The Power of the Spoken Word

 “And God said, ‘Let there be light…'” Genesis 1:3

Not one other person existed when God created the world so there was no one else to hear Him, and yet He spoke it into existence.  He didn’t just think it, He said it.  Why?  Because there is power in the spoken word.

And there are no other words more powerful than those written in scripture, no other author more sovereign than the one who spoke the world into existence.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”    2 Timothy 3:16-17

Today is World Read Aloud Day (which I personally think is fantastic).  And what better words to read out loud than God’s Word?  Can you imagine if believers all around the world today opened their Bibles and breathed aloud God’s eternal truth? If we drowned out the hateful words that fill the air with God’s exceedingly more powerful word of love? If we spoke the light within us into the darkness; if we stormed the gates of hell with the pillars of life, if we filled the heavens with the ancient way of the Almighty God in the face of the enemy who seeks to threaten the very lives of believers in some parts of the world and increasingly hardens hearts and minds toward believers everywhere?

Ask the Lord to put on your heart a portion of scripture to read aloud today and then make it a prayer. It might not feel effective (and I’m sure the enemy will tell you that very thing), but remember, God began the universe with four words.

He Loves You!

Don’t let new year begin with even the slightest shadow of doubt in your mind about the fact that God loves you.  Know that His capacity to love you is greater than your sins, deeper than your understanding, wider than your choices, and further than anything your future holds.

He loves you!

And if you do doubt, if you wonder, if you’re afraid….look at the cross.  See Him there…..bloody, spat on, beaten – beyond recognition – struggling to breathe, exposed…..and know that it’s for you.  He laid on that cross and and let the nails go through flesh and tendons and nerves..for you.  He hung there and died…for you.  For your sins.  Every. Single. Last. One of them.

Oh how He loves you!

 

 

Drowning in His Grace,

Glory to God in the Highest!

“And it happened in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be registered, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee to be taxed (out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David). And he took Mary his betrothed wife, being with child.

And while they were there, the days for her deliverance were fulfilled. And she brought forth her son, the First-born, and wrapped Him, and laid Him in a manger– because there was no room for them in the inn.

And in the same country there were shepherds living in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came on them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were grievously afraid. And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you is born today, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it happened as the angels departed from them into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Indeed, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord made known to us.  And hurrying they came and sought out both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.

 

And seeing, they publicly told about the word spoken to them concerning this Child. And all those who heard marveled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, meditating in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as was spoken to them.”
Luke 2:1-20

From my home to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and pray today and everyday you are reveling in the joy of the Gift that is above all gifts, the gift of a Messiah, a Savior, the only one by whom we can be forgiven for our sins and given the promise of heaven, Jesus Christ. I pray you know Him, and not only that you know about Him from your parents or grandparents, or from going to church, or because you live in the America, but because you’ve repented of your sins before Him, put your trust in Him and received Him as your own personal Lord and Savior.  If you have not done that, you can do that today, right now, right where you are.  You will never receive a greater gift.  And I pray that you are endeavoring to walk with Him so closely that you hear His heartbeat, that you breathe His scent of servitude and compassion, that His light is your light, and that it all flows through your spirit as a witness to the world around you of His great grace and mercy and love and joy and peace…..   I could go on and on!

Merry CHRISTmas!

The Name of Jesus

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (prophecy foretold in Isaiah 7:14) (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:18-24

The name Jesus is translated from the Greek for Joshua or Jehoshua, which is the English spelling for its most literal translation, Yeshua.

Yeshua comes from the Hebrew for Jehovah (or Yehowah)-saved which is derived from the two words:

1.  Jehovah, or Y’hoshua – a name for God meaning Self-Existent or eternal

2.  Yasha – to free, to deliver, to rescue, to avenge, to bring salvation.

To get victory.

Now that is good news!

However you pronounce it, His name should be reverenced and spoken with awe and wonder.  For “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Acts 2:21

“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:9-11

“He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”   Rev. 19:13

“I will bow down… and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” Psalm 138:2

Proof that great things really do come in small packages.

Merry Christmas!