HE SPEAKS IN QUIET MOMENTs
 

HEARD 12/05/07: Come forth My love. Out of the cold and into the warmth by My fire. Trust Me, I am leading you... By the fire... I am always here, I am not leaving. Gentle dove. Quiet moments of reflection....

WORD TO PONDER: TO SOOTHE YOU WITH MY WARM GLOW 12/05/07
Come in beloved ones; those who have walked in cold places away from the warmth of My loving Presence. Come in by My fire and soak in the warmth of My nearness. Find still moments of reflection, gentle times as the image of My flames flicker near the hearth. Let us drink our warm cups and settle into our quiet times together.

Beloved one, communion between us can soothe all the worries and feelings that you travel alone. You are never, never alone. I am always with you and I will never, never leave. I have made sure that you are surrounded by My loving helpers and that you are adopted as My own. Let My love and warmth now soothe you. You forget, that I too know how it feels to be soothed. You soothe Me just as I soothe you.

Ps 143:5-6 NLT

I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works. I think about what you have done.  I reach out for you. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.

 HE SPEAKS when we are at rest

Stillness of the heart is essential in hearing from Him

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10 KJ)

I remember reading about a man who walked every day to commune with the Lord.  As his gate closed behind him he learned to deliberately leave the cares of this world behind.  He mentioned how it took time to let it all go and then be absolutely quiet in His Presence.   He understood the struggles and wars that came against hearing the Lord.  

Most of the time, the place within the heart needs to be very quiet when one is receiving something from the Lord.  The struggles of the emotions, mind and body are to be put to naught while His Presence melts the cares of this world.  The paces and forces of today’s world can rob one from being in that place of reception.  Fear, anxiety, pain, tiredness, worry, tension, distractions, etc. are all enemies of that quiet and peaceful place. 

Noise and stillness dwell within the heart.  They are the places within us that determine our level of distraction or our level of quietness.   Most can identify thought distractions by closing their eyes and thinking about the Lord.  They soon discover their thoughts have wandered far away.  The content of those thoughts is the “noise” in our life.  Stillness is a place of complete rest in Him, garrisoned by His peace.  There are no conflicts or struggles in being still before Him.

One time I had a battle while the Lord was teaching me this concept.  I was earnestly desiring Him and seeking Him in fellowship.  But every few minutes my mind wandered off to something else.  I would catch myself and apologize to Him, and come back only to wander away again.   It was during this process I received a picture-vision.  Someone was trying to call me and kept getting a busy signal!  Then I heard the Lord say, “Distracting spirits.”    I understood they were forces sent to oppose my hearing.  I rebuked them in Jesus Name, and my mind was finally able to rest in quiet communion.  He allowed the battle, wanting to teach me more about overcoming the enemy and his ploys. 

By abiding in His Presence,  we can actually be doing or thinking something else and still hear His quickened Words in all forms.  The heart can find a place of such subjection and quietness that it has rest and control over all other places of activity and opposition. 

“There remains therefore a rest, for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest, has himself also ceased from his own works, as God did from His.  Let us therefore be diligent to enter into that rest...”  (Hebrews 4:9-11 NKJV)

There is a balance in learning how to be quiet in His Presence.  He is not necessarily asking us to live monk style lives, where we withdraw from people and stay buried in a prayer closet twenty four hours a day.  However, when I was first learning how to hear His still small voice, I needed to withdraw from outer distractions like noise, therefore the best environment for me was a quiet separated place.  

I once witnessed a funny example of the opposite of this in visiting a church service where everyone was very demonstratively worshipping the Lord and having a wonderful time placing their whole selves into it!  I happened to glance at the guest speaker in the front row.  He was sitting straight up in his chair, with his eyes closed, outwardly doing nothing.  The worship lasted a good hour, and so did he.  It struck me as quite humorous.  I knew exactly what he was doing!  He really wanted to hear the Lord, since he was the guest speaker!  He had grown to a place where he could hear the Lord no matter what was going on around him.

BE STILL

OK Lord. I've quieted my heart, I've quieted my soul.
I've laid everything down that has taken its toll.
I give You my time to be still before You.
Please open my ears to hear something new.

I wait before You at this crossroads in life
A season has closed, I let go of my strife.
Be still oh my soul and wait before Him.
His small voice will surface as noise grows dim.

Surrounded in peace as I lay upon my bed
All cares are gone as I seek Him instead.
Come oh Dove, the One Whom I seek.
Whisper Your heart, please come and speak.

Your people are troubled in masses of care.
They need extra help to know You are there.
They want a Word for the season to come.
They desire assurance from Your kingdom.

I call upon You, my heavenly Source
It's not about them, it's about You, of course
So what do You have to say, this new day?
As I lay here before You, lingering to stay.

Your peace surrounds me as we become one.
I am received as You say well done.
Please let Your Words flow to my ears
As we commune together throughout our years.

 

Ps 4:3-4 NKJV
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him. Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.

1 Kings 19:11-13 NKJV
Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind;  and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire;  and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

CLICK HERE TO READ POSTS ABOUT BEING STILL

HE SPEAKS when WE PAUSE

“...a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.  Her sister sat on the floor, listening to Jesus as he talked.  But Martha was the jittery type, and was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing...  But the Lord said to her, Martha, dear friend you are so upset over all these details!  There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it — and I won’t take it away from her!” (Luke 10:38-42 TLB)

In the early days of my journey, He began to train me to stop before Him.  I can vividly remember being thoroughly engrossed in getting the dishes done, getting out of the kitchen and on with life. I was completely goal oriented and set on getting them done quickly.  While standing at the sink, in the midst of water and food splats, I would hear this little Voice say, “Come sit at My feet.”  That was the last thing I wanted to do. He had touched an idol: ambition, goals, and MY time. 

