“Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee, and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let the Lord be magnified.”
When I read this verse this morning, it caught my imagination. It says: “Let the Lord be magnified (exalted).” How can we magnify, or exalt, the Lord? The verse suggested two ways that we can magnify and exalt the Lord. First, David wrote: “Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” If we want to exalt and magnify the Lord, we should first of all seek Him. We should have the confidence and faith in Him that we know that we need to seek His presence and fellowship with us on a daily basis. This also suggests that we can let the world see our joy and gladness in Him. Second, passing into the New Testament, because of our gratefulness for the Salvation that Jesus procured for us on the cross, we can magnify Him by praising Him, and by telling others about this great salvation. These are two great ways that we can magnify and exalt the Lord. Another thought that I had beyond the text was that we can magnify the Lord by how we live. The world is always watching us and they see when we fail to live for the Lord as we should. Believe me; the world is well aware when our lives are not magnifying the Lord. None of us will do this perfectly, of course, but we can certainly do better than we are doing. I know that I should, and I would also suggest to you that you should. We need to do better as individual Christians in our daily lives. We also need to do better corporately through our churches. Again, the world has its eyes on our churches and we need to set a better example of cooperation and a sense of unity in the Lord. Another thought was that we can magnify the Lord by how we love. (I know that this is a very familiar theme in CouchPotatoRedux articles.) Jesus pointed out the need for love in John 13:34-35: “A new commandment give unto you, That you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” Indeed, Jesus put a high premium on the witness of our love for each other to the world. We need to ask ourselves if we love each other as we should. We also need to ask ourselves if we are showing the love of Jesus to the world in our daily lives. Does the waitress, or waiter, who serves your food sense that you love them? Does your attitude show the love of Jesus to the cashier at the store where you shop. These are not inconsequential questions. Hey, it’s not “rocket science.” Just love people. I’m sure that there are many more ways to magnify the Lord than I have written about here, but the four ideas that I gave will be a good start. Let’s magnify and exalt the Lord. Bro. Joe
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“And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 13. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”
The Book of Deuteronomy is actually a sermon by Moses as the children of Israel waited to take “the Promised Land.” It is a summary of Israel’s travels and events from Egypt to that present time. In Deuteronomy, Moses gives some summary statements that serve as advice for God’s people as to how they should live. Deuteronomy 10:12-13 is one of those summary statements. It answers the question as to what basic requirements would be made of Israel as they entered Canaan. It is good advice for us as well. The first requirement was “to fear the Lord thy God.” This does not just mean to be afraid of God, but hold Him in deep reverence and awe. One of the problems that Israel faced and that we face today is that, “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” God, as we know Him in Jesus, is not just “the man upstairs.” He is the creator of the universe and the master of all that He created. We would do well to heed Moses’ advice on this. Do you really hold God in awe and reverence? The second requirement was “to walk in all His ways.” Moses wanted Israel to understand, as we are to understand, that there are two ways that we can walk – God’s way or our way. Moses knew from experience that Israel had a penchant for walking in their way as opposed to God’s way. God allows us to choose the way we will walk. If we walk in His way, the way might be rough sometimes, but it will be the rewarding way. If we walk in our way, we will eventually walk into disaster. I know what I’m writing about here, and you probably do too. God wants His people to live right, to make right decisions instead of wrong-headed decisions. I think that the disastrous journey of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is an example of what can happen when we take God’s resources and go our own way. He took a rough route until he came to his senses and sought out his father. The third requirement was “to love Him.” Jesus said that the first commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” We should love God with all of the fiber of our being. If we will just think of all that He has done for us in Jesus, we should have no problem loving Him. When we love Him, we are returning the great love that He has for us. The fourth requirement was “to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord…”Notice that we are to serve God as we love Him – with every fiber of our being. We are to serve Him from our hearts. Everything that we do that really counts in our lives comes from our hearts. If He has our hearts, we will serve Him wholeheartedly. Our salvation from God begins in our hearts, and everything else in our lives should come from our hearts. We are to serve God with all of our souls. This means that our service should proceed from who and what we are in Him. The “soul” is who and what we are, and it should be defined by our devotion to God/Jesus. We are to serve Him with our minds. When Christ saved us, He did not kill our minds. God wants us to keep our transformed minds on Him, and to think when we serve Him. We should serve Him with “the mind of Christ.” How are you doing in these areas of your life? Do you hold God in deep reverence (fear)? Do you walk in all His ways? Do you really love Him? Do you serve Him from deep within yourself? Think about it. Bro. Joe “For this cause also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10. That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
