Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Your stories: an act of worship

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Have you read 1 Chronicles 16 lately?


I can almost hear trumpets sounding and bells ringing and angels singing.


In this chapter, David gave Asaph and his fellow Levites a song of thanksgiving to God. He said,




“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done ….
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise….
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy in his dwelling place.
Ascribe to the Lord … the glory due his name.
Bring an offering before him;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness….
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.”


And when David finished, “Then all the people shouted ‘Amen’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’”


What a worship service! I wish I could have stood among that congregation.


And as if that’s not enough—what’s even more exciting—is that we are doing those same things in our memoirs!


In our stories, we are telling others the wonders God has done and his marvelous deeds among us. We are declaring his glory. In the process, we are “singing” praise to him, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise!”


This sentence grabbed hold of my heart: “Bring an offering before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” I encourage you to lift up to God (1) your process of writing and (2) your finished stories—lift them up to God as your offering to him.


And hand your stories to your readers as an offering to the Lord, too. Do it as an act of worshiping him in the splendor of his holiness.


What a privilege we have to honor God in this way.


And we the writers, together with our readers, shout, Amen! And Praise the Lord!



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Spread the word. Invite your friends to join us. Everyone has stories to tell!



20 comments:

  1. What a good word! I've considered my writing - on a good day - an act of worship, too. But not the way you've described it here. With shouts of joy to God, while I sit right here with my laptop. I LOVE that! I'm always encouraging people to be free in their worship at church, but why can't that transfer over into everyday, ordinary life? Thanks for this...

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  2. Thanks for stopping by, Deidra, and for your good words. If God used this blog post to speak to you, then my prayers have been answered!

    For a year and a half on the mission field, I did not think my assignment (writing articles about what God was doing in and through Bible translation) was anything more than just writing articles. Then I ran across Bible verses that say we're to tell everyone about the marvelous things God does, and suddenly it occurred to me that I had the GREAT PRIVILEGE of declaring to others the amazing things God was doing! That revolutionized my job for me and gave me a whole new fire inside for the job God gave me. We can do the same in our memoirs, too.

    Thanks for stopping by, Deidra.

    Linda

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  3. Coming over from The High Calling. What a beautiful idea! Praise on our screen. :)

    I feel like shouting amen. :)

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  4. Hi, Duane, thanks for stopping by. I've enjoyed following you on your blog, too. :)

    I'm joining you in shouting "Amen!"

    Have a great day.

    Linda

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  5. I pray for inspirations but don't offer my writings up as offerings. Am going to start doing that today!
    What a pleasant surprise I had yesterday. I opened a box from Amazon and found your book that I had ordered. Can't wait to read it. I have too much going on right now to start it but, when I do, I want to read it in peace and enjoy every memory it!

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  6. Shanda, bless your heart. I know you've got a lot going on right now (I left a comment on your blog) and I'm praying for you.

    Thanks for ordering Grandma's Letters from Africa. My prayer for the book and the blog is that God will use them for His purposes, and I'm always surprised at the various ways people are impacted--ways I'd never envisioned. God is so creative about the way He does things!

    Thanks for stopping by, Shanda.

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  7. I certainly consider my weekly column an act of worship! Only He empowers us to do what He's called us to do. I love thinking about the storehouse of unlimited creativity that the Holy Spirit has, don't you??

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  8. A storehouse of unlimited creativity -- I like that, Rhonda!

    Love your blog and weekly column!

    Linda

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  9. Linda,
    This post is so helpful to me.

    I've considered my writing as an act of worship. It's nice to hear I'm not alone.

    More and more, the older I get, that's my litmus test for any action I'm contemplating: If I can't offer this up to God in worship, then I probably shouldn't do it at all.

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  10. Sheila, bless your heart for having such a worshipful attitude.

    And what a sobering but important thought: If we can't offer it up to God in worship, we probably shouldn't be doing it at all. Wise words, Sheila. Thanks for pointing that out.

    Linda

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  11. Linda, this message is so beautiful that I have no words to say. It speaks to my heart~Wow. Thank you!
    Blessings and Hugs,Kathy

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  12. Aw, Kathy, my prayers are answered when I read words such as yours. God uses His words and makes them real to us--to speak to our hearts. I'm glad He has done that through 1 Chronicles 16, one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

    Congratulations again on your retirement, and I know you are already having a great time in this new chapter in your lifle!

    Smiles,
    Linda

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  13. I came to your site from The High Calling. There's a song we sing at church that I love--and I never knew the words were straight from 1 Chronicles 16!

    Thanks for this reminder that good words are not just gifts from God but gifts to God. I forget that!

    Warmly,
    Kimberlee

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  14. Kimberlee, I don't think I know that song. Tell me more! I love those Bible verses to much -- I'm sure I'd love the song, too! Thanks for stopping by, Kimberlee.

    Linda

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  15. I'm also here from The High Calling, Linda. Love this post and the reminder of some awesome scripture! God has impressed upon me not to make my writing and speaking (or my life in general) about anything other than One Thing--Jesus Christ! No pressure when I concentrate on declaring the glory of God--he'll take care of growing that seed I planted.
    Thanks for the reminder.
    Blessings,
    Julie

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  16. Julie, thanks for stopping by. Awesome God, awesome Scripture. Gives me chills sometimes! I'm convinced that when writing memoirs, our goal is to declare God's goodness and love and provision and ... all of it!

    Linda

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  17. Greetings! I found you via High Calling... via Hotdogs and Marmalade... via the Rabbit Room. I'm a pseudo-newish blogger. I've been blogging for only 6 months, but am writing of things that have been ambling about in my head and heart for years. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your encouragement. I look forward to following in the future. Blessings!

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  18. Well, Hey, Greener Trees! Welcome! I'm looking forward to checking out your blog, and Hotdogs and Marmalade, and the Rabbit Room, too! What fun! Thanks for stopping by. Come back again soon!

    Linda

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  19. Hi, Linda! This is such a helpful post. I've always wanted my writing to be an offering, but I never thought of it in these terms. You've given me new purpose now. I can't wait to write my next post, my next chapter, my next whatever. :)

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    1. Oh, Sherrey -- "a new purpose!" I have goose-bumps (God-bumps). I can't take credit for the inspiration -- it was God and His Word. There's so much in there to discover, no matter how many decades we've read it.

      I'm excited for your writing projects, Sherrey.

      Linda

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