Gentiles

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Psalm 18:49 Where Will You Give Thanks?

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name. Psalm 18:49

People like to talk about who they like or do not like. They are quick to tell everyone around them about certain people, both good and bad. Seldom is there any shame or fear of talking about someone that a person really likes, either for a relationship or just something that the other person does. The only time when a person does not like to talk about someone is when they are among the enemies of that other person.

David says he will give thanks to God while among the Gentiles and will always sing praise to His name.

The world is not ashamed to talk about who or what they like. In fact, many will strive to push their likes upon everyone else and often get angry at those who do not like the same things.

Too many in the church, however, are ashamed to give thanks for what God is doing or sing praises to God in front of non-believers. They do not want to offend anyone or make anyone mad at them. Many believe that their faith is a private thing and should not be ‘pushed’ on other people.

Instead of being ashamed or silent, believers need to be outspoken. The world needs to hear what God is doing and how great He is. The world, as a whole, is not inside the church, but out in the world and that is where believers need to go and be a witness. Every believer can be a witness by telling what God is doing in one’s own life among the Gentiles or non-believers.

As the world hears these testimonies, some will choose to believe in Jesus and be saved.

God has done various good things in your life. Some may appear to be small, while other things may be great and awesome. You most likely already give God thanks in your private home or space but be willing to give that thanks openly for the world to hear. There is someone outside the church that needs to hear what you have to say. They need to hear you give thanks and praise to God so that they may know He is real to you and can be real to them also.

Where will you give thanks and praise?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will publicly give thanks for what God has done; that you will publicly praise God for who He is; and that you will not be ashamed of what God has done in your life.

Picture by Dim Hou on https://unsplash.com/photos/X7P5C1K73qUUnsplash

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Acts 26:20 What Everyone Needs To Hear

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. Acts 26:20

At different times there are important messages that need to be broadcast or given out to a group of people. Some of these messages are of extreme importance, while others are not as important.

One common broadcast, that is not of high importance, is telling of a major sale going on. Messages of high importance would be warnings given out when there is a hurricane coming in and major disaster is expected.

As Paul was being tried in court, he tells the court that he did was God called him to do. He had brought a message of repentance and demonstration of that repentance by deeds to all the world, both Jew and Gentile.

Every day people are talking about many different things. Most of those things being talked about deal with their immediate life, but not at a high level of extreme importance. People talk about the weather, work, economy, politics, family, sports and more.

While these things can be interesting and somewhat important, they are often not of extreme high level of importance. Rarely are they dealing with life and death.

The greatest message that every person on this earth needs to hear is one that deals with their life for eternity. It is the message that every believer has heard and believed. That message is that every person needs to repent of sins and turn to God and then show that they have repented by their actions–live for God.

Every believer has a mandate from God to get this message out to every person, regardless of their ethnicity or background.

If you are a believer in Jesus, someone had taken time to bring you the greatest message of all time. They took time to tell you about Jesus, the need to repent and the need to live for God.

Now it is your turn to pass that great message on to someone else. Strive to get the message out to everyone and anyone you can. There is no one too great, too small, too good or too bad that does not need to hear it.

All need to be given a chance to repent and turn to God, gaining eternal life.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that your life will demonstrate by action the repentance you have done; that you will pass the message of Jesus to all you meet; and that many will come to Jesus and repent of their sins through your message.

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Acts 15:19 Don’t Make It Difficult

It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Acts 15:19

Everywhere a person goes there are some rules or regulations guiding people how to live or work where they are at. Some places are very lenient, having very few regulations, while others are extremely strict with an overload of rules.

The more rules that are laid out, the more difficult it is for people to follow them. It can become much easier to break the rules with many rules. It can also make it very discouraging to attempt to follow all of them.

The Jewish leaders in Antioch were laying down a lot of rules for new Gentile believers to follow in order to follow God. Paul told them they should not make it difficult for the new Gentile believers as they turn towards God.

One of the constant struggles for churches is in knowing what the rules are to be and remain a believer. While many believe that believing in Jesus and repenting of sins is enough to become a follower of Jesus, there are others that add a lot more.

There are also many churches that want the new believer to clean up his life completely before becoming a member. A long list of things to do or not do is given immediately upon becoming a Christian.

While it is good to begin guiding a new believer in how to live for Christ, giving a long list can be overwhelming and discouraging. It can push people away from God, because of the impossibility of fulfilling a long list of legal regulations, just as the Israelites had a problem with following God’s Law.

The focus for new believers should be building them up, little by little in what it means to follow Jesus, not all at once.

You may be a new believer who is struggling with being burdened with a load of regulations, or you may be an older believer who loads others down with rules. Either way, do not forget that the only thing required to be a believer is to believe in Jesus and repent of sins.

God will change your heart to be able to handle more rules as you continue to grow in Him, learning to trust and obey Him in every area of your life. Do not burden yourself or others with too much, too fast.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that God will give you strength and wisdom to obey His commands; that you will guide new believers in the ways of the Lord; and that God will guide you in helping new believers grow in the Lord.

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Acts 11:23 Encouragement To Remain True

When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Acts 11:23

When something major changes, most people want to go back to the old way of things. They do not always want to accept and embrace the change, even if it is a good change.

One of the ways they stay with the old is they keep talking about the old ways, rather than moving forward. This can occur when a person changes for the good, they keep remembering the person’s past.

The church in Jerusalem heard that the Gentiles in Antioch had become believers. They sent Barnabas to verify what had happened. When he saw what God had done he encouraged the new believers to remain true to the Lord with all of their hearts.

Some believers in the church can sometimes be the worst critics of new believers. Just as the Jewish people could not believe that a Gentile could be saved by God, believers today often believe certain people cannot really be saved because of their past. Instead of encouraging the new believers, they cut them down.

Every believer has some faults with sin, however, that does not mean he is not trying to serve and love God with all of his heart. Instead of the church pushing against the believer, he should encourage him to remain true to God all the more and more as He grows in God.

Encouragement can often be the key that gives a person strength to continue to walk with God. It will create a change of focus from the problems of life to God and His life. Life has enough problems and struggles to not have more added by those in the church.

Just as you need encouragement to keep moving forward with God, so others need encouragement. As you see new believers, give them encouragement, rather than judgement.

Show them ways in which you have learned to walk closer to God. Give them stories of how God has helped you make it. Talk about how being faithful to God has strengthened you all the more when you have seen God fulfilling His promises in your life.

Be the one who will encourage new believers in the walk with God, rather than the discourager.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will see how God has strengthened you; that you will share how God has helped you with others; that you will encourage others in their walk with God; and that you will be true to the Lord with all of your heart.