Stop Now, What's That Sound? Everyone Look What's Going Down

Jesus talking with the Pharisees and Sadducees.
You know these men who followed Jesus around wanted to trip him up so they could charge him with an offense and discredit the ministry.
They ask Jesus to show them a sign "from heaven".
Jesus asks them in Matthew 16:3 -
"Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?"

Jesus was basically saying, "Hey guys....look around and put it together with what you have been reading in Scripture." Jesus' very presence was the fulfillment of Scripture itself which was found throughout all the Old Testament. Yet they did not see it. There in black and white and there, standing in front of them, in the flesh and they did not see it or connect it.

I don't want to miss what God is doing.
In me....
In the things that God has called me to.....
and here in this age.
Is there a danger in all of this? Yes. We become "sign" hunters and we quit doing the things that Jesus called us to do. You know....those mundane things like feeding the poor, visiting the sick and afflicted, going to the jails and prisons. I kind of have the notion that I am to keep one eye watching for Jesus' return and the other eye on my daily life to make sure that I don't miss what God is doing. That I don't miss an opportunity to tell my story to someone. Someone out there today needs to hear your story. You may be thinking, "But Mike....we are to share the gospel..you know Bible verses....church stuff." Really? Did Jesus really say that? What I read is that in Acts 1:8, Jesus says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." We shall be "HIS" witnesses! Great..what does that mean? It means that, just like a witness in a court room, we tell only what we personally know. We don't get to embellish or even talk about what has happened to someone else. Get it? I tell my story of what God had done through me and to me. Sure I speak of Scripture to reveal the truth of God, and the focus of my words is not me.....but Jesus. It's just Jesus. It's just Jesus. That is my cry. I don't know much but I do know that everything pales when my focus is just Jesus.

If I can wrap my head around and give my heart to this idea that life is found in "Just Jesus", I might really find some peace. I don't need a Jesus PLUS relationship. Jesus plus something else...profits nothing. It's just Jesus! Me falling in love with Him through personal interaction. Me having a hunger that is satisfied in the reading and studying of the Word. My life is filled with Jesus. You know what? If your life is filled with Jesus, you don't have room for anything else.

You know how I recognized that something had truly happened to me with Jesus? I mean when the mental concept of Jesus became a heart knowledge and thought? I had been saved and was trying to navigate having  a daily walk with Jesus, I found myself in a local bookstore looking for something to read. There on the shelf was a new book by one of my most favorite authors. I reached for it and began to open it when the strangest thought came to my mind. "Put it back." Trying to discount the thought, I opened the book and began to read the inside cover. "Put it back." Somehow, I thought this might be God. I wasn't sure but I really  wanted to read this new book. "Put it back." Now I knew that I was being communicated with by God. I immediately went into a list of reasons why I needed to read the book. (isn't that what we do when we really don't want to obey? We try to reason with instead of simply obeying). "Put it back." The thought played over and over and faster and faster until I place the book back on the shelf.

I turned into a little whiny brat at the point.
"It's not fair."
"What harm can there be in me reading this book?"
The more reasons I came up with as to why I should just pick up that book and read it anyway, God came back with the best one....."Because I said so."  You see, the sign of the times for that day was God telling me to trust him, especially when I don't understand the "why" of it. The greatest discernment you can possess is a willing heart to hear God above the roar and din of your own fleshly appetite. Discerning the will of God especially in what we perceive to be the little things.
Thank you for letting me share this morning.

I want to let you know that I may have to start posting here on the Greene Street Letters a little later in the day. Please keep coming back and reading and, if you will, share your comments. Tell others about the Greene Street Letters.

God on you...
mb