Monday, January 27, 2014

Go Tell The World About God


Psalm 67:1-3 -  May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, "Selah"  that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.  May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

 

How amazing …this Psalm calls for worldwide knowledge of God. This Psalm…written in a time when one group of people believed they alone had been chosen to be God’s people….clearly says that this writer wanted ..ALL…the people to know how glorious and merciful and gracious God is to his people. It also says clearly that he wished salvation could be for everyone.

 

Maybe he didn’t understand that someday God would send his son to die on a cross and make his wish a reality….but his heart had been given a glimpse of God’s great plan.  I would say that it is amazing that God let this psalm somehow make it into the many Psalms that were cannoned…but the older I get…and the more I study the Bible…the more I can see that some things are accidentally amazing…just God’s great plan being unfolded from the beginning of time.

 

God gave is another piece of this great plan…just before he left earth to go be with his father in heaven. That piece too was carefully recorded for us to read in Matthew 28:18-20.  It says… “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

 

Jesus gave each of his disciples his authority to make disciples…and baptize them…and teach them….just like he did when he began his ministry with the 12. And as each one of us accepts God into our life…and believes in the son’s gift of salvation…we too become disciples with the same authority. We need to take the time to spread the great things God has done for us…and praise him for his mercy and grace to us…so we can share the psalmist’s wish that ALL the people somehow have a chance to be saved.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have given me a great job to do.  Help me see the needs in my own backyard…where you have placed me for some reason.  I will be honest with you God…I don’t really know what to pray for…so I can truly become your hands and feet…wherever you send me.  Help me to feel your promptings like Jesus did…and feel the need of each person that comes near me.  Give me words….clear words that will share with them your great plan of salvation for the world. Amen.

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