"The God Who Speaks" - June 2008

Dear God-listener,

A fairly brief note for now. I just want to encourage you with a Scripture from John 3, where John the Baptist says:

"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:29-30).

No matter how well or how poorly we actually hear the voice of God, the "friend of the Bridegroom (Jesus)" is the one who simply waits and listens for him... even I can do that. And then when we finally do hear him, we are filled with joy!

A simple listening prayer question for this month would be to ask:

"Lord, I want to be your friend. Tell me more about friendship. What is it to be your friend? What is it for you to be my friend?"

When I asked him about that, the first thing I heard was that for friends of Jesus, obedience to the Father trumps everything else, as it did for Jesus. I'd sure like to get there.

For some additional readings this month, I've written three brief articles for www.clarion-journal.ca that you can weigh carefully. They are:

"Follow your heart! Really?" -- by Brad Jersak
"Unconditional love. Really?" -- by Brad Jersak
"On crucifying the prophetic ego" -- by Brad Jersak

Also, I have a favour to ask. When I visit churches, I always intend to let people know how to sign up for the newsletter but then I almost always forget. If I have been at your church and forgot to do that, would you mind checking with your pastor about whether it would be okay to remind people through your church bulletin that they can still sign up at www.bradjersak.com. No pressure--just an invitation.

blessings,

Brad Jersak