“Just Be Still” - Psalm 46:10 - Pastor Swayne Cofield - 2/10/19

Church of God said amen amen amen you know what y'all yo people y'all go ahead and rest right now y'all go ahead sit down you have to worry about the word and then I gonna read it very long say man for them we can they and while you're clapping give the Lord a hand cup of praise for our minister of music they're being so insistent thank you for making them work they will never cost that way again so we thank you so very much the Word of God has been read by you and I responsibly the entire 46 chapter the 46th division of the psalms psalm 46 I will read verses 10 and 11 you have it please say I have it he says God says be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nation's and I will be exalted in the earth the Lord Almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress zenyk attacks just be still just be still we are now at 19 years to a new millennium and this age of technology has transformed the way we live the way we shop the way we communicate the the way we think and even the way we we type on most occasions from the moment we wake up from the moment we retire for the night church we cling to devices sometimes we look at lessly sometimes we're looking for a message sometimes we're looking for a reply sometimes we're looking for likes and sometimes we're looking for shares and sometimes we're looking for news sometimes looking for things to keep our minds occupied it is safe to say that there is very little time for stillness in our lives well the list of goals for the year we have things that we have to do for the weekend even have daily agendas and checklists team Rose of Sharon I make a lot of lists and I've never placed stillness on a list of things to do we have yet to begun no matter how old you are to understand the wonderful power there is and being still we are in such a hurry always doing that we are in danger of not allowing God the opportunity to work inside of us God is never going to say to us sit still be still unless he is going to do something for us and to us and inside of us amen Jay Danson Smith said this is our problem regarding the Christian life we want to do something to be Christians instead of allowing him to do a work in us yet in our scripture today the psalmist after he sings in verse one that God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble he changes the language from God is to quote egon himself in verse 10 verse 10 again says he says God says be still and know that I am God and that is only the first part of the message so I ponder the importance of stillness over the last two weeks there have been many person in and out of the clinic every day this week and part of their their medical care is is as vaccinations and I see people from their teens to their to the eighties receiving back vaccines for for something and and when the the medical assistant walks in the room but the supply is the most important aspect of the vaccine administration is that the patient sit still yesterday morning before before the Sun even rose I I peered out the front window and as a gentle rain hit the ground hit the hit the hit the streets hit the grass the trees the flowers and all I can see was a state of stillness that nature was soaking in every job now moments later it began to storm it was much harder and but there was still a moment of stillness both before and after the storm when the Sun came out to appreciate stillness we know that that our best photos past present individual or group are only the best photos if everyone is looking at the camera and keeping still and there's something I learned to appreciate growing up even today something I learned to appreciate it is music music has a pace music has a movement music is is busy but the song is not without the rest the pause there's stillness sometimes not very long but but a song as a song is not a song and every voice and every instrument is playing erratically some portions must pause while others play some Sopranos and Altos must sing while the tenors and basses are silent amen and sometimes all voices are silent to soak in the overall beauty of the melody a good example is give you a name Jay Rossum and Johnson may not recognize that name but she wrote the tune to lift every voice and sing we know the name James Weldon Johnson who wrote the words but the tomb was written by Jay Rossum and Johnson but before our voices chime in for this Negro national anthem the music plays a melodious tune for three six counts amen they get that right you know the tune but until that music is complete we're eager to see but we're eager to sing but our voices are to keep still we want everything so instantly and this does not just apply to millennial people or the young people our generation every generation has learned to adapt to social media postings in and paying bills online and Google searches amen things that you can do and find out instantly yet there is no stillness in busyness if you know you're a child of God say man man come on say men say they say I am a child of God I am so we have we have learned from this pulpit in the past several weeks that we have to have victory God's Way and we must wait God's Way and we must wait on the Lord in and in our waiting team Rose of Sharon if if we really want to keep ourselves busy if we want to choose to be doing something we must choose to worship and we also know that in our choosing to worship there is a spiritual attire of compassion and kindness humility gentleness and the easiest one of our patience but the hardest one of our forgiveness and we all bound everything in love we have to choose to worship well choose to worship with intent choosing to worship consistently along life's journey is but it is not impossible but we have just declared together that we are chosen of God I said again I'm a child of God I'm a child of God and so the Father our Father your father my father is seeking a quality relationship with his children we are we can't be too frequently caught up in the race of doing stuff God's purpose includes giving us everything we need but our greatest need is quality time to be saturated and drenched in God's presence just be has anyone ever experienced the Lord's presence