This text reminds us that we need to be always be seeking that we will increase “in the knowledge of God.” We call this growing in the Lord, or growing in faith. How can we increase in our knowledge of God? I want to share three thoughts with you about how we can do this. We can increase in our knowledge of God through prayer and Bible study. Prayer is our means of communicating with God. It is a two-way communication: We talk to God and He speaks to our hearts and minds. The Bible reminds us of our need to pray. Along with increasing in prayer, we need to increase in Bible study. I know that this is not always easy for people to do, but we need to take the time to study the Bible. We have Sunday School for this purpose, but we need to spend some personal time in studying the Bible. I think that you will agree that it is not possible to increase in the knowledge without prayer and Bible study. Find the time to do both! We can increase in the knowledge of God by sincerely seeking to live the Christian life before people. Jesus said: “Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We can begin by practicing more civility in our daily dealing with our fellow people. Does this mean that we should be nice? Yes! Even when we are in the middle of trying situations, we can also manage to be civil even in our disagreements. I have found this to be difficult but not impossible. I just remind myself that I am a Christian and that I represent Christ in my dealings with people. (This reads easier and simpler than it is.) I know that we cannot be exactly like Jesus, but we need to try to live as closely to Him as possible. We cannot increase in the knowledge of God if we sincerely seek to live the Christian life before people. We can increase in our love and concern for people. This love and concern is not automatic. Some people make loving them and being concerned about them difficult. (Come on, you know what I mean.) I really try to live so that I will not be one of those people, but who knows when we might fail in this endeavor? Evidently I have failed at times, because I have not been universally loved – if you know what I mean. We really need to try to be being loving and concerned in our relationships with people. We also really need to try not to be one of those people who make loving them difficult. We will not increase in our knowledge of God until we try the three things suggested here. At least they will give us a good start in the right direction. Bro.Joe “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
We should “give thanks in everything” because “this is the will God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This text just sort of keys in on us and says “BE THANKFUL.” I have to admit that this is a challenge, but I am really working on it because I want to do God’s will for my life, and according to this verse being thankful is part of that. Let’s grab hold of this truth and practice it. What does “everything” mean? It means a whole lot more than I can cover here, but let me share with you my thoughts on it. We should give thanks in the good times. Okay, I feel the “duh’s,” but think about it. Are you really thankful for all of the good times in your life? Do you feel the blessing of the good things from God? God is always blessing us and we need to recognize that and just say “thank you” God for blessing me. No joke! Try it! I just did and it felt good. We should give thanks in the bad times. The first reason for this is that it is “the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I want to clear something up here. Being thankful in bad times does not mean to enjoy the bad times. I have discovered that a time of suffering is not a party time. But it is these moments that try and exercise our faith. As the saying goes, “we will grow bitter, or we will grow better.” In times of suffering God is testing us. I know of a real proficient on suffering by the name of Job. Job did not enjoy all of the suffering that he encountered, but in the final chapters of the book God told him things that he needed to know, and he was better for it. Be thankful for what God can teach you in bad times. We should give thanks for the other Christians in our lives. Now, I have to tell you that every church member that I have been the pastor of has not “risen up and called me blessed.” And I have not risen up and called everyone that I was called t minister to blessed either. But looking back over fifty-seven years of working with churches and hardheaded Baptists – of which I am one – I am thankful for those who challenged me. Some enjoyed the challenge more than others, but thank God for them. Be thankful for all of your Christian friends and thank God for them. Well, I have revisited thankfulness and I hope that it blessed you. Bro. Joe “Jesus said unto (Thomas) I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
