seeking silence...

All seems noisy... in my head and heart...

Driving along... listening to an audiobook...
my thoughts interfere... and I can't hear...!

With a few extra minutes...
sitting in the car...
engine running
heater blowing...
rain pattering on the roof...
I sit seeking silence...

Not absence of external noise...
but absence of inner noise...
the silence of a quiet spirit...
is what I seek...
the place where He can be heard...

Finally...
the quiet descends...
heart stills...
spirit opens...
to listen...

How are you at seeking silence lately...? are your thoughts... heart... spirit... too noisy...?

Find a still place...
sit...
be still...
settle into His presence...
listen...

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1 NIV

The Journey Readings: Week 118... and listening to Him...

I spoke to you in your [times of] prosperity, but you said,

I will not listen! This has been your attitude from your youth;

you have not obeyed My voice.

Jeremiah 22:21 Amp

God... He spoke to the Israelites when things were good... but they would not listen...

Are we really any different...?

How often do we ignore God's Word...? when things are good...? only running to Him when things are falling apart...?

He's always speaking to us...

most of us have easy access to His Word...

yet... we choose not to listen... obey... even seek...

when we think we have things under control...

What an arrogant sinful attitude...!

We need to recognize Him in our prosperity... as well as our trials...

We need to listen and obey... ALWAYS...

He is our Creator...

all we have and are comes from Him...

For sure... those of us who call ourselves Believers...

need to pour out our lives for Him...

as He poured His out for us...

The Israelite's greatest sin...?

They refused to listen to Him...

They followed their own hearts...

their own understanding...

They followed the ways of the world...

walking both sides of the fence...

But to God... that's idolatry... sinful rebellion...

leading us... down a road to destruction...

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land. ..."

Jeremiah 17:5-6 ESV

To think we have things under control without Him...

to think we can make a way for ourselves in this world...

is foolishness...

To turn from Him... to walk our own way... is to invite disaster...

There is enough brokenness in the world to cause us trouble...

why would we want to cause trouble for ourselves...?

Listening to Him...

obeying Him...

trusting Him...

is the way to ensure His blessing...

no matter what circumstances may come...

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

Open your Bible this week...

spend some time listening to Him...

This week's readings...
Monday             Jeremiah 26
Tuesday             Jeremiah 27-28
Wednesday        Jeremiah 29
Thursday           Jeremiah 30
Friday               Jeremiah 31:1 - 32:15

His Word... living and active...

It was said in class a few weeks ago... I thought I only needed to read through the Bible once... but now I see differently...

When we read God's Word through the blood of Jesus...
by the power of the Holy Spirit...
and the grace of Father God...
we see things differently...

His Word... Scripture... is not just a book...
it is not words written by mere men...
it is the Breath of God... revealed by the Holy Spirit...
to obedient men of faith who recorded what He had to say...

His Word is living and active...
the Spirit knows what we need when we need it...
He knows when our spirits are mature enough to receive a new understanding...
He knows when we're listening... or when we are just going through the motions...

For the word of God is living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,

of joints and of marrow, and discerning

the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

He is the Word...
He speaks through creation...
He speaks through Scripture...
through teachers... and prophets...
He even sent the Word made flesh...

"This is my beloved Son, listen to him."

Mark 9:7 ESV

God promises to speak to His people...
He has... and continues to...
if you will take time to listen...

He has something to say to you...

Ask Him to speak to you...
through His living... active... Word...
let Him breathe life into you...

[email subscribers... click here to view Word of God Speak on You Tube... or click the post title to view on Jeremiah's Menu...]

He is present...

He woke me with words today...
ministry needing to move forward...

He spoke to me through messages...
preachers teaching through the radio...

He pressed me to pray...
inviting another to join in intercession...

He seemed very present today...

Sometimes He's so quiet...
I wonder if He's near...
but not today...

Where was He present to you today...?

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near...

