Publishers of Great News

UV 911/10,000 Publishers of Great News The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it Psalm 68 v 11 Though God is invisible, He made Himself visible through the Word He gave through the prophets and the men and women of God. This is the reason He so completely identified Himself with the written Word. So much so, He stated that the Word is God and God is the same as the Word. When we carry the Word, we carry God in us and He carries us. When we believe the Word, we believe God. When we believe God, we believe the Word. Napoleon Hill wrote the well known book titled, “Think and Grow Rich.” It would be more meaningful to “ Believe and Grow Rich” not just in material or monetary terms but in every aspect of life. Both wealth and health, wisdom and favour are hidden in the Word. It is the hidden manna for man that will never spoil even when it is kept far beyond a lifetime or for eternity. Newspapers have space mostly to publish bad news or negative news that attract eyeballs and shock or depress the human spirit. But we are called to be publishers of the Word, publishers of the good news. We are the newspaper of the Lord to declare His Word and His work. Just as a newspaper has editors, reporters and writers, the Lord has appointed all believers to be either apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Unlike the newspaper that becomes irrelevant at the end of a day, the news that is published in the Word has eternal value. While news writers and reporters have no control over events and happenings, the publishers of the good news influence the course of history. While news reporters only report on past events, the reporters of the Lord proclaim what is going to happen in the future. While reporters cover events like accidents and disasters, they cannot prevent these. The workers of the Lord can use verses in the Word that can prevent, control or reduce the impact of accidents and disasters. While news reporters send in stories of the outbreak of diseases, the publishers of the Word can claim and cause healing to happen. While the former are passive and reactive observors of history, the latter are history makers. The 12 apostles who followed the Messiah changed the course of history, influenced education and thereby every domain of human endeavour and knowledge. The word know-l-edge has a hidden meaning. When we know the Leader, we become the cutting edge to shape the course of many human lives, those who are both chosen and choose to follow the Leader. The uni-verse records that “ great is the company that published it,” implying that those who publish the news of the Lord are great in number as well as the fact that they are considered great in the eyes of the Lord. Scripture records that since we have such a large cloud or crowd of witnesses, let us lay down every burden that hampers our functioning and keep working for the Lord. We begin to realize that we are not just dealing with good news but great news. Great news is difficult to believe. When the lepers carried news of abundant food being freely available in the enemy camp to the besieged, starving citizens of Samaria, the latter received it as great news. The distinction between good news and great news is:when we have reasonable hope in normal times that is good news. When we have no basis for hope and we are hoping against hope in hopeless situations and the hope is fulfilled, this is great news. Prateep V Philip