I am attempting to show the essence of Christian life by the letters of the word for life. Here is what I found: L – Lordship – We receive life in Christ when we accept Him as our Savior, but the effectiveness of this life in Christ is realized when we make Him the Lord of our lives. This means that we give Jesus the control of our lives. Wait! That should be when we realize that Jesus is in control of our lives. We discover that our lives are better for Christ being in control of them. When we fail to follow Christ’s Lordship, we make mistakes that hinder our growth in Him. Another word for Christ’s lordship is “will.” We follow His lordship when we seek to follow His will and when we actually follow His will. This is not always easy and can change the direction of our lives and even some plans that we might have for our lives. I cannot tell you how to follow Christ’s Lordship, but He will not you know if you are listening with your heart. I – Intimate Relationship – We cannot follow Christ’s lordship if we are not in intimate fellowship with Him. I discovered this in my life when I had to deal with a fellowship problem in one my churches early in my ministry. I fully discovered the importance of beginning each day in intense prayer and in intense Bible study. Prayer and Bible study are two of the main ingredients of an intimate relationship with Christ. Perhaps, you are reading this because you need to make this discovery for your own life. There is no better way to do this than to actually do it. Make time for prayer and Bible study in your life. F – Fellowship – We need fellowship with Christ, but we also need fellowship with our Christian friends. Christ called twelve men to follow Him, and with the exception of Judas Iscariot, they followed Him and invited others into their fellowship. This is what the Book of Acts teaches us. We need our fellow Christians and when we fail to realize we crimp our growth in Christ. My life in Christ has been enriched by the fellowship that I have been able to have in the fellowship with my Christian friends. Look around you at your fellow Christians, thank God for them and enjoy fellowship with them. E – Eternity – This is where our life leads with Jesus. He made this promise in John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me hath everlasting life.” In John 14:2, Jesus said: “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” When Jesus said that He is “the way, the truth and the life,” He meant more than the life that we have here and now, but He meant life that reaches beyond this life to eternal fellowship with Him. This we have through His Lordship, our intimate relationship with Him and it is made more meaningful through our fellowship with each other. This LIFE is available to all who receive Christ into their lives. Bro. Joe “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
The message that I saw in this text was that God “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest (make clear) the counsels of the heart.” The message is that we can hide nothing from God. Since this is eternally true, I want to share these thoughts that came to me. First, since God knows everything about us we need to watch our thoughts. We think that our thoughts are only in our minds, but God is aware of our thoughts. How can He do this? Hey, He is God! The fact is that God knows what is going on in our minds. We can lie to people, but we cannot lie to God. I must admit this gave me pause as to my own thoughts, which I trust it will do to you. David shared his thoughts on this in Psalm 139:2-3: “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, thou are acquainted with all my ways…” The point is that we do not have a thought that God is not aware of. We need to be careful what we think and about whom we think. Need I say, or write, more on this point? Second, since God knows everything about us, we need to watch what we say. David also spoke to this in Psalm 139:4: “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.” We need to be careful about what we say to people, because God hears what we say to them. We also need to be careful what we say about people, because God hears that too. The person about whom we gossip might not find out what we said, but God knows what we said. If what we say about the person is true, we need to say it to them, but if it is not true, it doesn’t need to be said at all. This should give all of us pause and decide to be careful what we say to and about people. Third, since God knows everything about us, we need to be careful about what we do. There are things that we do that nobody knows that we have done, but God knows! David found this out when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet, who said to him: “Thou art the man…” Then David knew that God was aware of what he had done with Bathsheba and to her husband. Not only do we need to be careful about what we do but also about where we go. There are places that a Christian should not go. There is no need for me to name places, for you know them as well as I do. Just know that the eyes of God are on everything that you do. Doesn’t this little outline make sense? Give some thought to these things today. Bro. Joe “They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. 4. In return for my love they accuse me. But I continue to pray.”
