The Lord is calling us to make Him our dwelling this year.
Psalm 91:1 (AMP)
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].
The three key aspects of practically making Him our dwelling is to live a consistent lifestyle where we:
- Pray
- Praise
- Proclaim
This week, we’re going to shift our focus onto the third aspect of making the Lord our dwelling; proclaim. When we typically think of proclaiming something, we think of vocally shouting it out. However, there is far more to proclaiming than just our talk.
1 Corinthians 4:20
NLT
For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.
MSG
God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.
NCV
the kingdom of God is present not in talk but in power.
TPT
For the kingdom realm of God comes with power, not simply impressive words.
If this is true, then why does so much of the Christian culture seem to involve talk? Our faith is based on the writings of the books of the Bible and there have also been countless books written based on it. We listen to teachings and sermons and podcasts and conference speakers. We listen to music with lyrics containing words based on the Bible. And I could go on and on…
Well, therein lies the paradox. There is a lot of talk from God’s word because, well, it’s His word. It’s not some ancient written text, though. It is alive and active! There is power in the word of God!
It’s not about reading and meditating and being able to memorize and quote the words of the Bible; it’s about the Holy Spirit who authored it bringing it alive in and through our own lives! The Kingdom of God is not about talk, it’s about those words being empowered and coming alive!
We make God our dwelling by proclaiming God’s word not just with our mouths, but also with our lives! As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” Our lives are like banners or living billboards revealing God’s Kingdom to those around us. People hear what we say, but they believe what we live.
John wrote about Jesus and said:
John 1:1;14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
When Jesus rose again from the grave and then poured out the Holy Spirit into the lives of all believers, His intent was that this same miracle would occur again. Jesus’ purpose was that the word would once again take on flesh and dwell among humans through us.
If we somehow get the impression that God only cares that we read and study and memorize His word and that entrance into Heaven will simply be based on a quiz and how well we score on it, then we have deceived ourselves greatly! It’s not about how much of the word that we know, but how much of the word we live!
James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
AMP
prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].
If God’s word is not accompanied by empowerment, then it’s useless and good for nothing. If it is truly God’s word, then it will be accompanied by power which is revealed through action. The angel reminded Mary regarding the virgin birth of Jesus that:
Luke 1:37
For no word from God will ever fail.
NKJV
For with God nothing will be impossible.
TPT
Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!
This simple phrase in the Greek has far more meaning than what we realize through these translations. Our simple translated words “no word , not one promise, or nothing” consist of three Greek words. Ou, pas, and rema.
Ou is an absolute negative meaning no in the greatest degree that it could possibly mean. No, never!
Pas is an all inclusive collection meaning every single one ever.
Rema is a spoken word by a living voice. Rema in this case is literally God’s presently spoken word.
Every single aspect of what God is actively speaking will come to pass. Not a single part of it will ever fail in any way. God’s word contains unlimited power and self-contains the fullness of what it proclaims. Just as God simply spoke at creation and it all came to be. God’s word self-contains all that it needs to fulfill itself!
God’s word is just like a seed. Jesus made this very analogy:
Mark 4:26-29
26 He said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
We don’t have to do anything to make a seed grow, but to scatter it in good soil. We have the easy part! It’s no different with God’s word. Proclaiming God’s word is just like scattering and planting the seed.
Jesus gave us the parable of the sower in Luke 8 and Matthew 13 and Mark 4 to make this very point. God’s word is completely able to fulfill itself, but are we willing to be good soil for it to grow within? Will our lives proclaim God’s truth to scatter that seed around to where it can become effective?
Will we go around describing what an apple tree is to people or will we become an apple tree so that even without a word, people will know with certainty what an apple tree is? Will we describe an apple and what it tastes like to people or can they reach out and take an apple from our lives and experience it for themselves?
Will we tell people about Jesus being the Prince of Peace or will we be peace makers? Will we tell people that Jesus loves them unconditionally or will we express that love toward them? Will we tell them about how God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve or will we freely extend God’s mercy and grace toward them?
This is the difference between being religious and having a relationship with God. Religion studies and gains knowledge about God and can talk all about Him. However, it is based solely on His written, logos, word.
A relationship does the same, but also has the Spirit of the God within. A relationship knows the logos, but also hears the rema, the presently spoken word of God. Sometimes it is through the written word and sometimes it is by more personal means just as when the same Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible in the first place.
A relationship with God causes God’s word to transform our lives so that God’s word lives again in and through us. We become like Jesus as He transforms us into His image (Romans 8). A relationship with God empowers us, equips us, and encourages us. We’re not trying to live by some ancient words on our own ability, but rather allowing the living word to transform us as we surrender our lives to Him.
Colossians 2:20-23
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Rules based on human commands and teachings that appear to be wisdom and even worship, but they are powerless to be able to do what they require. From outward appearances, religion and relationship may look much the same. However, inside of a life, they are as different from one another as they possibly could be!
What eventually reveals the root is the fruit. People will see the fruits produced in our lives. Religion will still ultimately produce the fruits of the flesh, but relationship will produce the fruits of the Spirit. We briefly touched on this truth last week. Jesus taught that this is how we can rightly judge who are simply religious talkers and who are genuine disciples.
Matthew 7:15-20
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
What are the fruits that are produced by religion? Well, they’re covered in Galatians 5. Discord, dissensions, division, hate, manipulation, and selfish ambition. This are internal heart issues that can be easily disguised by good works and righteous standing outwardly. The other fruits of the flesh that are more obvious also often accompany them, but behind closed doors. Sexual immorality, drunkenness, and fits of rage.
What are the fruits that are produced by relationship with God? Well, they are also covered in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the good fruits of the Spirit that we all desperately need and desire in our lives. However, we can’t produce any of them on our own; only the Holy Spirit can grow them in us.
Jesus taught that it is by these fruits that we will be able to judge the root motive of others by; whether they are simply religious or have an authentic relationship with Christ.
People around us will eventually come around to ask us where these spiritual fruits came from and how they can also receive them. Disciples make disciples who make disciples through a process of multiplication just as a single seed does not produce a single tree with a single piece of fruit with a single seed. Rather, a single seed has the potential to produce countless trees and fruit from now until Jesus returns to destroy it all!
1 Peter 3:15-17
15 … Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Proclaiming God’s word through our actions. James challenged us about this as well; not just talking about our faith, but expressing our faith to others through our deeds. Deeds are seeds; the proclamation of God’s word without using words.
James 2:14-18
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
It is time for the word to become flesh once again and to make its dwelling among us! It’s time for the logos, the written word, to become the rema, the spoken word once again! It’s time for God’s word to be proclaimed through our lives using not only our lips, but more importantly through our transformed lives as we become banners and billboards; signs and wonders that point those around us to Jesus!
It’s time for our lives to become letters to those around us, not written with ink, but written with the Spirit of the Living God! Not written on tablets of paper, but written on our hearts! (2 Corinthians 3) The word becoming flesh and dwelling among us!