Yesterday we read in Psalm 46 that God is to be exalted in all the Earth! Psalm 47 is how we do that! Verse 1:
1O CLAP your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy!
"ALL ye people" leaves out NO ONE! We are ALL to clap our hands and we are ALL to SHOUT unto God! And this isn't just any ordinary old shout! This is to be done with the voice of TRIUMPH! What does that mean? It means to act like you've won something, because you have! "It is finished, it is done. He is risen and I HAVE WON"! He did it ALL for me! AND you! Believe it, receive it and ACT LIKE IT! That's what brings joy to the heart of the Father! Then we are told 5 times in this Psalm to "sing praises". Do you think that God just might want to hear the sound of our voices singing praises to Him? Why do you think that is? Because He LIVES in the praises of His people! Psalm 22:3! AND wherever He is, He is ACTIVE, watching over His Word to perform it! Jeremiah 1:12:
12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
That gives me confidence AND the desire to praise Him AT ALL TIMES!
Titus 1:1-2 reveals to us what the Ministry Gifts, given to the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4), are to be doing:
1PAUL, A bond servant of God and an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) to stimulate and promote the faith of God's chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment and recognition of and acquaintance with the Truth which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to godliness, 2[Resting] in the hope of eternal life, [life] which the ever truthful God Who cannot deceive promised before the world or the ages of time began.
That is exactly the way that God set it up! The congregation should not be picking a Pastor and then telling him what to do! God Himself appoints Pastors for the people and the people are supposed to submit to the teaching of the Word from that Gift and the other Ministry Gifts and grow up to be able to do the work of the ministry. That is REALLY what church is for! Believers come to church to be taught and trained so they can go out into the world and reach the lost. Then when they are saved, bring THEM to church so THEY can grow! Simple and powerful plan! Why would ANYONE want to change that? I praise God that I belong to a church that teaches the Word of God boldly, confidently, uncompromisingly, precisely and accurately, and that God confirms that Word in MY life when I act on it!
There are many things we could look at in Isaiah today, but only one verse stood out! Isaiah 7:14:
14Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].
The Messiah HAD to be born of a virgin so that He would not have the sin nature that comes through the man. With God as His Father and Mary as His mother, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man (without sin). The perfect ONE to bridge the gap between God and man by His own life. God SAID it! Then He DID it! Jesus spent three years teaching and preparing the people. Then He SAID what He was going to do and He DID it! Thank You, Jesus, for ALL that You did for me! Now it is MY responsibility to continue to tell unbelievers about THE SIGN and the MANIFESTATION of that SIGN , Jesus of Nazareth! Glory to God!
Shalom in Him!
