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Praise the God of Glory
The God of Glory. (Psalm 29:3, Acts 7:2)
The Father of Glory. (Ephesians 1:17)
The King of Glory. (Psalm 24:8)
The Lord [Christ] of Glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)
The Spirit of Glory. (1 Peter 4:14)
Glory has the sense of majestic beauty and splendor, or great significance. For example: “That is a glorious sunset,” or “I glory in my family/children/job.”
With respect to God, Glory is the perfection of all of God’s attributes taken altogether.
The Bible helps us understand God’s glory by using examples and words associated with glory.
Creation
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.(Psalm 19:1)
Goodness and Sovereignty
Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lordbefore you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” (Exodus 33:18–19)
Righteousness
The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory. (Psalm 97:6)
Lovingkindness
To Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.(Psalm 115:1)
Strength
Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle… Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:8.10)
Grace and Truth
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John 1:14)
And more
God is infinite, and there are no words to capture the infinite. Glory is all He is and did and does and will do to. Glory is everything He is to perfection.
Praise the God of Glory.
~~~
God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we praise You in all Your glory. Thank You that You are beyond what we can understand, yet have chosen to reveal some of Yourself to us. Help us give You glory, help us make our lives praise You. To You be the glory forever.
Are You in a Dark Spot?
Suppose you came home from work/school/shopping to nobody and nothing. Everybody and everything were gone. Your loved ones had been kidnapped. Your home had been ransacked. There was no one, and nothing, left.
What would you do?
David faced that issue. When he and his men got home, all their wives and children had been taken captive, all the livestock driven off, and the town looted and burned.
Everyone wept.
But David faced a challenge you wouldn’t have: the people talked about stoning David.
What would you do?
David’s five steps in that dark spot are good for us to follow:
Encourage Yourself
David encouraged himself, he strengthened himself, in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6)
I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lordis my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1–3)
We should, regularly and intentionally, center ourselves in our Lord God. He is our loving sovereign, has a loving purpose for our situation, and will guide us to the proper response. We need to humble ourselves before Him.
Ask the Lord what to do
Then David asked the Lord what to do. (1 Samuel 30:8)
God promises wisdom (James 1:5-8).
This step is essential! Too often, we run off doing what seems best to us, rather than inquiring of the Lord.
Remember, Christ is interceding for you. (See Jesus is Praying for You.) The Holy Spirit is praying for you (See The Holy Spirit is Praying for You).
Do what the Lord tells you to do
Then David went, pursued, fought, and recovered. (1 Samuel 30:9-20)
So—really, now—do you ever ask the Lord what to do, not like His answer, and act according to your own understanding and in your own strength?
Trust in the Lordwith all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.(Proverbs 3:5)
Honor God
Then David honored God with the spoil. (1 Samuel 30:23-31)
We are to give thanks in everything. Everything.
In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
We don’t thank Him for evil, but no matter what happens, God is praiseworthy.
Share your Story
David shared the spoil with the elders of Judah, which included sharing the story of God’s mighty deliverance.
Who can you tell about how God helped you in a dark spot? Your story will encourage others.
Political Wars
My mom worked for several Governors and a US Senator; my dad worked in a congressional campaign; both were deeply interested in politics. Much of my career included government relations responsibilities. And yet I was mainly interested in policy questions rather than politics.
The past few years, however, I’ve been drawn more and more into who is in office, and campaign activities.
I’ve been increasingly agitated, even to the point of losing sleep.
I’ve hidden posts from some Facebook friends who I felt were maligning people (and who didn’t agree with me!).
Much of this is not good.
Very recently I’ve been praying about talking to one friend about highly negative posts, and how I didn’t think they reflected well on other posts about the Lord.
I’ve been praying about “speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15)
But then… Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.(Matthew 7:3–5)
Oh my.
What has my Lord have to say to His servant? (Joshua 5:14)
I failed to believe that the “Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” (Daniel 4:25)
Lack of trust in Almighty God resulted in sleeplessness.
I inconsistently prayed for elected officials (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
I failed to be compassionate to—or pray for—those who probably weren’t believers. (Titus 3:1-3)
I failed to bless those who cursed me. (Luke 6:28)
James’ comments about the tongue (that from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing) too often applied to me. (James 3:8-12)
I failed to focus on the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Oh my.
~~~
Lord, forgive me. Please show me how to honor You in these troubled times. Please show me how to be light in the world. Please show me if I should speak up, and, if so, when and how. Please help me walk in a manner worthy of you.
~~~
See also Whose Side Are You On?
