The Sound of Silence

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

The Power of Humility

The Power of Humility

"Let the seas roar, the earth be shaken, and all things go to ruin and confusion; yet, the soul that adheres to God will remain safe and quiet, and shall not be moved forever." ~ Robert Leighton 1613-1684

For the past several days there has been a word engraved by the Holy Spirit onto my soul. It seems as though at every turn and conversation, this word comes to my heart. When I pray, it surfaces again and again.

It began as I was praying for someone who is going into a spiritual battle for their soul. His destiny quite literally hanging in the balance. Literally. The Spirit spoke to me concerning the battle he's facing, saying to tell him this one word, because it is the key to winning any spiritual battle. This caught my attention. So what is this word? Humility.

If humility is the key to winning any spiritual battle, I want to check my own heart and see where I am. No one has arrived at a place where they can say they have achieved perfect humility.

The reason, the Spirit showed me, that humility is so important is found in the book of James, which says "Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." The word "submit" could also read "humble yourself". It means to choose the ways and commands of another ahead of your own. In this instance, it means choosing God's ways and commands over all else. When you have done the very thing that Satan refused to do, the power of God can move through you.

Pride is the opposite of humility and was at the very core of Satan wanting to exalt himself over God. He wanted the worship and adulation of heaven, so a person humbling himself or herself before God looks very familiar to the devil. Satan remembers the throne room. He remembers the angels, bowed low before God, worshipping God. He remembers the voices lifted to God, giving glory and praise to Him alone. He remembers. When a man or woman takes on that position before God, bowed low in submission and humility, he recognizes this scene and knows that this person is one in whom the Spirit of God will back up when they tell him, the devil, to leave. So he leaves.

He knows the spiritual truth behind humility and has tried hard to keep the people of God puffed up and arrogant. Un-teachable. A person mightily called and anointed to reach multitudes begins to believe that he/she is important because he/she is winning many souls to the Kingdom. A person called and anointed to worship begins to listen when people repeatedly tell him/her that the worship they lead is so good and they feel so free in God. A man or woman called to teach people the word can begin to think themselves something great as people repeatedly tell them, week after week, how much they have grown since they began listening to their teachings. Slowly they begin to accept the praise of the people and the glory that was meant for God alone. No one should think himself as God's person of faith and power. God is the one that faith and power originate from.

That is why the Bible says pride comes before a destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. It says God resist a proud person but gives grace to the humble. If you are walking in pride, even a small amount, and you are in a spiritual battle, there is a lot of resisting going on. The Bible says in essence that God is resisting you, (God resist the proud), and you are resisting the devil yet nothing is changing. It is like a tug of war with you in the middle.

But if you bow yourself, your will and heart, in submission to God in all you do, then the grace you need to pull that devil into the mud hole will suddenly surge through your soul like lightening!

Is there any area that you can say you are doing your thing and not God's thing? Is there a place where you are fulfilling your desires and not God's? For the remainder of this week, become "humility conscience." Check out your thoughts and motives. What about your responses? Since no one can say they have arrived, I dare say that all of us should repent and take on the cloak of humility afresh each day. Submit to God. Humble yourself in the sight of God and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP. Choose His ways over your ways. Bow to His presence and His presence will lift you out of the place the enemy thought to bury you in.

For His glory alone!

Michelle Molina

Why do you belong in Church?

Why do you belong in Church?

God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what He is building. Ephesians 2:20 (TM)

Paul writes: "God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what He is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now He's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day - a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home" (Ephesians 2:19-22 TM).

There are times when we need to be alone with God in prayer. But there are other times when we can only experience the fullness of His presence as we come together with His people. The church is like a corporate headquarters. When people who are individually indwelt by the Spirit meet there for worship, praise, instructions, encouragement and service, God's Spirit shows up in a powerful way and we grow as we experience His presence and hear His Word.

The world and circumstances may beat us up all week and make us feel like losers, but when we gather with other members of Christ's body we are reminded that we are on the winning side. It's hard to celebrate all by yourself. When you have something worth celebrating you call people together so you can share the joy. Jesus Christ is so excited about His victory at the cross that He calls us together each week to celebrate what He achieved for us. And celebration, like Spiritual growth, is a group project.

Bob Gass

Is there a Catfish in your Tank?