when you were just drenched in God's president whatever makes me can I get a witness about that don't we love for that again and again yeah our Father God is very proactive in his search for worshipers he's he's looking for you he's looking for us and all we need to do is show up and be still your best ability is your availability to God our Father he'll do the rest if you have some heavy lifting to do take it to God and be still he will do the heavy lifting a man he will fill your heart with amazement love he'll fill your heart with was ah but we need to be be patient we need to to persevere remembering that we know that we are instant people but there are facts about God that are a Google search away but the presence of God is much bigger than a search on Google our tendency I was very tense when I put the word our instead of your our tendency is to to try and if there's not an instant result we tend to throw in the towel and quit amen we learned just last week from stories about Abraham and Sarah and the stories about Joel 10 God's timetable is far different that arms we're in a rush but God is not in a hurry God says be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nation's I will be exalted in all the earth yes we must be truly still we just can't say I'm gonna be still we must be truly still being still means being still you have to you can say to yourself all you want I need to be silver we need to be truly still needs we need to stop being still requires us to be silent being still requires us to listen if you ever noticed on a talk show or a news and there's a panel of people there's one person talking and there's several people not listening they're waiting to talk we need to be still and listen Ecclesiastes chapter 3 says there's a time for everything a season for every activity under the heavens and verse 7 B says there's a time to be silent and a time to speak and Habakkuk the second chapter part of our clarion call per book before we we even say our call to worship the Lord is in his holy temple let all the earth be silent before in this scripture calls for silence before the presence of God yes being still requires solitude a time for you as a child of God to listen to what God has to say to you there's a message with your name woman name on it and it comes directly from God not from the pastor not from your friends not from your parents not from your children it will go directly from God to your heart choosing solitude is not loneliness it's not loneliness God wants some alone time he wants some quality time he wants some company sometimes we want to hang out online or we want to hang out with people but God wants to connect with us through through prayer and meditation he wants you to see yourself more clearly he wants to show us what we are doing right and worship and reverence to him and that he also wants to show us what needs to change whether we're ready to hear it or not he wants to make us uncomfortable because the other greater good for he challenges us to draw that to make a change so we can draw nearer to him this can only happen in solitude being truly still in God's presence these are the the greatest moments these are the moments of greatest potential for the kingdom of God to rise up inside of us and to all of us solitude is is not loneliness Moses chose solitude he was blessed to speak to the Lord face to face like a friend was to a friend Jesus chose solitude and he was sustained through trials and sustained through ridicule he was reminded by his everlasting father that that he was the son of God and his power would be revealed through him if he would only continue to trust Jesus chose solitude prior to his forty day fasting and temptation by Satan in the wilderness Jesus chose solitude as he worked through the grief and John the Baptist when he found out that John the Baptist was the head Jesus chose solitude - before he made important decision before he chose his twelve disciples he chose solitude in times of distress right before he was arrested and put on trial and later crucified he chose solitude to focus on prayer he found reflection in solitude he found releasing and replenishing and a relationship with God in solitary John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he found himself in the Sun in the solitude with God and the Spirit of the Lord fell upon him and gave him and offered him the revelation of Jesus Christ that we know as the last book of our Bible if we choose solitude team Rose of Sharon we can find releasing replenishing refreshing and in Revelation there are available to you do you believe that this one amen be truly still because there's always an opportunity to know God better know God better knowing God learning God is a process the moment we begin to to realize that God is involved in our situation we can look back my mind we can look back on what God has been doing for us he's been saving us from something all along we we should know and understand God better notice that I did not say that we understand God completely we can understand him better but we we need to act like we know God through all things when we trust in God when our trust in God is on display in our faith in our behavior God will lead other people to relationship with God God will lead other people into a relationship with with other believers God will lead other people into a relationship with a church family there are some many tangible things that we we know we act like we know now I know we used to love to watch Mike Tyson fights because to hear our parents talk about the fighters of their generation but we always talked about how we would we would somebody would want to step in the ring with Mike Tyson now if you know that you know that you can't beat Mike Tyson then you're not you're gonna act like you know you're not going to step in the ring with something someone who's gonna beat you up so there are things in our lives that we know that we know we can do or we know that we can't do we can't outrun a fast animal' we know how to find safety faster than we can find outrun an animal we need to act like we know God he's not visible but he has been present in our life yeah our relationship with God in our stillness is is is spiritual it is it is eternal