"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among the nations."
Psalm 67:1-2
While creating spiritual discipline journals with an amazing group of high school girls many years ago, I had these stickers made to go on the front of those journals. I stumbled across the remaining stickers recently and quickly decided to place them strategically where they would be seen numerous times each day. My reason behind that? Well, put simply, I'm flawed, forgetful, and many times unfocused on what God asks of me as a follower of His.
I want to ask you a couple of honest questions. Of course, this is not a test or a quiz. No one besides you will know the answer unless you decide to share it. The question was provoked in me while reading Psalm 67. I have read this Psalm more times than I would even be able to count, but this time when I read it, it was different. God opened my eyes to it in a way He had never done before.
How many times today have you asked for blessings from God?
What was your reasoning behind asking for those blessings?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying for God's blessings. In fact, God wants us to come before Him with our requests. He is a good, gracious, and giving God who loves His children. But with that being said, He wants our requests to be in line with His Word. He wants there to be a purpose behind the asking and not simply just for the sake of making our day or current circumstances good, easy, comfortable, or happy.
Though we may not be certain of who the writer of Psalm 67 is, we do know that He had no problem asking for God's blessings and you should not either. Our God is loving and giving and He desires for His people to come to Him. However, the reason behind the asking in this Psalm had no selfish intent. It was a request that was made with the purpose and intent to honor God and be favored in His sight.
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. "
You see the purpose behind God's blessing is so that we can be a blessing to others. Seeing that God loves us, I would assume that He wants to fill our lives with lots of great moments overflowing with happiness, but not at the expense of the purpose we were placed on this earth for; to make His name known. That should be priority #1 in our lives. Honestly, all else should come second behind that. When we hoard our blessings for ourselves it does not honor the gift or the giver. When we miss the purpose of His good gifts and favor towards us we miss His ultimate plan for our lives.
Did you know that there are close to 8 billion people living on the earth? The devastating part is not that statistic but the one that follows. There are well over 3 billion people who do not know Jesus. That is absolutely heartbreaking to know that approximately 40% of the world does not know Jesus and the salvation that is offered to them through accepting Him as their Savior. Let me say this again just in case it didn't sink in the first time. 40% of people will spend eternity separated from their Creator simply because they have little to no knowledge of Him. This is staggering and absolutely devastating. The fact that so many around us will perish without Christ should open our eyes to the true problems of this world.
As Christians, we were told that we will receive the power of the Holy Spirit and that we would then be His witnesses and proclaim His truths to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 summarized) It wasn't a command telling us to work towards something, attempt something or do something...it simply states that we WILL BE. You see it was His plan from the beginning for us to be His people and to be His hands and feet here. Whether it's to the person across the street or the people across the world. When Jesus has become the Lord of your life, this should bring you to a place of awe and wonder of His goodness. The immense joy that we are given when we are in a relationship with God the Father should just spill over out of our lives for all of those around us to see. How could we not speak that truth out to everyone who crosses our path? How could we know the cure for death and not share it with everyone that we meet? The fact that there could be a multitude of people that will perish without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ should drive us as a community of believers to GO and share the best news that we could ever share with our friends, communities, and the ends of the earth.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
As followers of Christ, we have been given the path to eternal life with Christ Jesus. I realize that sharing with others can be difficult, intimidating, and scary, but the destination of their eternity depends on it. How can I say that I love someone and have no concern for their salvation? How can I love my neighbor if I have no idea of where they may spend eternity? This should absolutely break our hearts for the lost and in turn, lead us to a place of action. We cannot determine how they respond. We can only respond with how we act. Jesus didn't stay in a region until all were saved, He stayed in a region until all had the opportunity to hear. What I hear from people most often is that the thought of sharing their salvation with others is scary because they don't want to say the wrong thing, maybe they don't feel equipped or they are concerned with how the other person will receive it. First of all, if you have the Holy Spirit then you are equipped. Second, it's not our responsibility to save them, it's just our place to share the most important thing that they will ever hear while on this earth.
We have been blessed more than we could possibly ever deserve, regardless of any situation that we may find ourselves in. There was a man named Jesus that came to this earth and lived a perfect life only to die a brutal death. And all of this took place so that we could have the chance to spend eternity in Heaven with Him at the end of our time on earth. I challenge you today to think through what you ask of God. Are your requests to help further His kingdom or to help further your life while on the earth. Are your requests filled with hope for the future of the world and their eternity or selfish desires that only impact your temporary state? And please take this with you. This life is a vapor or a mist...it's temporary. Let us not focus on what is right in front of us. Let us instead focus on the eternal.....the forever. And the only way to keep my hearts and minds set on eternity is to walk daily with the Lord and rest in the abundance of His love for you.
"yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." James 4:14
spiritual disciplines
Spiritual Disciplines have been such a ginormous part of my growth in Christ. These disciplines changed my daily walk with the Lord and have taught me about reliance and dependence on Him! My prayer is that this space can help deepen your knowledge and understanding by teaching you to lean in closer to God. With that being said, my goal is to incorporate these disciplines slowly so that you can gain a clear picture and understanding of each one as well as learn how to incorporate them into your daily walk with the Lord. Here is a list of the 8 disciplines that we will cover. If these disciplines are already a regular part of your day, now is a great opportunity to reach out to a friend that could use some help learning and growing.
Bible Study
Memorization
Meditation
Prayer
Worship
Evangelism
Fasting
Solitude
Week 5
Evangelism
We covered Evangelism a few weeks ago, but I wanted to revisit it. Put simply, evangelism is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others for the purpose of them obtaining an understanding of God and allowing that knowledge to lead them to a place of salvation. This can be a tough one for most people. It puts us in a place of vulnerability when we share the things that are closest to our hearts. However, our love for people should move us to a place where our hearts desire to share the best news they will ever hear on this earth... the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This week's Bible Study:
Psalm 65-78
MONDAY: Psalm 65-66
TUESDAY: Psalm 67-68
WEDNESDAY: Psalm 69-70
Thursday: Psalm 71-72
Friday: psalm 73-74
Saturday: psalm 75-76
Sunday: psalm 77-78
This week's verse to memorize and meditate on:
Psalm 67:1-2
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among the nations."
Tips and challenges this week:
Understand fully the path to Salvation in Christ. If you are looking for a clear picture of how to share the Gospel with someone, The Romans Road is a great place to start.
Memorize scripture so that the Holy Spirit can use it at the time someone may need to hear it.
Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel
Remember the Great Commission that Jesus gave to His disciples.
It is not our job to offer salvation to someone. That is only done through Christ. It is our job, however, to share the Truth of Christ and point them towards the one that can save their souls from spending eternity separated from the one true GOD!
Walk closely with God daily so that the joy that comes from this time flows out of you and is evident to the people around you.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Private Facebook Discussion Group
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Questions?
If you have questions or things that you don't understand, please email them to me and I will add them to the Q&A section. I can't promise you that I will have all of the answers, but I can promise I will do my best to find them if I don't have them.
Growing in God
Would you like a tool to encourage your growth in God? Check out my newly released 12-month spiritual disciplines book/journal. This journal will give you a brief understanding of 8 tangible spiritual disciplines as well as give you a space to implement these disciplines into your daily walk with God.
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