04/28/2018
Giving God the glory for those things He does through us can be a difficult thing to accomplish, and has been the undoing of many... including pastors. It seems the more gifts we have been given, and especially the more our natural gifts are, the harder it becomes for us to reflect the fullness of light back to its rightful star. You see, no matter how brightly a planet shines in the night sky, it is never truly the origin of the light... and likewise, no matter how great God’s will is manifest in us... we are just His reflection.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”
Philippians 3:8-10 ESV
We are empty vessels until they are filled by the Holy Spirit, and yet it is so tempting to claim that wonderful wine as our own. Even Jesus was tempted by such things, and in the Garden of Gethsemane He is asking for God’s cup to pass from Him. That cup contained a blend of suffering, redemption, and grace, but it was all placed there by God Himself. It was bitter coming to His lips, but glorious on His tongue.
We see people claiming the good in other people’s efforts all of the time in the world we live in. Children learn this from the time they can walk. If something bad happens then it was someone else’s fault, but let something good transpire, and immediately they played a major part in it... and if it was notable enough, then over the coming years their memories will refine that memory until it convinces them that it was all them.
When we accept credit for God’s work through us, we allow ourselves to become convinced that it really was our doing... we say it so often that truth is lost completely. When we do such a thing then God no longer resides in us, but becomes a tool in our hand. Where do we hold Him today?
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV
Whose plans are being spoken of by Jeremiah; ours? No, and Jesus reiterated who we should look to with these words...
“And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37-38 ESV
So is what we do innocent? Is claiming the glory of God a white lie? Should we take what is rightfully God’s and stamp our face on it?
“And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."”
Matthew 22:20-21 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for all the gifts you bestow on me that I might do your will. I thank you for perseverance in the face of suffering, the knowledge and intelligence you have given that allows me to reach lost souls, and men to build churches to house them. All of these things Father are to your glory, and by your hand. I beg that in my fallen nature, I not be tempted to claim a crumb from your table as my own. Let no prayer for healing be misconstrued, no mighty work in which you use me bring me a glimmer of glory, for all is by your hand and your will. Praised be your name Glorious Father, and in you all honor and glory rests... now and ever. In my very creation, in each breath I take let me shout of the evidence of your magnificence, and the mightiness of your glorious will. You are great Father, and all glory rests upon you... Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God.
Rich Forbes