Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Week 1: Listening to the Good Shepherd

The Great I AM’s Words of Life

Week 1, Day 6

In John 10, we have seen two of the self-proclaimed I AM
descriptions of Jesus: the Good Shepherd and the gate for the sheep. Today, we will listen to the other I AM descriptions of Jesus in the book of John.
• Read through each section of Scripture three times.
• Take a moment to reflect and meditate on each one.
• Draw something to the side of each of these verses as a reminder of that characteristic of Jesus, the Good Shep-herd.
• Select one of the verses to write out on a notecard, or to set as a reminder on your phone.

Week 2: Listening to the Creator

The Heavens Declare...

Week 2, Day 1

Psalm 19:1 (ESV)
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
The booming voice of a thunderstorm, the promise in a rainbow, the majesty in the mountains, the babbling of a brook. The authority of a lion’s roar, the chirping of a cricket, the silent flutter of a butterfly’s wings, the dancing birds in spring. The gentle falling of snowflakes, the powerful crashing of waves, the colorful transformation of leaves in fall, and the purple and orange hues in a sunset. God’s voice cries out through these and many more facets of nature.
What aspect of nature most speaks to you?

What does God say through that demonstration of His creativity?

The complexity of the creation demands a Creator. Through creation, we are drawn into relationship with and appreciation of our Creator. If there is a specific time in which you felt especially close to God through nature, reflect on that time and remember the truths you learned about Him through that experience.

Whether you live in a big city or a small town, take a moment today to commune with God through nature. You can look up at the stars tonight, take a lunch break outside under a tree, go for a walk, or watch the rain fall against the window. What is the Creator saying to you today? And how can you share that with others?

Luke 19:40 (ESV)
He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Additional notes, drawings, or thoughts from listening to the Creator today:

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

 This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 2: Listening to the Creator

The Potter Creates a Masterpiece

Week 2, Day 4

The Creator is not done yet. The following poem was a simple song I learned as a child in Sunday school. I encourage you to reflect on the words of that poem and the verse below as you color, or draw on the next page, the Potter’s hand.

“He’s still working on me,
To make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be...
For He’s still working on me.”

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

 This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 2: Listening to the Creator

The Still, Small Voice

Week 2, Day 6

We listen for what we want to hear. But what happens when the message is presented differently than we expected? This happened to Elijah when he was hiding out in a cave. He was depressed and discouraged because Jezebel was chasing him—he was running for his life. And this cave-hiding moment happened right after he had witnessed God’s demonstration of power against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40).

Read 1 Kings 19:9-18.
A low whisper; a sound; a thin silence; a still, small voice.
Translators have wrestled with how to interpret the voice and presence of God that day. Whatever it was, however Elijah might best describe it, he knew that God was speaking to him. And after all that had occurred in recent days and the running he had done, he was finally ready to listen.

Instead of focusing on what God said to Elijah that day, we are going to follow his example and listen to the Creator through silence.
Spend at least 5 minutes in total silence. Set a timer so that you aren’t focused on how much time is left. Your thoughts, your family, and other distractions may make this a difficult exercise. But every time the “noise” threatens, repeat, “I am listening to the still, small voice.” I will share no more thoughts and give no more direction for today’s listening practice. I, too, am listening to the still, small voice.

Notes, drawings, or thoughts from listening to the still, small voice of the Creator:

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

 This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 5: Listening to the Spirit

Too Busy to Listen

Week 5, Day 5

I seem to never have time to do many of the things that are important to me. There are only 24 hours in a day, and I can fill them up quickly. Sometimes, my day is filled with all the right priorities. Other days, Netflix draws me into one more episode, scrolling through Facebook takes a twenty-minute chunk out of my day... my “too busy to listen” is really an excuse—an inaccurate description of my day because I have gotten lost in things that are not my highest priority. What is your excuse?

Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Making sure God is the highest priority in our time, in our relationships, and in our listening is tough. It doesn’t happen without effort and intentionality. Listening requires discipline. It is like a muscle we must exercise. And when we don’t practice our listening exercises, our spiritual muscles weaken and we have to work harder again to re-learn to listen. During week 2, we practiced listening in silence. You were asked to sit still for five minutes and listen. When other thoughts creeped in, we repeated the phrase, “I’m listening to the still, small voice.” 

Today, we are going to use a similar practice throughout the entire day, inspired by Mary, Martha’s sister, who “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” (Lk. 10:39, ESV). (For those with physical limitations, you can create a modified version of this listening exercise.) Three different times today, sit on the floor for at least two minutes at a time, and picture yourself at the Lord’s feet, listening. Invite the Spirit to speak to you through quiet reflection, reminding you of truth from the verses we have read together this week, or other scripture on which you are meditating. Remembering is one of the Spirit’s special roles. We are going to invite Him to help us remember today.

