There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak, Ecclesiastes 3 selected
Brothers and Sisters,
“Silence!”
“Stop. Be still. Be quiet. Rest.”
"Reign me in LORD! Slow down my breathing. Quiet my
heart. Capture my rampant thoughts! Rest me. It is so easy for me to hurry
through my day. Rest? Be still? That is not the way life shapes us. We are
technical junkies in a hurry to ‘connect’, solve, arrive, return, finish,
surpass, out do, rescind, accumulate, defend, store up, tear down and build
bigger and better. We want to win, be first, look better than we really are,
impress, and resoundingly succeed; all without really having to work too hard
to do it.
We do not want to die, be sick, or suffer in any way. We feel we
deserve health and wealth and peace and for God to bless whatever we decide is
God’s will for us and of course we want all the speed bumps removed.
Christianity is good, salvation is good. The trouble lies in what I am called
to beyond birth truths. It is the 'identification truths' that I ignore or remain willingly
ignorant about.
Stopping long enough to pray and study God’s word is a challenge
for most believers. And we know very little of stopping, resting, listening,
being still. Most know nothing of dying daily to our old sin nature, moment by
moment. So we serve God in the flesh, teach Sunday school in our strength, sing
in the choir, preach, head up service projects and serve in a myriad of ways
for a myriad of reasons; all the while wondering why everything is so hard and
why there is so little satisfaction or blessing in what we do. We selfishly
want God to bless our plans and our timing when He calls us to join Him in what
He is doing.
God says, “Be Still and
‘know’ I am God.”
I found powerful truths about "be still" in Psalm
46 “the
injunction ‘Be still’ is not in the
first place comfort to the harassed but a rebuke to a restless and turbulent
world: “Quiet!”-- in fact, ‘Leave off!’ It resembles the command to another
raging sea: ‘Peace! be still!’ Mark 4:39
Questions? Can we truly get to know God unless we exercise our
will, by choosing to do what is right rather than what is convenient or what we
‘feel’ like doing’? Will I hear the LORD call me if I never stop long enough to
‘leave off’ and be quiet? The new year is a great time to make a plan. Try journaling
your prayer requests and praises. Jot down what God is teaching you in His word
by His Spirit and expect change.
You may fall in love with with the Savior and His word
developing a hunger for Him. You will desire to come to Him, not out of duty but
out of hunger to know Him! This life and this world will grow less and less
attractive losing its hold on you. You will realize you are not home yet and
begin to identify with Christ’s death and the truth of your
death and resurrection with Him! Growing strong
in faith you will realize more and more ‘who’ you are in Christ. (Rom 6) His purposes will become your hearts
desire and heaven your true home.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for
him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their
wicked schemes. Psalm
37:7
Happily the Lord gave me a handful of ‘S’s for
New Year, 1 for each finger, beginning with my pinky!
1. Be silent ( Psalm 46:10, Habakkuk 2:20, Psalm 62:5 nas, Eph 4:29)
2. Be soft (Proverbs 15:1, 25:15) tone of voice,
don’t give into foolish and stupid arguments or defending my self).
3. Be sweet: merciful, forgiving, loving, and kind. Psalm
119:103, 19:10, Matthew 18:35, Colossians 3:12-13
4. Be a servant: Romans 12:11, Matthew 7:12
5. Be surrendered: Surrender to the Lord moment by moment requires death to
self and seeing ourselves alive in Christ. Ephesians 4:30, Colossians 3: 14-17
the other 4 depend on surrender and a desire to see Him glorified.
Humility is required in each of these
areas. I wrote these words on a 3x5, with a goal (as I find it presumptuous make
resolutions) to memorize the principle and scriptures for each one. I want God to
create in me all that will reflect Jesus. Being still and quiet is difficult
for me!
God saw my great need and had mercy on me. Jesus came to me when
I wasn't looking for Him, looked upon me when I was looking everywhere else,
and with a power and love that only He could employ, began to conquer my
selfishness, stubbornness, and sinfulness, turning my heart to Him.
Kirk Cameron
Namer of the stars, You who have the hairs of my head numbered,
teach me to be quiet in Your Presence that I might hear Your heart beat and be
clay in your hands. This world is not my home, I am just a passing through, my
treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from
heaven’s open door and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore! Thank You
LORD for coming! I look for You to come again…. In Jesus name amen.
Praying for each one! az
Ravi Zacharias states, “Beginning well is a momentary thing;
finishing well is a lifelong thing.”
email devotional: http://az-doveseye.blogspot.com/
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The Gospel (or Good News) message of Jesus Christ is so simple that it almost defies understanding. By evidenceofdesign| 1 video