it is it is not a religious it's not it's not a routine you know disarm when I'm going to spend some time talk to God we need his presence to pour to drench to saturate our spirit because these are tough times struggle is real God speaking to you has value to your life and also the God's kingdom God's Word can can can change your life remember there's a message from God just for you the message for me is a little different than the message he's going to give you so God look while we're driving through the the traffic of life God's gonna put red lights up we need to stop and place our minds in part God knows you have deadlines God knows you have health issues God knows you have bills God knows who you are intersted interceding for people outside of yourself that you have been praying for breakthroughs and your life he knows it all and in the stillness we are able to hear God's voice better and know God better they better read in the book of purse Kings the Lord appeared to Elijah chapter 19 records in verse 11 that the Lord said go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by then there was a great and powerful wind that pour the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind after the wind there was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake there was a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire came up gentle whisper he lies a new God better in the stillness Elijah had a conversation with the Lord it still was not in the shake of a powerful wind not in the commotion of the earthquake not in the rattling of the fire but in a gentle whisper wait for the whisper team Rose of Sharon be truly still and you'll know God better but the psalmist in verse 10 speaks quoting God yet offers a refreshing revelation of his own in verse 11 the same thing he mentions in verse 7 the Lord Almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress God is our fortress God is your fortress God is our stronghold we can't hold up ourselves God is our protector when we choose not to protect ourselves a fortress is something that is not susceptible to outside influences or disturbances a fortress is something that is able to protect us from outside distractions God takes better care of us than we take care of ourselves now I know you have probably heard moaning or or given a testimony about how God has has has taken care of you or better than we love ourselves and the reason why that is that's the truth it's the truth the Lord is our fortress and while we're so often distracted by the outside noise of life which can take our eyes off of seeking God in our situation God is always with us on an assignment to protect us without him as our fortress we may get caught up in anger without him caught up in frustration caught up and disappointment without God we get caught up in hopelessness without God we can get caught up in despair without God we can find ourselves literally kneeling at the foot of the cross and not have the sense enough to place our burdens the God of Jacob is our fortress he is still the same guy just be still and help others be still just be still and act like you know there's been a song in my head all week church inviting my spirit to hold me up inviting me to hold my spirit up with his spirit invited me to help my family with God's power and I might me too to help my my church with his power to allow me to help my patients through his power and this song is older than both of my children I might be sick when I used to love the song from Fred Hammond says Jesus be a fence listen it says Jesus be a fence all around me every day Jesus I want you to protect me as I travel of all the ways as I know you can I know you will fight my battles if I just keep still Lord be a fence all around me yeah every day be still and know that God is your your fortress every day we should find victory and knowing that God is with us and Romans 8:31 B says if God is for us who can be against us no one can be against us because He is God and that's just the way it is be still and act like we know God is for us verse 6 of our scripture says that nations are an uproar we always talk about other nations in disarray and disorder so so looking for an instant answer I did a I did a google search right on the nations of corruption and I didn't find a single source that mentioned the United States of America imagine that but if we say well we see right now we are a nation in uproar we are a nation that's divided we are United States struggling to be united work says nations are an uproar I found Somalia and North Korea in and Syria and Afghanistan and Iraq and and Venezuela and Haiti and many many more they're in struggles for power their struggles of oppression there are struggles for freedom yet in still no matter what these problems look like in our to our eyes and feel like in our hearts the Lord Almighty is with us the God of Jacob is still our fortress he is the fence all around us God is the protection that is not distracted by outside forces team Rose of Sharon be still and know today be still and know every day be still and know that He is God be still and know that he is the god of love be still and know that he is His grace is more than enough His grace is sufficient for you be still and know that his yoke is easy be still and know that his burden is light be still and know that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond you can ask for a thing be still and know that he shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory be still and know that you can draw near to them in any moment of any day in any situation and he is God and that's the way it is somebody takes a moment right now and act like you know God and give God praise act like you know in the clapping of your hand act like you know in the stuffing of your feet act like you know in the lifting up your voice be still and know that the God of Jacob is our fortress somebody give God praise this morning somebody shout hallelujah this born hallelujah God is great and greatly to be praised hallelujah Santu your feet

Channel: Rose of Sharon AME Church, Norwalk, CA

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Length: 26min 37sec (1597 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 17 2019