March 2017 Words of Life (Week 1)

Magnify the Lord 1

Oh magnify the Lord with me…   Psalm 34:3a

          We are to magnify the Lord.  Psalm 69:30 says, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”  Acts 10:46a says, “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”  How can we magnify God?  Is He not already the Almighty?  Yes!  Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”  We serve a great, mighty, awesome God.  So how can we magnify God if he is already mighty and awesome?  The answer can be found as you define the magnification process.  Telescopes and microscopes each magnify objects.  However, they do it very differently.    A microscope takes a tiny object, like a bug, and magnifies it to appear larger than it really is.  A telescope takes a large object that appears tiny to the unaided eye because it is far away, like a star, and magnifies it to make it appear as it really is.  We are to be telescopes to help people see God as He really is, not make Him larger. 

          If we are walking with God, obeying His Word, there is no need for us to see God through a telescope.  However, the world has chosen to stay in darkness in their sin.  John 3:19 says, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  The people that are walking in darkness see God as we would see a star in the sky.  The star may appear tiny, but is actually very large.  Isaiah 59:2 says that “their iniquities have separated them from God and their sins have hidden His face from them.” If we are walking in righteousness with God, we can see Him as He is.  However, the world cannot because of their sin.  Decide today that you are going to surrender your life to God (Romans 12:1-2), seek Him and His Word first daily (Matthew 6:33), walk in the light (1 John 1:7),  and see God as He really is.  Do this and you will be a telescope to magnify God to the world.  So, people can see God for who He really is, a great, mighty, awesome God. 

Magnify the Lord 2

…Understand what the will of the Lord is.   Ephesians 5:17b

          When people are walking in sin, they have separated themselves from God (Isaiah 59:2).  They do not have a true image of who God is.  They are driving down the highway in the opposite direction from God.  Their image of God is seen from their side or rear-view mirror.  In reality God is closer or larger than He appears to them.  Ephesians 4:18-19 says that these people have been “alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”  They are alienated from God because of a blind heart, which is brought on by Satan, the god of this age.  2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”  They are ignorant because they have a lack of the Word (Hosea 4:6).  You can read Ephesians 5:17-18 to further reduce the ignorance.  “Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”  To prevent ourselves from being ignorant, we must read the Word of God, obey it, be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will give us revelation on the Word and lead us into all truth (John 16:13).

          As we keep His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us (John 14:21).  As we do the will of God (the Word), He fulfills His promise (Hebrews 10:36).  As we call upon Him in the day of trouble, He will deliver us (Psalm 50:15).  All of these things build testimonies of God’s greatness.  These testimonies are what shows the world who God really is.  Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”  These testimonies glorify and magnify God to the people walking in darkness.  Obey God’s Word and do not be ashamed to be a telescope by sharing of God’s greatness in your life. 

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