2009 – Day 108.Apr. 19 – “Music’s” Effective Ministry

2009 – Day 108.Apr. 19 – “Music’s” Effective Ministry

Passage of the Day: 1St Samuel 16: 21 - 23 … 21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he [Saul] loved him greatly, and he [David] became his [Saul’s] armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

My Journal for Today: Did you know that you can make “music” for God? Oh, you may say, as my Pastor might, “Bill, I can’t sing a lick?” But my Pastor, Dr. Ernie, doesn’t let that silence his song. He knows that when he sings to/for God, as off key as the world may hear him, the angels in heaven feel and hear the joy God has imparted into Ernie’s soul. And when I’m around Ernie as he’s singing, his joyful singing, as off key on earth as it might be, is infectious; and I can feel God’s joy emanating from my Brother; … and I feel God’s goodness too. And that is beautiful “singing.”

But David not only sang God’s joy from the heart; he apparently had a song-writing and singing talent which was soothing to Saul’s troubled heart; and David’s song ministered to the heart and soul of this troubled king. What is your “song” which God can use to soothe the savage beast of your fellow man? I put “song” in quotes because your talent or gift may not be musical singing, as is the case for my Pastor. But, maybe you have the “song” of service to give to someone who needs your help. Maybe you have the “song” of mercy to “sing” for someone who desperately needs your merciful touch. Perhaps your “song” of encouragement can reach out and lift up someone, like a king Saul, who is down or depressed and needs the “song” you might have to affirm or unburden that broken-spirited brother or sister.

We may not be able to “sing” musically; but I firmly believe we all have a “song” to sing from the talents and gifts God has given us. And I hope I’m not being too obtuse here with my word picture. My Pastor, who can’t sing a lick, brightens up a room by just walking into it; and he can make me feel like I’m the most important person in the world by just coming up to me, with his ear-to-ear smile and asking, “How’re you doin Bill B.?” When he greets me that way, sometimes hugging me or whacking me on my back, I know I’m loved by my Shepherd; and I feel God’s love coming through my Pastor’s caring acknowledgment. When he does that for me, my brother and friend, Ernie, is “singing” God’s song of love to my soul.

When you reach out and cook a meal for someone who has lost a loved one, you are “singing” God’s caring love for that person? When you share a hug for an unloved or maybe unlovely person whom God has put in your path, you are “singing” in tune with the angels and God’s song is heard by that under appreciated soul. When you help a depressed and lost soul see the love of Christ by sharing your Christian testimony, you “sing” the song of salvation for that desperate and lost person.

So, my fellow Christian choir member, “sing” out for Christ. Someone needs your “song;” someone needs to hear you “singing” with the joy and love of the Lord which you can share with others, … others who probably desperately need to hear God’s love being “sung” by you. But don’t worry that your “song” may not be in tune with the world’s “singing.” Just remember the story I related some days ago from the old Jewish story of the mentally challenged boy who sang loudly and off-key in the Temple, making everyone else feel uncomfortable; until one day when the heaven’s appeared during Sabbath service and the retarded boy was shown to be singing in tune with the heavenly chorus of Angels.

My friend, any time you reach out with God’s love to another troubled soul who needs God’s joy or His peace, you are “singing” God’s song; and you are in tune with the Angels. So, you take your talents or your gifts and you “sing” that song for God in the presence of someone who needs to hear your Godly “song.” The world may hear your “singing” as off key; but always remember that you’ll be singing with God and for God’s glory when you “sing” your song to lift up someone who needs to hear that “song.”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I sing Your song. Help me to sing it loudly and boldly to those who need to hear it. Amen

2009 – Day 107.Apr. 18 – Your Uniqueness

2009 – Day 107.Apr. 18 – Your Uniqueness

Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 16: 14 – 23 … Link to passage for study …

My Journal for Today: Don’t you just love the way God does His business – and carries out His will. Sometimes, even without our pro-action, God works out a way for His will to be accomplished by men who are even unaware of how things are coming together. Saul had no – conscious – idea that the young harpist and song-writer he was bringing into the palace at the recommendation of his court was the very one who had been anointed by God to replace him. And David had no idea, prior to his being called from the fields to Saul’s side, that all those years of plucking away at his harp to quiet his sheep would land him in a helping relationship with the king of God’s people. Go figure!

But that’s the point, isn’t it? There are just some things we can’t figure and must simply accept as God’s way of doing business. You may not realize it; but that Spirit-imparted gift or those gifts which you received from God when you were converted and born-again may yet be used for God’s glory in some special way. Who knows; maybe that talent God gave you, and which was developed years ago, may yet be used in some special way in God’s kingdom.

Years ago, when I was in college and moving far away from God (calling myself an “agnostic”), I had to choose a major course of study; and I chose public speaking after I got an “A” in my first speech course. So, I began taking speech and rhetoric courses and discovered – at least to my professor’s judgment – that I had a talent in speaking to groups of people. So, I developed this skill; and it took me into my graduate education where I changed my major from speech education to speech pathology. And in this course correction in my education, I learned that I had a talent to work with those adults who had poor speaking to help them become more proficient in communication. Then, some 20 years after I entered college, which took me away from God, I was broken in spirit and received Him as my Lord and Savior.

It was a few years after that I discovered that my two primary Spirit-given gifts were teaching and encouragement. Now, it didn’t take much brain power on my part to realize that the spiritual gifts which God had imparted to me were a perfect fit with the “natural” talents I had developed in my college and grad school years. Go figure! … But God certainly had figured it all out.

And now I think about it. … God takes me, while I was even rejecting Him all those years, and develops the exact skills which would match up with the gifts - He knew - I would have after I became His child and which could be used in ministry for His kingdom and His glory. And now, here I am using my teaching gifts and speaking talents to teach, preach, and disciple others in my church and in ministry. And now I also use my God-imparted encouragement gifts and the “therapy” talents I learned years ago to lift up, mentor, and encourage men who have become enslaved to sin, helping them to walk free from that imprisonment in Christ. As I look at Christ’s mission statement in Luke 4: 18-19 [link provided], I can now see that He wove together my talents and my gifts to give me the opportunity to serve His kingdom in this same mission.

My beloved fellow disciple, never discount some talent you may have or a Spirit-imparted gift God has given you. You may not yet know how; but God can, and will, use what you have or what He’s given you for His glory. And that’s why I believe every Christian should discover his/her Spiritual gift or gifts. And when you do, many times you will discover that such gifts, when paired with some ability or abilities you have – maybe something, like David, you developed years ago - can be used to advance God’s kingdom.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, use your servants for Your glory. Amen