How Do You Hear God Speak?
Do you feel like God doesn’t speak to people? Or do you wonder if it is just something from Bible times?
Well, I learned a new phrase today - Sacred Echoes. It’s a phrase that explains what has been happening for me this week, and it’s only Thursday!
Usually, when I hear the same idea more than once within a few days, I accept that God is trying to hit me over the head with an idea. And when I say ‘hit,’ I don’t mean it in a bad way.
I mean that God is trying to speak to me! He is trying to get a message across, and He knows that I can be a bit dense and need to hear things multiple times if I am going to take notice.
Stick with me! You’ll see how God is showing me that only He can truly nourish us, that Jesus is the ultimate gift, and that He wants unity for us!
Sunday’s Message - The Box and The Bread
You may not get to church on Sundays, but my family usually does. I am sad when we have to miss it. This week, just so I wouldn’t miss the service in person (versus online), I needed to give my six-year-old EVEN MORE SCREEN TIME and earbuds. Let me tell you - it was worth it!
First off, Praise and Worship is my jam. It’s one of my happy places.
The lights get dimmed just a bit, I can sway and sing, and talk to God through the music.
Then came the lesson on John 6. If you want to listen, then check it out here. So our pastor often starts his teaching off with a story. Who doesn’t like a fun story, right? It's super relatable for me because my 8 and 6-year-old sons still do this sometimes.
He shares about how his kids used to open up Christmas presents. They would tear off the wrapping paper, make an exclamation of excitement, and then run off to play with the box rather than the actual gift.
So what does this have to do with Jesus?
I am going to answer that, but not just yet. This comes up again on Tuesday.
The lesson continues - this time with a strange kind of statement from our pastor.
When you eat, do you chew the food and then spit it out?
No! That would be weird and kind of gross!
I agree. What’s the point of chewing the food if you aren’t going to swallow it? I understand that you might take a big bite of chocolate cake and then remember what the scale said that morning, but you have already committed! Swallow that bite! Food is meant to nourish, and you need to eat it for that to happen! Alright, so this weird statement makes more sense once you look at the second half of the chapter. If you have a Bible, then check out John 6:25 - 59. These verses are all about how Jesus says He is the Bread of Life.
The Bible is so full of metaphors, and I love that because I used to be a Secondary English teacher. ♥️ Jesus used them a lot - they were part of His teaching style.
When you read the words of God in the Bible, you are nourishing your soul!
There are entire industries based around caring for your mind and body, but did you know that there is something super simple that you can do to care for your soul? Reading a little bit of the Bible each day will feed you in a way like nothing from this World ever could.
Monday’s Message - Unity
And so the week continues. 😃
This year, I have the luxury of two kids both in school all day! What does that mean? It means I have a quiet house. And I do not mean that in a bad way! If you know my kids, then you know they are loud and busy. With the quiet hours, I can now work from home through Blessed Words Copywriting, volunteer, attend BSF, and listen to great Christian podcasts while I am doing chores! Jennie Allen’s Made For This podcast always has interesting topics or guest speakers. This week I heard about her upcoming GLOBAL event called Gather25. So, I have never attended one of her IF Gatherings, but the one she has planned for 2025 is going to be way different. She has a heart for creating UNITY among Christians all over the world.
I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church.
Then there were a lot of years of no connection to God.
In my 20s I attended a Presbyterian church - just because I wanted to be in their choir.
In my 30s I attended a non-denominational Christian Church and then a Baptist one.
Today, in my 40s, I am attending another non-denominational Christian Church. I picked this one because I could see its teachings and messages come from the Bible.
I say all of this just to share that I have exposed myself to different approaches to Christian faith. And that is probably what has led me to be who I am today.
I love the idea that Jennie Allen and her team are spearheading an event that will connect Christians from all denominations and all countries to UNIFY us!
Tuesday’s Message - The Box (Explained)
Another Day. Another Lesson.
Volunteering around your community is amazing! I say that, in part, because I am just beginning to serve at The Christian Help Center. God used one of the leaders in this organization to start a round of Sacred Echoes, also known as ‘Hitting Melissa as Hard as Possible’ so she can learn a beautiful lesson! 😉
Do you remember the story about The Box? Well, the introductory story that started this week’s round of recurring messages came full circle on Tuesday. Turns out, Jim at The Christian Help Center heard my pastor’s lesson on John 6 as well! He took the idea of The Box - the one that your kids would rather play with than the expensive toy inside of it - and ran with it!
