A Still small voice! Kings 19:12 By Spurgeon

How does God touch our hearts? Our heavenly Father generally uses a soft, tender, gentle, quiet, calm, and peaceful – still, small- voice. Softly and gently, the Holy Spirit works like the breath of spring dissolving icebergs and melting glaciers. After winter has taken every stream by the throat and held it fast, spring sets it free. No hammer or file is heard as the icy bonds fall off; only the soft south wind blows, and all is life and liberty.

So it is with the work of the Holy Spirit when He comes into the soul. He can be a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2), for He comes according to His own sovereign pleasure. Yet when He brings the peace of God, He usually descends as the dove (Matt. 3:16) or as the dew from heaven – all peace, all gentle, and all quiet.

Satan can set the soul on fire with agony, doubt, fear, and terror.  Then the Spirit comes in tender love and reveals Christ the Gentle one.  He sets up the Saviour’s cross and speaks peace, pardon, and salvation.  This is what we want and need: the work of the Spirit of God coming in His own manner of living hope.

Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!

        

Psalm  66:5-12, 16-20 - NKJ

 5    Come and see the works of God;

         He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.

 6   He turned the sea into dry land;

         They went through the river on foot.

         There we will rejoice in Him.

 7    He rules by His power forever;

         His eyes observe the nations;

         Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.  Selah 

        

 8    Oh, bless our God, you peoples!

         And make the voice of His praise to be heard,

 9    Who keeps our soul among the living,

         And does not allow our feet to be moved.

 10    For You, O God, have tested us;

         You have refined us as silver is refined.

 11    You brought us into the net;

         You laid affliction on our backs.

 12    You have caused men to ride over our heads;

         We went through fire and through water;

         But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

                                       ***

        

 16    Come and hear, all you who fear God,

         And I will declare what He has done for my soul.

 17   I cried to Him with my mouth,

         And He was extolled with my tongue.

 18    If I regard iniquity in my heart,

         The Lord will not hear.

 19    But certainly God has heard me;

         He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

        

 20    Blessed be God,

         Who has not turned away my prayer,

         Nor His mercy from me!

**********

Holiness

Here are some exerts from J I Packer's book on a Passion for Holiness: ( He sure does like his commas and dashes, as Josh and I discovered with typing it out last night together )

Truths of Holiness:

(1) "Holiness, like prayer (which is indeed part of it) is something which, though Christians have an instinct for it through their new birth, as we shall see, they have to learn in and through experience. As Jesus "learned obedience from and through what he suffered" (Hebrews  5: 8) - leaned what obedience requires, costs and involves through the experience of actually doing his Father's will up to and in His passion - so Christians must, and do, learn prayer from their struggles to pray, and holiness from their battles for purity of heart and righteousness of life.

Talented of youngsters who go to tennis school in order to learn the game soon discover that the heart of the process is not talking about the tactics but actually practicing serves and strokes, thus forming new habits and reflexes, so as to iron out weakness of style. The routine, which is grueling, is one of doing prescribed things over and over again on the court, against real opponents, in order to get them really right. Prayer and holiness are learned in a similar way as commitments are made, habits are formed and battles are fought against a real opponent ( Satan, in this case), who with great cunning plays constantly on our weak spots." (p15)

(2) "The process of learning to be holy, like the process of learning to pray, may properly be thought of as a school - God's own school, in which the curriculum, the teaching staff, the rulers, the discipline, the occasional prizes, and the fellow pupils with whom one studies, plays, debates, and fraternizes, are all there under God's sovereign providence.....

we must be clear in our minds that whatever further reasons there may be why God exposes us to joys and sorrows, fulfillment and frustrations, delights and disappointment, happiness and hurts, that make up the emotional reality of our lives, all these experiences are part of His curriculum for us in the school of holiness, which is His spiritual gymnasium for our reshaping and rebuilding in the moral likeness of Jesus Christ." (pp16 &17)

(3) " In God's school of holiness our Lord Jesus Christ ( the Father's son and the Christian Savior) is with us, and we with Him in controlling relationship of master and servant leader and follower, teacher and student. It is crucially important to appreciate this." ....

