Exemplify Sample

Listen To Him

The final ingredient that I want to give you in this reading plan and in our journey to exemplifying Christ is to listen to him. When preparing to write this final day the Lord laid on my heart to have someone I have tried to be an example for write this final day, my younger sister Jameka Danielle Anderson. I hope you enjoy, this will not be the last you hear from her. 

I’m reminded of the story of blind Bartimaeus. I know you are thinking, what does this story have to do with Listening to Christ? But there are important lessons to learn from this story. 

Here is a blind man, and many of us our blinded by our various trials and tribulations. We often times lose sight of who we really are and how powerful our God is. We feel we cannot see how God could ever deliver us. In Mark 10: 47, it says “when he had HEARD that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout”. This portion of the story is so important because while he was blind he relied on his other senses and was able to hear that Jesus was close, thus deliverance was near. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, so then we have power to change our lives and others only if we hear him through his word. 

The trick is to learn to hear him above the voice of the crowd. Once Bartimaeus heard Jesus he shouted, but then the crowd rebuked him and tried to silence him. He could’ve began to sulk and shrink back into the crowd, instead he decided to shout even louder. He knew that even when he couldn’t see, he heard from he whom he put his faith and trust in – he heard Jesus. This is important because we know we have to live by faith or live out our faith. Thus when things seems to be the worst, we must always respond in faith. When the doctors told me that my heart condition had gotten so bad that I would have to get a heart Pump/LVAD and then work to get on the transplant list. I was blinded by the gravity of what the report, but then I heard God speak to me through the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace won on him, and then the real good news that by his stripes we are healed”. I had to learn to hear God even in what I initially perceived to be bad news. God had moved through technology and skilled medical professionals and offered a way through modern medicine for me to as it says in Psalms 118:17, “I shall not die, but live, AND declare the works of the Lord”. In Christ there is no such thing as bad news, because no news can supersede God’s will. Which is why he is constantly working things together for our good. In all things and everyday exemplify Christ, defy the crowd like Bartimaeus and hear your way through to your healing through the voice and promises of our Lord. 

Prayer Starter: God we come to you praising and worshipping you for all that you have done. We thank you for both the example and sacrifice of your only son so that we may live an abundant life. I ask that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to exemplify Christ in our everyday lives. Help us to be lighthouses that draw people to the safety in your arms. You said that your sheep know your voice and will not go after another, and I ask that you continue to reveal to us how to have confidence in hearing your voice. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.