Do the ends justify the means?
Does a worthwhile goal (to you, anyway) mean you can do anything to attain it? Is sinning okay to reach a particular goal?
Of course not.
But in our current climate, many seem to have adopted that stance.
And, of course, unbelievers don’t have the same concern about sin.
What does the Bible say?
Old Testament Example: Good goal, bad means
King David had the laudable goal to move the ark to Jerusalem. But he didn’t seek the Lord (1 Chronicles 15:13) and follow the Lord’s commands about howto carry the ark. Instead, David placed the ark on a new cart pulled by oxen. When the ark was nearly upset, a man took hold of it, and “God struck him down there for his irreverence.” (2 Samuel 6:7)
New Testament Example: Bad goal, bad means
Ananias and Sapphira apparently wanted to be honored, and gave to the apostles part of the money they received from selling a piece of property. But they lied, saying they were giving the entire amount. Peter said they lied to God, that they put the Spirit of the Lord to the test. God killed both of them. (Acts 5:1-11)
What are our “Ends?” Our “Goals?” Our “Means?”
Christians are to walk in a manner worthy of Him who saved us. That is both a life goal and a commitment to be righteous in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
There are some, but not many, avenues of life that are off limits. We can’t be professional hit-men or prostitutes, but we can be politicians, or police officers, or …
However, whatever our God directed path, we must behave as children of God, increasingly walking in His will.
We are Responsible
What we do is our responsibility, and actions do have results. While we can control what we do, we cannot also control the result.
And we should remember that every action has a cascade of results, sometimes called “the ever-widening circle of consequences.” It may be that your action, down the road, impacts someone’s decision to trust Christ or to reject Him.
We must be alert, aware, and careful.
~~~
Almighty God, help us trust You, our sovereign, loving God. Help us know, really know, that You are in control of everybody and everything all the time. Help us know the paths You have for us individually, and help us walk those paths in a manner worthy of You. Forgive us those times we have tried to get our own way using means not pleasing to You.
USGS Volcano: Fissure 8, Hawaii
Praise our Faithful God, our faithfully faithful God
God never changes. Everything He is and everything He does is characterized by faithfulness.
He is always faithful
It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11–13)
Everything He does is characterized by faithfulness
For the word of the Lordis upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness. (Psalm 33:4)
The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
He faithfully fulfills His promises
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
His love is faithful
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23)
He is also faithful in wrath
He will recompense the evil to my foes; Destroy them in Your faithfulness. (Psalm 54:5)
Christ’s Name is Faithful and True
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (Revelation 19:11)
Praise our Faithful God
I highly recommend A.W. Tozer: The Attributes of God. Here are some excerpts from Volume 2 about God’s faithfulness:
“Faithfulness is that in God which guarantees that He will never be or act inconsistent with Himself… God will never cease to be what He is and who He is… Nothing can force God is act otherwise than faithfully to Himself and to us… God must be true to Himself, and when God makes a promise, He must keep that promise… God will remain faithful because He cannot change… He is perfectly faithful, because God is never partly anything… God is perfectly all that He is and never partly what He is… God means exactly what He said in the Bible. God wrote this and God is faithful; God cannot lie.”
I am so grateful our God is always faithful. We can rely on Him to be who He says He is. We never have to worry that He is having a bad day, or has changed His mind. We are assured that all His attributes are always faithfully in operation.
Praise our Faithful God
Harry Durgin/FaceBook
What is Your Level of Trust?
Do you trust God all the time? Some of the time? Practically never?
On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your level of trust?
This is a fundamental question relating to your Christian walk.
The fact is that God is totally sovereign. He is sovereign over everything and everybody ALL the time.
Do you believe that?
The US—and the world—is in chaos. Do you believe—really, now—do you believe that God is in control of this mess?
If you don’t, the implications are enormous:
If God isn’t sovereign, who is?
If God isn’t sovereign, are you really going to heaven?
If God isn’t sovereign, what is going to happen to the world?
Please take a look at When Storms Come: Are You Ready? Chapters 2 – 5 go through God’s sovereignty over nature, people, and evil. Chapter 14 talks about responding to God with trust.
Personally, I am rocked by the problems in the US, let alone the rest of the world. But then I am forced to my knees. God, our loving, sovereign God, is totally righteous, judging sin, providing mercy, and bringing people to saving faith. He is working all things according to the counsel of His glorious will.
Trusting God is not blind trust, because blind trust is, well, blind! Proof of God’s trustworthiness is rooted in His character, His actions, and His promises. As hard as things appear, we can trust that God is in control.
