I woke up very grouchy. With a headache. And a backache. And no desire to write an In "Other" Words post. Who cares? All of ten people will read it and those will be the ones whose own posts are more eloquent and well thought out than mine.
It doesn't matter. No one cares. Forget it.
A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s Truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.
John Calvin
The Spirit whispers, "The truth is I care. Are you going to fall for this trick?"
Am I standing for God's Truth if I am silenced? If I miss an opportunity to tell of His power, am I a mute dog? If I opt out of a chance to speak His name, am I a coward?
There's no profound thoughts here today, only a charge. I ask myself, "Who is it you write for? The praise of others or in obedience to God?"
And I ask you, What truth are you trying to ignore today? What personal attack are you shrinking away from like a scared dog? Will you stand up to the devil and believe what is true?
Standing for the truth is not only a public responsibility, but a private one as well. Hold your ground, my friends.
Visit our host, Esthermay, at The Heart of a Pastor's Wife to read more impressions of this quote.
10 comments:
Thanks for sharing today. The standing up definitely begins in our own hearts weeding out the lies Satan would like us to believe. It doesn't always require a public appearance but a private session within.
Tami - what a sweet reminder that I do not write, speak, or do anything else for others, but for Him alone. Such encouragement and inspiration! For not having much to say today, you've sertainly brought a blessing to my life ;o) Nina @ mamas*little*treasures
"Oh what i would do to have, the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat i'm in" This song came right to my mind as I read your post. Great reminder friend, of doing, even when we don't feel like it. Oh, loved the pictures from Sunday!
"There's no profound thoughts here today, only a charge. I ask myself, 'Who is it you write for? The praise of others or in obedience to God?'"
But the essence of what you say here IS profound...a charge to be doing...and to do it for an audience of One! Press on in your writing. Bless Him with your words, and allow Him to bless others with your words. Your words HAVE been a blessing to me today.
Denise Hughes :)
*ouch* This is an important charge. Thanks for the reminder.
I was unable to write today--God had other things in mind for me today. But I am so glad you wrote, and that I dropped in to see what you wrote. You always challenge and bless me.
Hope your head and back are better.
First -- I do hope your headache and backache are better. Physical pain only enhances "grouchy" in my life. So - btdt! :-)
May God touch your body in a special way today.
I do believe your charge is well taken by all of us. And I don't think any of us writes for the praise of others, but rather out of obedience to the still small Voice that begs us not to be mute dogs -- publicly OR privately.
* * * * *
I love your Q: on my own post this a.m. "What does a barking Christian look like?" :-) Hopefully not as scary as the German Shepherd on my post - Lol
-- but I think that the God-given temperaments and personalities that make each Christian unique and genuinely a child of Almighty God give us millions of different snapshots of "barking Christians." I've often wished to be a quiet giant like my father, but he gave me a big mouth like my mother instead. [Did I say that outloud?!] So I tend to be a German Shepard sometimes and need grace more than most of the other dogs. . . .
Don't you think though, that if our hearts are pure -- if our lives our surrendered -- if our talents and gifts belong to HIM, our bark will be as unique as we are? There is a huge difference between a Yorkie barking to protect his master and a pit bull doing the same. But both dogs are still protecting the master....
Thank you for being part of IOW!
You are a blessing!
~esthermay
Thank you so much for sharing this. I struggled in writing on this quote, cuz I hate being controversial, but I knew too what God wanted me to write on - I finally but it up just before the end of the night.
Thank you for sharing too.
Esthermay--you help me breathe a little sigh of relief with your different dogs, different barks analogy. Good point, friend.
I need to print this off and staple it to my forehead!
I have loved these "quoted" blog posts, but I understand that there are days when you just want to crawl back under the covers. People are reading - and people do care. Your words go straight to the heart. Thank you for sharing your honest feelings! I love that about you!
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