Is there a Catfish in your Tank?

"Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you." - 1 John 3:13

I heard a story about some fish suppliers who were having problems shipping codfish from the East Coast. By the time the fish reached the West coast, they were spoiled. They froze them, but by the time the fish arrived, they were mushy. They decided to send them alive. But the fish arrived dead so they tried sending the fish alive again, but with one difference. They included a catfish in each tank. You see, the catfish is the natural enemy of the codfish. By the time the codfish arrived, they were alive and well, because they had spent their trip fleeing the catfish.

This is my point. Maybe God has put a catfish in your tank to keep you alive and well spiritually. It's called persecution. Maybe there's a person at work who always has eight hard questions for you every Monday morning regarding spiritual things. Maybe it is that neighbor who is giving you a hard time for your faith in Jesus. Maybe it is a spouse or family member who doesn't believe. You are wondering why this is happening. It is like that catfish. That person is keeping you on your toes.

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19).

God will allow persecution in the life of the believer. If you're experiencing persecution, here are two things to remember:
1. Persecution confirms that you are a child of God.
2. Persecution causes you to cling closer to Jesus.

When you are suffering persecution for your faith, remember that this world is not your home.

Greg Laurie

Inspected by Jesus

Inspected by Jesus

"If the cause be removed, the effects will cease. If the spring be purified, the waters will be healed, and the barren ground becomes productive." ~ Andrew Fuller 1754 - 1815

One morning as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem he saw a fig tree. Being hungry, He went over to pluck a couple of figs off of it but there were no figs. Only leaves. Then Jesus says this: May you never bear fruit again! (Matt. 21:18-19)

My grandmother had two fig trees in her backyard. I never cared much for figs, but I loved picking them. My grandmother would send my sister and me out with empty gallon ice cream buckets and we filled them as much as we could. Unlike the tree that Jesus encountered, these trees were laden with the fruit. Jesus may have been able to feed the multitudes with her trees!

About twenty years later I was out in the backyard of her house, about the time of the fig extravaganza, and noticed there were no figs. How unusual for these trees. When I asked my grandmother about it she said that it had been a long time since she had been able to go out and care for the trees, fertilizing and watching out for insects.

Last spring this story told by Jesus and my grandmother's fig trees came back to me as I went out to see what was wrong with my crepe myrtle trees. I have one in the front of my house and one in the back. Both have the potential for bearing the most beautiful purple blooms, but last spring, neither were producing anything. Everyone else in the neighborhood has beautiful blooms on their trees... but mine. Mine look rather pitiful.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that many of the leaves had turned black and if I rubbed my finger on the black area, it would rub off. What I suspected was confirmed. Bugs!

Well, I sprayed them and the blooming began! The Holy Spirit began to speak to me today as I saw another tree that, though it is still winter, has the same black bug on the leaves and I think that without treatment, no fruit will burst forth from it this spring. God reminded me of my grandmother's once fruit laden trees, but reminded me of the fig tree that the Lord had encountered in Matthew 21.

Jesus told his disciples "You did not choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last..." Jesus didn't say that you should bear fruit for a season or two, but that you should begin to bear fruit and that your fruit should remain.

He said in John 15 that He is the vine and we are branches and that if we remain in Him, we will produce much fruit. I took note that in those places, Jesus used the words remain. What He is saying is that if we REMAIN in Him, we will bear fruit that REMAINS. The real relevant word in both scriptures is the word "remain".

What fruit are we to bear? Let's go back to my grandmother's fig trees. The fruit of the fig tree was a fig. The fruit of an apple tree is an apple. The fruit of an orange tree is an orange. Are you sensing a theme here?

The fruit of a Christian is Christ-likeness. That means that we begin to look like the one we are connected to. For proof of this, look in Acts 11:26. It says that the first time people who followed Jesus were called Christians was in Antioch. It says that the believers were called Christians by the people of Antioch BECAUSE they saw these people doing and saying the same things that they had seen and heard Jesus say and do. To the people of Antioch, they looked like Jesus, so they called them Christians, meaning "little Christs".

These early believers were fruitful. They looked like Him and bore the same fruit that He bore in His life.

