Glory

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1

Too often we think of ourselves as the main character of this story we are living in. We think it’s all about us. We want to be famous. We want to be wealthy. We want to be known. That’s what many of our kids and teens aspire to be when they grow up… is famous. Some of us still want that as adults. And even if we don’t... we do want to be appreciated and honored. We want to climb the ladder and be recognized. We want glory. That's why it is so difficult to live according to the principle laid down in Psalm 115:1. You can't live for God's glory if you are living for your own.

But even if you aren’t living for your own glory, are you seeking God’s? Does this verse accurately describe how you live. Are you day-by-day praying, “Not to ME, Lord, not to ME but to your name be the glory!”

God deserves ALL the glory because of His love and faithfulness. He loved you when you didn’t deserve to be loved. He has been faithful to you when you were faithless to Him. He has done this not only for you but for every one of us over and over again. That is why He deserves ALL the credit and ALL the glory and ALL the honor and ALL the praise!

So, live in such a way that God gets all the glory from your life. Seeking His glory, not your own.

Cling Closely, Bring Glory (W.o.W. Rewind)

Do you have any clothes that are especially expensive or just for special occasions? Chances are that when you wear them you feel better about yourself. They add a little pep to your step. But have you ever gotten a huge stain on clothes like that. When something that fine gets ruined, it looks so much worse than when you get a stain on a regular old pair of jeans. The stain stands out so much more on something so nice.

God commanded the prophet Jeremiah to act out a metaphor very much like this for His people in Jeremiah chapter thirteen. God told Jeremiah buy a fine linen belt to wear. Then He told him to go to the river and hide it in the cleft of a rock. Only many days later did the Lord tell Jeremiah to go retrieve it. Of course it was ruined, wet and muddy. Useless! In verses nine and ten God reveals the significance of this act.

This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Jeremiah's ruined belt represents the pride of Judah which God promised to ruin. God promised to bring judgment on His people because of their idolatry and stubborn refusal to repent. Then, in verse eleven, God pushes the symbolism further saying,

'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

God says that the ruined belt also symbolizes how His people have ruined His glory. God's people were supposed to cling to Him like a beautiful belt that always stayed close and brought added glory by virtue of their fine quality. Instead, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God, Israel and Judah had become defiled and had failed to glorify God. Now they were like a soiled belt wrapped around His waist. As God's people they bear His name and they drag it along with them into their sin.

It's heartbreaking to think that God's people would so callously besmirch God's name. Yet, how often do we do the same? We call ourselves Christians, then we unabashedly and publicly watch movies and TV shows we know Christ never would. We go to church and we attack and viciously tear down our leaders and other believers in ways that are out of step with Christ's love for His church. We engage in our secret sins, thinking that no one sees, but God does.

Father, help us to live as your people in this world. Help us to cling tightly to you, to always stay close to you and to live in a way that increases your fame, your glory, and your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Finding God's Glory

The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

                                                      Psalm 19:1-4

Each day you're greeted with a powerful reminder of who God is and just how glorious He is, if you'll only look up to see it. The heavens declare it in their own silent way every single day. On many occasions the sight of a sunrise, a sunset, the twinkle of stars at night, or the beauty of fluffy white clouds set against a backdrop of bright blue has been enough to bring me to worship. It's as if the human heart is programmed to respond in worship to these small glimpses of God's creative power.

But we all know that there are days when God's glory is hard to see. Days when a thick, dark cloud of gray descends on the sky (or on your life) and obscures God's glory from your view. Days when it seems as if Heaven itself has disappeared. What are we to do on these days?

Psalm 19 reminds us that there is another and more perfect revelation of who God is: His Word. "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul" verse seven says. The psalm goes on to describe God's Word as trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, firm, and more precious than gold. Nothing in all the world compares to God's good Word revealed best in Christ and without error in the Bible.

So, when you feel a dark cloud descending, when your worship has grown cold, and especially when His marvelous creation is hidden from view: read the Word. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Cherish it. It perfectly reflects who He is, and it has the power to lift your gaze from all the troubles of this world and cast it upon your Perfect Father in Heaven. Only then, when you see Him rightly, can you praise Him truly. But will you stop to look? 

Your Personal Path to Glory

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him... For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified... He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

Romans 8:28-37 (selections)

Believer, God has a plan for your life! His plan was in place long before you were born. In fact, He made this plan before He even created the world, and God doesn't make shoddy plans! You can be sure He will accomplish what He sets out to do!