An idol in the Old Testament was something erected in their lives in which they deemed so valuable that they gave it worship.  In the New Testament, an idol is not necessarily given an outward worship, rather it’s an inward desire that conflicts with having fellowship with the Lord.  It becomes more important to us than Him.

My philosophy in life was, “Hurry up and work so I can hurry up and enjoy living.” This situation was a little complex because I did enjoy sitting at His feet!  The way I pursued that philosophy was another matter.  Was I willing to pursue Him, in HIS TIMING, and in HIS WAY?  At first, the tug-of-war went back and forth.  Of course, when I heard Him say this, it was only when I was in a dead-heat to get my goal accomplished.  Or it might be when I had only one more thing to do.  He pursued the issue until I was so yielded it didn’t matter if I ever did the dishes! 

It was not until later that I realized the second lesson He was teaching me.  After that inner war ended over ownership of my time, I realized He was also retraining my basic philosophy: hurry up and work, so I can hurry up and have fun.  Through a process of learning to be still like Mary at Jesus feet, I have now discovered the better way —sitting at His feet while doing the dishes!  I finally understood His point was not only setting a time away from life to be with Him, but learning to be with Him as I lived my day.  I found that the joy in life is having a relationship with Him in the process. 

Hearing Him is a stopping place in all of living; stopping what we are doing, whether spirit, mind and soul, or body, to recognize HIM.  We live in the rush-rush of a busy world.  It is so easy for our personalities to get caught up in the race.  We can be educated in all the places to pause and hear Him, but forget to do so.  When we ask for help, the Holy Spirit will retrain our daily habits to include stopping places to hear Him, for He is our Teacher.

1 John 2:26-27 NKJV

These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.  But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

 Even though we remember to pause and include Him in what we are doing, it doesn’t mean He will speak.  Only His Presence is the quickening power that speaks life within our pauses.  However, if we take the time to pause because we desire Him, He may very well answer.  Whether He has anything He wants to say, He loves our fellowship and wants to respond to us.  It takes two to have a relationship: one who speaks, and one who listens.

One day on errands, I caught the tail end of a sermon on the radio.  He was asking, “How much time do you spend alone with God every week? — Not with someone praying, or things like that, but just honest intimate one on One?”  He talked about how we can’t expect the Lord to be intimate with us, if we do not give Him time.  When I arrived home our cat, Cuddles, saw me coming. (We called her that because she loved to be loved!)  She jumped up on the little table outside, expectantly waiting for me to come love her.  (I trained her to know that she would get a lot more loving if she jumped up to my level!)  So there she was with perky little ears just waiting on the table.  After I gave her attention, I went inside and around back to the patio door.  She ran as fast as she could and jumped on the patio table!  I laughed and loved her some more.  Then I put water in her dish and emptied the garbage.  When I came back, she was sitting up militant style facing directly towards me, ears up and at attention very expectantly waiting for me to pass her way again!  It was so precious.  I could see the allegory plain as day; you can’t help but love someone and give them extra attention when they are just sitting there waiting for you!  I thought of the sermon and how we need to spend time alone with Him.  Lord, make us available to Your quickened touch, just like Cuddles! 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FUNNY STORY ABOUT THE RAT RACE

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HE SPEAKS when we ponder his words

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.  (Psalm 19:14 NKJV)

The word meditation means to ponder, imagine and study.  It is like a cow chewing her cud.  In the digestion process, she brings the food back up and re-chews.  We meditate when we bring His Words back to memory and ponder — rethinking their application, reconsidering, questioning.  I have noticed many times, during a quiet moment as I remember His Words, that His Holy Spirit is very close and enlightens things I have not seen before. (Revelation)   He also brings other things to memory that I didn’t know applied and suddenly I realize they also fit. (Quickening)

To ponder His Words, we only need a quiet pause, not a “guru” concept of a place of meditation.  One time while I was bowling, I was thinking about (or meditating upon) waiting on the Lord for the right timing for my first book to go forth.  I saw an unusual thing happen to my ball and when it happened I immediately recognized the allegory and what He was saying.  The ball was caught in the pit, turning circles and spinning over and over.  It was supposed to roll towards the spout and travel back to the chute where the bowler picks up the ball.  I watched other balls come back, but not mine, it was still spinning its shocking pink halo around and around.  I remembered the Hebrew meaning of the word “wait” in the scripture, “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.  (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)  The word wait means to bind together by twisting. 

qavah

OT:6960 qavah (kaw-vaw'); a primitive root; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect:

KJV - gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon).

 

(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

As I was still pondering the allegory of waiting upon the Lord for His right timing, my ball finally went into the spout, traveled back to me, and then did the same thing right at the chute.  Instead of popping out and rolling into the tray, it began to spin and spin, as a 2nd confirmation that I understood that He was speaking to me an allegory.  I finally had to reach in the chute and bump the ball a few times to get it to pop out.  As I pondered His past Words to me about waiting upon Him for His timing, I realized He was saying: 

1)  I had watched other people go forth while I was still circling. 

2)  My waiting had been twice as long as I thought it would be but it was almost time for my first book to be published.

3)  When the time came, it would require my reach, oomph, and participation to get it out of the chute!

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