So imagine me spraying my crepe myrtle down, thinking about my grandmother's fig trees and how barren they had become due to neglect, and my trees that were in danger and no longer bearing fruit (blossoms) because of bugs, when the Holy Spirit begins to teach me about our lives.

It is easy at times to bear fruit but at other times we can neglect our spiritual life and in those seasons, all of the fruit bearing abilities within us dry up. We no longer are getting the proper nourishment to grow. We have bugs on us that are destroying the very life and fruit producing abilities that are within us. What are these?

Neglect happens when we are no longer watchful. We are slumbering. We have let our oil go out. We read the word of God but are not changed by it because we never apply the scriptures to the areas in our lives. We can't remember the last time we memorized a verse much less the last time a scripture really challenged us or changed us. We can't remember the last time that prayer was a joy. We have lost track of the last time we fasted. We couldn't care less about those that are going to Hell around us because we no longer really see the spiritual state of ourselves, much less those around us. And if we did try to witness to someone, we are lacking the "fresh oil" that ignites the words we speak to those around us. And forget praying for others for we stand in such a state of spiritual desolation that we can only call prayer lines... our line feels disconnected.

The problem with neglect is that it can be a long time after it has begun before all of the barrenness of this state settles in. Those around you think you are doing fine but inside you are dry as last year's bird nest.

My grandmother's fig tree bore fruit for about three years after neglect settled in. For three years, although no additional care was given to it, it continued to drain the surrounding soil in order to produce the figs. But after those years, the last stores of nourishment were depleted.

The second area we have to watch out for are bugs. Bugs devour. If you have ever seen a limb in a tree that has a web around it and caterpillars eating away, you know that it is only a matter of days before there will be no leaves left within that web.

Bugs that devour your life spiritually (as well as emotionally and physically) are anger, bitterness, rebellion, un-forgiveness, jealousy, envy, strife, fears, gossip, slander, or rage. The list can go on but those few mentioned above are the ones that most frequently attach themselves to the lives of believers.

If you are careful and keep your life bug free by staying under the fumigating anointing of the Holy Spirit, you will bear fruit. But if not, you may have already noticed that your countenance is beginning to look more like the bug than the Lord.

Why would Jesus go so far as to curse that fig tree? Because it was the season for fruit. It should have been laden with figs, but either neglect or bugs had gotten onto that particular tree, causing it to become barren. It had leaves, but no sustenance.

It is a hard lesson that He put out for all of the people. Remember, He was always telling the people about things relating to the harvest or fruit. They were people of the land who would understand what the application to their life was. For the disciples, this fig tree stood as a warning to watch their lives for signs of fruitlessness.

What is the remedy? Bear fruit. How? Stay attached to the Vine. If you REMAIN in Him, then you will bear fruit that REMAINS. If you do not remain in Him, then the remains of whatever you are hanging around will be what you bear.

Apply the scriptures you read to your life. Forgive. Bless those who curse you. Love your enemies. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Don't judge or be critical. Never gossip or slander. Obey Your Father's commands.

Is that what you really want? Be a God clinger! Let His life force out of you all that defiles and allow the life giving fruit of the Spirit to bring that burst of life back into you today!

Michelle Molina

Is God talking to you?

Is God talking to you?

When the Holy Spirit calls you into a relationship with God, you develop a vigorous and sincere desire to hear God's voice and be guided by Him. When this does not happen immediately, we often become discouraged and often think we know what God wants us to do. Then when things don't work out the way we think they should, we become confused. This my dear brother and sister is normal because we have failed to understand God's process.

A process is:
(1) A series of actions directed toward a specific aim,
(2) A series of natural occurrences that produce change or development.

Every process has a beginning and for the Christian that process starts when we believe on God's Son, Jesus the Christ, and His finished work on the cross to pay for the sinful nature we inherited from our ancestors Adam and Eve. When we answer God's call and accept Him by faith we receive the special gift of His Spirit.

Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Now that you have answered the call and received His Spirit the next step is to surrender your heart so the Holy Spirit can sit on the throne of your heart. When you have done this you will find a great change comes over you and you will no longer want to do the things of the flesh but will want to do the things of God.

This of course is not an immediate thing. It is part of the process, just like it takes more than 20 years to go from a baby to an adult, much longer for some of us than others, so also does it take time for you to go from a completely degenerate sinful person to a godly person. When you start listening to the Holy Spirit and you feel convicted for sinning and you want to confess your failure to the Lord and ask for forgiveness then you know the process is working to change you.

