Shalom,
Psalm 66:1-2:
1 MAKE A joyful noise unto God, all the earth. 2 Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious!
"Make a joyful noise" is the Hebrew word "ruwa`", which means: to split the ears (with sound), shout (for alarm or joy), cry out, triumph. We are to make such a loud sound in praise to our wonderful God that EVERYONE can hear it! Then we are to make His praise (or our praise of and to Him) "glorious", which is the Hebrew word "kabowd". This means: glory, honor, abundance, riches, splendor, reverence. There should never be a time when we aren't "bragging" on how wonderful, awesome, powerful, majestic, magnificent, wise, compassionate ..... (you get the picture!) HE is! Verses 3-4:
3 Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to you. 4 All the earth shall bow down to you and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Remember, there is NO god like OUR GOD! One of the greatest ways to reach the unsaved, especially those who follow some so-called "god" is to show out the One, True God! The very stark contrast will get their attention every time!
In Mark 16 we see another account of how several of the disciples responded to the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth! Thomas takes a lot of heat, but it doesn't sound here like any of them were willing to believe until they actually saw Jesus! We should learn from this so that we don't let ourselves get in the position of judging someone else for their level of faith in some area where WE may be strong. We all have areas where we can use a little strengthening of our faith, trust and confidence in God and His Word! Be an encourager and not a critic! We are told in verse 15 to go into all the world preaching the Gospel. Verse 20 should give us great confidence in what God will do, when we do OUR part!
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it).
Don't ever let anyone tell you that this was just for the "early" church! There is just ONE Church! There have been many members over the years, but the Message has never changed! Jesus IS the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is still working to confirm HIS WORD spoken out of OUR mouths! Let's DO IT! AMEN!
The message for today seems to be that OUR GOD, IS GOD! Isaiah 45:5-6:
5 I am the LORD, and there is no one else; there is no God besides Me. I will gird and arm you, though you have not known Me, 6 That men may know from the east and the rising of the sun and from the west and the setting of the sun that there is no God besides Me. I am the LORD, and no one else [is He].
Verse 18:
18 For thus says the LORD -- Who created the heavens, God Himself, Who formed the earth and made it, Who established it and did not create it to be a worthless waste; he formed it to be inhabited -- I am the LORD, and there is no one else.
Verse 22:
22 Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
Isaiah 46: 9-10:
9 [Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.
Reread these two chapters until you get it so strong inside of you that HE IS GOD and there is NO other! Allah is NOT GOD! Buddha is NOT GOD! Krishna is NOT GOD! We do not "share" the same god by another name with the "religions" of the world! They either serve the One, True God, Who revealed Himself through Abraham and chose a people to bring Messiah through, or they don't! There is salvation under NO other NAME (Acts 4:12)! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "This Is Our God"!
Shalom in Him!
