Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Be Still and Know that I am God

Waiting on God by Andrew Murray

"That Christ may be fully formed within, and that we may be filled to all the fullness of God."

Everything that is salvation, everything that is good and holy, must be the direct, mighty work of God himself within us.

God says: 'Be still and know that I am God.' There is no stillness like that of the grave. In the grave of Jesus, in the fellowship of His death, in death to self with its own will and wisdom, its own strength and energy, there is no rest. As we cease from self,and our soul becomes still to God, God will arise and show Himself...
There is no stillness like the stillness Jesus gives when He speaks. 'Peace be still."

Monday, November 19, 2012

Quietly

Taken from Waiting On God by Andrew Murray


"Take heed and BE QUIET: fear not, neither be faint-hearted." "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Such words reveal to us the close connection between quietness and faith. They show us what a deep need there is of quietness, as an element of true waiting upon God. If we are to have our whole heart TURNED toward God, we must have it TURNED away from man...

As long as the waiting on God is chiefly regarded as an end toward more effectual prayer, and the obtaining of our petitions, this spirit will not be obtained. But when it is seen that waiting on God is itself an unspeakable blessedness- one of the highest forms of fellowship with the Holy One- the adoration of Him in His glory will of necessity humble the soul into a stillness, making way for God to speak and reveal Himself. Then, it comes to the fulfillment of the precious promise, that all of self and self-effort will be humbled: 'The haughtiness of man shall be brought down, and the Lord alone be exalted in that day...

Take time to be separate from all friends and all duties, all cares and all joys; time to be still and quiet before God. Take time not only to secure stillness from man and the world, but from self and its energy. Let the Word and prayer be very precious...

The quietness is a confession of our meekness. It will be done with all our willing and running, with all our thinking and praying. We must receive it from God. It is the confession of our trust that our God will, in HIS time, come to our help-the quiet resting in HIM alone. It is the confession of our desire to sink deep into our nothingness, and let HIM work and reveal HIMSELF..."