analyzing, I wrote it down right at that moment. Obviously then I had to ask about the content, although I already had a clue. I believe this post is something Father simply wants to remind us about. There won't likely be much here that you don't already know, but instead it will be more of an encouragement to do more of what we may not be regularly practicing as we should. In this last hour, I can say with all my heart, this topic of silence is not only something we need to grow, it is something we must have to stay in our Father's perfect will as we begin down the final stretch towards Home! Yesterday evening I was listening to a teacher talk about clearly hearing the voice of our Heavenly Father, and in less than 15 minutes he had shared some incredible simple points. Can you guess one of the points? Of course... silence. This is a topic I feel am only able to write about because it's something Father has been teaching me for many years in His great long-suffering -- and that's because this does not come easy for me!! I have always struggled to rest, be quiet, and mostly be still in both body and mind. I come from a family of busyness, productivity, and an inability to just rest and be; and so yes, I was born this way! Because of this, I have continually prayed, studied, listened, and sought Father about how to finally master this. I feel such an urgency about this, because again as I stated above, I believe hearing our Shepherd in this late hour is absolutely critical in order to know His will, His way, and His desires for us personally. We cannot afford to mistake his voice for another. I thought to look up where this "moment of silence" concept came from that we see played out in our world today, which is typically done when we honor someone who has passed or to pay respects to the sorrow of a national tragedy or unfortunate event. Obviously I found that this is an act to basically "honor the dead", but it is interesting what I found out about its spiritual origin. Wikipedia states, "Quakers have practiced silent worship for more than 300 years, believing that all people have the light of God within and that no priestly intercession is needed for the divine to speak. Silent worship in Quaker meetings is seldom entirely silent, and individuals speak as they are moved by the spirit." So there we go... definitely founded in Christian spirituality as we suspected! Isn't it something that in the worldly sense silence is now given to the dead as a sign of honor and respect, but in the spiritual sense, it is a way to show honor and and respect our Living God so He may speak and move??! Notice that the Quaker meetings were "seldom entirely quiet"... this is because the silence of the people made the way for the Holy Spirit to speak in power and clarity! Silence truly is golden!! So now that this has been solidified, I would like to share a bit more so that this post can be helpful! Taking a few points from the teacher I listened to last evening, I want to expand upon silence and stillness, which are two completely different things. First, we can typically control our silence, right? My time in the early morning is carved out for communion with Yahusha (Jesus), and while my intentions are adamantly such, there are times when I have allowed various types of "noise" and activity to distract me, even against my will and desire. The fact remains though, I can easily control this through disciplining myself. We know the enemy will always come to disrupt our silence, so we have to prepare with setting boundaries and stick to them. Obviously, we set our phones aside, we don't make plans for this time, and we ensure we are in a quiet space of our home. This is the perfect setting to sit with Father and learn of Him, and it is usually very rich and wonderful. In comparison, this is the easier part. Let's move to the hard part... stillness. So many of us struggle to become still in our bodies, our souls, our minds, and our spirits. It's just difficult to silence all this inner working, especially in this chaotic, busy, and evil world in which we live. I have struggled with this so much throughout my spiritual walk; it has not come easy, and I still have not mastered it. My mind wants to pick things apart, daydream, wander, and the list goes on and on. I've heard so many devout believers who are truly seeking the Father say they struggle with this. But the true fact of the matter is that we need to keep trying, because a gold mine is waiting for us! We need that moment of silence in our external environments, but more importantly, we need it within. A dear sister of mine just shared with me a couple of days ago a "pearl of wisdom" Father had shared with her, and it is so applicable to this subject. He said to her, "Be still in your heart, because that is where I am." Oh, how sweet that is!! Within us is where He is, and if our "within" is never still and quiet, how can He make Himself known? How amazing must it make Him feel when we are willing to go away with Him to a quiet place where we just sit or lay with Him, silencing all our inner-self stuff, just to allow Him the space and time to share His heart? Experiencing this with Him will always bring His nature into us, which in turn deposits into us revelation, worship, praise, restoration, and refreshing! It is a time that we can truly experience oneness with Him; and I don't know about you, but this is something I want all the time!! And onw final thought on this as spoken by the teacher from yesterday... he said that when we are waiting in complete stillness within, the flesh dies! Pondering on that on too.... To compact and confirm all of this, the following are just a few precious scriptures that reflect the connection of stillness and silence to our relationship with our Father and Savior. As I read this, my spirit just says, "Aaahhh..." Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 ESV For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. Psalm 62:5 ESV It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:26 ESV The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. Exodus 14:14 ESV How awesome is it to know that our divine, holy Creator and God is waiting for us to come to Him in rest and stillness? Just to meditate on that brings a sadness within me to know He wants this and I have been so slow to give it to Him. I want this with all of my heart, and I pour this out to all of you in hopes that you are craving this as well. May our Father hear this yearning within us and instill deep in our hearts the ability to be still and do it well -- for our good and His glory! Saying this reminds me of two scriptures that reflect my deepest desire... As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Psalm 42:! KJV Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. Song of Solomon 1:4 KJV In closing, I hope this has been encouraging. I believe this is the message Father wanted to share, and all this says to me is... He wants to be with His children now! He wants to love us, instruct us, share His heart, and show us the way we should go, especially now when time is of the essence. Praise Him for His mercy and love, for it is beyond our ability to fully understand. I would like to leave you with a few things that I pray will be a blessing! The first is something I wrote from my heart about 10 years ago as I gained more understanding about the importance of quiet and silence (click here). Secondly is a special song to help you enter in to a place of stillness. Listen to the anointed words and know your Heavenly King is speaking this to you personally! It is truly lovely!! And finally to give credit where due, and in case you would like to listen to the short teaching I mention in this post, you can access the video here.