Unfortunately many suppress the Holy Spirit's conviction which causes a stunting of their spiritual growth delaying God's process to bring them to spiritual maturity where they can hear His voice and be aware of His guidance. This suppressing of the Spirit can also become a great hindrance in developing the close relationship we so desire and need, to have the abundant life Christ has promised. We set ourselves up for failure after failure trying to do things in our own strength instead of walking with Him and allowing Him to direct our lives.

I hope now you understand that it is by the degree of surrender you submit to the Holy Spirit, the more God's process works in you to bring you to the point where you can hear His voice and receive direction.

As we grow in spiritual maturity God allows trials to come into our lives. He does this so we will learn to rely on His provision to overcome the trials and grow stronger in our faith as we see His hand move in our lives and He becomes more real to us. As our faith grows with each trial we begin to understand how important we are to Him and the love He has for us. This helps us to gain that true perspective of who God is. The doubts fade away and we learn to give all of ourselves to Him knowing He is in complete control of His creation and the God who created millions of Galaxies with billions of stars, set each star in its place and gave each its name has a plan for your life and He will see it through to the end.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV) Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

If you are allowing God's process to work in your life, then you are learning how to pray in God's will. This is a very important part of God's process and there is only one way to learn how to pray in His will. We should be studying His word and the lessons He left for us to learn so we can gain understanding and increase our faith. It is by knowing what He has already told us and the promises He has made from the lessons His word teaches us that we learn to listen to what I have heard described so many times as "That Still Small Voice."

That still small voice is not an audible sound you listen for. It is the Holy Spirit speaking in your heart, reminding you of the words God has written in His love letter to you. If you have not read His letter to you, you will not hear or understand what He is saying to you. You have not followed God's process.

John 14:26 (KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

During Biblical days God spoke to some by angels, some by dreams and even once through a donkey. God spoke to Moses "face to face."

Numbers 22:28 (KJV) And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Exodus 33:11 (KJV) …and the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Today God has given us His Holy Spirit and His word so if you are looking for God to reveal Himself and are looking to have an extraordinary or astonishing experience you are not following God's process.

What God wants today from you is to come boldly before His throne, pray continually seeking His will and listen with your heart fully submitted to His Spirit. He wants you to understand you were created to glorify Him and He will guide you so you can fulfill your destiny.

Psalm 31:3 (KJV) …for Thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for Thy name's sake lead me and guide me.

Psalm 23:3 (KJV) He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

YES! God is talking to you, the question is: Are you listening?

Bob Goulding

HOW WOULD YOU APPRECIATE GOD?

HOW WOULD YOU APPRECIATE GOD?

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them'" (Exodus 30:11-12, NIV).

As the people of Israel were coming out of slavery in the land of Egypt, God gave them many laws that would guide them as a peculiar nation to Him. Among these laws was the atonement money to be paid to the sanctuary when men from twenty years and above were being counted as part of the military force. In contrast to other offerings, the rich were not to give more, nor the poor less (verse 15). This was to point out that the souls of the rich and poor are alike precious, and that God is no respecter of persons. This particular offering was to be paid as a ransom of the soul, so that "plague will come on them". Thus they acknowledged that they received their lives from God, that they had surrendered their lives to Him, and that they depended upon His power and patience for the continuance of them; and hence, they did homage to the God of their lives.

Most of these laws including this one are not applicable to us today because we are not under the law but under the grace of God. However, there is a lesson for us today from such law: we owe God our lives, and we have to be appreciating Him for the gift of life He has given us. Giving of money to the cause of the gospel is just one of the numerous ways to appreciate God for our lives. The most important appreciation we can give God is our life. This was what the Macedonian churches did. "They gave themselves first to the Lord..." (2 Corinthians 8:1, 5, NIV). Then, they did other kinds of giving to appreciate God.

How would you appreciate God for your life? What would you use to appreciate God for everything He is doing in your life? While many ministers of God would emphasize giving of money, have you considered firstly giving of your whole life back unto Him as your appreciation for that life? He deserves nothing less than that from you. Only an ingrate and a fool will disregard God and do not appreciate Him for his life.

Bayo Afolaranmi