PUBLISH HIS GLORIOUS DEEDS AMONG THE NATIONS

PSALM 96:3-“PUBLISH HIS GLORIOUS DEEDS AMONG THE NATIONS.

TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THE AMAZING THINGS HE DOES.” (NEW LIVING TRANSLATION)

Instead of “you had me at hello”, this verse had me at “PUBLISH”.  I am reading through the Bible this year in the New Living Translation.   Most translations of Psalm 96:3 say “DECLARE” but the NLT says “PUBLISH”.  That word is extremely significant to me, in that it specifically confirms my “rumbling to write”, as a way to “SHARE THE LAMB”.  On Twitter we TWEET, on facebook we POST but on a blog we PUBLISH!  Now don’t get me wrong; I totally TWEET and POST but my “rumbling to write” is only satisfied in an uninterrupted, HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED, sit down, lap top, “blogging unclogging”!  My tweets are more like the “highlight reel” of my morning quiet time with the Lord. My Facebook posts are usually sharing my favorite stories, pages or tweets.  Occasionally I will sneak in a #thesearethemoments-pictures of my family and friends.  BUT “THE BLOG” is the place where I don’t have to “count the characters” to express the overflow of my heart!  One of my life verses is Psalm 81:10, hence the blog name:)  The verse says,” I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”  Jesus truly delivered me from “Egypt” and when He made the promise to fill my mouth, if I would just open it, I believed HIM!  Blogging is simply my way of sharing what HE fills my mouth with!  Since Psalm 96:3 says PUBLISH HIS GLORIOUS DEEDS AMONG THE NATIONS, I figured I was “blogging” in accordance with HIS will!  

This commissioning is not just for me!  It is for everyone.  We are all to PUBLISH-DECLARE-TELL His glorious deeds among the nations.  We are all to PUBLISH-DECLARE-TELL everyone about the amazing things He does.  The word “does” is present tense!  HE is actively doing amazing things right now and it is our blessing and responsibility to brag on HIM!  People have taken Matthew 6:1- “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them…” -out of context so many times.  This lesson was spoken directly about the pharisees, because they loved to show off their “good deeds” and “long winded prayers”!  Notice the verse clarifies the heart behind the ‘acts of righteousness’-TO BE SEEN!  Anytime our motivation is TO BE SEEN, we are guilty of pride and our “inner pharisee” is coming out!  However, Matthew 5:16-“In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.” tells us to “shine out” our good deeds, not TO BE SEEN but TO SPOTLIGHT THE FATHER!   

SO—DO TELL!!!!!  What glorious deeds have you witnessed in your own life or the life of another that need to be shared with the nations, in order TO SPOTLIGHT THE FATHER?  I would love some feed back!  A monthly newsletter in my city has started a “Mission Moment”-From the ‘Pew’ to the ‘Do'” section.  One definition of “mission” that I love is: an operation that is assigned by a higher headquarter!  We are all “on mission” daily and the “higher headquarter” who assigns the individual operations is our Heavenly Father.  If we are not in constant communication with the “Higher Headquarter”, there is no way we will know what our “operation/mission” is.  Therefore, being empowered and enlightened by the Holy Spirit within us, let’s stay in the Word daily, pray without ceasing, journal our journey with the Lord, surround ourselves with the body of believers, and GO into the world, making HIM KNOWN through word and deed!  

PRAY IT FORWARD—-A dear friend of mine gave the message in Church this past Sunday.  She felt the Lord nudging her to invite a congregation to open their eyes to an area of the world known as the 10/40 Window.  The 10/40 window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude.  This area is often called “The Resistant Belt”, which includes the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.  The 10/40 Window is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world.  Once our eyes are opened, we then become responsible; therefore she offered an opportunity to join in a prayer initiative for the 10/40 Window.  The prayer initiative is PRAY 96 and Psalm 96 is to be read regularly, as a guide for our prayers for the people of these nations and the work of Christ there.  The prayer initiative began on Ash Wednesday and will last until Pentecost (a 96 day pray initiative).  I, however, began Pray 96 this past Sunday and plan to continue 96 days from there.  The last thing I wrote in my journal during the Church service was my commitment to Pray 96, but The “God Wink” in the story is that my reading before bed, which was a catch up on my daily reading plan that I had fallen behind on, happen to be Psalm 96!  The Lord confirmed that I was to participate in Pray 96 and I am inviting you to participate as well!  If you choose to join this prayer initiative, keep a journal close by! Google the specific regions of the 10/40 Window and pray for them by name, if the Lord nudges you to do so.  Psalm 96 will be written on our hearts at the end of 96 days and the nations in the 10/40 Window will be like neighbors with a name, instead of strangers with a statistical number!

Dear Lord,

Thank you for Your Word-thank you for YOUR GLORIOUS DEEDS AND THE AMAZING THINGS YOU DO!  Thank you for the opportunity to share YOU and thank you for coming for us ALL!  You always had “the ends of the earth” as the apple of Your eye and I thank you for calling us to be a part of your great plan!  May we stay in constant communication with You and may Your wisdom guide our feet and flow out of our mouths!  Lord you are responsible for drawing Your children to Yourself and You allow us to be a part of that with our prayers!  You hear us pleading on behalf of those who do not know You and “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us!”(1 John 5:14)  “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think.  No, He is being patient for your sake.  He does not want ANYONE to be destroyed, but wants EVERYONE to repent.” (2 Peter 3:9) I love you Jesus!

GoGod