NOISE

Noise
I just finished watching a "Nooma" video called "Noise".


What an eye opener! There are several scriptures in the bible that talk about being still or silent.
Habakkuk 2:20 "But the Lord in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."
Ps 46:10"Be still and know that I am God."
Zec 2:13 "Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has raised himself from his holy dwelling."


How important is it to sit in silence...to be "alone"? Even now while I write this, there is still noise all around me. The washing machine, cars driving down the street, even the sound of my own pen writing.
Matt14:23 "After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone."
Luke 5:16 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."


Anytime Jesus needed anything...strength, rest, guidance, to be refreshed from the crowds constant need of him, He withdrew to solitude to be renewed.


From the Handbook of Bible Application:

Solitude...

"Solitude is important for prayer and refreshment, but will only be possible if we make it a priority. Jesus had to get up early just to get some time alone. If Jesus needed solitude for prayer and refreshment, how much more is this true for us? Don't become so busy that life turns into a flurry of activities leaving no room for quiet fellowship alone with God. no matter how much you have to do, you should always have time for prayer."


There are so many things that make "noise" in our lives. Our thoughts, our possessions. It's so important that we not let our thoughts take us captive, we are to take THEM captive.

2 Cor 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."


Same with our possessions...every radio, every cell phone, every computer, every camera, every thing we own has a piece of us! Have you ever had the thought..."I could never live without my ____________?"


The fact of the matter is that means we are letting those things own us! The only person/thing/amenity etc that should have ownership/possession over our lives is Jesus Christ. He is the only thing I cannot live without! "Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Deut 8:3, Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4


In Deut the verses around it expand this idea when Moses is speaking to the people "remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you, man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you."
( I never knew that not only did God provide a cloud by day, and fire by nite to guide the Israelites, food (just enough)to satisfy them, but he even made sure their clothes did not wear out even after 40 years, and that their feet never swelled from the 40 years of wandering in the desert...)
Pick back up at Vs. 17 "You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship them and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God."
So what is the "noise" in your life? What is it that God has blessed you with that you have in turn let possess you or as it said in Deut. you've forgotten God is the one who provided what you have, and that has become a god in your life.


Yes it's awesome to see how far "advanced" we've become in technology,etc, but I have one question..."At what cost?"