~~~
Lord God, please help us totally trust You in these troubled times. Help us look to You for wisdom. Help us not lean on our own understanding. Help us honor Your holy name through our lives.
There is a quip: “Believe in the dark what you learn in the light.”
We are followers of Jesus Christ and are learning to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). We haven’t arrived yet (Philippians 3:12), but God is working on us (Philippians 2:13), and will keep working on us until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6).
What incredible, awesome promises.
But, when it is dark, it is easy to forget God loves us. It’s easy to forget His loving sovereignty. It’s easy to forget that He is working all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11), and that all things will work to our good (Romans 8:28).
But He is and He does and He will.
Does it look dark out? Does the future look troubling?
The law is ignored and justice is never upheld. The wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.(Habakkuk 1:4)
God tells us He is doing something! (Habakkuk 1:5)
Our challenge is to believe Him.
Our challenge is to praise Him.
Our model is Habakkuk who saw the evil of his day, and whom God told He was using an evil nation to correct Israel. Habakkuk imagined the trouble that was coming, and determined—determined–to praise God.
I have resolved to praise God in the midst of these dark times. How about you?
Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17–19)
~~~
Father, forgive me for not trusting You in these dark times. Forgive me for forgetting what You’ve taught me, for ignoring the promises in Your Word. Help me focus on who You are, Your righteousness, Your justice, Your mercy. Help me praise You, help me give You thanks in everything. And Father, in wrath, remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:1)
Agranddad was talking with his very upset granddaughter. She told him she’d been talking to herself, and, well, “Things were said.”
I laughed when I read that, but I often say harsh and negative things to myself. I’m sure you do too.
We, too often, believe the negative, harsh things we say to ourselves, along with Satan’s lies. We, too seldom, praise God.
No wonder we aren’t more joyful.
Remind Yourself
Remind yourself that you are God’s workmanship, His poem.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Remind yourself that you are God’s beloved.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. (Ephesians 5:1)
You [believer in Christ] who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. (Jude 1)
But not Perfect
We are not to “beat ourselves up” for current or past sins. All that does is debilitate us, and make it harder to walk in newness of life.
We are to confess and repent, of course.
We should also remind ourselves that God is working in us and will keep working until the Day of Christ Jesus.
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
Resolve To:
Become aware of what you say to yourself.
STOP beating yourself up.
Confess and repent, of course, as the Holy Spirit brings sins to mind.
STOP confessing the same thing over and over.
Remind yourself that God is faithful to forgive when you confess.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Praise God
The cure for much of what ails us is to praise our awesome, almighty God.
Where have you come from and where are you going? (Genesis 16:8)
You remember the story. (See Genesis 16:1-16)
Hagar, Sarai’s maid, ran away from Sarai and the Lord found her by a spring of water. He asked her those questions, and told her to return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority. (Genesis 16:9) The Lord also gave her promises.
Hagar called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, El Roi, the God who sees. (Genesis 16:13)
El Roi, the God who saw Hagar, also sees us.
If you wonder: “Where is God in all this?” The answer is that He is there; He sees what is happening.
You are not alone. You are not ignored. You are not neglected.
He sees our situation so He can guide us; So He can correct us, as needed. He went to Hagar on purpose. And He comes to us intentionally as well.
He sees our issues so He can rescue us.
He sees our despair so He can comfort us.
He sees our future so He can prepare us.
Praise El Roi, the God who Sees.
Before you read this post, please read Daniel 9:1-19.
My challenge—to myself and to you—is to write a corresponding prayer to Almighty God for the USA.
Daniel had been exiled in Babylon about 70 years when this prayer was written. He sought the Lord by “prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (verse 3)
Do I—do you—care enough about the United States to seek the Lord with such fervency?
Daniel centered himself on the awesome Lord’s faithfulness (verse 4), and then confessed.
We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. (verse 5)
Most likely, you and I are distressed by many of the same US attitudes and actions, even though we probably don’t agree on everything. Confess USA’s sins.
Ask for the Lord’s forgiveness on our nation and ourselves.
O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! (verse 19)
Alas!
Please bring us to confession. Please make us determined to walk in Your ways. Please send revival. Please make us a country You can bless.
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When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? helps Christians not fear bad news, shows them how to handle current trouble, and helps them emerge stronger on the other side.
About me
I'm a Christian, wife, retiree, and author.
I love studying and putting knowledge into action. I'll share what I'm learning, encourage you, and urge all of us to press on to become more like Christ.
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