The Secret of Silence

Here's another devotional from the book "Come Away My Beloved" by Frances Roberts. Click on her name to find a copy at Amazon.com. 

"My child, let not the words of others influence you unduly--either their praise or their criticism. Weigh each for its proper value, and come back to Me again. Only in communion with Me can you be sure of the truth. If I correct you, you know it is for your betterment. If I encourage you with a word of praise, it is because I know you need it; so rejoice in it and accept it as wholeheartedly as you accept My rebukes.

You know My rebukes are for your benefit. Can you not believe that My words of commendation are for the same purpose? Some of your faults and weaknesses can best be helped and corrected by praise rather than by reproof. When you turn a deaf ear in an effort to be humble, you are not helping. You cannot be truly humble until you have a deep sense of being loved. 

Knowing and truly feeling that such great love is not merited in the face of your many imperfections will generate more honest humility than a thousand rebukes for obvious failures. You are condemned already by your own heart. There is a subtle pride that seeks to hide these glaring imperfections in the effort to hold some vestige of self-esteem and invoke the respect of others. This is a craftiness of the enemy. 

If you will accept My love and My approval, you shall be given courage to face your sins and faults and deal with them with more decisiveness. The more you find of the truth about your own self, the more you shall be set free. . . free of improper evaluations of your worth and false pride that seeks to cover recognized flaws.

I want your life and character and personality to be as beautiful and lovely as I visualized it to be when I created you. Much has not developed perfectly. Some early beauty has been marred. Live close to Me, and let Me re-mold and re-create until I see in you the image of all I want you to be. 

I love you, My child---My very dear and special child. 

I don't want you to work for Me under pressure and tension like a machine---striving to produce, produce. I want you to just LIVE with ME as a PERSON. I have waited for you to wear yourself out. I knew you would find it eventually---the secret of silence and rest, of solitude and of song."

May Sunday truly be a day of rest for each of us. Silence before God. Rest. Not just rest for our bodies. Rest for our eyes. Rest for our hearts. Rest for our minds. Solitude. But solitude that isn't really solitude, but rather aloneness with God. Making God my one focus. 

And song. What does singing do for you on Sunday? What does it do in you? What are the songs you look forward to singing? Do you sing just because . . . ? Or do you sing because your heart is bursting with praise to God and you simply can't keep it inside any longer? Do you sing, or do you sing and worship?

"Oh, Lord Jesus, may we worship You as You want to be worshipped: in Spirit and in truth. Please help us to make sure we find those times to simply be silent before You and listen. And when we sing, let it not be out of duty, but rather the delight of being in Your presence. "

Sunday blessings!!