We each walk our own path in life, but don't you dare envy anyone else's because your path is tailor made to conform you into the image of Christ. The suffering you experience (and we all experience our own unique suffering) is akin to His suffering in this way: you both suffer for your sin. He suffered to pay the penalty for your sin. You suffer to overcome it and be set free from it. Your trials help prune the sin out of your life (John 15:2). They strip away all the unhelpful things and replace them with the things of Christ. 

God saw your suffering, your trials, your blessings, and your successes in eternity past and He is bringing you through all of this to glory. The path that you are on today is your personal path to glory. So, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how much you want things to change. Stay the course! Press on! Persevere! God has prepared this for you, and He will use it to make you into the man or woman of God that He wants you to be. So, trust Him! Follow in Christ's footsteps and be made perfect by obedience (Hebrews 2:10 & 5:8-10).

For further reading...

• Read all of Romans 8:28-37 to get the full picture.

Unveiled Faces (W.o.W. Rewind)

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out...the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining.

Exodus 34:34-35

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

Christians have a unique privilege in this world. Once we were blinded by sin like everyone else, but now, by the power of God's Spirit, our eyes have been opened to see who God really is. We are ushered into God's very presence by the power of the blood of Christ. We not only contemplate God through the Scriptures, but we have His very Spirit dwelling in us. This Spirit helps us to understand the Bible and it gives us an unprecedented closeness and relationship with God. 

We behold the glory of the Lord like few, if any, did prior to Christ's coming. And as we gaze intently at God's glory and contemplate His goodness, miracle of miracles, we are changed! God's Spirit works within us to transform us into the image of the very God that it reveals to us. 

Christians are meant to reflect who God is. The longer we walk with Him the more like Him we ought to be. We shouldn't hide this transformation. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

This leads all Christians to several pertinent questions:

• Am I being transformed into the image of God from one degree of glory to another?
• Am I taking time to behold God's glory, to enter His presence and gaze at Him?
• Am I letting the light of God's transforming work in me shine for all to see so that He may receive the glory?

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 

I Chronicles 29:11

Greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty- these all belong to God and to Him alone. Not one ounce of any of these qualities rightly belongs to anyone but to the Lord. When I find my wicked heart craving after any of these I can be sure that I am encroaching on the Lord's territory. 

Yet, consider how willingly God shares them with men. Though these qualities belong to God fully, He bestows them on men. I Chronicles 29:12 says "Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all." So God makes some men rich and some men great. He gives some men power, while to others He gives victory. But these qualities always come from God, they belong to God and ultimately their purpose is to be laid back at His feet as an offering of worship.

God gives men greatness that they might use their influence to point others to Him. He gives men power that they might reflect His goodness by wielding it to give justice to the oppressed. He gives men riches to show His generosity and so they may in turn be generous to the poor, the widow, and the orphan. He gives men victory that they might choose to fight His battles to advance His kingdom. He gives men majesty that they might reflect a portion of His own majesty and in so doing whet men's appetite for the One who is truly majestic. 

So it isn't wrong for men to have any of these qualities. It isn't wrong for a person to be powerful or great. But it is wrong for us to use these qualities for our own means, to make our own names great. And it is wrong for us to desire these qualities selfishly, to spend our lives clambering after and grabbing at what only God can give and what properly belongs to Him anyway. 

I fear I have often been guilty of trying to steal God's glory. I've worked hard to take for myself and for my own ends what rightly belongs only to Him. Forgive me for my wicked desires, Lord. Renew within me a right heart, Father, and help me to use what gifts You have given me to maximize Your glory, Your honor and Your praise.

Big God

Nothing in this world makes my problems look smaller quicker than thinking about the greatness of God. When my gaze is lifted off the things of this world and I consider who He is, I am reminded of just how big God is. Compared to His greatness, my biggest problems are small potatoes. 

Recently this has brought me great comfort. I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated in life. I had been spending too much time contemplating the enormity of my "to do" list and not nearly enough time contemplating the enormity of God. My perspective had gotten locked in on the mundane frustrations of this world. I had become consumed by my need to succeed. I failed to see the glory of God all around me in creation, crying out for me to lift my eyes. I was locked in a very unhappy way of living. But when I dedicated myself to return to Bible study and prayer, God did a wonderful thing. He revealed Himself to me again through His Word and through prayer, and once again I was amazed at how big and wonderful God is. How could I have forgotten for all this time!?

