Tag: Be still

How do I keep my heart open to God?

"Keep your heart open to me," those are the words God whispered to me the other morning as I sat looking through the crystal clear water to the bottom of the lake. It was as though He was showing me how he wants my heart to be, so absolutely transparent. No outside disturbances like the slight breeze that was causing ripples in a less sheltered part of the lake. No pollution, like the impure water that flows from the storm water drain mixing in with the clean lake water.

The question is how? How do I keep my heart open to you Lord? How do I know when it isn't fully open? How do I know when I am subconsciously hiding something from you? You know what is hiding anyway!

This scripture comes to mind ... Psalm 51:10

Create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you. Psalm 51:10 TPT

So is that the answer? Ask you God to create a new clean heart within me? Ask the Holy Spirit to prompt me to sit quietly with you and wait for you to give me a word? And upon hearing that word I will know immediately, an aha moment, a revelation of yes that does need to be confessed. You always knew it was there. I just needed to acknowledge it, to confess it.

How happy and fulfilled are those whose rebellion has been forgiven, those whose sins are covered by blood. How blessed and relieved are those who have confessed their corruption to God! For he wipes their slates clean and removes hypocrisy from their hearts. Psalm 32:1-2 TPT

There it is - He wipes our slate clean and removes hypocrisy from our hearts. What peace comes after confession.

Then I finally admitted to you all my sins, refusing to hide them any longer. I said, "My life-giving God, I will openly acknowledge my evil actions." And you forgave me! All at once the guilt of my sin washed away and all my pain disappeared! Pause in his presence. Psalm 32:5 TPT

Pause in his presence.  How often to we really do that? Completely pause in his presence?

This is something God spoke to me about at the end of last year - the need to more often pause in his presence. In fact, He gave me a very specific scripture .... Genesis 24:21 ...

And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD has made his journey prosperous or not. Genesis 24:21 NKJV

The key words for me were the 'remained silent so as to know whether the LORD', ie for me to remain silent until God speaks. So for the first month of this year, once a week I have gone to a peaceful place and sat, remaining silent until God speaks. After only four weeks it has become one of my favourite times in my week. It is a weekly appointment that I certainly don't want to miss. I still have my daily time with God early each morning, and conversations throughout the day, but they are more times of two way communication. Whereas this weekly appointment is time set aside to remain silent and wait until He speaks. I don't want to miss what he wants to say to me. Because it is always exactly what I need to hear, as Psalm 32 says,

I hear the Lord saying, "I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide. So don't make it difficult; don't be stubborn when I take you where you've not been before. Don't make me tug you and pull you along. Just come with me!"

So my conclusion is this: Many are the sorrows and frustrations of those who don't come clean with God. But when you trust in the Lord for forgiveness, his wrap-around love will surround you. Psalm 32:8-10 TPT

Don't let pain, anger, fear and disappointment keep you from having an open heart towards God. Find that time to pause in his presence, listen to what he reveals, confess your sin, ask forgiveness and let him minister his love and kindness to you. Only then we can move towards loving God and others better.

 

Acknowledge God before starting the To Do List

Earlier this week I was walking in our local park, making my way to the beautiful bush walk we are blessed to live near. As I walked from the open space with the heat of the summer sun beating down on my head, into the bush with the canopy providing shade and protection, I was struck by the sudden change of circumstances. With only one step I went from the open, unprotected area into the covered, protected place. And wasn't I glad I'd taken that step!

That sudden physical change in the atmosphere made me think about God's covering and protection, and how different life is when we choose to walk under it.

But let them all be glad, those who turn aside to hide themselves in you. May they keep shouting for joy forever! Overshadow them in your presence as they sing and rejoice. Then every lover of your name will burst forth with endless joy. Lord, how wonderfully you bless the righteous. Your favour wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy. Psalm 5:11-12 TPT

How reassuring the Psalms are .... Your favour wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy.....

There was a time when I didn't read anything in The Bible except the Psalms. The deep pain in my heart so often resonated with the words of the Psalmist.

Please, God, show me mercy! Open your grace-fountain for me, for you are my soul's true shelter. I will hide beneath the shadow of your embrace, under the wings of your cheribum, until this terrible trouble has past. Psalm 57:1 TPT

Please, God, show us mercy! And He has.

Open your grace-fountain for me. And He did.

For you are my soul's true shelter. And He is.

I will hide beneath the shadow of your embrace. And I do.

Until this terrible trouble has past. And it has.

If the season you are in now is a difficult one for you, I really encourage you to immerse yourself in the truth of the Psalms. God is listening to the cries of your heart and He is on your side.

You've kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You've stored my many tears in your bottle - not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance. The very moment I call to you for a father's help the tide of battle turns and my enemies flee. This one thing I know: God is on my side! Psalm 56:8-9 TPT

The end of this season will come. There will be a time when you can declare this, as the Psalmist does in Psalm 57 ...

My heart, O God, is quiet and confident. Now I can sing with passion your wonderful praises! Awake, O my soul, with the music of his splendor-song! Arise, my soul, and sing his praises! My worship will awaken the dawn, greeting the daybreak with my songs of light! Wherever I go I will thank you, my God. Among all the nations they will hear my praise songs to you. Your love is so extravagant it reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness so astonishing it stretches to the sky! Lord God, be exalted as you soar throughout the heavens. May your shining glory be shown in the skies! Let it be seen high above all the earth! Psalm 57:7-11 TPT

Be encouraged, protect your heart and choose to stay under the canopy of His kindness and joy.

