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- Written by: Don Goulding
But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak. (2 Corinthians 4:13)
Mockingbirds, you either love their midnight serenades, or you hate them. To me, they are DJ’s playing the favorite songs of other birds. They memorize what they hear and remix it into a playlist that rocks through the night.
According to biologists, mockingbirds aren’t expressing joy that’s pent up in their little birdie hearts. The males sing to establish the boundaries of their territory. The volume and eloquence are meant to intimidate rivals into staying away from their mating and feeding territory. Mockingbirds sing from compulsion, not only from delight.
I, too, have songs trapped in my chest. Jesus giving his life for us is not an event I can keep to myself. Like the mockingbird, it’s not only my delight, but my compulsion. I must sing.
The gospel has not been explained to forty percent of the global population. I can start by asking that group for permission to sing.
For the percentage that has heard about Jesus, most disbelieve because they haven’t witnessed changed lives in those who preach. For them, the Christian message is so much rhetoric from copycat mockingbirds.
I can talk about the gospel, write about it, even sing it out, but my most effective communication is made by my lifestyle. Only when my words match my actions does my proclamation become a sweet song instead of a grating annoyance.
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Prayer: Lord Jesus, may my life sing about belief in you. |
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- Written by: Don Goulding
When the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:43)
Paul and Barnabas let the flow of grace carry them toward God. They knew that to go back to the 613 laws of the Torah was to get beached in the gravel of self effort. They pled with their converts to continue in the middle of the river of grace.
I, too, wanted my life to float in the depths of grace, and yet, there were hazards—shallows of doubt, and boulders of temptation. Proper navigation was no simple task. I needed a mentor, someone further along in the faith to guide me into the free current.
By instinct, I knew what a mentor in grace would look like. A person of grace would open their heart wide. They wouldn’t be condescending, but would rest in the power of the Spirit. A person of grace would love animals, and be kind to enemies. Their life would be free of worldly ambition, and refreshingly content. They would laugh, and have smiles for everybody.
Where was I to find such a person, one who modeled the inner beauty of grace? The leaders I knew were stuck with me in ankle deep water.
Then it hit me. Most any young child could demonstrate grace. I read back over the qualifications and, yes, a child would do nicely.
Prayer: Jesus, make me a trusting, laughing, childlike person of grace.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
I get recharged by spending time among green, brown, fur, and feather. I’ll choose an hour in the woods over electronic entertainment every time. The energy and serenity of the outdoors changes who I am.
The same is true about time with Jesus. The most beautiful personalities I’ve met, like Dawn Christmas, were made that way by spending time in the presence of Jesus. Self-help schemes, and even formal learning, are paint over rust and rot. They don’t reach the core person.
Dawn Christmas was an elderly believer with a dead husband and a deranged son. She had every reason for bitterness, yet, true to her name, she was one of the most festive, Christlike people I ever met.
When Dawn wasn't reading her Bible, she was shuffling down the street toward another gathering of the saints at nearby churches. She had no interests except more time with Jesus and his people.
Dawn taught me that the only agent for real improvement is when I sit close enough to the Master to absorb his ways. With my head on his shoulder, I hear him whisper corrections and congratulations. The more of his direction I can get inside me, the more I effervesce with his beauty.
When a flower is visited by a bee it leaves pollen that changes the bloom into fruit. I need my encounters with Jesus to leave me changed, fruit bearing. Time with him is not about more knowledge or emotional sparkles, it’s about fertilizing my character for new growth.
Prayer: Holy King, may I change until others know I’ve been with you.