FROM PASTOR BEN:
The Weekly
I'm so glad you're here and look forward to connecting with you and sharing what God is teaching me each week. 

10

Epic Family,

I’m guessing there’s a lot of noise in your life right now. No, I don’t mean the sound of your neighbor above you who is exercising with too much intensity. And I’m not referring to the small children in your home that are causing you to introduce them to “The Quiet Game”. I am actually pointing out the noise that comes from having so many voices in our hearts, minds, and lives.

 

While I’m not suggesting we get rid of all the voices, I am convinced that most of us are allowing way too many people to speak into our lives. And if we don’t exercise self-control and healthy boundaries, we will end up confused, overwhelmed with information, and exhausted. But my greatest fear with us having too many voices in our lives? My greatest fear is that we will miss hearing the truest voice in our lives.

 

John 10:3-5 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

 

If we are going to orient our entire lives around Jesus, we must learn to hear His voice. When I hear the voice of a close friend, I automatically know who it is before I ever see them. The closer we get to Jesus, the more we will be able to recognize His voice. What daily practices do you have that help you get to know Jesus better? We already have daily practices that get other voices into our lives:

  • Reading or Watching the News
  • Spending Time on Social Media
  • Watching Movies and Television Shows
  • Spending Time with People in our Lives

Here are a couple of quotes from two of my favorite authors on the topic of the voices we allow to speak into our lives:

 

“It requires an enormous human effort to be and to stay in the world with its many demands while keeping our hearts and minds solidly anchored in God. The various disciplines of the spiritual life are meant for freedom and are reliable means for the creation of helpful boundaries in our lives within which God’s voice can be heard, God’s presence felt, and God’s guidance experienced.” - Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Formation

 

“The noise of the modern world makes us deaf to the voice of God, drowning out the one input we most need.” - John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

 

Here are 4 practices when it comes to the voices in our lives:

 

1. Silence - Try spending the first few minutes of your day in silence. Yes, this means not looking at your phone when you first wake up. Allow this time to center you on hearing God’s voice. To begin this time, you can help your heart, mind, and body, by saying something like this - “God, you are here. And God, I am here.”

 

2. Scripture - Even if you start with just a few minutes, have a plan that gets some Scripture into your life every single day. There are numerous plans to choose from. You can use the Youversion app to explore various plans. Regardless of how much you read, find the one or two truths that stand out most to you each day. Meditate on those sentences or phrases.

 

3. Limitations - There isn’t anything wrong with reading the news or even being active on social media. The problem comes when we allow ourselves to take in way too much from these sources. Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and we must develop this if we’re going to have boundaries on the voices in our lives. It’s been fascinating for me to learn that so many technologies today are essentially built to make us addicted to them. Have a plan for how you’ll limit your inputs and share that with someone else.

 

4. Fasting - There are times in our lives when we should completely fast from other sources. This could be caused by being completely overwhelmed by all of the noise. It could also be due to facing a major decision in life and you are desperate to hear God’s voice.

 

While there is so much more to be said about today’s topic, here’s the big idea: Do whatever you have to do to make sure God’s voice is the loudest and the clearest in your life.

 

As a church, may we hear the voice of Jesus and follow wherever He leads us. 

 

Much Love,

Pastor Ben

PS - Here’s a verse of Scripture my wife, Shauna, and I have prayed over our kids for years at night. I think it really goes with our theme of “Voices” today.  Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. 

 

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