Let My Heart Not Be Silent…

Janet Souleyrette

Description

A woman of faith shares a collection of original praise songs and the stories behind them to lead believers on an introspective journey within to renew their trust in God.

So trust in Him, just hang on, and don’t let go.

He has a plan; He has a plan for you.



When we let go of how we perceive everything should be and just go in trust to wherever God leads, we become free to be who He created us to be.



In an inspiring devotional she was called by God to write, Janet Souleyrette shares twelve original praise songs and the stories behind them to illustrate an amazing journey of God’s unchanging faithfulness. Through her songs, testimonies, and applicable scripture, Janet reminds believers to trust and obey in His unfailing love and immeasurable grace, and to wholeheartedly follow the still small voice that speaks in gentle whispers to remind us of His plan for us and our divine purpose. Included are several additional short stories and lessons learned.



Let My Heart Not Be Silent is a collection of original praise songs and the stories behind them that lead believers on an introspective journey within to renew their trust in God.

Sujets

• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• True Stories
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 05 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664267893
• Langue: English

Extrait

Let My Heart Not Be Silent…

THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS






JANET SOULEYRETTE








Copyright © 2022 Janet Souleyrette.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.



WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6790-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-6791-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-6789-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910241



WestBow Press rev. date: 08/04/2022







Scripture quotations marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Version.

Scripture quotations marked ESV taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from The New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are from the New Living Translation edition of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.



CONTENTS
Author’s Note: The Call
Foreword
Preface
Introduction

Chapter 1: I’m Laying It Down
Chapter 2: A Song For Alex
Chapter 3: A Blessing In Disguise: A Song Is Born
Chapter 4: A Season Of Sorrow
Chapter 5: So Amazing The Mountains He Moves
Chapter 6: An Open Door
Chapter 7: Just Wanna See Hagen Today
Chapter 8: The Biopsy
Chapter 9: Give Yourself Permission To Rest So You Can Give God Your Best
Chapter 10: An All-In Surrender
Chapter 11: A Season Of Separation
Chapter 12: The Promise Of Deliverance
Part Two: A Collection Of Short Stories
The Yoga Story
Every Step, Every Breath
The Story Of Surrounded By Your Lovin’ Arms Of Grace
More Than Anything I Could Have Ever Planned Or Dreamed!
Inexpressible Joy: The Charles Novell School Of Music 2015
Willie Makes Another Appearance
Lessons Learned On This Amazing Journey!

Acknowledgments
















That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
— Psalm 30:12 (New American Standard Bible 1995)



AUTHOR’S NOTE: THE CALL
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
—John 16:13
On February 7, 2017, at 11:04 in the morning, my sweet friend Barb called to give me a message: “Hi, Janet. I love you and miss you and … I have a message for you. From Jeremiah 30:2 in the New International Version of the Bible, it says, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.’ … Love you! Bye!”
Okay, wow. That call was, without a doubt, a clear message from God. It was the third time in the past twenty-four hours that Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV) had not only been shown to me and given as a command, it was now literally being spoken aloud to me.
The first time was when I was so persistently and relentlessly determined that one way or another, I was going to finish the lyrics to this one particular song—a song I’d been trying to finish for so long for a CD project I had planned.
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” and that’s when God stepped in with the command to stop. In other words, God’s message was a clear expression of Psalm 46:10 (NASB1995) and Matthew 11:28 to “Cease striving ,” and just “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Both are soul-essential scripture verses that my heart and soul were obviously in need of and that my dear sweet friend Barb quite often has to remind me of.
I knew exactly from Whom and where that Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV) message was coming because the rest of the command was to, “Put all of the songs and the stories behind them in a book along with my other short stories, and then take them specifically to the Charles Novell School of Music in Murray, Kentucky, and to whomever else I was led to.” Wow, this passage from Jeremiah, has impacted my life in ways that I still can’t comprehend. As for the music school in Murray, all I can say is, “If you love Jesus, and you love music, you will love it!” It will impact your life in ways you could have never dreamed or imagined.
The second time Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV) was given to me in that twenty-four-hour period was when I was down on my knees putting in a load of laundry, still thinking about that command. I was gently nudged to turn around and check on my stovetop’s digital clock. Sure, enough, it was 3:02. Now, this may not make much sense to you, but I knew what it meant. Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV) once again. I knew God had once again sent me this message, just as Psalm 23:6 taught me: “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.” God, in all His love and goodness, was persistently guiding me.
That’s just how the Holy Spirit guides me into all truth, by relating scripture to time. It still blows my mind every time how God will lead me to the truth through the very thing with which I struggle most. I don’t know what it takes some days for God to get my attention or why I can be so slow in doing what I know He is asking me to do, because, truthfully, it is not in my best interest, nor does it benefit me in the least to keep struggling with obedience or keep saying, “Okay, God, give me a minute.” All that does is spiritually empty me, flat-out wear me out physically, emotionally drain me dry, and rob me of all the joy that awaits. I am learning to drop everything distracting me so that I don’t miss out on what all God has for me.
Because around 1:57 p.m., as I stood facing the bathroom mirror, I was still in a state of awe, repeating, “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.” I heard, and this time it was so very clear and from deep within, as if the Holy Spirit was speaking directly to my soul.
“So you can show others the goodness of God.” Wow , it was like literally living out the promise in John 16:13 and experiencing the words that I am now so faithfully reminded of. Words that Sean Ryan, one of my pastors, always prayed in his beautiful prayers each week. “If the Holy Spirit speaks, then nothing else matters, and if the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak, then, LORD, nothing else matters.” These words ring so very true because the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, and I already knew that passage of scripture: 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
I had been shown that scripture over and over so many times in the past few days in so many different ways. Just as above, by being nudged to check the time, whether at home or in my car while driving down the road. Without fail. It could even be on a sign somewhere or the numbers of a license plate right in front of me because God is without a doubt always with me and faithfully reminds me of His promises wherever I go. His goodness and unfailing love most certainly pursue me all the days of my life. I believe that’s how the Holy Spirit guides and speaks in such uniquely and different ways to each of us. The scripture tell