Isaiah 55:6 ESV

The Journey Readings: Week 104... and listening to His Word...

The importance and blessing of listening to Him through His Word seen this week on The Journey...

Incline your ear [submit and consent to the divine will]

and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive;

and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with you,

even the sure mercy (kindness, goodwill, and compassion)

promised to David.

Isaiah 55:3 Amp

To listen... to incline your ear to Him...

means to submit... obey... what you hear...

In the obedience of listening...

souls are revived...

mercy received...

He speaks most often... 

through His Word... Scripture...

The Word made flesh... Jesus... by way of the Spirit... speaks to us through His text...

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man

his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord,

and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, 

for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My ways

your ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher

than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:7-9 Amp

All of us... apart from Him... are wicked...

therefore we must put away our thoughts...

and discard our ways...

His ways are different... higher...

His thoughts and reasonings... unlike ours...

this is why we listen to His Word...

and not our own understanding...

His Word... when truly listened to...

produces a harvest in our life...

For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens,

and return not there again, but water the earth

and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed

to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth:

it shall not return void [without producing any effect, useless],

but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose,

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11 Amp

Time spent in His Word... is never fruitless...

where seeds are planted... truth will grow...

when listened to with an obedient heart...

Don't waste time with self-help... 

or the wisdom of the worldly...

don't be led astray... listen to Him...

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your earnings for what does not satisfy?

Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good,

and let your soul delight itself in fatness

[the profuseness of spiritual joy].

Isaiah 55:2 Amp

Get your daily dose of truth to satisfy your soul...

join The Journey...

This week readings:

Monday              Isaiah 60-61

Tuesday              Isaiah 62-64

Wednesday         Isaiah 65-66

Thursday             1 Thessalonians 1-3

Friday                1 Thessalonians 4-5

learning to listen...

A large part of spiritual growth...
involves learning to listen...
to His Word...
to His Spirit...
to His promptings...

There's been many times in the past...
I've heard a thought...
considered it...
dismissed it...
and later thought...
Ahhh... that was Him...

This morning I woke with a thought...
one I thought yesterday...
but mostly resolved to dismiss...

When it woke me up...
I decided to listen...
He provided the time...
energy...
motivation...
to get it done...

I'm pretty sure it was Him...
His help in ordering my week...
but because I listened...
I may not know...
or recognize...
if it was Him...

When we dismiss His thoughts...
there is almost always regret...
a moment when you go...
I really should've listened...

But when we obey...
we don't always see the confirmation...
of all going well...
everything working out...
because there is no problem...
to get out attention...

Desiring to be more attentive to His voice...
avoid moments of regret...
be more active in His Kingdom...
so today...
I chose to listen...

You guide me with your counsel...

Psalm 73:24 ESV

the challenge of... asking to hear...

The challenge of... asking to hear Him more clearly... is an exercise of faith...

In the wee dark hours of this morning... I'm reminded of a quote I read this week...

What God asks of men, said Graham, is faith. His invisibility is the truest test of that faith. To know who sees him, God makes himself unseen.

---Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken, quoting Billy Graham

But... He not only makes Himself unseen... He turns His volume down... and the background noise up...

So perhaps... to know who hears Him... He makes Himself unheard...

Dare you believe He's speaking...? every moment... of every day...? with words of love...? guidance...? direction...? wisdom...?

If you want to hear... you have to listen... by faith...

Willingly... I embrace the challenge... of listening... hearing... His voice which now seems quieter... hidden somewhere behind the noise of life...

Because... I don't want to miss a Word... He has for me... I will stop... listen... wait... and learn to filter... discern... Him... from all the rest...

What about you...? When He seems quiet... silent...? Do you stop listening because you think He's stopped talking...? Or do you believe... He's asking you to exercise your faith...?

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks 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 the sound of a low whisper. ... And behold, there came a voice...

1Kings 19:11-13 ESV

when you realize you asked for it...

