Squeakings of Mister Cute Bear

We believe that all 66 books of the Bible are God’s written Word – 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. That is a lot of words. But have you ever noticed that this written Word of God begins with a great deal of silence?

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2

Hovering silently, perhaps like a hawk looking down for its prey.

Later, in Acts 2, the same Spirit came roaring like a mighty wind to fill Jesus’ disciples – and God’s people spoke in many languages.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4

In the beginning, though, there was silence, as if to prepare for the work of creation. Then God spoke a few well-chosen words full of power: ” ‘Let there be…’ … and there was…”

At the end of each of those work days, when there was evening and there was morning each day, there were no more words until the next day.

There was silence.

If we reflect how God portrayed Himself in the few passages in Genesis and Acts, upon ourselves, how do we start off our day? or week?

I’m sure all of us have very busy schedules, let it be work or study or busy doing other stuff. My routine is basically: wake up, shower, go to work, come back from work, do a few chores, write a devotion like now and then sleep. How about you? Do you talk from morning till night and then half the night too> Or do you take time for silence?

For the benefit of some of us who don’t know the ministry I’m sort of in, we have this activity called “Solo Hour”, where basically we “politely force” participants to spend some time alone in the dark, without any distractions. That’s right! No distractions, no electronic gadgets: watches, phones, etc etc. in the dark, a time just you and God alone. However I feel that “Solo Hour” should not be only done when “politely forced”, BUT it should be enforced and instilled at least once in our daily lives!

In the previous devotion, where I wrote about “Practice and Repetition”, Christian disciplines should be repeated over and over again to beat it into the spiritual core of our lives. And thus we should always take some time for silence. In this time of silence combined with “Contemplative Prayer”, we will hear a few well-chosen words of God.

“Before we learn to talk with God, we first must learn to listen in silence.”

Have you ever heard of this phrase: “Contemplative praying” ? If not, contemplative praying is not something we do; it is simply being in God’s presence. What it means that it is simply a scenario where one stills all actions and thoughts, resting the soul in silence and patient waiting. Contemplative praying does not involve reading or analysis. Rather it involves a stilling of our active thoughts.

We are all surrounded by our busy-ness. Everywhere is rush here, rush there, go here, go there. Like school kids nowadays in Malaysia, they are surrounded with tuition, exams, homework, study. And us adults, we have family, ministry, work, clients, colleagues, old friends to visit and the list goes on and on. How often do we still ourselves? Stop all actions just to sit in the room, with the computer off, TV off, phone on silent and just think about the whole day, talk to God about it..??

This is where contemplative praying comes in. How contemplative praying is performed/done/conducted is: find a quiet place to be alone for 15 to 20 uninterrupted minutes. It is optional to set a timer so that thinking about how much time has elapsed does not become a distraction.Sit silently. When thoughts occur about the events of the day or anything else, acknowledge them and let them go. Sit quietly in the presence of God; your only expectation is that God is with you. As you practice contemplative praying, God may reveal a special meaning to you – but that would be an extraordinary gift, not a result of your struggling for it.

Since the stilling of our thoughts is very difficult in our hectic world, you may want to begin by choosing a sacred word ( such as “Jesus” or “mercy” ) as a sign that you are consenting to God’s presence and to whatever action God wants to take within you. When you find your thoughts wandering, return to attentiveness to God by repeating the word you have chosen. At the end of the time you have set apart, quietly thank God.

“He says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:10

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sister, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

Yesterday, the phrase “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” was brought up. Today it is being used again. Repetition is part of spiritual discipline. If we desire that our bodies and minds be renewed, we need practice and repetition. Then we’ll grow to live by God’s “good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Offering and sacrificing do not come easily. The apostle Paul knew this. Only because “God’s mercy” renewed him could he morph from a persecutor to a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ (in Acts 9). First, though, Paul waited in blindness for three days. Then he spent three years in Arabia and Damascus (Galatians 1:17-18). I’m sure Paul was unlearning persecution and practicing how to live for Christ and tell others about him. God’s discipling mercies were transforming him day by day.

As a believer in Christ, you want God’s mercies to change you – whether you have been a Christian all your life or you are just beginning to follow Jesus. Maybe one thing you’ll change is how you read the Bible. Do you open your Bible once in a while and read a little bit? Or do you read it daily?

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In all aspects of our lives, and also when we were young, we learn by doing. When I was young, my parents forced me to constantly and repetitively go over my times table over and over again (eg: 1 X 1 = 1, 2 X 2 = 4, etc etc). After many many hours of going through that, then only it sticks in our memory forever. I guess we need to take the principles of Mathematics and put them into our spiritual walk: to repetitively carry out the works of God, serve in ministry, minister to people, evangelize..the list goes on and on…but it all basically boils down to one thing: follow the path of Christ.

Another thing I remember is that when I didn’t do my Mathematics homework..or not do the repetitive exercises, I would be punished with a slash of the cane. So bringing that to our spiritual walk.. shouldn’t we be afraid of the Lord if we don’t follow the ways of Christ. It is true that there is no “physical representation of the slash of the cane”, but we should note that we are thankful for the mercies the Lord has granted stay of that.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”

So…how has God’s mercy worked in you? Have you offered yourself voluntarily and totally to God? If so, how often did you have to repeat that until you could do it well, as God wants you to?

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23

There’s a huge gap between recognizing you are helpless before God and knowing how to serve God perfectly. It’s the difference between fatal spiritual illness and the life you’ve always wanted to live. All of us live daily somewhere within that gap. We know we fall short of God’s glory, and yet, by the mercies and power of God, we can take steps to be transformed in our very being. We are on a journey that is changing our lives gradually, steadily.

For example, maybe once you had an uncontrollable temper. Now you manage mostly not to blow up at your spouse, children, parents, boss or employee. When you do get angry, you immediately apologize and go for several days or even weeks before flaring up again. If you experience things like that, you are following Christ. Some days you see him clearly. Other days you trip, stumble, and fall but you know Christ lifts you up and cleans you off again.

You are being spiritually transformed, gradually transforming like a caterpillar into a butterfly. You’re becoming a disciple of Jesus.

Disciples need disciplines. Throughout this round of daily devotional, I will be focusing on transforming by learning how Jesus lived a disciplined life so that his people – individuals and communities like you and me – can live that way also.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2