Tag: Proclaim

Choose to be His disciple

John 4:1  Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John  (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),  he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

John 3:26    And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

Acts 10:36    As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),

1 Corinthians 2:8    None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

2 Corinthians 4:5    For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

1 Corinthians 1:13     Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?  I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,  so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.  (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Jesus’s disciples were baptizing disciples more so than John.  When Jesus heard the Pharisees had heard of this he departed for Galilee.  John’s disciples also made note of this.  This had to have made John’s heart very very happy.  People back then, like now, either reject or embrace the need for confession of sin and restoration (made right) with God.  Baptism symbolizing death to old self (repenting) and rebirth of new self (turning away from old self).  When God speaks to a persons heart they have the choice to come to Him or reject Him.  To those who choose to listen, honor, serve, follow and obey they find new life.  A life with clearer purpose, joy, peace, understanding, faith, and hope.  Those who do not see this choice as foolishness and a sign of weakness.  This is so much more to live when lived for serving Him.  Find your purpose in choosing to be His disciple.

Anointed me to bring Good News

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”

“and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

“And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,”

John 1:35  The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,  and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.   Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”  He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.  One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.  He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).   He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter)

2 Kings 7:9   Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”

1 John 1:3   that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The verses that stands out today are “He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” and as well “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news.”   both speak of the urgency people had to tell others things of God.  How are people to hear of this Good News if we do not speak of it?  When we do speak of this Good News others are changed.  Do not lose sight of our urgent calling to proclaim the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Urgent command

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Isaiah 40:5    And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 53:2    For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

Isaiah 60:1    Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

2 Corinthians 4:4   In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:3     He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It is clear there are those who have been blinded by the god of this world.  They are unable to see the grace of God and good news of Jesus Christ.  When you stop and think about it, we too were in this same state of mind and unbelief until God opened our heart and mind to see His grace, mercy, and love through the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.   We never know when or to whom God will use us to draw a lost soul to Him.  Aren’t you glad that someone in the past spoke the gospel (good news) into your life?  Aren’t you thankful God opened your heart and mind to see it?  Telling others of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not request but rather an urgent command.  If you saw a person heading down a path with a hidden cliff that would certainly lead to that persons death, would you not get their attention, say stop, warn them of the danger, and tell them of the correct path to follow for safety?

We have no King

“The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.”

Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

John 12:13    So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”  And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,  “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

Zechariah 2:10    Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD.

Isaiah 12:6     Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 62:11     Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

Zephaniah 3:14    Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

Jeremiah 23:5    “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

John 19:15    They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

We need to be mindful of those who have the mindset of “we have no King” Prior to the coming of Jesus people looked forward to Him coming and rejoiced.  Likewise after His coming people rejoice or at least should have heart and mind of rejoicing.  If we understand, in part, His holiness and our sinfulness and the price/redemption freely given for all of those who believe, repent, and humbly serve, honor, follow and obey we should rejoice and give thanks to Him.  There is more though isn’t there.  It comes with the promise of the Holy Spirit to indwell, lead and guide us through this life in such a way that we honor Him and are a light for those still searching.  I rejoice in Him for salvation.  I rejoice in Him for the indwelling Holy Spirit.  I rejoice in Him for the joy, peace, rest, hope, power, and love.  I rejoice in His word that proclaims His majesty, strength, grace, mercy, wrath, anger and love.  I rejoice in how He opens His word to lead in understanding and knowing Him more.  I rejoice in the fact He has me in His hands.  I rejoice in knowing He is my God and knows my every thought.  I say this and yet I am not certain I would stand so faithful as Abraham who waited 25 years for the promise given him.  I am not sure I would be as faithful as Joseph and trials of betrayal and prison.  I am not sure I would be as faithful as the disciples in persecution.  I fail in so much, yet I do rejoice in this walk with God and seeing His hand at work in and through my life.  I rejoice in knowing He will never leave me or forsake me.  I rejoice in how He makes it clear we are to be fully committed with heart and mind deep desire to serve Him.

The next generation

“Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.”

Psalms 78:5  He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,   that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,   so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Psalms 71:18   So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Psalms 102:18    Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

Psalms 145:4   One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

Esther 9:28    that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation,

Deuteronomy 4:10   how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’  

Joel 1:3    Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Our responsibility is clear to tell the next generation about God and His glorious mighty power and steadfast love.  Do you ever stop to think about all the acts of blessing, mercy, love, and power God has done in your life?  We ought to record these and share them with our children, families and friends.  We are not only to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God, but also to tell others of what He has done in the past, what He has done in our lifetime, and the hope of our salvation.

I will Praise You

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

“I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.”