At least three times today, we are going to intentionally pause to listen and remember.
Listen to His voice.
Remember His truths in Scripture.
Listen in silence.
Remember the countless blessings.

Additional notes, thoughts, or drawings from listening to the Spirit today:

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 6: Listening through the five senses

Touch and Hear His Goodness

Week 6, Day 5

Listening through touch is a bit more challenging for us to put into practice through these 40 days of devotion. However, I want to invite you to put on your thinking cap. Put on your listening ears. It is a physical act that mirrors our spiritual invitation. We are commanded to love with heart, soul, mind and strength (Matt. 22:36-40). And this means listening with heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Run your finger over your ears, noticing the detail with which God made the unique folds and bends in the cartilage. No two ears are alike. And while the ears on the outside of our head help us filter the sound, that is not where the listening takes place. The sound travels through the ear canal and vibrates the small bones and membrane, sending signals to our brain, which we interpret into speech and sound. As our final listening exercise, through writing or drawing, we will use the sense of touch as a reminder that we have been “Called to Listen.” We will renew our commitment to listen to our Master and our devotion to Him.

On the first ear (left): Write or draw the things you have heard from God and reminders of how He speaks to you personally.

For the second ear (right):
In the curve of the ear, write out the phrase “Speak, for your servant is listening”(1 Sam. 3:10b). And add a piercing to the drawing, in representation of the passage in Exodus 21:5-6 (NIV) and our renewed devotion to the Master.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our websiteand invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 6: Listening through the five senses

Watch and Listen

Week 6, Day 2

What do you see when you intently listen to someone? You may be looking them in the eye, but you are also taking in social cues from their body language. When I listen to God through Scripture, I read the words on the page and my eyes process the message I have been called to hear. And when I see something that captures my attention, I am drawn to it, as an invitation to listen.

Moses was called to listen by first seeing what God had put before him.
Exodus 3:1-6 (NIV)
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

What do you notice as the sequence and relationship between seeing and listening in this story?

We can also describe it as the difference between active and passive listening. When we are actively striving to listen, we will be paying full attention to what God is saying. We will approach Him to listen and respond, sometimes based on what we have seen. Are you watching to listen?

How has God spoken to you through what you have seen? Or how you have observed God working in your life or in the lives of others?

What did God say when you watched and listened?

The more we watch, and the more we listen, the more ready we are to hear Him clearly the next time! I’m honored to watch and listen together with you through these listening exercises.

Additional notes, thoughts, or drawings from listening by watching:

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 6: Listening through the five senses

We are Always Listening to Something

Week 6, Day 3

My dad was plagued with a severe ear infection that suddenly and without warning turned into meningitis, sepsis, and pneumonia. He was in the hospital for a week, and then continued on IV antibiotics for ten days. During that time, and for a few more weeks following, his right ear was totally blocked. Since he could hear no outside noise, his brain filled in the gap by providing its own soundtrack.
For about a month, dad heard full orchestral music, big band music, and an occasional oldie from back in the day. The song he always came back to was Rhapsody in Blue by George Gersh-win—a great song and a classic, catchy tune. We joked that it was a good thing he only listened to good music because what he “heard” during that time came from his brain, not from the sound waves we use in order to normally process sound.

As I reflected on this phenomenon, I realized, we are always listening to something, even if it is just the voice in our own head. There is no such thing as total silence. If we are in a quiet envi-ronment, our brains will compensate and our thoughts will bring their own “noise” to the moment.

Today, we will listen through our sense of hearing, but we will listen through silence.
Psalm 62:1-2, 5-8 (ESV)
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

Habakkuk 2:20 (ESV)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.

Revelation 8:1 (ESV)
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

We have become more practiced at listening through silence... I challenge you to listen for a half hour in silence. Picture yourself entering His holy temple and keeping silence before Him during that time. You may even sing the song inspired by the verse in Habakkuk, as you enter into the time of silence.

Additional notes, thoughts, or drawings from listening through the sense of hearing:

We would love to hear from you! Please share with us what you are hearing and how you are growing in your devotion to listening.

This blog post is taken from the book Called to Listen: Forty Days of Devotion. To order a copy of this book, please visit our website and invite a friend to participate in the study with you. The book includes additional guides and questions to be reviewed in a small group context weekly.

Week 1: Listening to the Good Shepherd

Week 1, Day 2

What the Good Shepherd Wants to Say

Yesterday, we introduced the importance of knowing the voice of the Good Shepherd. But how can we hear His voice? And even if we hear it, are we listening?
Psalm 23 illustrates the heart of the Good Shepherd as com-forter, guide, protector, and provider.

Read Psalm 23 (ESV) below and underline the portions of this psalm that most speak to your heart today. Read it more than one time and in more than one version.