Thy Father Speaks

Psalm 46:5
God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be moved:
God shall help her,
and that right early.

O troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Thy Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mould thee to His will.
O praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His plighted Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.
O waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late.

Published in: on July 19, 2017 at 4:50 am  Leave a Comment  
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The “Still” Lesson

God always has a chair waiting for a visit.

Wait on the LORD:
be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD
Psalms 27:14

I heard a Quaker lady
who had to spend half an hour every day
sitting quiet and doing nothing
calling it her ‘still’ lesson.
I wish we could enjoy
such a half-hour daily in God’s presence;
our still lesson would be one
of the most useful lessons of the day.

“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalms 46:10

In times of difficulty be still!
Thine enemies are plotting thine over throw!
They laugh at thy strong confidence!
But hast thou not heard His voice saying;
”This is the way, walk ye in it” Isaiah 30:21?
Then leave Him to deal with thy foes
from whatever quarters they come.
He is thy rock, and rocks do not shake.
He is thy high tower,
and a high tower cannot be flooded.

Thou needest mercy,
and to Him belongeth mercy.
Do not run hither and thither in panic!
Just quietly wait, hushing thy soul,
as He did the fears of His friends
on the eve of Gethsemane and Calvary

“Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him”
Psalms 37:7

Be still, for He will not rest,
until He hast finished the thing this day.

Published in: on June 23, 2017 at 4:03 am  Leave a Comment  
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The Lesson of ‘Inward Stillness’

Their strength is to sit still.
Isaiah 30:7

In order really to know God,
inward stillness is absolutely necessary.
I remember when I first learned this.
A time of great emergency had risen in my life,
when every part of my being seemed to throb with anxiety,
and when the necessity
for immediate and vigorous action seemed overpowering;
and yet circumstances were such that I could do nothing,
and the person who could, would not stir.

For a little while it seemed as if
I must fly to pieces with the inward turmoil,
when suddenly the still small voice whispered
in the depths of my soul,
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
The word was with power, and I hearkened.
I composed my body to perfect stillness,
and I constrained my troubled spirit into quietness,
and looked up and waited;
and then I did “know” that it was God,
God even in the very emergency
and in my helplessness to meet it;
and I rested in Him.

It was an experience
that I would not have missed for worlds;
and I may add also,
that out of this stillness seemed to arise
a power to deal with the emergency,
that very soon brought it to a successful issue.
I learned then effectually
that my “strength was to sit still.”
–Hannah Whitall Smith

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

Published in: on April 8, 2017 at 11:58 am  Leave a Comment  
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To Give Everything First

And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth,
have not a cake,
but an handful of meal in a barrel,
and a little oil in a cruse:
and, behold, I am gathering two sticks,
I may go in and dress it for me and my son,
that we may eat it, and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not;
go and do as thou hast said:
but make me thereof a little cake first,
and bring it unto me,
and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel,
The barrel of meal shall not waste,
neither shall the cruse of oil fail,
until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah:
and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not,
neither did the cruse of oil fail,
according to the word of the LORD,
which he spake by Elijah.
1Kings 17:12-16

 

But what if . . .
what if the widow had not believed the words of the prophet?

What if she had not picked up that curse of oil the next morning
to fix the breakfast cake

What if she had not reached in to the bag

Did she wonder as she picked up the flour scoop
Did her hand tremble?
Did she cry
“LORD! HELP MY UNBELIEF!”

She was just like me
measuring out for days the amount left
in the bag and in the cruse.

Making each cake in the morning and in the evening
just a little smaller
just a little drier
knowing on what day
everything would be gone.

The day came
and as she looked in her little son’s eyes
she said,
Come, let us gather the sticks for today’s breakfast.

As they walk down the same lane
they had walked day after day
they met a man
who asked her to give everything she had to him first.

 

Remembering mine affliction and my misery,
the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance,
and is humbled in me.
This I recall to my mind,
therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:19-23

Linking with:

I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth

To drink a little more Coffee – click here

Published in: on March 16, 2017 at 11:28 am  Leave a Comment  
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June 22, Today’s thought — “Stand Still”

Beets gone to seed.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3

“STAND STILL,” my soul, for so the Lord commands;
E’en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise Hands;
His arm is mighty to divide the wave.
“Stand still,” my soul, “stand still,” and thou shalt see
How God can work the “impossible” for thee.

Be not impatient, but in stillness stand,
Even when compassed ’round on every hand,
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend.
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still,
That He may work in thee His blessed will,
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.

“BE STILL,” my soul, for just as thou art still,
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow;
In stillness God can work through thee and reach
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.

“BE STILL,” –a deeper step in faith and rest.
“Be still and know” thy Father knoweth best
The way to lead His child to that fair land,
A “summer” land, where quiet waters flow;
Where longing souls are satisfied, and “know
Their God, ” and praise for all that He has planned. Selected.

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16

Trust God for your day. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on June 22, 2012 at 12:47 pm  Leave a Comment  

Five Minute Friday — Ordinary

just writing and not worrying if it’s just right (or on time) or not?

link back here

Today’s prompt:

Ordinary

everyday,   common,   useful,   used

I like ordinary

I like normal,  (even if it is only a setting on the dryer)

even,  level,  dependable,  expected

but

I have seen the ordinary used in extra-ordinary ways

a small boy’s lunch

a touch of a hem

clay made of spittle

a grain of mustard seed

a word spoken     —————-peace, be still

fish and bread,   a robe,   clay,   seeds,   words

when blessed by the master ——miracles occur.

Stop

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty;
1Corinthians 1:27

Published in: on October 7, 2011 at 11:41 am  Comments (4)