09/09/2023
Do you claim the glory of God for yourself? When doing great things that you have been called and gifted to do, do you puff out your chest and swagger as if they were about you? We are tempted as spiritual men and women to claim earthly rights over God's work when it moves through us into the physical world, but we must defeat that inclination lest we sin, and are humbled by God Himself.
“"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
2 Corinthians 10:17-18 ESV
I once knew a man who led praise during worship. The Lord gave that talent bountifully to him without any formal education... it was a gift. However, over the years this man lost sight of who really led the praise, and a certain pride entered into him which caused him to become conceited rather than self-effacing. In the end, the musical worship was taken from him... not by others, but by his own pride. A situation arose that required an apology, but he could not give it. God used his own intransigence, hubris, and sense of self-importance to remove him. The man's pride in what belonged to God prompted him to walk away from his calling rather than to humble himself before the Lord. He had lost sight of the source of his gift, and began to commend himself, and seek the glory of men, rather than to seek the commendation of God. He had begun to deflect the flow of God's deserved glory to himself.
“Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.”
John 8:50 ESV
We are all tempted to do this when we are granted gifts by God. Those who pray healing for others are tempted to see themselves as healers rather than the conduits of God's healing. There are pastors who have their alter calls responded to by many, and begin to believe that their skill in the pulpit brought those souls forward... not the Holy Spirit's move in the hearts of those sinners. Ladies deliver meals to the sick and shut-ins, and begin to accept the praise for the good work they originally set out to do for God. All of these examples rob God of His rightful glory, and are the result of our misdirected pride and desire to claim what is not ours.
“Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'”
John 8:54 ESV
There was a time when I prayed with two other elders every Monday night at the church I attended. We were intercessors and many people came to us for prayer. As we prayed God worked miracles before our very eyes, but the miracles were never of our doing… they were always God's. We prayed and God worked... all we did was obey Him in our call to prayer. The healer is God, the comforter is God, the redeemer is God, the one who casts out demons is God... the intercessor merely lifts these needs up before Him. But there is an undercurrent of temptation that draws us to claim a piece of The Lord’s glory, and it is very real. When this happens it requires us to ask His forgiveness, humble ourselves before Him, and to offer up a great deal of self-effacing prayer as we are transformed into a more perfect likeness of Jesus.
Has God allowed you to work on His behalf? Have you done some task, whether large or small, for His kingdom, and have people thanked you for it, or praised you before others, and have you let the accolades they have lavished upon you stand? Have you been tempted to receive God's glory and to bow under the pressure of pride or self-indulgence as you do? If so then you are in danger. Do you say "praise be to God" and not really mean it with all your heart? If so you are in danger. If these things are true then drop to your knees in prayer and ask for our Father’s forgiveness. Make it known to others that the glory is God's. Don't let the innocent transference of God's accomplishments to you, by those who God has blessed, go without redirecting them back to Him. Don't accept the work of the Holy Spirit as your own, or the Living Water of Jesus Christ as yours to pour out.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”
Psalms 115:1 ESV
The psalmist who wrote this was inspired by God, and he also wrote a warning to go with it as well. He tells us to praise the Lord and not to be silent... lest we be dead.
“The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 115:17-18 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for those things you call me to do and the many gifts that you provide so that they might be accomplished. I thank you for my faith, voice, arms, legs, and every part of me that is used by you for your glory. Holy Father stand with me and protect me against the dark one as he tempts me with pride and the lie that tells me I am in some way responsible for your great deeds. Jesus lead me, and show me how to maintain the humility required to serve our Heavenly Father. Let me praise Him with all my heart and give Him the glory completely; not holding any mite of it for myself. Help me Lord Jesus to distinguish between my will and the will of the Father. Teach me Dear Savior to say as you said... "Yet not my will, but yours be done." Then, in the completion of our Father’s miracles, and other tasks, let all praise and glory be His alone. I pray these things that God be glorified, and that we thrill in pleasing Him. In this way Jesus, we will receive our only true reward, our Father’s commendation.
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”
Psalms 104:31-34 ESV
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes