All tagged glory
Are we strong enough to adhere to God’s commandments? Do we have sufficient strength to rise above the world and achieve holiness and great righteousness? Well, we might be strong in comparison to other men, but in God’s eyes we are most certainly weaklings, and in truth, we need the strength of Jesus in order to perfect ourselves, but even then we might find that we are a challenge for Him.
Are our lives a manifestation of God’s glory? Are we more than mere flesh and blood, such that we not only say and do good things, but are also living and breathing praise to Him? We often hear the expression “People should see Christ in you.”, but do they, and to what end is this most important? I ask again... are we the embodiment of praise such that others who see us will experience God’s glory?
Do we think that God doesn't see what we do under the cover of darkness? Well, think again because God is more than familiar with darkness. We associate God with light because He created it... He radiates it, and where it exists, darkness is overcome; so, if we only define darkness as the absence of light, then how do we explain the fact that prior to creation there was only darkness, when God was there. God sees us, and all that we do... even in the darkest night.
There are many who study the Bible, and upon reading of the healings and other miracles contained there, they conclude that those occurrences were limited to the early days of faith and that those days must have been the “time of miracles.” These doubters convince themselves that we are not living in such a time today. Friends, there is no biblical foundation for such thought, as a matter-of-fact Jesus taught throughout His ministry by using miracles, just as we see in the Old Testament, and He also taught us that we too will perform and receive miracles today. In short, we still live in this so called “time of miracles.”
Our prayers are not powerless. When we enter into them we are not alone, but are joined there by the Holy Spirt, and Jesus Christ. When we don’t know how to pray the Holy Spirit will pray for us, and as we pray in the name of Jesus Christ it gives Him joint authorship with us in that prayer. Suddenly, what might have been a knee shaking event as we stood alone before the throne of God, has become less frightening and we are more certain that our prayers are being heard. So, I ask you this, are you alone before God in your prayers or coming before Him with the help of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus?
Today is the last day of the year, and typically one in which we take stock of our accomplishments and failures over the past twelve months. This is also a time when we make plans for the coming year and determine the condition of our present life. As you do so, do you have regrets that haunt you, and fears that give you tribulation as you look towards the coming new year? Well, “fear not” because our Lord uses what is past and present to prepare us for what lies ahead, and He helps us face today with a firm faith in His goodness, mercy, and grace.
Do we lay awake at night and determine the strategy we will employ tomorrow? Do we make battle plans against the forces of darkness, or arrange our spiritual maneuvers to achieve victory and holiness? If so, then woe are we, because the seas we sail, and the battles we fight, are not ours. We are just sailors aboard the vessel of God, and we are but soldiers in the army of the King. We sail for him and do battle at His command. When we triumph over the enemy the victory belongs to Jesus Christ alone... we are simply following His leadership
Do we claim the glory of God for ourselves? Have we done this while doing great things that He has called and gifted us to do? Have we puffed out our chests and swaggered as if they were all about us? We are tempted by our nature as men and women of the world to claim personal responsibility for God's work when it moves through us to be performed in the physical world, but we must defeat that temptation lest we be humbled.
I am lost in thought this morning regarding a certain gift that was given us from the cross. We all know that Jesus suffered, died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven, to release us from sin and death, but there is more. Through our faith and relationship with Him we too will be resurrected and receive a glorified body just as He did. Are we ready to glow with the same heavenly light that Jesus did while He was talking with Elijah and Moses in the scripture we discussed yesterday? Can we even fathom that?
When we perform our works of faith or even kneel to pray, who are we attempting to please? Are our eyes on Jesus and our hearts longing for God, or is there something or someone else who has taken the glory of our efforts? Was it ourselves? I am exploring the motivation behind the acts we do that we claim are of faith this morning, and how we can keep them directed rightly towards the glory of God.
Today I read Oswald Chambers' devotional message titled "Transformed by Insight" and in it he wrote of our becoming a reflection of the Lord when we have been in His presence. This is a discussion that thrills me, and reminds me of not only the outward reflection, but the amazing feeling we have within us when He is near.
Today I read a devotional message titled "The Convincing Truth". In this message Pastor E. M. Bounds spoke of the real glory of our prayers, and our right relationship with God that leads us to glorify Him through our prayers. As I thought on this subject, my mind wandered back. I recalled a night years ago when I went to my intercessory prayer meeting and something incredible happened...
Are we men and women who humble ourselves before God? Humility is a characteristic that is unmistakable in a person and gives them a certain quality that allows them to care for others and walk in faith without so much as causing a ripple... They become a part of the faith that surrounds them. However, the pride of doing, this morning's message, is one that convicts me often. Sometimes I struggle with that fine line between giving God the glory for answering a prayer and feeling that MY prayer might have been the source of that miracle. When you pray for people as often as I do and God answers our prayers for the needs of others, we might begin to associate God's movements with our own. When people seek you out as if there is some cure or other miracle that you can perform for them it presents you with a spiritual danger. The truth of course is that God performs all miracles and a person's faith is the catalyst that makes him worthy.
As I read a devotional one morning, and I contemplated its theme... “God Rewards”. It caused me to take pause, and think about the ways that statement was true, and to compare it to the many ways that this broad statement was not. On this particular morning E.M. Bounds had written the words "Faith believes that God rewards.", and although that is true, it is not unconditionally true. Some tie this way of thinking to a religion of prosperity, but this is a deadly trap.
God works in us each and every day. He brings us to the doorstep of His will, and then perfects us as our efforts join with His in accomplishing it. However, none of this achievement is possible without His efforts in us, and none is possible by our own doing. So when His will is done, in some manner, how should we respond to others when they acknowledge it in gratitude or amazement?