To answer the question that our title gives, yes, prayer is necessary. David certainly thought so. He was surrounded by enemies and his main recourse was prayer. It is our main recourse as well. I want to share with you why I think that it is necessary to pray. First, we need to pray because it is our means of fellowship with God. Prayer is not just talking to God and giving Him our wish list. It is being still and quiet and listening to Him as he speaks to our hearts. It is impossible to stay close to God if we do not take time for prayer and meditation. Second we need to pray because it is our means of spiritual defense. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 that we should put on the armor of God as a means of defense against our main enemy Satan. In verses 13-17 he described the armor of God, and in verse 18a he wrote: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” After we have put the armor on, we will still need to pray in order to defend ourselves against the devil. In Acts 12 when Peter had been imprisoned because of preaching Jesus, we are told that the church “prayed without ceasing for him.” In the night an angel of God came to his cell and rescued him. It is noteworthy that the Holy Spirit had Luke write that the church prayed before Peter was rescued. It was their first line of defense. Third, prayer is our means of offense. Before we attempt to do anything, we should pray about it. When you teach a Sunday School lesson, sing a solo, prepare to preach or anything that you do for the Lord, you need to consult Him in prayer and get His leadership. He is your main resource to really get the job done. In the latter part of Ephesians 6:18 and in verse 10 Paul gave them a reason to pray, not just for themselves, but for him as well. “Praying always with all supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints: 19. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Paul knew that he needed the prayers of his fellow Christians if he was to be an effective preacher. That’s why it’s so important, not just to pray for your own service, but for the service of others as well. I have heard missionaries who were on difficult international fields say that the main thing they want you to do for them is to pray. Finally, prayer is our power source because it connects us to the power of God. It is impossible to live the Christian life and do Christian service without praying down God’s power. Yes, it is necessary to pray. Bro. Joe “Then (Nehemiah) said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for which nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The people might have been weeping because the “law of the Lord” had been read to them and they felt the sting of sin. Nehemiah calls them to rejoice because the wall around Jerusalem had been rebuilt, which is why they were there, then he reminded them that they should be joyful because of the strength of the Lord: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” The joy of the Lord is still our strength because of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Why is, or why should the “strength of the Lord be our strength”? The joy of the Lord sets us free from strength robbing worries. I know that when I have been beset by worries I am not as strong in my mind and will that I would like to be. Just being in relationship with the Lord has a way of setting us free from fretting and worrying and the joy that comes from that relationship further curbs our frets and worries. When we get bogged down in worries our minds are not as sharp as they should be, and our awareness of the joy that we have in the Lord is not as evident. If you are fretting and worrying today, call on the joy that you have in the Lord and see what a difference that will make in your attitude. The joy of the Lord is the strength in our witness for the Lord. People are drawn to people who are joyful. For example, churches that are winning people to Christ and drawing them to worship are the churches that are characterized by the joy of the Lord. Joyful people are also stronger in personal evangelism. The joy of the Lord makes our witness more evident and more believable. It also makes our witness more attractive, if that’s the right word. The joy of the Lord makes us more approachable, and friendlier. As maudlin as that seems, it is nevertheless true. Think of your own experiences with people. You know that you feel closer to people who exude joy than to people who do not. The joy of the Lord will make us better servants of Jesus Christ. I remember going through a period in my ministry when I asked myself if I was really enjoying preaching the gospel. I was glad to be able to preach, but when I thought about my demeanor in preaching, I realized that it would not be exactly joyful. I asked the Lord to help me to be more joyful in my preaching, and I actually began to realize that I was actually enjoying preaching the gospel. This made a difference in the way I approached preaching, but it made a difference in people’s reactions to my preaching. I discovered that the joy of the Lord was indeed the strength of my preaching. Is the joy of the Lord your strength? Bro. Joe “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
