Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land. He always stands by his covenant—the commitment he made to a thousand generations. This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant: “I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession.” Psalm 105:1-11
There’s enough bad news to go around these days
(especially if you snap on the news channels and cry while they endlessly pour on
the world’s messiness). So, let’s focus
on a little Good
News (ie. The Gospel).
Here’s the question: How
do you share a positive witness for Christ while there’s so much going on that’s
got people wringing their hands and checking their pulses? And will people really hear what you’re
saying about Jesus when they’re so worried?
Well, that’s really two questions,
isn’t it? So let’s deal with them one at
a time. (Which is really the answer to
most of life’s problems).
About sharing a positive witness,
even in tough times of crisis…make sure you have a witness before you set about
sharing it. That’s another twofold
checkpoint.
1. You don’t have a witness if you’ve
never given your life to Christ. Give me
a call and we’ll make sure of that.
2. This other part becomes easier,
because it’s just a matter of applying what the Psalmist wrote in today’s
text. Go back over this Psalm and ask
the questions of what he’s telling you to do.
Let’s unpack what the Psalm writer is
asking us to consider:
The Psalmist writes: Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness
So, do that, and mark in your mind how if feels to say those words. Adopt that as your theme for the day, week, or, better
yet, your life.
The Psalmist writes: Sing to him; yes, sing his praises
Invest $12 in a hymnal for your home, but don’t let it collect dust on a
shelf. Use it in your devotional time
every day. If you can’t carry a tune in
a bucket (like me), just say the words out loud. In those hymns are so much doctrine and
understanding of God’s ways, and how to proclaim His greatness, singing them
often will embed Godliness in your conversation with others.
The Psalmist writes: Exult in his holy name;
In a post a couple of years ago (see it here) I wrote about “exulting”. That’s
exactly the kind of relationship pigs have with their mud. They wallow (as pigs do) in mud to rid
themselves of parasites. But, they also just
seem to love it! That is the key to
exulting in God. You pursue relationship
with God, exulting, wallowing in all He shows you in His word, because you know
He will deal with the parasites of sin. The
wonder it creates in you is guaranteed to shine around for others to see.
So, yes, you can share a positive
witness, even (especially) in hard times like now, if you’ll let the Word of
God dwell richly in you, it will change you every day, giving your conversation
a different tone, bringing the word of hope to your world.
Now, for the other question: With
all they’re worrying about, will they hear?
Are you kidding? With all people are concerned and wringing
their hands about these days a good word is the one thing they crave to
hear.
But, in the bigger picture just
remember that it’s not in your job description to make them hear, your job is to make certain what you say is the Good News, and the way
you say it is born of love in your heart.
Let’s
Pray Together:
Father, hear our prayer today; we are often fearful of sharing our faith. There’s so much misunderstanding and anger these days. Help us to overcome fear, and be faithful witnesses.
For You Today
Go graciously to people, care about
them, share what God has shown you and done for you, and then leave the
worrying to God; He knows how to handle that.
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
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