Some who trust Jesus as their savior have formed the habit of going to Him about everything that comes up in order to become clear how they should react to it as His disciples. ("Going to Him" is an umbrella phrase that covers three things: praying; meditating, which includes thinking, reflecting, drawing conclusions from Scripture, and applying them directly to oneself in Jesus' presence; and holding oneself open throughout the process to specific illumination from the Holy Spirit.) These Christians come to see how events are requiring them to:

-consecrate themselves totally to the Father, as Jesus did;
-say and do only what pleases the Father, as Jesus did;
-accept pain, grief, disloyalty, and betrayal, as Jesus did;
-care for people and serve their needs without either compromise of principle or ulterior motives in practice, as Jesus did;
-accept opposition and isolation, hoping patiently for better things and meantime staying steady under pressure, as Jesus did;
-rejoice in the specifics of the Father's ways and thank him for his wisdom and goodness, as Jesus did;

Kept by this means from bitterness and self-pity, these Christians cope with events in a spirit of peace, joy, and eagerness to see what God will do next." (p18)

Further he discusses what holiness is

"Holiness is not primarily about submission to authoritarian rules or narrow or conformist notions of acceptable behavior. It is about the celebration of our humanity...
Christians are meant to become human as Jesus was human. We are called to imitate these character qualities, with the help of the Holy Spirit, so that the childish instability, inconsiderate self seeking, pious play acting, and undiscerning pigheadedness that so frequently mar our professedly Christian lives are often left behind. "holiness, rightly understood is a beautiful thing and it's beauty is a beauty and tenderness of divine love" - which is precisely the beauty of truly mature humanity. (pp27-29)

"Holiness is about relationships... Reformers re-conceived holiness as the fulfilling of ones relationships, the stewarding of one's talents and time, and the maintaining of love, humility, purity, and zeal for god in ones heart. The idea of isolation was then jettisoned completely and replaced by an insistence that holiness - viewed now as the consecrated life of the grateful, forgiven sinner - must be worked out in the way in which as worshiper worker and witness one related to ones family, church, and wider community. It is not open to dispute, however, that Reformers had the Bible on their side. (p29) 

Encouragement: Fear not

Isaiah 43 

1 But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

"To the one who carries me in my weakness, to the one who whispers to me in a still small voice, to the one who keeps each star in place and each sparrow in His heart...to Him will I look; for He is my strength in my ever failing strength, He is my joy in my overwhelming grief."

Psalm 123:
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us...

And after the fire came a gentle whisper(NIV) the sound of a low whisper(ESV) or after the fire a still small voice(NKJ);

God is great and powerful! This morning we woke to deep mighty thunder roll, after thunder roll - it was a powerful experience to lie tucked in bed and to listen quietly. It made me feel small as I prayed to my big God. 

I thought of a recent statement I had heard - if one flash of lightening's electricity could be captured it could light a whole city for a whole year (I don't know if this is fact or guess work but the concept fascinated me.) It really struck me this morning that although this thunder is for us a demonstration of God's mighty power in our eyes - it is only a tiny pin prick of power for God in his whole universe. The lightening that He strikes here on earth is like a tiny flick of his fingers compared to the work He does and sustains in His universe.

A dear friend phoned to encourage me and read a Spurgeon devotion on 1 King 19:12. God can demonstrate to us His might with great ease and yet he comes to us with the most personal, tender and gentle whisper in our greatest time of need. 

Do you remember how Elijah had had so many experiences of God's power before - how weary he was with his good work, how fearful of threats from evil ones...threats he had withstood before; how physically exhausted he felt...

but look at how God in His grace took care of Him so carefully in so many ways in his time of despair and great need. Isn't verse 12 so full of contrast and beauty as it shows us the best of God's tenderness that is so much part of His mighty powerful character!

(You can find some good Elijah sermons if you scroll down to 2011 family conference.See http://bbcq.org/sermons.php)

 1 Kings 19(ESV)

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” 

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and 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. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire

the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  

And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

The Call of Elisha

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

You are My friends!

Another Grace Gem: 

You are My friends!

(J.R. Miller "The Book of Comfort")

"I have called you friends!" John 15:15

If Jesus is our Friend--then . . .
  no need can be unsupplied;
  no sorrow can be uncomforted;
  no evil can overmaster us;
  we are safe for time and eternity!

"You are My friends--if you do what I command." John 15:14

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