus came

to bethany where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from

the dead. Here a dinner was given in jesus honor

Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the

table with him. Then Mary took a pint of pure nard,

an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus' feet and

wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was

filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of

his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,

why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to

the poor. It was worth the year's wages. He did

not say this because he cared about the poor, but

because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag,

he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Leave her alone, Jesus replied, it was intended that she

should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

You will always have the poor among you, but you

will not always have me. Martha served Jesus, Lazarus ate

with him, Mary worshiped Jesus extravagantly. We all have different

roles at different times. All these different roles were valid.

It's really important that we learned to listen to the

Holy Spirit and understand our part in any given situation.

It may feel like I've gone off topic, but I haven't.

This is the practical outworking of listening. It's about surrender

and obedience and not being concerned about what someone else

is doing, but each one of us doing what we're

supposed to be doing. Obviously, it's not about one role

for life either, although I'm sure Lazarus would have been

happy to eat with Jesus for the rest of his days.

This isn't about stressing or being anxious. In case you

get it wrong, It's about having a desire to serve

the Lord in whatever capacity you can do what you

can do. That doesn't mean always saying yes to people either.

It's about asking the Lord, listening to the Holy Spirit

within you, trusting him, and stepping out. God is big

enough to handle any mistakes that we may make. He

can even bring good out of them if we ask

him to. This is about serving the Lord with our hearts,

not striving for perfection. Let's do what's in front of

us to do and remember who we're serving, regardless of

how mundane a task may seem. John twelve, Verse three.

Mary took about a pint of pure nod and expensive perfume.

She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet

with her hair, and the house was filled with the

fragrance of the perfume. I believe the Lord is saying

to us, the fragrance of a surrendered heart is more

beautiful than nod to me. Check your heart. Let's look together.

Are you holding anything back from me? Is it anger?

Are you offended at someone or something? Forgiveness costs, but

unforgiveness costs so much more, especially when it's left to

develop into bitterness. Are you frustrated with yourself? Do you

think less of yourself than I do? You're precious and

made in my image. Let my grace settle on your

spirit and reveal to you what you really look like.

We can deal with any issues together if you need

to get wise counsel from an appropriate person, a trustworthy believer.

There's no shame in that. Different parts of my body

are designed to support other parts. Let my grace be

the loudest sound in your life. The word grace is charis,

and its meaning includes the divine influence upon the heart

and its reflection in life, including gratitude. As it says

in two Corinthians twelve, verse nine, My grace is sufficient

for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

There may be those who, like Judas in this passage,

object to your gift to me, the outworking of your surrender,

for different reasons, including how it may affect them. Don't

let that put you off. I'm in your corner. Let's

finish by going back to Isaiah forty one, verse one.

Listen to me in silence, and let's spend a few

minutes in silence before the Lord Holy Spirit. We welcome you.

Please help us to really listen to what you're saying

to each one of us. We want to give you

the sacrifice of a surrendered heart. Please help us.

Lord h.

Did you check out?

H m.

Hm hm h.

H m m.

M m h O.

Thank you, Father God for the gift of your presence.

Please help us to take hold of what you've said

to us. Thank you for your plan changing each one

of us from glory to glory. In Jesus' name, Amen,

and