voice of God
Faith in the Word
By Linda Rex
March 9, 2025, 1st Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—Often our daily tasks arise out of a simple faith and trust that things are the way they are supposed to be, that people have done what they are supposed to do. Think about how often we do things in our everyday lives which involve faith in others or faith in things that others or ourselves have made. That daily dose of vitamins—who made it? Is it really safe for me to take? Does it really have the nutritional value it says it does?
Last time we talked about Jesus’ transfiguration, and the hidden glory we have as those who are made in God’s image and redeemed by our Lord Jesus. In spite of our best human efforts to live in the truth of who we are in Christ, we so often fail. We cannot trust in ourselves, for we are untrustworthy and undependable when it comes to our walk of faith.
On Ash Wednesday, which in 2025 is celebrated on March 5th, we begin the season of preparation for Easter. As we look forward to the events of Holy Week, we contemplate the reality of our need for Jesus’ redemptive work. In this season, we do not need to grovel or lament our wickedness, but rather, assume a clearheaded, frank assessment of how far we have fallen from all that God meant us to be as those who were created to be image-bearers of the Triune God. At the same time, we rest in Jesus’ redemptive work, which we look forward to celebrating during Holy Week. And we seek to open ourselves more fully to the Spirit’s work in us and our world.
Our New Testament passage for the first Sunday in this season is Romans 10:8–13. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul examines the human condition and sums this up by saying that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all, no matter our religious or cultural background, need salvation and redemption. We all need transformed, healed, and made whole. This is why Jesus came, to live our human life, die our human death, and rise again. And this is why Jesus sent the Spirit from the Father. The Spirit gives us all the graces of Jesus, the perfect human, so that we may live in right relationship with God and one another.
When we look at the human experience since the beginning of time through God’s eyes, we see that he has been reaching out to us and speaking to us in everyway possible. He has sought to tell us about and to show us his love. The divine Father, Son, and Spirit have spoken of their love and grace to us in many ways, including the glory of a double rainbow, spectacular sunsets, and the majesty of star-studded nebulae. But it is hard as humans to hear the voice of our God, for he doesn’t seem to speak our language.
In Hebrews 1:1–3, the author points out that God finally spoke to all of us through his Son, the One who is the exact representation of his nature—his true self. Jesus Christ is God’s final word to all of us as human beings. The apostle John uses the term “the Word” to describe Jesus in his divinity, long before he ever took on our humanity (John 1:1). Jesus, the Word of God, the wisdom of God—how profound is the realization that God would step into our world in the person of Jesus Christ to join us in our darkness, in order to bring us up into his divine light! Does this resonate in our soul? Do we hear God’s divine Word to us within? The Spirit resonates with our spirit, as the life of Christ within us, and enables us to hear the Word of our heavenly Father’s love and respond with Jesus’ own “Abba, Father.”
It is possible to read the Bible, hear the gospel stories, and memorize a zillion scriptures and still struggle to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We may say that we believe in God, some sort of God—but do we believe this God cares enough about you and me and this crazy old world that he would actually join us in our broken sinful flesh, becoming sin for us, so that we may become like him in his righteousness? Have we woken up to the spiritual reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the presence of the living Word, Jesus Christ, who lives in us?
When the Word of God, Jesus Christ, reveals himself to us by his Holy Spirit, we are never the same again. God’s Word to us about who we are, as the beloved children of our heavenly Father, and his Word to us about how we are to live, is written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Faith, then becomes real, substantial, and life-changing, as we respond to and trust in this living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives in us by the Spirit. As we hear and respond to the inner direction of the Spirit, that living Word who dwells within, we are transformed and healed. And as we allow that living Word to move, guide, and direct us, our world is changed for the better.
Heavenly Father, Jesus, Spirit, thank you for all you have done to bring us up into life with you in the Spirit. Forgive us for refusing to believe or trust in you, for closing our hearts to your Spirit. Please remove our deafness and enable us to hear your Word, and to respond to your love and grace with faithful obedience in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ” Romans 10:8–13 NASB
“Faith-righteousness announces that every definition of distance in time, space, or hostility has been cancelled. Faith says, ‘The Word is near you. It is as close to you as your voice and the conviction of your heart.” We publicly announce this message. Now your salvation is realized! Your own words echo God’s voice. The unveiling of the masterful act of Jesus forms the words in your mouth, inspired by the conviction in your heart that God indeed raised him from the dead. Heart-faith confirms the fact of mankind’s righteousness and ignites the kind of conversation consistent with salvation. Scripture declares that whosoever believes in Christ will not be ashamed to announce it. Nothing distinguishes the Jew from the Greek when it comes to the generosity of God. He responds with equal benevolence to everyone who sees themselves identified in him. Salvation is to understand that every person’s true identity is revealed in Christ.” Romans 10:8–13 Mirror Bible
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Keeper of the Anointed One
By Linda Rex
December 29, 2019, HOLY FAMILY—In recent years, specifically here in America but in other areas as well, there has been a lot of effort expended in an effort to lift women to a place of dignity and worth not previously experienced in society. Although I have been immensely blessed by the results of this effort and am very grateful for the efforts of those who have gone before me, I have been saddened to see that when we seek to rectify one problem, as is typical with us as humans, we tend to create another.
