The People Will See

The People Will See

We always hear people going on about how our decision to follow Christ is such a personal decision and how the blessings that come with our salvation are spiritual blessings that no one will know about but us. Yes, it's a personal decision to ask Jesus into our hearts and yes the spiritual blessings: the promise of heaven, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the deliverance from secret sins, etc are all monumental in our lives, but the bible indicates that we will experience public blessings and that people will see these very tangible blessings that our Heavenly Father will provide for us.

Exodus 34:10
The LORD replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the LORD—the awesome power I will display for you.

Deuteronomy 28:10
Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

Psalm 23

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

Psalms 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.

Psalm 86

¹⁷ Show me a sign for good,

That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 126

1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
² Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”³ The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Isaiah 61

⁶ But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,

They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Jeremiah 33:9
Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.

1 Timothy 4

¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

Praise God that our progress, our healing, our prosperity our wholeness, our protection and our favor is not performed in secret, but will be evident to all. When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. He specifically said: (verse 14) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden," and (verse 16) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Let the people see so that our God will be glorified!

Seek the Lord

How does one go about seeking the Lord? Is it by praying, is it through worship or through reading the bible? Is it simply by acknowledging Him? Can we honestly say that we are "seeking" the Lord when we are praying for healing or for a financial blessing? Is this "seeking?" or is this simply "asking" for  favor? There are many passages of scripture that deal with seeking the Lord. After warning the children of Israel that they would be scattered to other nations and end up as slaves to those nations if they disobeyed God's Laws, Deuteronomy 4:29 says:

But from there, ("there," meaning a foreign nation) you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

The above instance implies that by "seeking" God, freedom and deliverance would follow.

Psalms 105:3-4 says, "Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face evermore."

The above passage in Psalms hints that the rejoicing comes through the seeking. It's not so much the answered prayer or the manifestation of favor or healing, but the seeking of the Lord is the goal that brings rejoicing in and of itself.

Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." This verse gives a sense of urgency. Don't waste too much time wondering if you should seek Him. Start seeking Him now. The phrase "while he is near" seems to indicate that there will be a time when it's too late.

Jeremiah 29:13 "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
We know that God Himself can't lie. so the above passage is basically a guarantee that if we search for Him with all our hearts, we will find Him!

Lamentations 3:25 "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him."
People who seek God and are willing to patiently wait for Him will receive good things from Him.

Matthew 6:33 and Luke 12:31 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." In the passage leading up to this verse recorded in both Matthew and Luke, Jesus is talking to them about tangible things: food, clothing, shelter. So we know that "all these things" are material provisions from God the Father. We are instructed to seek the things of the kingdom and God's righteousness (not our righteousness) and our material needs will be met. Jesus said "shall," this is not a "maybe."

Matthew 7:7-8 and Luke 11:9-10 "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

My pastor preached from the above scriptures on Fathers' Day, June 17, 2012. His message was titled,
"Having the Right Combination." The combination is Ask, Seek, Knock, or ASK. In his message, the pastor pointed out that we are to seek God for who he is, not just for giving us things. To sum up his Fathers' Day message, the pastor pointed out that we buy gifts for our fathers that have a price tag. While we say "price tags," our savior says, "I paid it all!"

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The above scripture in Hebrews tells us that before we can begin to seek, we must first believe. The phrase, "He is a rewarder" tells us that our spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, financial needs "shall" be met by our Heavenly Father. Not only will receive these "rewards" for seeking Him, but we get to rejoice in seeking Him.