So let’s back up just a bit.
The first section of John 6 shares the day when Jesus feeds five thousand people using just five small barley loaves and two small fish. It’s the fourth sign that John records. After this sign, the Jews thought that Jesus must be the prophet or man who would come in and lead the Israelites back into a status of power and freedom from the Roman Empire. He wasn’t here for that - but that is what they were waiting for. The chapter continues from His feeding 5,000 people to the conversation of the Bread of Life.
See, the Jewish people who were following Jesus around and listening to Him teach were focused on their rich history through Moses. Their conversation with Jesus quickly connects back to Moses feeding the people with manna out in the desert.
Get ready for a metaphor because I’m gonna use one right now.
A box can hold things together, but it can also be very restricting if you are the one inside of it.
Ya see they loved The Box - or the laws that began with God’s rulings through Moses. They cherished these laws because they were part of their rich history and part of what set them apart from the people around them. When Jesus came, the laws that fit into that tidy Box didn’t mean as much anymore because He is the Bread of Life - the Way to a closer relationship with God.
Get this.
Jesus Is The Awesome Gift Inside The Box.
We don’t need the laws of the Jewish faith to show us our sin and separation from God.
We do, however, need to believe in Jesus’ power and identity to connect with God.
Don’t be the kid who opens a present and ignores the gift that is inside of it! Sure, a box is cool, but you know that the present itself is meant to bless you way more than the cardboard!
Wednesday’s Message - The Gift (Forget The Box), The Bread, and Unity!
I LOVE it once the week rolls around to Wednesday because that is the day I get to go to Bible Study Fellowship! Wednesday morning was a gray, rainy one. It was a downpour. I sat at the end of the driveway in the van with my kids so they wouldn’t be soaked by the time they got on the school bus! That kind of weather can send me into a mild depression, but the nasty weather this week didn’t keep me down. I drove the 40 minutes through rain and fog and vehicles that should have had their lights on with contentment! You know when you walk into a meeting or group of people and you’re already excited because you just know it’s gonna be good? That’s how I feel every Wednesday.
There is a hodgepodge group of women in our discussion group, and that is probably why we always have amazing conversations. We poured over the fact that Jesus prayed for us. He - The Gift - prayed for UNITY among His people!
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father” (John 17:20-21 NIV).
The unity that Jennie Allen’s upcoming global event is centered on came up in this verse, and it came up in five other instances in my notes from the previous week as well!
Sacred Echoes - Unity is coming if we embrace it!
Then I had to lean over and make sure I wasn’t losing my mind when the Lecturer said, “When you eat, do you chew the food?” What?! What are the chances of hearing that idea twice in a matter of four days? Really! She was driving home the point that you need to give God glory through your actions. Reading the Bible is a way to do that!
Sacred Echoes - Jesus is the Bread of Life; let the Bible nourish your soul!
Thursday’s Question - So now what?
This is an interesting week. I have a lot of highs, but I also have a lot of lows.
Smattered in between all of these awesome Ah-ha! Moments with God, I’ve had some rough moments with my kids.
I swore in front of the boys this week - thankfully the 6-year-old didn’t hear it.
I had to have a stern talk about bullying with the 8-year-old on Tuesday.
I yelled like I never have before just to make them listen to me like they do to their father.
So what do I do with the beauty that I think God has tried to hit me with?
I’m gonna keep nourishing my soul with The Bread. I’m gonna keep reading my Bible in the hopes that I see what God wants to show me. I’m gonna work on my self-control and anger. This Blessed Mum can’t do this alone though. I need the Holy Spirit, and I sure would appreciate your prayers.
And speaking of prayers, I want to share a line from my BSF John study. “When we pray continually, we live in continuous dependence on God and grow in fellowship with Him. What a profound privilege!” (BSF’s John Study, 316).
If the Bible is my Bread and Prayer is my Breath, then I really will be a Blessed Mum. My kids will be blessed too because when I fill myself with beautiful goodness, it is bound to ooze out onto them when I give them bedtime snuggles.