What do you do... when you realize... your asked for it...?

In the challenge of hearing Him... I realized I asked for it... by praying...

Lord... help me to hear You...

Help me... to stop... listen... wait...

I long for more of You... and less... of... me...

Yes... I prayed this last week... recorded it here...

and now realize... He's blessing me with opportunities...

to stop... listen... wait...

The challenge of hearing Him in the new... is an exercise... a spiritual discipline... to tune into Him more...

So what do you do... when you realize you asked for it...?

Thank Him...

Lord Jesus... Father God... Holy Spirit...

thank You for the challenge... of listening...

in new places... and the blessing... of the challenge...

of answered... prayer...

processing...

Preparing... leads to processing...

The first of two days of...
high level...
highly condensed...
leadership training...

Processing leads to questions...
What...?
How...?
When...?

Questions lead to listening... waiting... for Him to reveal... answers... direction... guidance...

But for you, O Lord, do I wait;

it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

Psalm 38:15 ESV

are you willing to hear...?

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts...

Hebrews 3:7-8 Amp

Are you willing to hear... what He has to say each day...? each moment...?

...the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

---CS Lewis, Mere Christianity 

This willingness... to hear and obey... forms the basis for the transformation He wants to do in your life...

First thing in the morning... and every moment after...
becomes a battleground...
Who will you hear...?
Your own fears... frets... desires... or His call...

I faced this battle myself... just this morning...
a choice to make...
Will I hear...?

The choice leads to an end... either way...

If you refuse to hear... your heart hardens...
the rocks of fear... worry... wants... become planted...
no room for roots to grow...

Eventually... the whole of the heart becomes paved...
a hard path... where the Word sits...
and the enemy steals...

The choice to hear Him...
and choose His eternal perspective...
leads to a heart like His...

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil,

unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today,"

that none should be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV

Consider yourself exhorted... truth spoken in love...

Choose to listen... and obey... first thing... every day... and every... moment... after...

seeking wisdom...

The wisest of women builds her house,

but folly with her own hands tears it down.

Proverbs 14:1 ESV

Seeking wisdom... for decisions... 

desiring to build... not tear down... 

Perhaps wisdom begins... by understanding... 

your own whims... and heart... can reap destruction...

Listening to Him... 

for direction... and guidance...

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom...

Proverbs 15:33 ESV

another day... of testing new...

Continuing to test... consider... a new call... a new opportunity...

Continuing to ask... Is this for me...? Is this where You want me to be...?

Each time we sense something new... whether it's about Him... or an open door to walk through... He expects us to test... seek confirmation... find out if it is from Him...

Beloved, do not believe every spirit,

but test the spirits to see whether they are from God...

1 John 4:1 ESV

Another day... testing the waters... 

praying...

listening...

waiting...

desiring... to follow Him...

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8 ESV

What about you...? anything new you're testing these day...?

needing Him...

I find myself... needing Him... more today...
than I did... yesterday...

Each step of faith... leads to another...

The Whisper...
continues to challenge...
stretch...
pull me... out of my comfort zone...

Offer to pray...

Go ahead and ask...

Ask if she wants to hear...

Just today... He speaks...
I listen...
lean into Him...
and obey...

Yes...
I need Him...
more... today...
than I did... yesterday...

I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you."

Psalm 16:2 ESV

waiting... an exercise in patience...

Patience... the not hasty or impetuous kind... is what I exercised this week...

A particular situation... where I could have acted in any number of ways to get a desired result more quickly... required patience...

Even though my flesh... wanted to move ahead... my spirit felt the Spirit saying... Wait...

And so... I waited... and things lined up better than I imagined... and the outcome double... what I had desired...

An important exercise... and encouragement... for the other situations... on which I am waiting...

An important reminder... to listen... and wait... for His direction and way... to not follow my heart... but His...

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,

being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains.

You also, be patient. Establish your hearts,

for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

James 5:7-8 ESV