Greg Laurie daily devotion - July 23, 2014

A Lot to Sing About

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. - (Acts 16:25)

If we were to rate Christianity on the basis of music only, it is clear that Christians own music. My friend Marty Goetz says that as a young Jewish boy, he envied Christians because while he was celebrating Hanukkah, Christians were celebrating Christmas with songs like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Silent Night,” and “Joy to the World.” He admired our music.

But we are not rating our faith on the basis of music; it is on the basis of what we believe and Whom we believe in. Christians sing a lot because we have a lot to sing about.

When a believer can praise God in the midst of trials and suffering, a lost world takes notice. When you are going through hardship and can still praise God, nonbelievers will pay attention.

Case in point: Paul and Silas were thrown into a dungeon for preaching the gospel. They had been severely beaten and their feet were in stocks, but Acts 16:25 says, “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.”

In Revelation 15, we find the martyrs from the Tribulation “singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (verse 3). They have come through the worst fire imaginable: they had put been put to death for their faith. Yet they are in heaven, singing their songs.

Worship music is not for our entertainment. The musicians and vocalists in church want to lead us in worship. You may say, But I don’t have a great voice. That hasn’t stopped thousands of people from auditioning for American Idol, so it shouldn’t stop you. You aren’t performing for anyone. When you worship, you are singing for an audience of one: God. So get into practice.

Copyright © 2013 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
Listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com.

Watch Greg Laurie's weekly television broadcast on LightSource.com.

SPECIAL OFFER

“Do you value the teaching and encouragement you receive from A New Beginning with Greg Laurie

Is there credible evidence that Jesus really is the Son of God?

Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates who are specialists in the areas of old manuscripts, textual criticism, and biblical studies.

Strobel challenges them with questions like How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event?

SHARE

Christianity / Devotionals / Greg Laurie Daily Devotions / Greg Laurie daily devotion - July 23, 2014