GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by the history of this song - but I was also delighted. Don't get me wrong.  I love my country very much.  But if I'm honest, we have some flaws.  Slavery was one of them.  But even out of those trials come some of the neatest things.  Oppression often breeds faith.  Negro slaves may not have had much going for them, but they did have faith.  With that faith came music.  With that music came wonderful expressions such as "Go Tell It On the Mountain."

This extremely popular Christmas Carol was once a Negro Spiritual written by someone altogether unknown, but its infectious tune and lyrics that were pregnant with biblical truth offering a hope that only a heart of faith could know was soon spread throughout slavery.  The author is credited to John W. Works, III.  However, in 1907, as a negro professor, he compiled a book entitled "Folk Songs of the American Negro" in order to "preserve and promote African American Folk-Work."2  Dr. Works' efforts sent the song's popularity skyrocketing across the country and across the country's racial barriers.  Music has a way of doing that, and knows no boundaries.

The original song lyrics have been changed many times over.  The lyrics of today's carol are not the only lyrics the tune knows.  However, they are the most famous.  Peter, Paul, and Mary rewrote the lyrics in the 1960's, and Simon and Garfunkel also have a rewrite out.2  Still, the version in the hymnbooks across America are the most widely known and faithful to both the Lord and the song's author.


DEVOTION

Put yourself in the place of the Shepherds and sing this song.  Picture the the wonder of the annunciation, the spectacle of the angels, and the miracle of the virgin birth, baby in a manger, and prophecy all wrapped up in a single moment.  Imagine the fear and trembling swelling up inside, then giving way to a delight and hope, and finally a sense that everyone needed to hear the news!

Such a journey fills the heart of all who hear the story told by the Shepherds that night - a journey from fear and trembling to delight and hope that the Sovereign Creator God has given us His Son for a blessing and sacrifice for our sins!  Indeed, we have been saved from our sins!  Next, desiring that all might know this truth as we do - and trust Him for the forgiveness of their sins as well.

Do YOU know Jesus as YOUR Savior and Lord?  Do YOU delight in His Salvation like the shepherds did?  It matters NOT what station you have in life.  You have nothing but your soul to lose for keeping quiet.  Proclaim Him to a world that needs Him.  Go, Tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere that Jesus Christ is born!

And that's Just A Thot for today!  Merry Christmas!





1 - From the Internet:  http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Music/hymns-the-songs-and-the-stories/go-tell-it-on-the-mountain,-the-song-and-the-story.html, 12/10/2015.

How to Love Sinners

Romans 5:8 HCSB But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

Sometimes people are hard to love. We wonder, how can I love that guy when he has done that to me? It is a mystery, indeed. But God loves us that way, nevertheless. He demonstrates a great deal of sacrifice for those who are his avowed enemies. What is a sinner? The enemy of God. He may not be declared “at war” with God, but he is definitely not willing to submit to God, or to allow God control, or to yield to God’s ways or laws; and he definitely will not allow God to save his sinful, truth-rejecting soul by faith in Christ Jesus. Still, God has loved us in giving us His Son as Savior to those who will let themselves be saved – regardless of what they have done.

So for me, and for you, that means the hardest part of being a Christian is to love sinners. Their sins can be a glaring defect in their personality or character. Their sins can stand as a barrier to our natural instincts, and a wall to our relationship with them. Sometimes, prudence can warn us that our lives may be in danger if we love them. But what, truly what, do we have to lose by loving them? Is our life really in this world? Or is it in the eternal with Christ? As missionary Jim Elliott is famous for saying, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” We cannot keep our life anyway, so why work so hard to do so? Once we are saved, we cannot lose that. What makes us think we can gain a thing by keeping our life – and our eternal life? We were not saved for that. We were saved to love sinners. When we put this into perspective, it changes how we live – and how we love sinners.

Let’s go out and love sinners today – and feel free to comment on this with specific ideas on how to love sinners practically. This is just a Thot-provoker.

Holler for Jesus,

Greg Yount

Singing for Jesus

"They shall sing in the ways of the Lord." -

Psa_138:5

Do you remember when you were saved? Do you remember when the burden of your sin was so great upon you that unless the Lord did something quickly, you would collapse under it? Do you remember how wonderful it was when Jesus stepped in, took the burden from you, and lifted you up at the same time saying, "Go, dear one, and sin no more. Live for me, and I will always take the load off of you and carry it for you"? That's when you started singing for and about the Lord.

What song have you now? Have you lost that sense of song in your heart? Put your burden back into the hands of Jesus and sing again! Sing of His mercy, and His marvelous work of forgiveness in your life. Sing of the wonder that your sins could be washed clean - even though you may not have forgotten your sins, nor has the enemy that seeks to remind you of them - you can still sing that your Savior has removed them from you. Sing of the joy He gave to you when you realized that sin and death no more offered fear and certainty of wrath, but life and peace with the Lord! Sing it out loud, and sing it that all may hear the song. Sing it from a full heart, and rejoice ever more - not just in what Christ HAS done, but in what Christ does in His daily loving kindnesses to you.

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord, Forever, I will sing, I will sing.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord, Forever, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord!"

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The Sword of the Lord!