Perhaps you are locked in a small way of thinking today too? Here are some passages of Scripture designed to lift your gaze and place it back on God.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 113)

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever— he issued a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 148)

Cling Closely and Bring Glory

Do you have any clothes that are an expensive brand name or just something you save for special occasions? Chances are that when you wear them out you feel better about yourself. You have a little added pep in your step. You think you look your best. But have you ever ruined any clothes like that before? Maybe you got a huge stain on them. When something that fine gets ruined, it looks so much worse than when you get a stain on regular old pair of jeans or a t-shirt. It's like the stain stands out and screams for attention even louder against the backdrop of such fine clothing.

God commands the prophet Jeremiah to act out a metaphor very much like this for His people in Jeremiah chapter thirteen. God has Jeremiah buy a fine linen undergarment to wear. Then He told him to go to a certain river and to hide it in a cleft of a rock. Only many days later did the Lord tell Jeremiah to go and retrieve it. Of course it was ruined, wet and muddy. It was useless. In verses nine and ten God reveals the significance of this acted out metaphor.

This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Jeremiah's ruined belt or undergarment represents the pride of Judah which God promises to ruin. God is bringing judgment on His people because of their idolatry and stubborn refusal to repent. Then, in verse eleven, God pushes the symbolism a step further saying,

'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

God reveals that the ruined belt also symbolizes how His people have ruined His glory. God's people were supposed to cling to Him like a fine belt that always stayed close and brought added glory by virtue of their fine quality. Instead, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God, Israel and Judah have become defiled and have failed to glorify God. Now they are like a soiled belt wrapped around His waist. As God's people they bear His name and they drag it along with them into their sin.

It is heartbreaking to think that God's people would so callously besmirch God's name. Yet, how often do we do the same? We call ourselves Christians, then we unabashedly go to the theaters and publicly watch movies we know Christ never would. We go to church and we attack and viciously tear down our leaders and other believers in ways that are out of step with Christ's love for His church. We engage in our secret sins, thinking that no one sees, but God does.

Father, help us to live as your people in this world. Help us to cling tightly to you, to always stay close to you and to live in a way that increases your fame, your glory, and your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Monuments to our Glory

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

 

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

 

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

 

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:1-9

 

 

God's instructions to the first humans were simple: be fruitful, fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it, and do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We all know how Adam and Eve ignored the command not to eat of the tree. The incident at the tower of Babel shows us how their descendants disregarded another of God's instructions. Instead of spreading over the face of the land and filling the earth as God commanded, they grouped together. Their common language allowed them to cooperate toward a common end. Under normal circumstances this is a good thing, but they were cooperating to build a monument for their own glory, to make a name for themselves. God did not create humanity to glorify ourselves or exalt our own names, but to bring glory to Him. Their common language allowed them to take part in even greater sin than each man could have on his own. Already mankind was exchanging the glory of the immortal God for a cheap knockoff (Romans 1:23).

 

God, in His wisdom, confused men's language, causing them to babble. This broke up man's cooperation in sin and caused them to keep His original commandment to fill the earth. It's interesting to consider this story in light of the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament (Acts 2). At Pentecost, God sent His Spirit to fill the disciples and enable them to speak languages they formerly had not known. The Lord temporarily reversed what He had done at the tower of Babel so many years before and tore down the language barrier. Why?  So that the good news of Jesus Christ could advance more quickly to all people. God built the language barrier to avoid mankind working toward his own glory. He removed the language barrier so that mankind could more easily work towards His glory.
 

Are you working to make a name for yourself or for God? In what ways are you erecting monuments to your own glory? Many people work long hours for many years to make a name for themselves in their community, profession, or even vicariously through the lives of their children. They live and die for their own glory. They even put their names on buildings so their name will be remembered long after they are gone (a remarkably similar folly to that of Babel). What monuments do you need to tear down in your life today?

Maybe you haven't built any monuments to yourself, but are you building monuments for God? Are you cooperating with others spread the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection to people of every tribe, nation, people, and tongue? All believers are called to do just this. Are you giving to missions, praying for missions, supporting ministries that translate the Bible into the languages of unreached people groups? God has given us many tools to cross language barriers today with the gospel. Be sure that your life is spent building something that will last.

 

For further reading...

• Acts 2- Read the story of Pentecost and compare it for yourself.
• Operation World is a ministry that helps Christians pray for God's great mission of love around the world. They have a wonderful prayer calendar you can use to pray throughout the year for people in every nation. You can also sign up to receive an email prompt every day with ideas to help you pray for the advance of the gospel in various nations.
• Revelation 5:9-10, 7:9-10, 14:6-7- Rejoice that God will prevail! He will redeem for Himself people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.