Friday, April 27, 2012

Speaking Volumes but Saying Little

Lately, the common theme that the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me about, is that of countenance. Whether it's in my prayer time, devotions, or listening to other teachers, countenance has been the subject.

For example, this morning I checked out Joyce Meyer's online daily devotional and, yep you guessed it- countenance. Click Here for Joyce's Daily Devotions. Then as I was reading in Psalms later today, once more- countenance.  I'm not sure that it would be blatantly obvious to everyone. However, since this subject has been rolling around in my heart lately, it was overwhelmingly obvious to me.This is the verse that stood out to me....

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world."  Psalm 19:1-4a (HCSV)

and then verse 8....

  "The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the commandment of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up." 



 I love how these verses talk about nature declaring God's Majesty without saying a word, and then turn right around and make it personal by saying God's Word in us will light up our eyes.  

I can personally attest to the heavy countenance that is apparent with a heavy heart. (I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve.) However, I can also testify to the times when I've had my mind in the right place, and people have said "There's just something about you." (It's Jesus.)  I want to have those experiences all the time, not the emotions on the sleeve kind. 


It's not some magic formula, it's very evident in God's Word how to have a countenance that radiates.  

 "Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces."     Psalm 34:5 (NLT)
  
 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!" 
   Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

 These are just a couple of examples. The point is, when our minds are thinking about Jesus and not our problems, our countenance will reflect that. The countenance we then radiate will draw others to Him. 

No comments:

Post a Comment