It would be impossible to enumerate the reasons that we know God is good. The main reason that we know this is that He sent Jesus to be our Savior. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God revealed His word to the writers of the Bible. He has given us the privilege of prayer. These three facts should suffice to convince even the hardest of hearts to see God’s goodness. Psalm 34:8 shows us how to personally experience God’s goodness. The psalmist wrote, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The first thing that we might ask is what does “taste” mean in this context? One example is that we do not know the taste of food until we try it for ourselves. We cannot experience the goodness of Lord if we do not give Him a chance to show His goodness to us personally. The first step is to receive the gift of His Son into our hearts and lives. We cannot know what it is like to be a child of God until we become His child. That’s why it is difficult to explain what it means to be a Christian to a person who has hardened his or her heart against Christ. I have actually dared people who have this hardness against Christ to ask Him into their hearts and lives. Not many have taken that dare. Furthermore, a person cannot appreciate the Bible until he or she comes to personally know the author. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:2-3: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Have you tasted the goodness of the Lord through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? You will not taste His goodness until you do know Him through a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. You will taste that goodness when, by God’s grace, you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and come to know Him personally. The psalmist wrote: “Blessed is the man (person) that trusteth in Him.” Trust, or faith, is the key that opens the door to tasting that the Lord is good. In Ephesians 2:8, Paul wrote: “For by grace through faith are you saved…” It is trust in Jesus that opens the door into His kingdom. “Blessed” is another word for “happy” in the Bible. The person who trusts in Jesus is happy. This does not mean that every circumstance of the Christian’s life is happy. Christians have unhappy moments just like everyone else. In John 15:11 Jesus said: “My joy I give you that your joy may be full.” The blessedness that we have in Jesus is not the temporary happiness that the things of the world bring, but it is a gift of joy from the Savior Himself. It is joy borne of a relationship with Jesus and prayer in His name. Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” We will never realize the great things that can come to pass in the Lord until we trust in Him. “O taste and see that the Lord is good…” That is good advice. Have you taken that advice? “Blessed is the (person) that trusteth in Him.” Have you experienced that joy and happiness that only Jesus can give? If you have, are you sharing it with other people who have not tasted that He is good? Bro. Joe Virus-free. www.avast.com “But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.”
When I read this text this morning I looked it up in my CouchPotatoRedux file, or archive, and to my surprise, I have never written an article about it. I am about to correct that mistake. The text gives us three thing that we need to remember that will make our relationship with Jesus and, consequently, with each other. Here it is: “But I have trusted in thy mercy…” Do we really believe that God is merciful toward us, loves us and wants the best for us? You believe this if you trust in His mercy, His “steadfast love.” Do you trust that this is true whether things are going good or bad in your life? People fall out with God because He doesn’t make everything good for them. He uses the bad and the good that happens to us in life to teach us about His love and care. This is a difficult thing to do, but if we really want to live an effective Christian life, we just have to trust that God is working in our lives for the best. I could give you personal illustration after illustration about this, but there is nothing that I can write that will convince you until you actually believe that God’s love for you is steadfast and that you can trust Him to be merciful. “My heart shall rejoice in your salvation…’ I have heard it said that some people get religion, but they get over it. That would be true if one got “religion” but when he, or she, gets saved, you do not get over that. Notice that David wrote: “My heart shall rejoice…” Real salvation is a matter of the heart and it causes rejoicing. We don’t go around shouting “glory, glory” all of the time, but our hearts are rejoicing because we have a dynamic and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. This means that in our hearts we have accepted that God is merciful and that we can trust Him to take us through, around or over anything that we meet in life. Is your heart settled on the salvation that Jesus made possible at Calvary? If so, rejoice and be glad. (Why wouldn’t we?) “I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me…” David trusted, rejoiced and sang because He knew that God had been good to him. This is not a “name it and claim it” claim. Just the fact that Jesus invites us into a relationship with Him should put a song on our hearts. A lot of the world’s Christians are poor, but they rejoice and sing because Jesus is enough. In our “land of plenty” this is sometimes difficult to understand, but even here it is true that Jesus is enough. Thankfully, God does not require that have a good singing voice because He hears the song on our hearts. Do you trust in God’s mercy? Do you rejoice in His salvation? Do you sing because of His goodness to you? Bro, Joe |
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