Learning To Be Still

Hi there everyone! Sorry its been a while since I've posted! I just got back from Russia on Thursday morning at 2:00 a.m., and then went to bed around 3:00 a.m. with little sleep. I took a Benadryl on Thursday night, fell asleep by by 9:00 p.m., and woke up at 11:15 a.m. on Friday morning! :) 14 hours of wonderful sleep! Any way, how do you return to normal life, after being gone for 2 weeks?!
After trying to get my life back together, unpacking clothes, running a couple errands, and doing some other odds and ins, I was reminded about the verse in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
Be still? Wow! After being busy constantly in Russia, it was nice just to be still! To thank God for everything that He'd given me, pray, think, and just be in silence!
How often to do we take life for granted? How often do our lives get so busy that we aren't "still"? We are to be still and know that He is God even in the midst of those days that our life is out of control!!!
Let's take a moment of each day, and Be Still! Seek His Face, and Pray! :)
I looked up a couple verses about being still, so I thought I'd share them! Enjoy!
Psalm 37:7

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Mark 4:39

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Psalm 62:5

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

                                           

                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD2uPRhOPkk

                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMM1hLwDhz0

Be still: Who we write for

A blog I follow... http://ofasingleheart.blogspot.com/

wrote this, and I agree with it 100% so, I decided to re-post it!

I rarely run out of words to write. Writer's block and I aren't well acquainted, and that is due to the

overwhelming amount of words I just need to say.

However, while I'm not afraid of running out of words, I'm afraid that I may say the wrong ones.

 What if I offend someone with my theology? What if I forget the point of my message and lose focus?

What if...nobody likes it?!

Who are we writing for?

Being still is more than just quieting ourselves. In fact, it goes much deeper than that.

 Being still is resting, not in

our own quietness, but in the quietness of knowing that Jesus is God. We don't write for others' enjoyment,

 although a pleasant and fitly spoken word will delight the hearers and readers. We don't write for our own

enjoyment, although I, for one, certainly find glee in pouring words out on paper. We write so that Christ

may be known, and that we can know Him better as a result of our own writing, and that others may know

 Him and rejoice in the good work He has done for us. (Matthew 5:16)

The heart of writing is not to reach our audience, nor is it to make us happy.

If I wrote a thousand words targeted to the right "audience" and did it for the wrong reason, my message

would not be validated by their reception. Let's say I know my target audience likes to cheat. In fear of

not offending them, I may find myself trying to avoid the word when talking about sin. Or maybe I might

 go a step further and modify the definition of cheating so my audience enjoys my message a little better.

While the message will fall upon listening ears, I will have led them astray. 

The heart of writing is to glorify God, because when He is the reason we write, we glorify Him and our

audience is edified, we are refreshed and satisfied, and everyone walks in God's truth.

Making it practical~

1. The next time you sit to write, don't ask yourself what your readers would want. 

Ask what God would have you to share.

2. Never modify the truth in order to make it more presentable or readable.

3. Remember that Jesus is your first love, not the praise or criticism your writing brings.

You can't control other people's responses.

4. Write outside of feeling. If you are angry at someone, clear your head before you write. If you are

trying to communicate a message you feel a certain someone needs to hear, don't make that person the

focus of your writing. Instead, ask yourself what God would have them to know, not how you can fix them.

We preach Christ, not opinion.