His Commission

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”  Jeremiah 1:4-10 NASB

Get in the practice of declaring “Jesus, You are my Joy.” He shines upon us and from within us as we rejoice in Him, our risen Savior!

Hebrews 12:2 NET keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we become followers of Jesus, He empowers us to rise above the conditions in our life. He fills us with Holy Spirit, who has limitless power. 

Matthew 10:1-8 NASB Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. 

My Friends, He is our Strength. Jesus is vital.  Whenever we are struggling, we need to guard our thoughts and spoken words carefully. If we focus too much on all the things that we perceive are going wrong, we will become increasingly discouraged—and our strength will be sapped. 

Take time to praise God: Speak or sing words of worship. We can turn to the Bible, read scriptures that help us rejoice in the Lord.

Jesus reminds us of our heavenly destination, for we are indeed on our way to Glory! This is not our forever home.  Pray, allow our Heavenly Father to infuse His discernment and peace into our hearts, minds, and souls.

Holy Spirit corrects the way we view the world around us. Even though there appears to be so much darkness, by His presence we will see the Light of Jesus Presence continuing to breath life into every person, every nation. 

Once we have gained this perspective, we discover that we can comfort others in the midst of their troubles! What a blessing to our hungry hearts! And more than that! We can be vessels that pour out anything God asks us to - we can in turn shine His light over dry bones! Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 37:1-3 NASB The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.  

Hurting lives will find in us the consolation that we have found in God.  Thus our Joy becomes contagious, “pouring” into those around us with His Joy! Sounds tangled but its so simple, God is joy. Jesus brings joy, Holy Spirit shares joy. 

And I totally believe it is possible for Jesus’ followers to be joyful and afraid at the same time. Then and now. When the women who went to the tomb, where Jesus Christ was placed, they were told that He had risen from the dead, they were “afraid yet filled with joy.” 

So do not let fear keep you from experiencing the Joy of His Presence. It is not a luxury reserved for times when our problems—and the crises in the world—seem under control. God’s presence is everyday, when deep in grief and anguish as much as when celebrating. 

John 16:22 NET So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Jesus Christ’s loving Presence is ours to enjoy today, tomorrow, and forever! Do not give in to joyless living by letting worries about the present or the future weigh you down. 

Instead, remember that neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from God’s Love.

Hebrews 2:1-4 NIV We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by the gifts of Holy Spirit, distributed according to His will.

Turning our thoughts to God  demonstrates our trust in Him. Even undesired things such as pain and problems are reminders to communicate with God in prayer and worship. 

Maybe you have been through some rough stuff in your life and are not proud of all the decisions you have made. I know I’m not. And maybe we let ourselves become listless and joyless thinking we haven’t always measured up to God’s standard, but that does not mean we are not valuable to God. 

The fact is, despite our choices, despite our past, despite our wrinkles, our value in God’s eyes has not changed. He alone gets to decide our worth. And by His grace, forgiveness, compassion and peace the Lord invites us to follow His lead, providing His strength, joy, certainty and His commission.