If we don't make MUCH of Christ, we don't KNOW much of Christ!

Good Morning!  I wonder if we are willing to make a little noise today?  Can we get a little rowdy for Jesus?  I want to share something with you today that has been welling up within me this past week.  In my preparation for teaching the introduction to Hebrews, this one truth settled deep within my heart.  The Truth that if We Do Not Make Much of Jesus, it is because we do not KNOW much of Jesus!  That has continued to resound inside my soul all week.  I was hit with the fact that anything or anyone who KNOWS Jesus Christ cannot help but burst out in worship of Him.  They cannot help but Praise His Incredible Name!  Think about this for a second.  We know that the ones right now who know Him the most are the Angelic beings who are with Him in Heaven, surrounding His throne daily.  What does scripture tell us they do constantly?  Revelation gives us a glimpse into the throne room of Heaven, and says this, “Then I looked and I heard the voice of MANY angels around the throne…and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”  Revelation also tells us of creatures that are before the throne of God, who day and night DO NOT CEASE to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty…”  When Jesus put on flesh and came to this earth in the form of a baby, Luke 2:13-14 tells us that, “Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest…”  Those who truly Know Jesus MUST make MUCH Of Jesus!!  This was so much on my mind, because earlier in the week, a person I didn’t know criticized me for Praising Jesus publicly.  I was then asked by a different person why I felt the need to make such a big deal about Jesus.  The first question that came into my head was, “Do you Know WHO HE IS?”  The More I Know my King, my Savior, My Ruler, My Lord, My God, the More I am filled to the exploding point with LOVE and ADORATION for Him and I can’t help but PRAISE His Magnificent Name!  I was thinking about a conversation Jesus had with some Pharisees on the day of what we have come to call “His Triumphal Entry.” Luke 19:37-40 tells us this story.  It recounts for us that as Jesus was beginning His descent down the Mount of Olives; the Whole Multitude of Disciples began rejoicing and praising God with a Loud voice!  Notice it was His disciples that burst out in praise, the ones who KNEW Him!  Some Pharisees then called out to Jesus, telling Him to make them be quiet!  Jesus directly informs the Pharisees that if His disciples should keep quiet, the stones, themselves, would “Immediately” cry out!  Another version says that the stones would “Burst into Cheers!”  You see, even Creation KNOWS its Creator, and cannot help but Cry Out!!  There are several scriptures that tell us that ALL of Creation Praises and Declares the Glory of the Lord!  Those who KNOW Jesus cannot help but make much of Jesus.  My good friend and I were talking about a recent trip she had just returned home from, and she was describing an interesting and humorous experience she had during her “Uber” ride.  She told me that when she entered her “Uber” she was excited to hear Christian Praise Music on the radio.  She asked the driver if he was a Christian, and he promptly gave her an answer that surprised her.  He said, “NO, I am Muslim.”  She was both startled and confused, but as she was telling me the story, we both couldn’t help but start to giggle.  I asked her if he knew he was listening to Christian music, and she said that was what she was trying to figure out.  She told him about her beliefs in Christ and as she got out of the car she encouraged him to read the Bible.  She told him that he might really be impacted by it and she gave him a couple starting places.  As she was saying all this to him and telling him goodbye, the music in his car was literally proclaiming “JESUS, JESUS” in the background!  I told her that a new translation of the passage in Luke might be that if the driver is silent about praising Jesus, then the Uber Car itself will CRY OUT!!  We laughed and I know we are both praying for that man, because apparently God is using his own car to witness to him about the greatness of Jesus!!  That thought might be funny, but the more I thought about the situation, I began wondering if that man will hear actual people making MUCH of Jesus!!  Do we truly know so little of who Jesus Christ is that we have grown so silent, that now the cars are crying out in our place?  Lord, may this not be the case!  May our Goal in life so strongly match up with the apostle Paul’s that we would consider Everything a LOSS compared to the surpassing VALUE of KNOWING Jesus!  And as we KNOW Much of Jesus, I pray we will Make MUCH of Jesus!  Let’s take back our rightful privilege of Praise!  Let’s Cry Out, Make some noise, Get a little bit rowdy.  Let’s Silence the rocks with our exuberant worship of Jesus Christ!!  As we start our week, l want to encourage us to meditate on Who we Know Christ to be and let’s be a people who make MUCH of Him!  Let those around us hear it from OUR mouths that Jesus Christ is LORD!!!

Scriptures to meditate on:

Ps. 150:1-6, 95:1-11, Rev. 5:11-12, Luke 19:37-40, Hebrews 13:15