Devotional 53: Go Tell It on the Mountain

I love watching the Detroit Youth Choir singing their hearts out on television programs such as the Today show or America’s Got Talent. These young people from the worst neighborhoods of Detroit set out to tell a different story of their beloved city than most people hear. Despite the poverty these young people live in, they tell a story about the wonderful people in their community and the joy they have in their circumstances. That joy is infectious. You want to listen to them. You want to join in.

Their director, Anthony White, always says the same thing to them before they go out into the world for a new performance: “Go hard and sing loud.” That advice could be good for us as we go into the new year. We have a message about Jesus Christ, about the way He can change your life, and about the joy we have in our hearts. I want to “Go hard and sing loud” this message in the coming year.

Many people I encounter in business have a negative view of Christians and therefore of Christianity. We have not always represented Him well in the secular world. We praise and show our joyfulness in Christ inside the walls of the church, but we subdue it and keep it tamped down outside the walls. In fact, some find Christians dour and condemning. As a group, we may sometimes seem to express more that we disapprove of than all that brings us joy through the risen Christ, the cause of our hope and our great blessing of salvation.

And Christ wants us to have joy. He doesn’t want to be just our escape hatch from misfortune; He wants us to be full of joy so that it overflows and gives onlookers a taste of what we have in our hearts that causes rejoicing in our lives. Jesus says in John 15:11:

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

And 1 Peter 3:15 says that we should “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” And it adds, “But do this with gentleness and respect.”

So how do we do these things Christ has exhorted us to do and has put in black-and-white in His Word? We receive the joy through His Holy Spirit, and daily unrushed time in prayer is an incredibly effective way to stay aware of the joy and hope Christ offers us.

For thirty years, I have been intentional about spending some of my time between Christmas and New Year’s reflecting on what God has done in my life in the past year and asking Him for direction of my upcoming year. It is amazing what making yourself available to Him and letting Him know you are eager to hear from Him can do. He can have the time to speak to your heart, and He can help you usher in the new year in a new and refreshing way. Don’t look for a detailed to-do list. Just listen to His gentle nudges.

And if you do not have a plan for staying in His Word daily, now is the time to find one that speaks to your heart. Bible studies, daily read-through-the-Bible plans, and Scripture-based daily devotional books are ways He can speak to you in the new year through His Word. His Word will verify and clarify what the Holy Spirit is telling you in prayer. That is how you prepare to give an answer to someone who sees that joy in your life that he or she does not have.

I am praying for your new year today, and here is the prayer God put on my heart to pray for you:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

So “Go hard and sing loud!” You have a wonderful gift inside you and a message of hope and joy the world badly needs right now.

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Isaiah 52:7

NOTE: In January 2020, Everyday Truth will be published monthly instead of weekly. Please look for this devotional on the first Monday of each month.