A daily devotional moment by Chris Garcia
When God called Samuel, He called him in the silence. When God called Elisha, He spoke to a silent elite. When Christ was resurrected, there was silence, nobody saw it. There are many ways in which the Spirit can speak. There are many ways in which the Spirit can manifest Himself. Sometimes it is in the loudness, sometimes it is in the music, and in the anointed songs. This is true and noticed when there is an anointed song played. But sometimes He can be found in the silence. You have to learn to go where He goes. Before, I use to rely heavily on songs to get me in the presence of God. There is nothing wrong with that. Perhaps this is the place where you are now. However, it is always better than not spending time with Him at all. Little by little, the Lord began to shift me and move me into a silent quiet place. I noticed that the silence created a sensitivity. Anytime there was silence and I was alone, the presence started falling. Because you reap what you sow. If you sow time in prayer, you will cultivate and be aware of His presence. If you sow time in worship with music, you will cultivate that. But if you sow time in the silence, you will cultivate that as well. What can happen is that there can be a shift in which the Lord stirs you in the song. Then when He calls you in the silence, He begins to stir you in the silence. "Be still and know that I am God." Because I need to bring the worship time to a rhythm. What some do is, the silent ones look down on the loud ones. Conversely, the loud ones look down on the silent ones. The answer is not whether they are silent or loud. The answer is in, "Where is the presence? " Where is He leading you? There are moments of silence. There are also moments of loud praise. Think about this for just a moment. Think about the apostles. Think about the patriarchs in the Old Testament. Think about how they hurt God. Think about Samuel and all the prophets of old. They did not have songs. Their music was what they sang out of their hearts and quietness.
Obedience is better than sacrifice. What does that mean? You can sacrifice all day long but obedience is better because sometimes obedience is found in quietness. Some of the most profound moments I have had with the Holy Spirit, were in times of silence. Some of the clearest times that I have ever heard the Holy Spirit speak, were in moments of silence. So you just have to be led by Him. It is not wrong to worship loud and it is not wrong to be still. What you need to do is ask yourself, "Where is he leading me?" If you want to know where He is leading, then you need to be still and know. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Let me tell you something about obedience. The Lord asked of me when we started the stream about a year ago, He said, "The problem, Chris, is you. I want My Spirit to be the main center of attention on the stream, not you." So what happens is when I stay quiet, and I don’t say a word it is because I am obeying Him. I am obeying what He is telling me at that moment. I find that when I obey Him, His presence comes. Why? Because I find that it is better to be obedient than it is to sacrifice. So every time that you obey Him, He responds with His presence. Let me ask you this question. Why do you think God's presence falls on the Fresh Oil streams? Why do you think the glory of the Lord really manifests so strongly on the streams? The answer is, that I am getting out of the way. As an example to you to get out of your way. So that when you take this in your prayer time with the Lord alone, you can learn as an example of what it means to obey. It’s very easy to get in front of the Holy Spirit because the flesh always wants to get in the way. He told me that if I just stay quiet He would draw people.
Consider this. There are over a thousand tuned into the stream watching. Watching what? Silence. Why? Because it is Jesus being exalted. It is not a man. It is not me. God can use anybody else. He is just looking for someone to get out of the way. God wants you to get out of your way in your time with Him. So many times the voices in our flesh speak louder than the gentle quiet silent nudging of the Spirit. The reason why some of us cannot hear Him, is that we have become accustomed to being too distracted and too loud. Those that have been on the stream since the beginning, noticed that there were moments with worship and songs. There were moments of praise. There were moments of weeping and loud groans. There were also moments of silence. Why? Because we are waiting and obeying Him going where He leads. Now hear me out before you feel like you want to attack me. The reward of obedience is His presence. Now that might sound legalistic but I assure you it is not. The reward of obedience, not sacrifice. Because sacrifice implies your own efforts and your own work. "I sacrifice this or that." The reward for obedience is His presence because you are obeying Him. It is not your sacrifice. It is you obeying what He says. When you obey what He says there is a greater, much stronger awareness of the presence of God. It is not that He increases, it is that you increased your awareness of Him. It is that you have increased your sensitivity to Him.
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