DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
Usually this is a devotional about the making of a man or woman of God. But today, I’m going to veer off that path and share something very personal that God did in my life. On November 11, 1999, I visited a medical specialist, a surgeon who works with vocal disorders. He confirmed the diagnosis of polyps on my vocal cords. He said I must take medication as well as immediately begin two weeks of silence.
The Lord woke me up early the morning of my appointment. During those early hours, a verse of Scripture seemed to fill my mind and heart. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” I sensed that God was saying I needed a time of silence. So when the doctor told me I needed to begin a time of not talking, I knew it was more than a doctor’s advice. God was speaking to me.
My wife, Tex, and I decided to take some time away and get alone with God. We wanted to go someplace no one knew me and just meet with the Lord. We spent some time at the Grand Canyon. I didn’t know what was happening with my vocal cords, but I did know that God was changing my heart. It would be another week before I would know what had happened with my voice. But it may take an eternity to discover the full results of what happened in my heart.
That week I spent much time in worship, prayer, and reading the Word. I poured over Scriptures to hear what God might be saying to me. But it wasn’t in the scores of Bible chapters that I heard His small, still voice. One verse kept coming back to me; I couldn’t get away from it. It followed me on trails as I walked through the Grand Canyon. It rode with me in the car as I drove back and forth from our hotel to the canyon. It got on the airplane with me. It just wouldn’t let me go.
The verse was 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.” God said three things to my heart:
1. Be still. That is, to be quiet before Him. Cease striving and trying to build a worldwide ministry. Stand still and see the hand of God.
2. And know that He is God. Get to know Him. Spend time with Him. Know Him as God: my Father, my Savior, my healer, my help, my provider, my life, the Almighty One; the God of grace and love; the Holy One of Israel. My deepest desire must be to know Him.
3. He will be exalted among the nations. If I will be still and get to know Him, then in and through my ministry He will be exalted among the nations of the earth. It’s “not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit” that we will reach the nations. I believed that in the days to come I would see things I’d never dreamed before. And I’ve dreamed some really big dreams.
I must dream big because He is a big God. Yet I must reorder my life in such a manner to “be still, and know that He is God.” There are many implications in this. I had to allow the Holy Spirit to work those things out in many practical situations. I don’t believe this means inactivity, but activity that flows from having been with God.
During those days I had to learn to work out what He’d been doing in me. God bless you this week as you take time to “be still and know that He is God.”
Mark : Chapter 6
45) Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46) After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. 47) Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48) He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49) but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50) because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51) Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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