Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.—Psalm 66:16
let me tell you what he has done for me.—Psalm 66:16
Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I was talking with a friend the other night and our conversation was somewhat strained – first he told me that monkeys were trainable, but apparently I was not. Then I was telling him about a favorite movie from my younger days – “Planet of the Apes”. He asked me what it was about and I had barely beckoned 5 words when he cut me off and said…”No, what is it about?”. [Hint: Terry don’t like to be cut off!] He was not wanting a play by play of the movie, but simply wanted to know what the underlying theme of the movie was. The underlying theme of “Planet of the Apes” — REALLY? After many more words were spoken we finally arrived at the underlying theme of the movie – Opression of the Races and their Effects. Who knew? I guess I knew that but sometimes I have trouble clearly beckoning the words that I am called to deliver.
As a Christian I am called to deliver many words. I am called to deliver a prayer in public here and there. I am called to deliver a devotion occasionally at a Baptist Men’s meeting. I am called to deliver words in a Sunday School lesson for the college class at First Baptist – something I LOVE to do. And sometimes I am called to deliver a word of testimony – a true story of a personal encounter with my Creator. When delivering a testimony I never want to have trouble clearly beckoning the words. I want to communicate what I felt, what I saw, how I was changed by the encounter. I want to communicate transformation on some level. An encounter with our Creator should involve a transformation and those around us need to hear of it. May we always be able to speak those words in an un-Ape like manner!
Challenge: Disciples…let’s not monkey around with our testimony. Let’s speak clearly of our transforming encounter with the Almighty. Those around us – Christians, Seekers and non-believers, they are all listening. And they want to hear the underlying theme of our story. Let’s speak it clearly and let’s speak it from our hearts….which are still burning within us, right? Let’s share the warmth of a real and personal encounter with a listening world.
What is the moral of this story? Terry is trainable even if he is slow to learn. Well, that may be a underlying sub-theme, but the real point is that we disciples have this awesome gift of gab. We can and we should speak often and clearly of our encounters with Jesus Christ. Those words can help to encourage another Christian soul, or they may plant a seed in an unbeliever. There are 14 billion listening ears on this planet (not counting monkeys and apes) and those 14 billion ears need to hear our personal testimony of the transforming love of our savior. Let’s give it to them!
Prayer: May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen!
Terry
Check out my blog at:https://terrybjohnson.wordpress.com/
Random Words by Terry 