Friday, June 25, 2010

Be Still...

The Power of Stillness
Posted by jerrywhite on Jun 24, 2010

“It was a ‘still small voice’ or the ’sound of gentle stillness.’ Is there any note of music in all the chorus as mighty as the emphatic pause? Is there any word in all the Psalter more eloquent than the one word, Selah (Pause)? Is there anything more thrilling and awful than the hush that comes before the bursting of the tempest and the strange quiet that seems to fall upon all nature before some preternatural phenomenon or convulsion? Is there anything that can so touch our hearts as the power of stillness?

The sweetest blessing that Christ brings us is the Sabbath rest of soul, of which the Sabbath of creation was the type. There is, for the heart that will cease from itself, ‘the peace of God that passeth all understanding’; a quietness and confidence, which is the source of all strength; a sweet peace, ‘which nothing can offend.’ There is, in the deepest center of the believer’s soul a chamber of peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every other sound, we can hear His ‘still voice’….

We cannot go through life strong and fresh on constant express trains, with ten minutes for lunch; but we must have quiet hours, secret places of the Most High, times of waiting upon the Lord, when we renew our strength, and learn to mount up on wings as eagles, and then come back to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint.

The best thing about this stillness is that it gives God a chance to work. ‘He that is entered into His rest hath ceased from his own works, even as God did from His.’ When we cease from our works, God works in us; when we cease from our thoughts, God’s thoughts come into us; when we get still from our restless activities, ‘God worketh in us both to will and to do his good pleasure,’ and we have but to work it out.

Beloved! Let us take His stillness; let us dwell in ‘the secret place of the Most High’; let us enter into God and His eternal rest; let us silence the other sounds, and then we can hear ‘the still, small voice.’”

Dr. A. B. Simpson (1844-1919)

~~~Saints through the ages learned the necessity, privilege, and blessing of time alone with the Lord Jesus to sit at His feet in silence like Mary (Luke 10:39). We do well to learn from them what the Lord Jesus said was the good portion—the one thing necessary.

This post was so timely for me. I stuggle with being still, with being quiet enough to listen. I think many people do without realizing it. We are constantly caught up in noise, music, conversations, and thoughts. Not often do we get quiet, release busyness to sit at the Lord's feet and listen. But that's where God works. In the time that we're silent before Him, that's when He speaks.

The part that struck me the most, though, was this:

We cannot go through life strong and fresh on constant express trains, with ten minutes for lunch; but we must have quiet hours, secret places of the Most High, times of waiting upon the Lord, when we renew our strength, and learn to mount up on wings as eagles, and then come back to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint.

So often, my life is like this. This afternoon I got home in time to shower and then grab my lunch as I ran out the door again. I forget to spend quiet in a secret place, with the only One my strength can come from.

This was very convicting, and a perfect reminder of what I need the most: to be still.

I would strongly encourage each of you to subscribe to http://www.adisciplesnotebook.com/ It's probably the most worthwhile reading in my google reader. :)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Midsummer-morning crisis

A dreadful thing happened. No, really. It's awful. I'm rather depressed, actually.
My snooze button on my alarm clock broke.
Stop laughing. This is a crisis. I don't know how I'm going to manage getting up at 5 tomorrow morning to leave our house by 6! This is summer! I sleep in until 6!
So now my alarm clock is practically useless. The "collection for a new alarm clock for Leah" fund is now open...

Saturday, June 12, 2010

7:26am


Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. Job 8:13-14

Sunday, June 6, 2010

7:25am

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus...

Be Still...

The Power of Stillness
Posted by jerrywhite on Jun 24, 2010

“It was a ‘still small voice’ or the ’sound of gentle stillness.’ Is there any note of music in all the chorus as mighty as the emphatic pause? Is there any word in all the Psalter more eloquent than the one word, Selah (Pause)? Is there anything more thrilling and awful than the hush that comes before the bursting of the tempest and the strange quiet that seems to fall upon all nature before some preternatural phenomenon or convulsion? Is there anything that can so touch our hearts as the power of stillness?

The sweetest blessing that Christ brings us is the Sabbath rest of soul, of which the Sabbath of creation was the type. There is, for the heart that will cease from itself, ‘the peace of God that passeth all understanding’; a quietness and confidence, which is the source of all strength; a sweet peace, ‘which nothing can offend.’ There is, in the deepest center of the believer’s soul a chamber of peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every other sound, we can hear His ‘still voice’….

We cannot go through life strong and fresh on constant express trains, with ten minutes for lunch; but we must have quiet hours, secret places of the Most High, times of waiting upon the Lord, when we renew our strength, and learn to mount up on wings as eagles, and then come back to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint.

The best thing about this stillness is that it gives God a chance to work. ‘He that is entered into His rest hath ceased from his own works, even as God did from His.’ When we cease from our works, God works in us; when we cease from our thoughts, God’s thoughts come into us; when we get still from our restless activities, ‘God worketh in us both to will and to do his good pleasure,’ and we have but to work it out.

Beloved! Let us take His stillness; let us dwell in ‘the secret place of the Most High’; let us enter into God and His eternal rest; let us silence the other sounds, and then we can hear ‘the still, small voice.’”

Dr. A. B. Simpson (1844-1919)

~~~Saints through the ages learned the necessity, privilege, and blessing of time alone with the Lord Jesus to sit at His feet in silence like Mary (Luke 10:39). We do well to learn from them what the Lord Jesus said was the good portion—the one thing necessary.

This post was so timely for me. I stuggle with being still, with being quiet enough to listen. I think many people do without realizing it. We are constantly caught up in noise, music, conversations, and thoughts. Not often do we get quiet, release busyness to sit at the Lord's feet and listen. But that's where God works. In the time that we're silent before Him, that's when He speaks.

The part that struck me the most, though, was this:

We cannot go through life strong and fresh on constant express trains, with ten minutes for lunch; but we must have quiet hours, secret places of the Most High, times of waiting upon the Lord, when we renew our strength, and learn to mount up on wings as eagles, and then come back to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint.

So often, my life is like this. This afternoon I got home in time to shower and then grab my lunch as I ran out the door again. I forget to spend quiet in a secret place, with the only One my strength can come from.

This was very convicting, and a perfect reminder of what I need the most: to be still.

I would strongly encourage each of you to subscribe to http://www.adisciplesnotebook.com/ It's probably the most worthwhile reading in my google reader. :)

Midsummer-morning crisis

A dreadful thing happened. No, really. It's awful. I'm rather depressed, actually.
My snooze button on my alarm clock broke.
Stop laughing. This is a crisis. I don't know how I'm going to manage getting up at 5 tomorrow morning to leave our house by 6! This is summer! I sleep in until 6!
So now my alarm clock is practically useless. The "collection for a new alarm clock for Leah" fund is now open...

7:26am


Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. Job 8:13-14

7:25am

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus...

 

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