Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I met with the Master as He woke up the world this morning and I lingered well past the sunrise because it was too sweet to rush. The beauty of this new day was almost too much for me to take in and it made me think about what Heaven will be like. It was as if everything I heard had a voice…from the birds singing to the leaves rustling in the trees, to the sounds the flags made as they blew in the breeze. It was like a God-given orchestra in Surround Sound, and it was a sweet reminder to me that everyone has a voice that needs to be used for Good. Each voice can be a part of the God-given orchestra, and we can all be heard in this dark world in Surround-Sound if only we’re willing to speak the Right Words with the Right Purpose.

We live in a noisy world filled with debaters (in and out of the Church) and it’s not likely they’ll hear in Surround Sound because of it. News programs pay top dollar to nice-looking commentators hired specifically to debate and talk over someone else with a different opinion of “facts. The Internet spreads lies and hate faster than you can say “amen” and churches are dividing every day as they debate their own “versions” of Truth. The Truth doesn’t have versions, but apparently, their Knowledge of the Truth is too weak to understand that. Some Christians have convinced themselves that it’s their “job” to debate the dark world (and each other) even though the Bible they claim to know so well warns against that kind of foolishness. When it comes to God’s people, there is only One song that needs to be sung…only One song that will make a Difference…only One song we’re commanded to sing…only One song that has Power of its own…only One song that leads to Good…and only One song that has the potential to reach the world in Surround Sound – and that’s the song of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

They say that the average female speaks 20,000 words a day and the average male 13,000. I can’t help but wonder, of all of those words spoken each day by each gender; how many of those words were GOOD words…ENCOURAGING words…UPLIFTING words…LOVING words and how many of them were Words used for the PURPOSE of Good? If we rattle off thousands of words each day and most of those words are NOT positive and uplifting words used for Good Purpose, how in the world can we expect our own world to be filled with Good either? It’s impossible to fill ourselves with negative things and expect Beautiful things back in return. The power of Life and death is in the tongue and our words are indicators of the Condition of the Heart and the mind. If we want LOTS of those 20,000 words we speak to be Good ones with Good Purpose, then it all begins on the inside. Garbage in…garbage out.

People around me often hear me say that “speaking about my Faith is as natural to me as breathing” and it wouldn’t be possible for me to stifle my voice to snuff Him out of my conversations at all! I am His Child and He is my God and He is a part of all that I am and all that I do. But even though I speak out (and often) I can’t help but feel shame when I consider how many of those 20,000 words were actually glorifying Him. How many times was my voice heard yesterday and how many of those 20,000 words included a mention of a Mighty God…my HOPE and my REDEEMER? It boggles my mind when I hear someone of Faith say something like “Wow…I just found out he/she is a Christian!” after having spent time with them in the past. I think it’s pretty obvious that if either one of them were using some of their 20,000 words a day to mention the Living God, they would have come to that realization long before they did. If we fail to use our voice to speak up about our amazing God, how can others hear about Him and how can we consider ourselves to be a Good Witness of our Faith if we’re silent?

I’ll speak my words today with Purpose and I’ll be sure not to squander an Opportunity to be a LOVING Light for Him by using a bigger portion of my 20,000 words. My Voice won’t be silenced today because my desire to Honor Him is much bigger than my desire to be part of the noise. The mention of my amazing God will flow through my conversations as naturally as blood flows through my veins.

How about you?

“You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead”

“You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up”

“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”