A Quiet Mind

Introduction:

Here Am I. “4 Attributes of a Person who Hears from God”

Preaching through Psalm 131.

Psalm 131 “My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.”

Each sermon dissecting diff. idea regarding David’s posture toward/ar’nd God.

Say: “Humble Spirit; Quiet Mind; Open Heart; In Community”

Lst.wk: Humble posture before God “you are greater, I serve you, ‘allow self to be served”

Started off talking ‘bout: God calls ALL of us, but often we aren’t listening!

TODAY, want to remind you >>

God Speaks Personally & Corporately

YHWH knows what we need to hear & when we need it.

Sometimes, gathered together as one, HS lay on some1 <3 msg. for whole body

Uses praise or preach’g or any other moment, as WE (le’drs) obedient. Church important… avenue of revelation, humbly admin.

God spoke to Israel from Mt. Sinai in order to display His magnificent power. Exodus 19:16-19

Isr. needed to fear & respect the God who called them out of Egypt, thund. & light’g was chosen method:

Exodus 19:16–19 “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently… Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.”

I think God’s way of speaking is rather intentional. Not like: “well, i guess i’ll speak this/that way…” or “let’s spin the wheel of revelat.!”

God knows what we need/when need it!

He revealed PWR & MAJESTY to Isr. bc they needed proof YH was legit.

Alter'ly to corporate speaking/revelation; we believe God speak 2U pers’ly

Proph. Eli just put idol-worsh’rs to SHAME (&sword)…

YH had sent fire from heav. to reveal greatness! WIN! VIC’RY!…

Elijah dehydrated, starving, and depressed!; God who cared for him whole life invites him to a personal Convo!

Another e.g. of GOD speaking in way that we need it most.

1 Kings 19:11–12 “The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

Yahweh spoke to Elijah in a still small voice to reveal His intimate respect. 1 Kings 19:11-12

don’t 100% know why God chose to reveal this way; but I think…

YH knew that, while the thund’r light’g were TRUE, Eli needed soft, still, quiet

E. depressed, distraught, not in healthy frame of mind (resp. to God key)

God will likely speak to you in a way that is true to how He designed you. Genesis 1:26-27; Ephesians 2:10

Gen 1, God shows purp. intent behind His human im’grs.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

AP in Eph 2 reminds us that we were MADE/designed/crafted. ποιεμα.

So, lst. wk talk’d about humility; silencing the PRIDE in my/your heart

TODAY, discussing how we can, in LISTENING FOR God, can >>

Quiet External & Internal Noise

I want all of you to hear from the Lord [Jesus].

Any1 go home & practice submitting to Jesus?

Humbling self, admitting frailty, assuming posture of humble servant (underst. your worth)?

My prayer is: you practice what I preach [lol].

Humble Spir, Quiet mind, Open <3, with others by side

One way to seek God’s voice, been prac. for millennia, is >>

Silence & Solitude

To intentionally seek God is to make space for Him to speak.

PREACHING TO MYSELF HERE!!

Jesus’ life paints a picture of that kind of dependence.

Something Jesus did OFTEN was…

Jesus exemplified making time for silence & solitude: Matthew 4:1-2; 6:6; 14:23; Mark 1:35-37; Luke 5:15-16; 6:12; 22:39.

More examples beyond these 6! Going to zero-in on one…

Luke 5:15–16 “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Apprec. Luke’s detail here. He was around ppl ALL the time… but Jesus often withdrew…

‘Lonely places’ = desert, deserted places; nothing & no one around!

let me tell you church, important to hear & understand that >>

“It is difficult to focus on & hear from the unseen when there are so many seen-things competing for my attention.”

We get obsessed ab’t all of the little things afforded the this great technol’al 21st C. world

SO many benefits… just as (if not more) drawbacks

John Mark Comer—who, btw, a great modern day (‘hip’ if you’re into that) resource on minimalism & spiritual disciplines—says it like this:

“...We now have access to infinity through our new cyborg-esque selves, which is great, but we've also lost something crucial. All those little moments of boredom were potential portals to prayer; little moments throughout our days to wake up to the reality of God all around us. To wake up to our own souls. To draw our minds' attention (and with it, devotion) back to God. To come off the hurry drug and come home to awareness." - J.M. Comer “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”

More of JMC? Google “Practicing the Way”. Good stuff; recommended!

BTW, still have few extra copies of tREoH if any1 would want a copy…

Take time to spec. cut out noise, distractions from our life.

Go for a walk… leave headphones at home! Pray first & ask for God to speak.

Walk to a local park, just bench… no phone! for one hour & people-watch. Ask God to speak.

OR put noise canceling to good use & find spot in house to block out distractions. Maybe even don’t listen to worship [still ‘noise’].

