August 29: A day to make much of Jesus

I’m back to reading Psalms in my devotional times in the morning. I thank Donald Whitney for that helpful instruction. Today was Psalm 29, being August 29, and I wanted to share my thought process that has led me to want to shine the brightest spotlight possible upon Jesus Christ. I hope my feeble illumination might encourage you to attempt to do the same – in a tweet, Facebook status, creative video, blog post, coffee convo or bedtime prayers with your kids. I think all of our feeble flickerings together, if singularly focused, might light the darkness that others find themselves in and help them see the Light of the World for the first time in living color.

Here’s Psalm 29:

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord
in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the Lord is above the waters.
The God of glory thunders –
the Lord, above the vast water,
the voice of the Lord in power,
the voice of the Lord in splendor.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion, like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the woodlands bare.
In his temple all cry, “Glory! ”
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned, King forever.
The Lord gives his people strength;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Here’s how I responded/what I noticed about:

Notice the descriptive words and action verbs. Think on that. The voice of the Lord can break/shatter the cedars of Lebanon. It can create mountains or planets. (Genesis 1 teaches us that the voice of the LORD was the means of creation!)

Then there’s the beautiful truth revealed in Isaiah 42.3:

“He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick.”

Jesus fulfillsand embodies Isaiah 42.3.The voice of Jesus, our Messiah, spoken over broken and bruised people is tender, loving and gentle as He calls us to salvation and repentance. Wow.

The disciples recognized this, and the gospel of Matthew records that Jesus completely fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah in Matthew 12.17-21 and ends with the adoring response of people to Jesus’ life and ministry:

“The nations will put their hope in His name.”

Matthew 12.21

There are simply no words to capture the awe-full affection I have for the Lord Jesus. His voice can SHATTER, but He speaks to me and to you in such a way that He doesn’t break the bruised reed of our soul. I am so deeply grateful that He will not put out the fluttering flame of faith in my life, but that wherever He finds feeble faith, He is pleased to fan it into a warm and illuminating flame. Flames give heat and LIGHT, and it’s my hope today – August 29, 2018 – to encourage YOU to make much of King Jesus in SOME way. Shine YOUR light – however weak you may feel it is – upon Him.

No matter how discouraged you may be, shine your light upon Him. Focus your thoughts upon His awesome, controlled power. He could shatter, but He chooses to heal. We look around at our violent, hate-filled and divided world today, and we long for justice, peace, and just.. relief. And ALL of that is found in a love relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s my earnest prayer that this flickering will combine with yours to illuminate the darkness with the light of Jesus today. I’d love to hear how this provokes you or encourages you.