Bible Reading: (Judges 7:20)

And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

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What a picture of biblical faith! What a contrast to today's average Christian's experience!

I've heard pastors, theologians, and believers from all walks tell me a few "stories" concerning what a believer ought and ought not to do with regard to sharing one's faith with others. I'm not sure what you believe - but I invite you to examine the Scriptures and see if it lines up.

• Some believe that the saved are chosen beforehand, so boldly sharing the gospel is both unnecessary and counterproductive because so many are offended by it. (Jesus teaches us to go and teach all He has commanded - which includes repentance and trust in Him - Matthew 28:18-20.)
• Some believe that to boldly share one's faith is radical Christianity and so should be avoided lest we become compared to other radical faiths. (Biblical Christianity IS radical - we are a unique people, in but not of this world, with a Heavenly Father and an eternal home. It is very different from this world, and it should show!)
• Some believe that a life lived in faith is the best and only testimony one needs (secret faith, not shared faith). (Jesus tells us that we are not to be ashamed of Him and He won't be of us - Luke 9:26. Also, we are to be always ready to give an account of our faith to any who ask - 1Pe 3:15)

Gideon's army gives us the Biblical picture of evangelism. Notice the parts included:

• The trumpets blown. This is a picture of proclaiming the gospel clearly and broadcasting it to large groups. There is none around who cannot hear the clarion call.
• Broken Pitchers. This is a picture of the broken heart for the lost. It pours out its contents upon all surrounding it. It is wounded for God's purpose of revealing its contents.
• The Candle. This is a picture of the light of the Holy Spirit. Let your light shine before men, and your good works be such that when men look upon you, they shall know that you have been with Jesus.

We are to take the gospel to the lost, bring it to their door, do not let them leave without hearing it. It is the war-cry of the church. It is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. Whom will you share it with this week?

Bro. Greg

Morning Devotions

Bible Reading: Mark 2:4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

I've always been amazed at these four men who were so very needy of getting to Jesus. They weren't going to let a crowd stop them. No walls were thick enough to stop them. No ceiling could prevent them. When they wanted to talk to Jesus, they made a way. It was huge. It is still huge today for what it tells us.

This picture of four men taking away some ceiling tile to lower their poor, crippled friend down to the feet of Jesus tells us about our evangelism methods, as well as about our personal prayer lives.

EVANGELISM
These men would stop at nothing to get the lost, the helpless, the needy, and the sin-sick into the presence of the Redeemer. When conventional methods failed, they found new ones. When reason failed, invention prevailed. The message is the same, but the methods of getting people into the presence of Christ changes with the situation.

How far are you willing to go to get the lost into the presence of the Redeemer? Will you go to the jailhouse? Will you go to the hospital? How about the Nursing Home? The drug rehab facility? The streets of your city or town? These are where the lost are - and you have Jesus.

What are you willing to do to get the lost into the presence of the Savior? Will you befriend the friendless? Will you help the helpless? Will you stand against the tide of popular opinion and reach across social boundaries?

PRAYER
I sometimes think that the reason more people don't see the hand of God moving among them is that they don't take the time to pray. They are simply too busy. They have too many other things on their priority list. Their "wanter" is not as strong as it should be. Their needs don't cry out for the help of the Savior loud enough in their minds to make this something they want more than anything else. When the need presses hard enough, the wanter wants strong enough, then the person will clamor to have the need met. Christ will fill the need of every soul if we will but come to Him. Blessed is he who will clamor to enter the prayer closet to be with the Lord - even if it means he must put his family and friends aside for a time. They will be there when he returns, but for the moment, an audience with Jesus is all that will suffice.

Bible Reading: Philippians 2:15 - That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

I love to camp. One of the essential tools for use while camping is a flashlight. One would like to have a light that worked - and worked well. Have you ever used a flashlight whose batteries were about dead? The dim, yellow light hardly did the trick in the tent - but on the trail or in the campsight, it was useless. That is why fresh, quality batteries, and a good flashlight is so important.

We are the flashlights in our dark world. Light has many uses. Christ wants to use the Light of Heaven which reflects off of us to accomplish a great work on earth in the hearts and lives of mankind.

1. Light is used for guidance. Those in the dark are not the enemy, they are there for us to help, bringing them the Word of Life, pointing sinners to the Savior, and to the place where their hearts can find the peace it craves. We need to be ready to help people understand their Bibles, like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch.

2. Light is used for revealing things. The Light that we reflect should reveal our faith so clearly that no one could possibly doubt our allegiance to Christ. In a week with us, another should KNOW the gospel, KNOW whom we serve, and KNOW who Christ is.

3. Light is used for warning. Life offers a rock on which the waves are sure to dash the lost and helpless to their destruction. Many false lights exist that lead them right upon these rocks. The true and bright light is needed. Sin and its tempting pleasures need a Christian's light to show them the way they are headed and the way they should be going.

4. Light is used for cheering. Nothing is so comforting in a dark world as light. Christians should offer comfort, kindness, and sympathy always.

Thank the Lord today that you can be this light with His help. Live in His light, and your light will be His, shining all about you, accomplishing all of this as naturally as breathing. What a marvel!

Bro. Greg