Got kids? Bonus: bring your kids along & teach them.

If you find this difficult 2do (no sound, no distraction, no entert’nt) there may be something deeper going on that you need to work on/through…

Perhaps silence & solitude is something you do special; however God encourages a weekly rhythm >>

Shabbat & Shalom

Yahweh sets an example of rest right from the ‘Beginning’; our creation narrative. Genesis 2:3

Genesis 2:3 “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

On Day 7, God Shabbat’d! He stopped (from activity)

Wasn’t lazy, wasn’t too produc… didn’t NEED to rest (eternal!). EXAMPLE.

Connected elsewhere w/ Heb. Nuach (rest, get cozy, stop & take pleasure in)

Glasses fatigue? New XP for me…

Again, JMC has a LOT of good resources, things to say, about sabbath in REoH & “The sabbath practice”

The idea of a Sabbath day was to take a 24hr period to do what we’re talking about: honor God & seek His will/plan/voice; rest & focus on Him.

Jews devote 24hrs. to cut off all normal activity & make your WHOLE DAY a worship service… of sorts.

NOW,

While I believe Jesus [& author of Hebrews] says that Christ fulfills the sabbath, I still think it is a powerful practice!

That is, any activity done for His glory, in His name, can bring us rest & focus on Him.

Shabbat is about seeking God’s presence… & that presence dwells w/in every believer.

So we can find that rest even outside of a spec. 24hr. period

HOWVR… all that to say…

Sabbath is rest for the soul, not just the body. And God commands it!

Icelandic study: can get better/more work done in 5 days (even 4!) rather than 7.

Even own sci. eval. bear out Biblical truth… imagine that!

I think it’s healthy to go media-dark for one day a week.

Lets your SOUL rest, not just your body.

It’s healthy to lay off the constant barrage of noise, TV, distraction for 24 hours and let God be a focus of your family life.

KEY IS TO FOCUS ON GOD. Like fasting… only holy if we turn our eyes to Him.

Psalmist brings two areas of quiet to light in 37:7.

Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

First has to do w/ outside noises (being still); then takes on anxieties that haunt us… fear for what’s around us!

I think this is part of what illustrates Shalom; completeness…

“The more I study it out, the more I am convinced that SHALOM has a lot to do with mental & emotional health.”

Shalom means ‘peace’ or complete rest, justice, & order.

I don’t think we can experience true SHALOM if our inner dialogue is one that is anti-Christ.

If I hate the person I’ve become, I cannot truly be at rest.

If I feel purposeless and aimless, I cannot be at peace.

If I hid secrets from those I am closest to, I cannot find rest for my soul.

Where there is unforgiveness from myself or others in my heart, God’s way falters.

If I ignore or don’t care about what God says and I am pursuing my own desires anyway, I cannot be at peace.

See, we often use External noise to drown out INternal noise

If you find yourself rushing to a vice or a screen or an escape on regular basis, probably bc there’s something we’re trying to escape.

Remember: including self in this. Audience mem #1 is right here!

Instead of dealing with the burning pit in your chest when we wake up, we self-medicate: scroll it into oblivion, indulge in a vice that ‘takes the edge off’, drown out internal warning sys w/ constant stimulation.

But we’re actually ignoring that there’s something really off inside our head; in our soul!

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

All of those mental/emo.-health challenges, little griefs from past hurts or past ambivalence.

Until we sit with another human and try to deal with those things, Shalom will evade us!

In fact, that’s why we crave the Sun AM XP sometimes.… God gives us relief from that for a moment.

But when we go home, we still have that lingering self-doubt or self-loathing.

Our mind is renewed when we change those stinkin’ ways of thinkin’ and replace it with TRUTH.

God’s Word confronts and challenges the lies we’ve been told; we tell ourselves.

Today, like last wk, going to spend time in God’s presence, in prayer, in silence, listen for His voice. >>

Shalom is Possible

John 16:33 ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””

2 Thessalonians 3:16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”

When John or AP uses the word for ‘peace’, they are thinking ‘SHALOM’.

Jesus said that His words, even predictions of judgment should bring us peace!

Paul signs off his letter, asking for God’s universal, all-consuming peace to be always evident in the followers’ lives.

Finally, the Psalmist commands that we slow down & focus on the God of the universe; to trust fully in His eternal glory & to reveal that to others.

Psalm 46:10 “[YHWH] says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.””

TODAY: Practice Silence; Pray for Shalom

Perhaps unforgiveness, insecurity, hypocrisy, anxiety, depression, grief or pain

Whatever your need for God to speak, lay down your burden at this altar and ask him to move, to act, to speak.

Takes a process; not immediate. But have to start somewhere!

At some pt., going to ask Brian to stop playing & just going to listen for 30sec.