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.

GOD SEEKS A MAN!

Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV) So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

When the Prophet Ezekiel penned these words under the inspiration and dictation of the Lord, great evil was being done throughout the land. This verse follows a long list of wrongs done by God's people - including other prophets. God was speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel, looking for a man who would have faith in God in spite of the storm of public opinion to the contrary. God has always wanted better for mankind than mankind wants for himself. And that is true for you, too. God wants better for you than you want for yourself, too often.

So God is looking for a certain kind of man. He is looking for a man of faith. The man of faith would have to be willing to do some things that the world might find strange, even offensive. He would have to buck the culture. He would have to articulate God's goodness to a world that otherwise couldn't see it. He would have to warn the world about God's justice to a world that otherwise didn't believe it. That kind of man is needed today.

That kind of man is needed in our homes. Our children are being thrust into indoctrination camps we call public schools five days a week. Our children come home with strange new ideas they've heard from their teachers and peers only to sit in front of a screen for hours of follow-up indoctrination through the TV or internet. Who will have the courage to take measures in the homes to stand in the gap? Moms? But the kids need DAD to do it, too. His example and active influence is unparalleled. If he is disinterested, Mom's influence is diminished greatly. If he is uninvolved, Mom's influence is diminished greatly. If he openly opposes faith, Mom's influence can be removed all together. Dads need to stand in the gap between God and the world to protect their families.

That kind of man is needed in our public square. All corners of the square, from business, to schools, to medicine, to law, and everything in between face the temptations and morays to serve self rather than truth. God is truth. There is a great move to get God and His morals out of the public square. And so corruption moves in. Who will be a man and stand in the gap? We need a man of faith, a man who trusts that God will both protect and provide for him as he stands before his community to declare that God is real, good, and just. No wrong will go unpunished, and no good unrewarded. Who will be that man?

That kind of man is needed in global society and politics for the same reason as in the public square. He is needed in the courts for the same reason. He is needed wherever corruption, blasphemy, and paganism rule, for God is not mocked, and will pour out His indignation on them for their wicked disregard for His Holiness and Truth. They will learn of their lies at the judgment, and then pay for their deeds. Their only hope is that someone, some man, will stand in the gap and warn them of this in time for them to repent and turn to God's only Hope for Mankind - Jesus Christ, God's Son. 

What Jesus did on Calvary's Cross was to take the full wrath of God upon Himself for these sins of corruption and faithlessness. All who will receive Him as Lord of their life (Commander in Chief) and turn from their wicked ways to follow Jesus' ways, will be spared the wrath of God. Those who will not turn to follow Jesus will face God's wrath themselves.

What kind of man will trust God and love his fellow man enough to stand in the gap and warn his fellows, his family, and his friends?  Will YOU be that man?

And that's "Just A Thot" for today.

May the Lord bless you as you heed His Word today!

Real Forgiveness

"Without the shedding of blood is no remission." -

Heb_9:22

There are many religions, but only one deals with sin. Christianity alone deals with the concept of man as sinful, needing the forgiveness of God. There is one exception - Judaism. The ties of Christianity to Judaism are forever knotted - for Jesus Christ was born a Jew. This verse alone indicates the Jewish ties to Christianity (or is it reversed?). The Jew offered blood sacrifices that God might forgive their sins. The Christian has the blood of Christ, spilt willingly for the sins of those who believe in Him.

The idea that a religion is a preference is silliness. What is true is unalterably true. The thought that men can choose their truth is stupid. Those that choose wrongly will face eternal consequences. The Bible says that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, and this is contextually pointing to the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The failure to take Jesus as one's personal and living Savior means there is no forgiveness of sins, and apart from that forgiveness is no eternal life. There is no hope of it. I for one, look with sadness, not disdain, upon those who blindly choose some other religion - or none. Their plight, however well-intentioned, is not good. It is a hopeless death to which they go, and a great disappointment they will face.

Oh, Christian, you may rejoice in this truth that Christ has shed His Holy Blood that your sins might be forgiven forever. How great a truth that is! Rejoice that you are, by your faith in the shed blood of Christ, in Christ Jesus! Your hope is certain because God dearly values the blood of His only Begotten Son. When that blood is applied to your sins by faith, God sees that, and will not forsake you.

Oh, Christian, you must tell others of this wonderful truth. Tell it clearly that they might not be confused, but believe and apply the blood of Christ to their sins. Tell it completely that they might trust not in their works or their religion but only in the blood of Christ. Tell it competently that they might seek no other pardon for their sins but the shed blood of Christ.

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