I’ve noticed that with the rise of the worth and dignity of women has come a demeaning and disrespect of men. Too often we have criticized and condemned as a whole this portion of the human race in our efforts to correct what has failed to be encouraged and supported in the other. I feel we have fallen into the trap of either/or thinking rather than understanding that God did not mean worth and dignity to be given to one in place of the other. He meant it to be given to both. Every human being is made in the image of God, and so is worthy of dignity and respect.
In the light of this, the reading for this Sunday tells us about events which happened after the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a twelve-day celebration which begins on December 25th, and included in this celebration is the Sunday we celebrate the Holy Family. The role that Joseph and Mary have to play in Jesus’ story is significant, and I believe there is much we can learn about how to be a man of God from the little bit we read in the gospels about Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather.
First, we need to understand that Joseph was living in a very patriarchal society. He was a Jew and he was bound by the requirements of the law as taught by his rabbis in the synagogue and the other Jewish leaders. He was a man of character and sought to live rightly before God. When he was betrothed to Mary and she told him she was expecting a child, his immediate thought was to put her away privately. This would have gone against the traditions of the elders, but he did not want to hurt or shame her unnecessarily. This showed a heart of grace and humility, and compassion.
When an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream, telling him to take Mary as his wife and that the child to be born to her was conceived by the Spirit and was to be called Jesus, Joseph had an important decision to make. This decision required an immense amount of faith—was this really a message from God? Did he believe that this is really what he should do? Apparently, he believed, and then acted on that belief.
How many men today take seriously the dreams they have? Would a man I met on the street, or even within the doors of my church, recognize when they had an angel of God speak to them? How many actually listen to and obey the voice of the Spirit? And how would they respond if they were asked to do something which would require this kind of humility, grace, and lifelong commitment? I have gotten to know some men over the years who I believe would, but I have also met and known many who would not.
What about when Joseph had a dream which told him to pick up his family and travel to Egypt on a moment’s notice because the king was searching for his child in order to kill him? If Joseph had not believed and obeyed this dream, they would have stayed at the house, and Jesus would have been killed. The faith and trust of Joseph, his willingness to listen to and be attentive to the voice of God, was critical in the survival of the Christ child.
In the same way today, we need men who are willing to slow down long enough to listen to and hear the voice of God. God’s Spirit speaks all the time, but often we are too busy or preoccupied to hear his voice. We are often too invested in the things of our flesh or in our daily occupations to do what the Spirit asks us to do. Women and children often long for the men in their lives to take the lead spiritually. They yearn to be able to rest in the knowledge that their spouse or parent is listening to God’s voice and following the lead of the Spirit. One of the best gifts a man can give the people in his life is a willingness and effort to listen to and follow the Holy Spirit.
I’m personally grateful for the many men I know who have a passion for the word of God and prayer, who are strong men of faith, who are humble and have servant hearts. They are compassionate and understanding, yet they diligently oppose anything which may harm others or create distress for those who cannot defend themselves. These men radiate a quiet, steady strength, and an ability to lead others merely by following the Spirit themselves.
We must not underestimate the power that a man has to impact the society around him simply by how he listens to and follows the voice of the Spirit. His capacity to humbly listen to and submit himself to the voice of the Spirit and to the needs of his family is critical. The admonition in Ephesians for a man to lay down his life as Jesus laid down his, if it were followed, would transform this society and our families today (Eph. 5:25-29).
Joseph had to care for his family, but uprooting them on a moment’s notice to move to an entirely different nation must have been a very difficult undertaking. And then, after a few years, he heard that voice again, telling him to return to his native land—King Herod, the one who wanted to kill Jesus, had died. Joseph was still concerned about the well-being of his family, so he took them to Nazareth to live. And this was where Jesus grew up.
We don’t read much about Joseph after this. We find him taking his family to Jerusalem for the holy days about the time of Jesus’ bar mitzvah. But after that, not much is said of him. But what we do know is that he fulfilled the calling God gave him, to be the keeper of the Anointed One, watching over him and protecting him as he grew up, and providing for him and his family.
What man today isn’t called to this same role? Maybe it’s not quite the same, since Jesus is not here on earth in his flesh right now. But the Holy Spirit was sent to dwell in human hearts, and we as human beings were meant to be the dwelling place of God himself. Jesus lives in each person as they trust him in faith. Just as he worked through Joseph, God calls men today to be keepers of the Anointed One, leading others in their lives by listening to and following the lead of the Spirit. God means for men to be image-bearers of the Divine One, caring for those in and with whom he has come to dwell.
Thank you, Abba, for giving us men of faith to lead us and watch over us. Continue to call to yourself the men in our lives, giving them a heart and will to listen to and obey your Spirit, to lead us by following you, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. … When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. … So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’” Matthew 2:13–15a, 19–21, 23 NASB
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