Tag: proclaim

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Luke Devotionals

Sent out to proclaim and to heal

Luke

The tragedy in the States continues. I just read of an 8-year old girl that was shot in Atlanta in the same neighborhood where Rayshard Brooks was killed.

75 shootings have occurred in Atlanta in the last few weeks, and killings in cities across the United States are up dramatically. And as in Atlanta, this is not police shootings we’re talking about.

As the Atlanta mayor said, “We’re fighting the enemy within when we are shooting each other up in our streets.”

Or as a famous cartoonist once put it, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

And it’s not just the black community that is hurting in all this. It’s this entire world that is hurting.

What do we do?

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2, ESV)

We may not have the same power to heal sicknesses that the apostles had.

But we do have the same power and authority over the satanic powers in this world.

And we are called to proclaim God’s kingdom and to bring healing to those whose lives are broken by sin.

We are living in a broken world. It’s broken because people have rejected their King. And so to proclaim God’s kingdom is to bring people back to their King. Because only when people submit to their King can true healing begin.

Racial healing. Marital and family healing. Emotional and spiritual healing. The healing of our communities, cities, and our nations.

We are sent to proclaim and heal. Let’s get to work.

Categories
Psalms Devotionals

Declaring God to the next generation

Psalms

As I was looking at Psalm 145 today, these words struck me.

One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4)

And then David seems to model what he said in the next few verses.

I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty and your wondrous works.

They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts,

and I will declare your greatness.

They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness. (5-7)

The question is, who do “they” proclaim and give testimony to? To their own generation certainly. But also to the next. And by God’s grace, those who follow them will keep that cycle going.

They will speak of the glory of your kingdom and will declare your might, informing all people of your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of your kingdom. (11-12)

May we be people that pass on what we know of God to our children and to all who come after us, that they may declare together with us,

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations. (13)

Categories
Luke Luke 12

Undercover Christian

Luke

I remember hearing a comedy sketch one time about an “undercover Christian.” Someone for whom his faith was “a personal thing.” Something he kept to himself.

But Jesus has another word for an undercover Christian: a hypocrite. An actor.

Someone who when he walks in the “Christian world,” talks and acts like a Christian. But when he gets out in the secular world, pretends that he doesn’t know Christ at all.

But Jesus says in this passage, sooner or later, your “secret” will get out.

I heard a story of an undercover Christian here in Japan.

He prayed to receive the Lord, but was afraid of what his parents would say. And so he determined to “show his love” for his parents by continuing to offer incense and praying at the Buddhist altar in his parent’s house.

But his secret got out. And when it did, his father went ballistic. He said, “You’ve been a Christian all this time, and you continued to do these things at the Buddhist ceremonies? What kind of Christian are you?”

Instead of “enhancing” his witness by “showing his love,” it greatly damaged it.

Jesus said,

I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.

But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8-9)

Does this mean that if we’ve ever disowned Jesus before others, that we’ve lost our salvation? No. Peter, remember, disowned Jesus three times in a time of weakness.

I remember as a junior high school and high school student also denying my faith, or at least, being silent about it, even when being asked point blank about it.

But we cannot consistently deny Christ before others and still call ourselves Christians. Either you are a Christian, and you proclaim that fact before others, or you’re not.

One of the main points of baptism is to make that proclamation. To tell the world who you belong to now. And if you refuse to do that, can you really call yourself a Christian?

Let us not be undercover Christians. Instead, let us proclaim him who died for us and rose again.

Some will reject us if we do.

But others will find the joy that we ourselves have found.

Isn’t that worth it?