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Father can pour His Spirit directly into us with harmony, flow, and union. There is nothing quite like it... it is everything we need to fill us and so very much of what He desires from us!! It is mutual and wonderful! The beauty of worship is so eloquently described in these verses from Jeremiah. The words used within the verses, such as height, flow together, goodness, watered, not sorrow, rejoice, joy, comfort, satiate, satisfied... all speak of what our faithful Father delivers to us when we worship Him! Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 31:12-14 Many of us are walking through change and wilderness and preparation for what is to come, and there are moments of weakness, frustration, fatigue, and even doubt. In the midst of this, it is our devout and heartfelt worship of our perfect Father in Heaven, through His Son and our Savior, that will be the fuel to keep the fire burning in our relationship with Him. It brings an intimacy and closeness that builds a bond that no enemy can taint nor penetrate. It is the one time that we truly empty ourselves, taking our minds off our own needs, wants, desires, problems, and sins, and focusing only on the glory, majesty, sovereignty, and absolute divine love of our Father through His Son. In essence, when we worship, self is not in the picture at all! I kinda see worship like this: W = Willing to O = Offer R = Reverence S = through Sacrifice H = to Him (and only Him) I = Intimately P = with Passion There are many ways to worship, and one of the more common is to sing from the heart to the Father. There is one song that includes the words I desire to say to Him every day. This song takes me to that wonderful, pure place of worship. I would like to share it with you. The lyrics and song are below. I pray it is as much a blessing to you as it has been to me -- and most importantly that it is a blessing to the Heavenly Father! SO WILL I (A HUNDRED BILLION TIMES) VERSE 1 God of creation There at the start Before the beginning of time With no point of reference You spoke to the dark And fleshed out the wonder of light CHORUS 1 And as You speak A hundred billion galaxies are born In the vapour of Your breath the planets form If the stars were made to worship so will I I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made Every burning star A signal fire of grace If creation sings Your praises so will I VERSE 2 God of Your promise You don’t speak in vain No syllable empty or void For once You have spoken All nature and science Follow the sound of Your voice CHORUS 2 And as You speak A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath Evolving in pursuit of what You said If it all reveals Your nature so will I I can see Your heart in everything You say Every painted sky A canvas of Your grace If creation still obeys You so will I BRIDGE If the stars were made to worship so will I If the mountains bow in reverence so will I If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I For if everything exists to lift You high so will I If the wind goes where You send it so will I If the rocks cry out in silence so will I If the sum of all our praises still falls shy Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times VERSE 3 God of salvation You chased down my heart Through all of my failure and pride On a hill You created The light of the world Abandoned in darkness to die CHORUS 3 And as You speak A hundred billion failures disappear Where You lost Your life so I could find it here If You left the grave behind You so will I I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done Every part designed in a work of art called love If You gladly chose surrender so will I I can see Your heart Eight billion different ways Every precious one A child You died to save If You gave Your life to love them so will I TAG Like You would again a hundred billion times But what measure could amount to Your desire You’re the One who never leaves the one behind |
Special NoteThese writings are written in love and a spirit of servitude. They are not designed to judge but make us think. We are all sinners in need of saving, and we all need encouragement and absolute truth to endure on the narrow road to sanctification and ultimately eternal life. Categories
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