Pastor Buddy’s Blog

Journal,

Well, I guess the word has been out on me a long time — I dearly love ole timey gospel music. I’m talking about the kind we sang when I was a just a kid.  A good example is ’Life’s Railroad to Heaven.’ If you have the gumption, here it is by Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=t72LxX8Mu6o&feature=related 

Actually I am a lover of all kinds of music but especially for the Spanish sound and for  Irish ballads. Guess the Irish comes from my grandmother who was an O’Banion. Even have a map of Ireland showing a couple of the O’Banion estates. In fact much of what is called hillbilly music is really a take off on Irish melodies.

The truth be known, I fell in love with the guitar when I was about 11 years old. Been playing at it ever since.

Well I said all that to say this…

Got a foot stomping, gospel hoe down coming up Saturday, January 26th…

Yep - Betty decided that the Martins, that is, me and my younguns, and our Fletcher kin need to get together to make a CD of our music for our posterity. After all we older folk are working on our late 60s and 70s.

And so we’uns are getting together with our guitars, fiddles, banjos, drums, base, piano, and anything else that will plunk to do a recording at 2 p.m. on the afore date. While the recording is for my family, of course anyone is welcome to come. It will be at Christian Challenge. And afterwards we’ll have us a gumbo supper.

Now if that ain’t bout as close to heaven as you can get, you jest ain’t never been very close anyways…  : )

Well, what’s that got to do with quietness of love?

Glad you asked.  I’ve been getting some questions lately on how believers can know when the Lord is speaking into their life. Don’t know if I can give much instructions. But perhaps a bit of a Bible study will fit right here.

Ever heard of ‘the Shepherd’s Song’… 

Probably not. Anyway, some years ago I shared a study on our Hebraic-Foundations forum entitled ‘The Shepherd’s Song.’ In that study I dealt with an aspect of our Christian walk that not everyone is versed in, but really should be. The study had to do with how the Lord speaks to us in quietness. There will even be times when He sings over us. 

I knew that one would get your attention.  

Here’s an example - You go to bed a little troubled. You wake up still unsure about how to handle a situation. There you are standing  before the mirror in the bathroom. Everything is quiet. And for some unknown reason your thoughts began to change and you find yourself singing.

Why did your thought life suddenly change? You feel real good. Your heart is uplifted. What happened to bring about this change?  The song just sort of arrived! So where did the song come from?

Listen to what David had to say in Psalm 22:7:

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalm 32)

A song of deliverance is a cleansing song. It is a song that lifts us out of the burden of our heart. The Lord has just taken the burden from you.

The Psalmist said…

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation.” (Psalm 68:19)

Then in another place we hear of the joy of Christ over the redemption of God’s people through the cross. It says,

“I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.” (Heb2:12)

Does this not mean that Jesus rejoices with us when we gather in His name? I believe it does. Jesus said, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matt18:20)

Then we hear this from the prophet –

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.“ (Zeph3:17)

First lets talk about the ’shouts of joy’. This term comes from the Hebrew word ‘rinnah’ which can also be translated joyful singing. Notice how it is used it in 2 Chronicles 20:22; “When they began singing [rinnah] and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon…”  

But also notice that in Zephaniah 3:17, it said,

‘He will be quiet in His love.’

Here we have singing joy and the quietness of love in one setting. The point is that there is a time for joyful singing and there is a time for quietness. Let’s talk a bit more about the singing part. Just want to stir your heart up a bit.

Have you ever been driving down the road and suddenly burst out in song?

Have you ever gotten so excited that you wanted to stop the car and get out and kick the tires? Where does all that joyful singing come from? It comes with the new covenant working of redemption. The Spirit of Christ indwells every believer. The apostle John speaks of this indwelling as ‘the anointing.’ The anointing is not something that you control. It is the working of the Spirit of Jesus.

Jesus told the lady at the well,

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Here the anointing is described as living water. The Lord goes on to explain;

“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4)

The springing up well is the work of the Spirit of Jesus who indwells every true believer. Jesus told the disciples that He would come back to them and that their joy could never be taken away from them. They would have a springing up fountain in their very heart.

Oh, let’s move on.

Now its time for the quietness part … 

Every notice how these songs usually come out of a moment of quietness? Think about it. You were quiet in your meditations or contemplations. Then your thoughts began to turn towards the goodness of the Lord. The Lord began the changing of your thoughts.

Does any of this provoke a memory. Can you recall times where the Lord Himself picked you up when you were beyond personal resources? Sure you can.

I believe there is a real key to learning to hear from the Lord, and that key involves  this thing we call quietness.  This is why I encourage believers to develop an early morning quiet devotional time.

Rather than labor on this too much, just consider the spiritual implications in the following Scriptures:

“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ But you were not willing…” (Isa 30:15)

“And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.” (Isa 32:17)

“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.“ (Psalm 23:2)

“Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven.” (Psalm 107:30)

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” (Zep 3:17)

“Your adornment must not be merely external–braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” (1Pet3:3,4)

Perhaps what little I have shared will strike a chord in your heart. Learn the beauty of  quietness? In all my years of serving the Lord, I have found that the Lord almost always speaks to me in quiet reflections of my heart, and most often when I have His Bible in my hands. 

Nuff for now. 

May God’s love chase you down.

Buddy