"Taking It To The Bank"

"To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever." (Psalms 30:12) Having spent the majority of the last thirty-plus years doing that which pleases me instead of doing that which is pleasing to the Lord, I can tell you from experience, that there is a right way to live as a Christian, and then, there is the wrong way! Some people will try to convince you that your okay, and that your journey brought you here, so you should consider it all part of God's plan; to which, I am willing to want that to be the truth, but then when I think back to all that could have been, and all that should not have been, it is something that I really do not like to think about. Regardless of what you might think about how our actions, or lack of action, play out in the whole picture of grace, there are going to be results involved; which mean, lives will be affected in one way or another. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, and I need to slow down just a tad. There is one word I wish to look at in this verse today, and it is the word "silent", as in, "and not be silent"; because it is a word that requires inaction to make it happen; in other words, silence is what you hear when nothing is moving, as in dead, lifeless, and stagnant; there is no there there! I know I have shared on this many times before, but I believe it is something that needs to be realized as a major problem within our churches, our families, and in our personal lives as ambassadors of Jesus Christ: our life we live in Christ does matter, and we will be judged accordingly! I am not quite sure how that all plays out in heaven, but I am pretty sure that God has a plan for those that serve themselves, and for those that serve others; but, I would not just think that everyone will all be the same in heaven, as if there are no benefits to doing well, just as there are consequences for not doing well. This word "silent" is a word that denotes more than just what is given out, or not given out, but it also describes the essence of what is taken in, as in, a closed mouth will not taste goodness, or allow food in to nourish the body; all of which will rob us from the experiences of abundant life in Christ, which is that which brings forth the Rivers of Life... "He that believeth in Me, as the scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)