08/04/2025
Is our relationship with God all we have of real value in our life? Have we given up ourselves to Him, or do we think that we are a bargain for God at any price? The least of our thoughts, in which we consider ourselves to be of value or to be a necessity to our Heavenly Father, removes us from His hand and casts us spiraling downward by having believed ourselves to be worthy as He is of glory.
“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”
John 7:18 ESV
Placing God's glory above our own brings us into total submission to Him. When we reach that point where His will is so intertwined with our own that ours becomes lost in His... then we are of use to Him in serving His purposes and glorifying Him completely.
“Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!”
Psalms 96:9 ESV
We have nothing to offer God that he doesn't already have except our unique relationship with Him. He doesn't want our talents because He already has them and more. He doesn't want our intelligence because His eclipses all knowledge and understanding. What He wants is to be in a relationship with us... love between one remarkable human creature made in His image with a unique and amazing God. His desire is for our love, and interaction. He wishes to walk with us.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8 ESV
God walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and He wants that same closeness with us. If we look at the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we get a view of how our efforts alone are not enough... the Pharisee thought that by adhering to the law it was sufficient, but the tax collector humbled himself and spoke to God in contrition, from a contrite heart. Listen to what Jesus said about the tax collector...
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."”
Luke 18:14 ESV
Once we realize how insignificant we are in comparison with God, then we can begin to enter into a relationship with Him that is based on truth, and we can walk with Him without pretense. God doesn't desire for us to humble ourselves to prove His glory; no, he wants us to humble ourselves to reveal that we understand who He is. God's glory isn't dependent on our humility; our humility simply demonstrates our understanding of God's glory.
I had a best friend in high school; we told each other our most intimate secrets and knew each other's moods even before the first word was spoken. This didn't happen overnight, and it required absolute honesty and for each of us to know and accept the other for what we were. No secrets, no jealousy, no pretending... just complete honesty.
Short of God, and my wife, I wonder if I will ever have a friend like that again. It requires incredible closeness, but also a certain degree of separation. It is hard to disclose secrets about ourselves to someone who isn’t this close to us because they might feel slighted by them or become judgmental or jealous of them. Having a friend with whom we maintain a safe separation gives us comfort; we can hear the details of each other’s lives and yet be just far enough away that we can look upon them subjectively. Love is an incredible and delicate intimacy that allows us to be wonderfully close without losing oneself in the process. It is honesty bounded by a set of rules... our faith in God imposes such love, honesty, and rules.
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"”
Luke 10:25-26 ESV
When we submit ourselves to God we begin to form such a relationship, but this relationship is made Holy by our conforming to God’s set of rules; like these regarding love itself...
“And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."”
Luke 10:27 ESV
God is first, before all else we should remember this. If we think we are worthy and deserve His glory, even a droplet of it, then we are deceiving ourselves and what might have become an amazing and unparalleled relationship with Him is brought to nothing. In our selfishness we might pretend that we are in a perfect relationship with the Lord, but God can't participate in a lie, and if we fool ourselves into believing otherwise then whatever we have convinced ourselves of as being a true friendship... is not.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for teaching me of your omnipotence, and omniscience. I thank you father for allowing me to see just enough of you to realize that I am not worthy of being in your presence or even of washing your feet. Father, you love me despite who I am, and I remain baffled by that. You call me child and friend when I can see nothing in myself that you should find deserving of this. I am coming to understand your greatness and perfection as I praise and worship you, but Father, how you see anything in me that is worth forming a relationship with escapes me. I praise your name, and desire to be with you always. Holy Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ and His having reconciled me to you. Thank you, Abba, for your forgiveness and love... thank you for your mercy and grace… and thank you for calling me your friend as I lean on you and seek consolation in your companionship always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who hears my innermost thoughts and knows the hidden ruminations of my heart. Holy are you who loved me while I was yet a sinner and sent your Son Jesus to live, suffer, die, and be resurrected for me, Holy are you who has separated me from my sins and chosen not to remember them. Thank you for doing all these things through your grace, the blood of Jesus, and your reckless love… agape!
Hallelujah, and Amen!
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”
Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 ESV
Rich Forbes