New Years 2013

Inspiration for 2013

2 Timothy Chapter 3 Good News Translations

Have you watched the television shows like X Factor or American Idol and the like? Maybe you have seen videos sent by friends of exceptional auditions or performances by unknown singers. I have seen several over the last few years that were truly remarkable. There are people from many different countries who were auditioning in an effort to be discovered.

Some of their performances were nothing short of inspirational. I have been brought to tears on more than one occasion as they were revealed and their songs shared. All of these people were unknown to us until they were encouraged to step forward and share their God given talent. There have been boys and girls as well as men and women of all ages and from all over the world. There voices served to inspire us and move us but it seems only for a brief moment of time.

Never in the history of our world have we been in such dire need of such inspiration. When we stop to think of the atrocious and vile acts of sin that have been carried out in our world in 2012 we can find ourselves grieving because of its collective evil. We long for and need a source of inspiration that can carry us beyond the sin that we are witness to all around us.

Thank God that there is a voice that can penetrate the darkness of this world the voice of Jesus Christ. As we look for inspiration in 2013 we need to listen for the voice of Jesus calling out to us through Gods Holy word the Bible. You see Jesus has a voice like no others.

His voice is like that of thunder in the midst of the storms of life – Revelation 18:2 and 21:3

His voice cast away fear. – Revelation 1:17

His voice commands our obedience – Deuteronomy 28:1

His voice is the voice of victory over the sin and death that we battle in this life. Hebrews 4:12 Revelation 1:16

The voice of Jesus must be our inspiration for 2013.

1 King 19:11-13

11 The LORD said, Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

The voice of Jesus is found in a soft, gentle, whisper but many of us are distracted by the violent sound of the winds of our times and the shaking of the earth beneath our feet and the fire that is the fire of persecution against the innocent and against our brothers and sisters around the world and our hearts grow faint within us for we are overwhelmed by these powerful forces. What we forget is that our God makes His power known to us not through violent works but by a gentle whisper.

Words that are spoken softly, prayerfully – Jesus said, It is finished. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

Jesus did not say – it is begun – He said it is finished yet some of us are living our Christian lives as if the work has just begun rather than living in the victory of the finish.

My brothers and sisters in the faith we must live lives of inspiration in 2013 so that the voice of Jesus that is living in us can be heard. You do not need to shout like the sound of thunder or cause your voice to shake like the tremor of an earthquake and you do not need to season your words with the fire of damnation.

All you and I need do is to let Jesus voice be heard. That soft gentle whisper that proclaims – it is finished

I felt the need to sing for you today and to ask my wife Fran to sing for you in order that our voices might be used as an example of the inspiration that can come from song.

I do not know if our singing inspired you the way that some of the people you have seen on these television shows inspired you but that was not the point.

The source that Fran and I derive our inspiration from is not from the lyrics or the music. We find our inspiration for singing comes from Jesus living in us because of what He has done in our lives.