 

 

 

I will be exalted in the earth

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 NKJV

Being a very task focused person, this is one of the scriptures the Holy Spirit often reminds me of.  It is one of my go-to scriptures when I feel myself getting overwhelmed with life’s circumstances.

Be Still worship songs

A couple of worship songs based on this scripture can often help me get to that place of ‘Being still’, Be Still by Kari Jobe and Be Still by Hillsong Worship. They are on my ‘Be still’ playlist!

When I was seeking God on scriptures He wanted me to keep focused on this year, 2019, Psalm 46:10 was one of them. I looked it up in The Passion Translation to help me get a fresh revelation on it …

Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I will be exalted through the whole earth. Psalm 46:10 TPT

I will be exalted through the whole earth

Over the years, my main focus when reading this scripture has been the ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ with me speaking to my mind, telling it to settle.

But last week when I read this scripture from The Passion Translation’ I felt that God was directly speaking to me from the last part of the verse ….  ‘Wendy don’t fear the future for I am God above all the nations, and I will be exalted through the whole earth.’ 

I am… I will

As I read this scripture I had this overwhelming sense of God’s power and authority on this earth. That despite what people say and do, He is and always will be the God above all nations, and He will be exalted through the whole earth – as unlikely as that seems today.   Romans 14:11 came to mind.

Just as it is written: “As surely as I am the Living God, I tell you: ‘Every knee will bow before me and every tongue will confess the truth and glorify me!” Romans 14:11 TPT

Which is then followed by …

Therefore, each one must answer for himself and give a personal account of his own life before God. So stop being critical and condemning of other believers, but instead determine to never deliberately cause a brother or sister to stumble and fall because of your actions. Romans 14:12-13 TPT

Plenty to meditate on there!

But back to Psalm 46:10, where God is declaring Who He is and that He will be exalted. Here is the Amplified version …

Let be and be still, and know (recognise and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 AMP

Exalt – to elevate by praise; related to ‘glorify’  – to give glory (as in worship) (from Mirriam-Webster)

How do we exalt God in our lives?

So what does exalting God look like in our lives? What does it look like in my life? What does it look like in your life? Perhaps a better question is what does God want it to look like in our lives?

Let’s pray,

Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for the blessing of having your written word so freely available to us. Thank you for the revelation your Holy Spirit provides when we read it with the expectation that You will speak to us. 

I acknowledge that you are God. Thank you for sending your son Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour. Thank you for giving the Holy Spirit to be my counsellor and guide every minute of every day.  

Please help me to exalt you in the way You want to be exalted. Thank you that your grace is always sufficient and your mercies are new every morning. I love  you.

In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

For some more thoughts on God and His sovereignty please visit this post … Our God – Day 1 – Drawing closer to God devotion.

It’s okay to fall on your face

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, GOD showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family." Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face. Genesis 17:1-2 The Message

This morning I had no idea what to write about, so I prayed and continued my reading of Genesis, and one verse jumped out at me,

Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him saying, Genesis 17:3 NKJV

Well, it wasn't even the whole verse, just those first 6 words,

Then Abram fell on his face 

There have been a few times in the past couple of weeks when I have felt so overwhelmed with the faithfulness of God that I felt like doing that - just falling on my face, lying prostate in awe at our God. (I'll share more about that in future posts) But I haven't. I've just either sat my desk weeping, or stood at the ironing board... weeping, or driven my car ... weeping.

There is something so special about waiting, trusting, and then seeing that second part of John 10:10 manifest....

But I have come to give you life in abundance, more than you expect - life in its fullness until you overflow. John 10:10 TPT

Actually the waiting and learning to trust is not really so special - just a lot of relying on the Holy Spirit to teach me patience and self-control.

But lets get back to the falling on your face... as I read that scripture I thought, I wonder how many people mentioned in The Bible fell on their face at the wonder of God? So I did a google search. Here are some of the results.

Moses and Aaron...

Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God. Numbers 20:6 The Message

The children of Israel, at the time of Elijah's victory on Mount Carmel ...

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God! 1 Kings 18:38-39 NKJV

The three disciples that saw Jesus' glorious transfiguration ...

But while Peter was still speaking, a radiant cloud composed of light spread over them, enveloping them all. And God's voice suddenly spoke from the cloud, saying, "This is my dearly beloved Son, the constant focus of my delight. Listen to him!"

The three disciples were dazed and terrified by this phenomenon, and they fell facedown on the ground. Matthew 17:5-6 TPT

Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane ...

Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfill your plan in me." Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him. Matthew 26:39 TPT

In Heaven they are falling on their faces...

All who were standing around the Throne - Angels, Elders, Animals - fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:

Oh, Yes!

The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,

The honour and power and strength,

To our God forever ad ever and ever! 

Oh, Yes!

Revelation 7:11-12 The Message

From just these few scripture we can see that it is okay, actually more than okay, to fall on your face, as it positions us to ....

Acknowledge the greatness of God when you physically can't do anything else (example - Abraham; the three disciples)
See the glory of God (example - Moses and Aaron)
Submit to the truth that the LORD is God (example - Children of Israel)

Surrender and receive strength from God (example - Jesus)
Worship in awe (example - Angels in heaven)

For me, in the times when I have literally fallen on my face and worshipped God, they have been an amazing times of surrendering, overwhelmed with awe, followed by a beautiful time of the Holy Spirit ministering God's love. Times when my hands and feet weren't tempted to do something else, but just be and focus completely on God.

In our world today we need to be constantly reminding ourselves of who our God is, and purposefully drawing closer to Him. Falling on your face is a great way to position yourself to do exactly that. Why not try it sometime and see what God does. Be expectant.

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