The Sound of Silence
When Jesus becomes more than a Godly man or a wonderful teacher and you truly understand the importance of His Deity then you will begin to realize the significance and magnitude of His purpose for coming to the earth. He gave His life so that you could regain the relationship that was lost in the garden 6,000 years ago but not only regain that relationship but also having the curse of sin lifted which includes the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Acts 4:12 (KJV) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
I want to deal with how we can prepare ourselves to talk with God. When you have prepared your heart, surrendered your will to the Holy Spirit, followed God's process and gained "heart knowledge" then I would suggest one more thing you can do to prepare yourself.
For myself, I find that to be able to pray in the spirit I must remove all the distractions of everyday life. If my mind is burdened down and encumbered with everything I have to worry about in my everyday life then I cannot put my mind or my heart into the communion like I need to so I can feel the Holy Spirit move. Without the Holy Spirit I am just speaking words into the air.
Once my spiritual condition is right then a place becomes important. Although I endeavor to pray throughout my day, my morning and evening prayers are the times I feel the Holy Spirit the most. Whether I'm kneeling beside my bed with the door closed or in my prayer closet it is then that the place becomes important.
I find that God is nearest in the quiet places --- the places where the sound of silence stands out as the only sound. You may have been in a place sometime in your life that the sound of silence was deafening!
When my wife and I were first married we traveled across the United States working seasonal jobs in resorts. While working in the Catskill Mountains in New York at a hotel located on a lake, I can remember sitting on the shore late at night watching the stars and the sound of silence was deafening. When working at the north rim of the Grand Canyon and sitting on the edge of a look-out point the sound of silence was deafening. While on vacation sitting on the patio of our room facing the Atlantic Ocean watching the sun come up and praying the sound of silence was deafening and I found myself with tears streaming down my face as I felt the Holy Spirit moving in my heart. No words were needed because the Holy Spirit took the intent of my heart directly to the throne of God.
We find many places in scripture where God takes those He has chosen to glorify Him to a quiet place to instruct them. God spoke to Moses "face to face" as a man would to a friend. I would guess that the forty years Moses spent alone watching his father-in-law's sheep was his training ground. Imagine him sitting alone all night with millions of stars shining brightly, being astonished at the greatness of God's creation and sometimes watching the lightning and hearing the thunder on God's mountain knowing God was present in that place. For you today, this may sound like a terrible existence but to Moses it was probably the most wonderful time of his life for God was preparing his heart for the task ahead of him to lead his people out of Egypt.
If you are a child of God then you know about "desert experiences." This is when God allows something that brings you to the point where you arrive at the end of yourself and have nothing left but Him. These are the times when God is preparing you and doing the greatest work in your life. These are the times you cry out to God with all your heart because you know with every fiber of your being that He is your only hope.
It's during the desert experience that God speaks to your heart like at no other time. It is the time He becomes more real to you and if you are listening to your heart He will tell you great and marvelous things. Your communion becomes real and your prayers personal.
Fortunately for the child of God, we start to understand that God loves us enough to allow our heart to be broken so we can find Him then He gives us the strength and comfort to overcome our brokenness.
We also find that Jesus set the example we are to follow. He often went off by himself to a garden or up on a mountain to pray. Shouldn't we follow His example?
God made each of us different and deals with each of us in different ways but there is always a process. Let Him show you the process He wants to use to bring you to the point where you can live your life to glorify Him. That is why He has called you --- why you have been elected and adopted in His family and make no mistake about it, if you have accepted Jesus and live with the gift of His spirit then you have been adopted and are being trained to become a son/daughter of God.
Please mediate on this for a while --- do you understand the honor and privilege that God's mercy and grace have given you even though you have done nothing in your life to make you worthy to become a son/daughter of God? In fact the only thing you deserve is death and destruction and to be removed from His presence, but this is not God's desire. I do not believe that the Creator of the Universe, the Creator of this earth and everything on it is willing that He should lose anything He Created. I believe He desires that ALL come to the knowledge of the salvation He offers freely through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I am sure all of you are familiar with the above scriptures but let me ask you --- is your knowledge "head knowledge" or "heart knowledge?"
My desire and the reason for this message is to take what God has shown me and the words He has given me to help you, His child, learn how to walk by faith and glorify God with your life. I pray this devotion has helped in some small way to do that.
