The Joy of Gifts

I marvel at the wonder of God’s orderly nature. This month I’ve again buried myself in the book of Isaiah, which of course is a mini-Bible in itself, with 66 chapters (1-39 = God’s judgment, 40-66 = The Messiah prophesied in the 1st 39). And then I marveled at how He gifts us each so uniquely, and beautifully for who we are designed to be, in His image of us. I have concluded that He reaches each of us through our eventual amazement at the design of our self, and how we can choose to use these gifts for His glory, and empower others through them. One of my most pleasurable gifts has been music, and my God-breathed ability to sing – and at my slowness in recognizing that it was His intention, and not my doing at all. Any of you ever thought thoughts like, "wow – I really knocked that out of the park", and even developed your version of a swagger? Guilty as charged; convicted of pride. I was 40 before it even occurred to me to use this gift for Him, when I joined a "professional" (Ray’s definition: if you were paid to do it, you’re a professional) singing group and started singing the music of God (my opinion).

Consider this: "The Messiah", as an oratorio written by Handel, is 2 hours long, and the musical score (the written version that the musicians read) for a 4-part chorus with its own score, an orchestra of many pieces (each has their own individual score), and the monolithic score of the conductor, would run you out of ink on your PC printer. HUGE! It is said that Handel wrote the entire thing in less than a month. I claim that no one can even write, type, or otherwise input, that much data that fast, while designing and creating at the same time; it has to be as large as J. Vernon McGee’s 5-volume treatise of his "Thru the Bible" program. Handel neither slept nor slumbered, apparently. And, like Mozart, who wrote note-perfect music (never erased a note, just wrote’em), Handel had to be God-inspired, and was just transcribing (literally taking notes). The words were already in place, most of them in the Book of Isaiah, chapters 40-66 (his "New Testament", and chapter 66 itself a mini-Revelation)!

So, Isa 40:1-3 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people…" becomes the 1st movement, a tenor recitative that opens the 2-hr work. The 2nd movement is a tenor aria that starts at Isa:4-, and so on, though this amazing book of our Bible. Some day, as an exercise of pure JOY, I will analyze the entire score and document each movement!

My point is that God is behind all great gifts, musical or otherwise, and we all have some! The challenge in life is to discover yours, and figure out how to use them for His glory! I snuck up on mine, in barbershop quartets, college quartets and choirs, and used them from 40-55, to bring inspiration to large crowds who also appreciate this music. It is a pure JOY to bring tears to the eyes of another (seen through your own teary-eyes), and is, as an Arch-Bishop once said after hearing us sing in his cathedral, a "double prayer" (God’s Words and His notes), offered to Him. My challenge is still: go find yours, and major in it while you have the energy to do Him justice. And may He bless you for it… Merry Christmas, and "JOY to the World"

Hey, did anyone notice that this was written on 12/12/12? Isn’t that the Mayan End-Of-World? I had better publish this quickly! See you all in Heaven! Be JOYFUL, Ray

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