Psalms 71:14  But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

Psalms 66:16    Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

2 Samuel 22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.  He said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.  “For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me;  the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.  “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.

1 Chronicles 16:4  Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!  Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  Giving thanks to God and speaking about His righteousness, power, might, strength and salvation are indicators of the abundance of Him in our heart and mind.  Note how those in scripture speak of God.  This is for our edification and to encourage us to continually seek God in all we do.  A good place to start is in His word with a daily desire to know and honor Him.  This is a heart deep commitment and most certainly He is worthy of our all.

Come, Listen to me

“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”

Psalms 66:5  Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

Psa 66:16  Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

Psalms 46:8    Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.

Psalms 111:2    Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.

Psalms 126:1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”  The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.

Psalms 34:2    My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

Psalms 71:18   So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Malachi 3:16    Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.

1 Timothy 1:15  The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Psalms 22:23  You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Psalms 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found

“Come and see”, “Come and hear”, and “Come behold”, His works, awesome deeds and what He has done for my soul.  These are invitations to us from God’s word.  It is an offer that must be accepted or rejected/turned down.  An invitation does not force us to accept it.  There are consequences either way.  There are visible actions in the lives of those who choose one or the other.  “Great are His works and studied by those who delight in them”.  His works are studied by those who delight in them.  One outcome here would be reading His word and thinking about what has been read.  Another outcome would be to believe in Him and having a desire to see His handiwork in creation.  Other outcomes would be; humble service, listening for His whispers of guidance, wanting to be lead by Him, learning what honors and glorifies Him, praying to Him, telling others of Him and His what He has done not only historically but what He is currently doing in their life, looking forward to eternity with Him, praising Him, etc…..  On the other hand, for those who reject these invitations we see; little to no time spent in His word, no speaking of Him, not hearing His whispers of guidance, not seeking to be led by Him, self satisfaction, not looking at His handiwork in creation, no thought of eternity, no speaking to others about Him.  Commit to accept His invitation and spend time in His word learning of His steadfast love, power, grace, mercy, and might.  Be aware of the consequences of accepting or rejecting His invitation.  “Behold I stand at the door and knock”  Can you hear Him knocking at your hearts door?  Choose to open your heart’s door to Him and commit to humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him. 

Shouts of Praise 2

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;”

“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.”

Psalms 47:1   Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

Psalms 98:4    Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Ezra 3:11  And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.  But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,  so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Jeremiah 31:7   For thus says the LORD: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’

Zephaniah 3:14   Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Zechariah 9:9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Luke 19:37  As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,  saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”  He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Revelation 19:1  After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,  for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Psalms 95:3    For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Daniel 7:13  And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

To be close to  God’ is to be in place of heart & mind where we  SHOUT PRAISES, GIVE PRAISE, and SHOUT WITH JOY because we know Him and what He has done, is doing and will do.  I recently read something like this statement in a commentary on this Psalm “because God will not subdue our troubles, trials and worry under us, unless we have allowed Him to choose our life-plan. Live on that plan and you are unconquerable.” We can not expect to live in His blessing if we are not humbly serving, following, obeying, and making Him are all in all.  We cannot expect to know His plan if we are not yielding each day to Him.  Our lives must change. Our choice for each day must begin and end with humbly serving, obeying, and following Him.  What would a day in the life of a person who does this look like?  Would they start and end a day without as much as 5 minutes in His word?  Would they spend more time watching TV or video games or hunting, or shopping, or fill in the blank…?  Would their mind mull over what they have read?  Would they be still and listen for God to speak to them through His word each day?  Would they pray?  Would they seek God’s leading in making decision?    Do you want to know true blessing, rest, peace, joy,  hope, and love to the point your heart bursts with shouts of praise.  Commit your life, each day, to Him, read His word, study His word, listen to others proclaim His word, and above all else humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

My Mouth Will Tell

 “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.”

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Psalms 40:5  You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Psalms 136:4   to him who alone does great wonders,

Exodus 15:11   “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Job 5:9   who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:

Job 26:14    Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Psalms 92:5   How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!

Psalms 139:6    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalms 139:17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

What is our thoughts about God and His love, mercy, power, and grace?  Do we think about this?  Are we living close enough to Him that we experience it? Do we acknowledge Him and what He has done, is doing, and will do?  The creator has not only reach out to us and made Himself known, He has given us great precious promises so that we through faith would have hope, joy, peace, rest, love, forgiveness and eternal life with Him.  Why are we content with living on the edge of this?  What keeps us from desiring to be in and always experiencing His presence in our daily lives?  Scripture says out of the abundance of the heart our mouth will speak.  What goes in is what comes out.  Stay close to Him.  Stay in His word.  Meditate on it. Proclaim it. Desire it.