That All The People Of The Earth May Know That The Lord Is God

That All the People of the Earth May Know that the Lord is God

1 Kings 8:60 “ That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.”

Solomon offers a prayer and he requests that God hears and answers his prayer so that “all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.”

What are my motives in prayer? Do I want God to do something for me? Fix a situation? Heal someone? Change someone? Work a miracle? I see just me and my small little world. I pray from my own perspective. I pray so selfishly. Do I want God to answer my prayers His way or my way. How surrendered am I to God’s will anyway? Does my perspective limit God? Does my perspective create in me a a distrust for God as I don’t see my prayers answered in the way I want.God is calling me to pray from His perspective, to see the big picture. God wants me to pray with the motive of all the people of the earth coming to know Him. That is God’s big picture. 

John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

1 tim 2:3,4 “...God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

2 Peter 3:9 “ The Lord is not ...willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

God’s big picture is for everyone to repent, to be saved and to know Him. 

How can my prayers and my life be a reflection of God’s big picture? How can I step out of the small, narrow perspective of my own little world?

Col 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

Every word I speak and everything I do God calls me to do so in reference to the name of Jesus and in the spirit of thankfulness.

What does it mean in "the name of Jesus”?

“To the Hebrews a name was not a label, or a tool to distinguish one person from another; a person's name was viewed as equivalent to the person himself. A person's name signified their person, worth, character, reputation, authority, will, and ownership.” Jason Dulle

God is asking me that every word I speak and everything I do be in reference to His character, His will and His authority.

1 Peter 4:11 "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

1 Cor 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

God asks me to surrender not just everything I do from serving others, or in ministering the Word, but also right down to the every day things in life such as what I eat and drink, into His hands, to bring glory to Him.

What does it mean to bring glory to God? What is God’s glory that I am to reflect? I think of glory as a bright, radiant light. What is this brightness of God?

Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Ex 33:18,19 ”Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you...”

Ex 34:6,7 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin..”

Moses desired to see God’s glory and God revealed to Him all His goodness.... His character... His name. 

Ps 9:10 “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You...”

John 5:44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

God answers my prayers so that all may come to know Him and to know that His character is only one of goodness. He wants me to trust Him, to believe Him. He wants me to reflect who He is in every word I speak, in everything I do. He wants my prayers to bring glory to Him that all may come to know Him.

Lord open my eyes to see your big picture and take my eyes off my narrow small world. May my prayers be motivated by the desire for all to know you.

Isa 43:10 You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me

Rescued

Rescued

Kidnapped!!! 

Abducted!! 

Snatched away!!! 

Child stolen!!! 

These are all headlines that place a fear in any parents hearts. Who would take someone’s child? How would I feel if it was my child? What would I do?

In the USA there is a kidnapping alert app for mobile phones called Amber Alert. It sends a loud warning sound to the mobile phones with that app’, giving details of any missing child. It enables the public to be aware and to keep a look out so the recovery of the child can be quicker.

Currently one of the most famous cases of kidnap currently in the media is of a British child called Madeleine McCann. In 2007, the then 3 year old Madeleine, was kidnapped from a holiday unit in Portugal. Her parents were devastated. They have set up a world wide campaign to find their daughter. Her photo has been in every country...on billboards...posters...in airports...on t shirts and in newspapers. Millions and millions of dollars have been raised to investigate into her disappearance. People from around the world have thought they have sited her and those sitings have been investigated from Morocco to Spain to New Zealand. Since 2007 almost every week this famous case hits the headlines somewhere in the world and always in Britain. The Portuguese Police have led a full investigation...private detectives have been hired...now Scotland Yard, the world’s famous investigators are working on the case.The parents are leaving no stone unturned in the rescue of their daughter.

Why are Madeleine’s parents putting all of their resources, time, energies and their entire life into rescuing their daughter Madeleine? They do it because of love. They love Madeleine.

It makes me think that all of us have been kidnapped and we don’t even know it. This one solitary planet in an entire universe has been hijacked. Back in the garden of Eden satan, through deception, kidnapped this planet and it’s dominion passed into his hands. Each one of us finds ourselves stolen away from God. God has set in motion an entire search and rescue operation. His love for us drives Him to do everything He can to bring us back to Him. He has emptied heaven of all it’s resources, time and energies in our rescue. He leaves no stone unturned in working to bring us back to Him. God’s own son even laid down His own life to bring about our full and complete rescue.

Col 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son

Gal 1:3,4 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

By the work of Jesus Christ, we have been rescued from the domain of darkness and we have been returned to our rightful Father who loves us, created us and saved us. 

The question remains. Do I want to be rescued?