THE BLESSINGS OF GOD

Proclamation:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, The Lord appeared to him … Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’” Genesis 17:1-19 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Moses.  He documents that The Lord God can bless believers in ways far beyond their wildest dreams.  Abram was faithful and obedient, and God blessed him and his family.  He was blessed with a long life and he was fruitful even in his old age.  God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and his wife Sarai’s name to Sarah. (Genesis 17:5 and 17:15)  Abraham’s wife Sarah was blessed to bear him a son when she was ninety years old.  Nothing is impossible for God. (Jeremiah 32:27)

Application:

The Lord can change our name, our direction, and our life. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  He can bless us in more ways than we can imagine.  No matter what situation we find ourselves in, if we are faithful and obedient to God's word, He can bless us and use us in ways that are beyond that which we thought was not humanly possible.  God is in control of everything and with Him all blessings are possible. (Matthew 19:26 and Mark 10:27)

PRAISE THE LORD

PRAISE THE LORD

Proclamation:

"I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High." Psalms 9:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

The human author of this psalm was King David, who wrote it under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  David was essentially praising God for protecting the people of Israel from their enemies and for being God.  His praise was sincere and whole-hearted.  His joy was because of who God is rather than what He had done.

Application:

As believers we should praise The Lord during the times when things are good in our lives and when things are not so good.  No matter what happens to us we should give God praise.  God knows what has happened, why it happened, and what the results will be because it happened.  Everything will work for our benefit. (Romans 8:28)  We cannot see the big picture or the future and God knows everything.  He has blessed us in more ways than we can count.  He is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory.  We should dedicate ourselves to the sincere worship and praise of God.  He has done great things throughout history and in each of our lives.  He gives us what we need, let's give Him what He wants and that is our praise.

FEAR NOT

Proclamation:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalms 27:1-2 (KJV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  Because he had already been told by The Lord that he would be victorious over his enemies David had no reason to fear anyone or be afraid of anything.  The Lord was going to protect him and fight his battles.

Application:

It does not matter what circumstances we are in, believers have no reason to fear or be afraid of anything because The Lord God is with us. (Psalm 23:4)  God did not give us the spirit of fear. (Romans 8:15)  When we follow The Lord, we have no need to fear anything.  He lights our paths and gives us direction.  He strengthens us when we are weak. He is our protection and He fights our battles.  Given that He is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere at the same time, what do we have to be afraid of?  God loves us and His love for us is perfect.  The Bible teaches us that “… perfect love casts out fear…” (1 John 4:18)  If we truly believe then The Spirit of God is within us and therefore the spirit of fear cannot be in us.  If we are afraid then we are letting the devil control us.  If so, then we need to pray and submit our lives to The Lord in order to resist the devil. (James 4:7)  Believers need not be afraid for The Lord is with us (Psalm 118:6) and He will protect us. (Proverbs 3:24)  Pray, and give whatever it is to The Lord, and then don’t worry about it.

JESUS IS COMING BACK

Proclamation:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in Me … I am going … to prepare a place for you … and … I will come back and take you to be with Me …” John 14:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle John.  Here Jesus was comforting His disciples after He had told them that He would be leaving them and that they could not follow Him at that moment but they would follow Him later. (John 13:36)  He had to go first in order to prepare a place for them.  After He had completed that He would return for them and take them with Him.

Application:

These are truly words of encouragement.  Jesus is coming back for His followers, believers then and now, and He does not want us to worry in the meantime.  He has a place for us so that we can be with Him throughout eternity.  Earth is not our final destination, we are just passing through and heaven is where we are headed.  When He comes back for us, we shall be rewarded for following Him and doing His work.  "For The Son of Man shall come ... and then He shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)  Our works do not save us, our salvation is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Our works just determine our rewards in heaven.  Everybody in heaven will not be equal.  No works down here on earth, no rewards up there in heaven.  Since we do not know the day or the hour when He will return, (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32, and Luke 12:40) we should live each day as if it were our last day on earth.

JESUS IS GOD

Proclamation:

"In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God." John 1:1

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle John, the youngest of the twelve disciples and the one who refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. (John 13:23)  The Book of The Bible entitled “John”, or “The Gospel According to John”, was written to believers so that they would know that Jesus is God. (John 20:31)  Here John states that in the beginning of everything was The Word.  The Word was there at the beginning with God, and in fact he states that The Word was God.  To make sure that the people understood that he was referring to Jesus, he later said that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)  This verse refers to The Son of God and His human birth via the virgin Mary.  Some Bible scholars believe that The Son of God is called “The Word” because we use our words explain our minds to others and He was sent to us to reveal the mind of God, The Father, to the world.

Application:

God is.  He exists, He is real, and He is alive.  God was, God is, and God always will be.  He existed before time began and He will exist after time ends.  He created time. (Genesis 1:14)  Everything that was made He created by speaking it into existence. (Genesis 1:3 and John 1:3)  Jesus was there with God at the very beginning.  “The Word” refers to Jesus, The Christ, The Son of God.  Jesus is God.  "For there are three that bear witness in heaven, The Father, The Word, and The Holy Ghost; and these three are one." (1 John 5:7)  Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.” (Matthew 10:30)  There exists God, The Father, The Word of God, and The Spirit of God, three attributes of one God.  As human beings we have only a limited capacity for understanding and some things about God we just don’t understand.  However, we are blessed for believing without seeing for ourselves. (John 20:29)  Jesus is God.  The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it!

CONTINUING IN THE WORD

Proclamation:

“To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘if you hold on to My teaching, you are really My disciples.’” John 8:31 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.  On the day after His Sermon on the Mount Jesus went into the temple courtyard and spoke to the crowd which included Jews and Pharisees.  Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." (John 8:31 KJV)

Application:

It is easy for a Christian to “get into” The Word of God.  We can even occasionally behave, speak, and think in a Christ-like manner.  Our problem is not in doing it, but in continuing to do it.  Continuing in The Word implies being in it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, and moment by moment.  If we “continue” to be in His Word, then we would always be in it and we would never be out of it.  That sounds like we would have to be the perfect Christian, a goal which humans can’t reach but one that is well worth striving for.  Realistically, for us it means that we need to be firmly rooted in The Word of God and not be fickle, going outside of it frequently and regularly.  We need to spend time with The Word of God daily.  In a 24 hour day, one tenth of our time should be spent reading, studying, or meditating on The Word of God.  As a believer we owe, one tenth of our time, talent, and treasure to The Lord. (Genesis 14:20 and Malachi 3:8)  That means we should spend about two and a half hours in His Holy Word and then spend the remainder of the day living it.  Most of us don’t do that.  However, we can all spend more time daily “in The Word of God” by reading it and living it, with a goal of being continuously in His Word.

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK

Proclamation:

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of our Lord and savior Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to His disciples and to the surrounding crowd during His Sermon on the Mount as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  The meek are the ones who quietly submit to The Lord.  They are silent or return a soft word when they are insulted or attacked.  The meek are happy in this life and in the life to come because they exercised self-control, the fruit of The Holy Spirit of God, and did not return evil for evil.

Application:

A lot of people mistake “meekness” for “weakness”.  The meek have the power to rise up and defeat others, but they choose not to use their power or strength.  Imagine a professional boxer who was hit by an average guy and the boxer just looked at him and walked away.  The boxer could have fought back and won but chose not to do so.  The meek are blessed of God.  They have an unseen source of power and strength.  The believer who is meek has not only his own physical strength, but he also has the power of God within him.  Their power is much greater than their physical strength.  That power is available to us as believers but if we exhibit the fruit of The Holy Spirit we will not have to use the power of God.