GIVING THE LORD RECOGNITION IN EVERYDAY CONVERSATION
Many of us have not realized that we’ve neglected part of
our mission as followers of Jesus Christ. “How?” you ask. Well, we just don’t
talk about the Lord in our everyday conversations. God does so much for us, and
yet when we talk about our daily events, we use phrases like: “I did this and
that, and great things happened,” “I was so lucky,” “It was like magic.”
Instead of those phrases, in truth, we should be saying “Jesus
did that for me,” “God orchestrated that whole event,” “Holy Spirit showed me
what to write,” and things like that. When
we receive an answer to prayer, we give the Lord recognition in private, but
too often, we don’t acknowledge Him publicly in our everyday conversations or
our posts on social media either.
When we’ve taken Jesus as our Lord, our lives aren’t
nearly as much about us as carnal beings, but they are about our spiritual
selves in a natural body. As it says in Philippians 2:13: “For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do
of his good pleasure.” Whether we recognize it or not, God loves us
and is personally interested and involved in everything about our lives every
day.
God has given us Jesus Christ as our Lord, the Holy
Spirit as our teacher, and much more. He sees us, communicates with us, and is
with us all the time. He’s arranged for signs and wonders to happen around us.
He’s given us angels to protect us, warn us, and push us in the right direction
at times when we are hesitant. He’s arranged for other Christian believers to
befriend us, and He’s even inspired unbelievers to do certain things that end
up benefitting us.
When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God
not only rescued us, but He took oversight of us and continues to orchestrate
as many of His blessings toward us as we will accept. He certainly deserves our
spoken recognition and praise.
I love how the King James version translates what Paul
spoke in Philippians 1:27: “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the
gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may
hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving
together for the faith of the gospel.” I know that several translations replace
the word “conversation” with phrases like “your manner of life” or “how you
conduct yourself,” and that is definitely the bigger picture, but what we say
out loud is a huge part of who we are and who we represent.
I think that the saying, “your actions speak louder than
your words,” has been taken way out of context. We have overemphasized the
action part and nearly annihilated the words part. But I really don’t think any
of us have done this on purpose. It’s been a sneaky play on Satan’s part. He’s
slowly introduced a spur into our thinking and culture. So we’ve tried to live
for God without acknowledging Him (except in designated praise and worship time
at church, or in our private times in prayer). This concept and practice have
to change.
Jesus told his disciples back then, and he is telling us
now: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature” (Mark 16:15). We all know that the definition of the Greek word for
“gospel” is “good news.” But are we unaware of how easy it is to preach the
good news?
Every time we tell someone that “Jesus did this for me,”
or “God opened that door,” or “The Lord brought that person to me,” or “the
Holy Spirit told me what to do to get that person away from us.” All of these
verbal recognitions of the Lord’s presence in our lives—these are preaching the
good news, the gospel! We’re doing God’s will, and it’s easy.
We say it. We recognize the source of the good things
that happen in a day, giving our God the recognition in our daily conversation.
If we do it, others will start to do it too.
Let’s make the practice of recognizing the goodness of the
Lord in our everyday experiences, remembering that “every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17). He loves us, and we
want to share that love with others.
Love, Carolyn
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