Good morning dear friends and fellow crafters! Praying you are having a wonderful Sabbath. I've been out of town for a few days so it will be a few more before I have a card to share.
This Thursday marks a new release day at Our Daily Bread Designs. I can't wait to share the new stuff! :-) And on Wednesday I will have a new project for Word Art Wednesday. And late next week I will be joining the Paper Sweeties crew to share some fun projects as well! So stay tuned, there will be loads to share!
Today, I have a quick devotion I would like to post.
I have been traveling this week. Specifically, I was in New Orleans for a conference. The last time I traveled there was in 2001 well before the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
Late one afternoon, John and I set out to visit Jackson Square and get some beignets. (Yum!!) While walking up Canal Street we heard someone speaking over a megaphone. The cadence was captivating. The voice almost surreal and I quickly realized the voice I heard was preaching! John and I both stopped and looked both right and left to find the source of this powerful voice. Our eyes quickly settled on a middle aged man sitting on a street corner. But it wasn't just any street corner. He was just a few steps from Bourbon Street. Suffice it to say that some of the worst traits of mankind can be found there. The heat was unbearable. It felt like 104 degrees in the shade and I didn't have a dry stitch on me. Yet this man was preaching at the top of his lungs with such power that you had to stop and listen! I thought about that man all week and found myself saying a prayer for him more than once. His presence made me question my own walk. Am I willing to put myself out there and take risks or am I afraid of what other people think? I'm sure that on more than one occasion this gentleman has been called crazy or even worse... yet he continues. His walk brings to mind the following verse in Isaiah...
"A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert." Isaiah 40:3
At this time in Bible history the most immediate fulfillment of this verse was the return of the Jewish people to their homeland after the exile in Babylon. Yet the ultimate fulfillment is seen as Jesus Christ as this scripture is noted again by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1-3 ...
"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, 'Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!' For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!"
So my question to myself is this...
Am I a voice in the wilderness telling people about Jesus Christ and His ultimate return or do I just keep silent?
Thank you for reading and God Bless you!
1 comment:
This is such a challenging message- especially for an introvert like me. However, I continue to pray that God would use me to make His paths straight even if it isn't always through the loud crying of my voice. I'm so glad God blessed you with your considering. I know that your blog is a part of your loud voice crying out. It also isn't sent out in exactly the same way as your man on the street, but it will not return void!
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