Psalms 48:12-14 (nlt) --- Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem. Walk around and count the many towers. Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations. For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.
There is nothing like telling the stories of the past to inspire the future. We might sit for hours talking about what the town used to be like or hearing about the horror of the war or about the beauty of that Hawaiian vacation. Meant to inspire and draw people, stories must be seen as gifts from God to those around us.
For thousands of years, God has used stories to touch lives. Some cultures or people groups have no written language and pass on their rich history through their elders telling their stories. Jesus used stories we call parables.
Why stories? It is because people are touched and inspired when life comes alive.
Notice the verses above from Psalms 48. We can apply them literally to the great city of God's people and what it must have been like thousands of years ago or even today, but we can also apply this to the awesome character and acts of our God. The Bible gives us huge word drawn pictures of the power, the presence and the promises of God. He always said that humanity, us, is to remember so that we can tell others.
But what happens when our stories are empty or not personal? They lack inspiration and will die. That is why we must learn from where we have been, learn from what God has done and begin to tell the stories and share life with others along the way. In many different places in the Bible God said 'build this' or 'write this' or 'tell about this'. Every instance is a place for us to mark for future inspiration.
I sat down at one of my favorite places this morning and began to read my Bible (which is where I came across Psalms 48), and before long I started a conversation with a lady who sat down not far from me. She knew my face from our TV show. Then she hit me with a huge question (an endictment about herself and her sin). For the next few minutes we talked about the goodness of God that I have found along my journey. Simply put, I told her a couple stories intended to inspire this lady to look to God. I pray that is what happened.
Pray for that lady and tell your stories that inspire. God will use them big time!
Psalms 48:1 (nlt) --- How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise...
There is nothing like telling the stories of the past to inspire the future. We might sit for hours talking about what the town used to be like or hearing about the horror of the war or about the beauty of that Hawaiian vacation. Meant to inspire and draw people, stories must be seen as gifts from God to those around us.
For thousands of years, God has used stories to touch lives. Some cultures or people groups have no written language and pass on their rich history through their elders telling their stories. Jesus used stories we call parables.
Why stories? It is because people are touched and inspired when life comes alive.
Notice the verses above from Psalms 48. We can apply them literally to the great city of God's people and what it must have been like thousands of years ago or even today, but we can also apply this to the awesome character and acts of our God. The Bible gives us huge word drawn pictures of the power, the presence and the promises of God. He always said that humanity, us, is to remember so that we can tell others.
But what happens when our stories are empty or not personal? They lack inspiration and will die. That is why we must learn from where we have been, learn from what God has done and begin to tell the stories and share life with others along the way. In many different places in the Bible God said 'build this' or 'write this' or 'tell about this'. Every instance is a place for us to mark for future inspiration.
I sat down at one of my favorite places this morning and began to read my Bible (which is where I came across Psalms 48), and before long I started a conversation with a lady who sat down not far from me. She knew my face from our TV show. Then she hit me with a huge question (an endictment about herself and her sin). For the next few minutes we talked about the goodness of God that I have found along my journey. Simply put, I told her a couple stories intended to inspire this lady to look to God. I pray that is what happened.
Pray for that lady and tell your stories that inspire. God will use them big time!
Psalms 48:1 (nlt) --- How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise...
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