Bob Goulding
When Jesus becomes more than a Godly man or a wonderful teacher and you truly understand the importance of His Deity then you will begin to realize the significance and magnitude of His purpose for coming to the earth. He gave His life so that you could regain the relationship that was lost in the garden 6,000 years ago but not only regain that relationship but also having the curse of sin lifted which includes the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Acts 4:12 (KJV) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
I want to deal with how we can prepare ourselves to talk with God. When you have prepared your heart, surrendered your will to the Holy Spirit, followed God's process and gained "heart knowledge" then I would suggest one more thing you can do to prepare yourself.
For myself, I find that to be able to pray in the spirit I must remove all the distractions of everyday life. If my mind is burdened down and encumbered with everything I have to worry about in my everyday life then I cannot put my mind or my heart into the communion like I need to so I can feel the Holy Spirit move. Without the Holy Spirit I am just speaking words into the air.
Once my spiritual condition is right then a place becomes important. Although I endeavor to pray throughout my day, my morning and evening prayers are the times I feel the Holy Spirit the most. Whether I'm kneeling beside my bed with the door closed or in my prayer closet it is then that the place becomes important.
I find that God is nearest in the quiet places --- the places where the sound of silence stands out as the only sound. You may have been in a place sometime in your life that the sound of silence was deafening!
When my wife and I were first married we traveled across the United States working seasonal jobs in resorts. While working in the Catskill Mountains in New York at a hotel located on a lake, I can remember sitting on the shore late at night watching the stars and the sound of silence was deafening. When working at the north rim of the Grand Canyon and sitting on the edge of a look-out point the sound of silence was deafening. While on vacation sitting on the patio of our room facing the Atlantic Ocean watching the sun come up and praying the sound of silence was deafening and I found myself with tears streaming down my face as I felt the Holy Spirit moving in my heart. No words were needed because the Holy Spirit took the intent of my heart directly to the throne of God.
We find many places in scripture where God takes those He has chosen to glorify Him to a quiet place to instruct them. God spoke to Moses "face to face" as a man would to a friend. I would guess that the forty years Moses spent alone watching his father-in-law's sheep was his training ground. Imagine him sitting alone all night with millions of stars shining brightly, being astonished at the greatness of God's creation and sometimes watching the lightning and hearing the thunder on God's mountain knowing God was present in that place. For you today, this may sound like a terrible existence but to Moses it was probably the most wonderful time of his life for God was preparing his heart for the task ahead of him to lead his people out of Egypt.
If you are a child of God then you know about "desert experiences." This is when God allows something that brings you to the point where you arrive at the end of yourself and have nothing left but Him. These are the times when God is preparing you and doing the greatest work in your life. These are the times you cry out to God with all your heart because you know with every fiber of your being that He is your only hope.
It's during the desert experience that God speaks to your heart like at no other time. It is the time He becomes more real to you and if you are listening to your heart He will tell you great and marvelous things. Your communion becomes real and your prayers personal.
Fortunately for the child of God, we start to understand that God loves us enough to allow our heart to be broken so we can find Him then He gives us the strength and comfort to overcome our brokenness.
We also find that Jesus set the example we are to follow. He often went off by himself to a garden or up on a mountain to pray. Shouldn't we follow His example?
God made each of us different and deals with each of us in different ways but there is always a process. Let Him show you the process He wants to use to bring you to the point where you can live your life to glorify Him. That is why He has called you --- why you have been elected and adopted in His family and make no mistake about it, if you have accepted Jesus and live with the gift of His spirit then you have been adopted and are being trained to become a son/daughter of God.
Please mediate on this for a while --- do you understand the honor and privilege that God's mercy and grace have given you even though you have done nothing in your life to make you worthy to become a son/daughter of God? In fact the only thing you deserve is death and destruction and to be removed from His presence, but this is not God's desire. I do not believe that the Creator of the Universe, the Creator of this earth and everything on it is willing that He should lose anything He Created. I believe He desires that ALL come to the knowledge of the salvation He offers freely through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I am sure all of you are familiar with the above scriptures but let me ask you --- is your knowledge "head knowledge" or "heart knowledge?"
My desire and the reason for this message is to take what God has shown me and the words He has given me to help you, His child, learn how to walk by faith and glorify God with your life. I pray this devotion has helped in some small way to do that.
Bob Goulding
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