Spiritual thoughts and other writings.
Category: Glory
3 They did not conquer the land with their swords;
it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
It was your right hand and strong arm
and the blinding light from your face that helped them,
for you loved them.
Ah, sizzle. This is from where victory comes! HIS right hand!
Over the past couple months, I’ve kind of had to come face-to-face with some of my own weaknesses. It’s a really hard thing for me. I pretty much hate seeing where I fall short; it makes me feel sort of angry and defeated. My natural reaction, I’ve found, has been to try to figure out a way to make myself right—to find a way to fix myself.
I know from experience, though, that all my efforts to make myself better always fall short. Sometimes there are small improvements, but never the deep, transformational change that I really desire.
I read this verse this morning and it gave me some good perspective on stuff. In context, the Apostle Paul is talking about his own weakness:
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
My thought is just this: instead of trying to run from weakness, why don’t I embrace it as an instance where God can come in and provide for me? I think that instead of hating my weaknesses, I ought to love them because at the places where I fall short, it provides an opportunity for God to prove Himself faithful and sufficient. As He does, then I will know him more and He will be more glorified in me.
When you ask God to hear His voice, is this what you are expecting?
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.7The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.9The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
Christians sometimes talk about hearing the voice of the Lord. In reading this this morning, I was just really challenged at how I perceive God and how I think about hearing from Him. The truth is that through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sin, we are now able to come boldly before God (Eph. 3:12). God doesn’t destroy us with His voice (or other agents of His strength), but we still serve the same God. Holy awe at His Being is the only honest response to understanding who He really is.
Just a thought.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Read more
Something that I have long been obsessed with is the reality that the way I live can bring God glory. That is really cliché, so I think that sometimes it’s easy to overlook, but it has really impacted me. I am not anyone special–I’m just 22 year old college student at a small school in a small state who’s pretty mediocre all around. But, the idea that the way I live, could bring Glory to the Almighty God sort of gets me going. It’s something that I really want to do.
I say I’m obsessed with it because I have thought a lot about it and the goal of bringing Glory to God has really permeated me in a lot of ways. There are certain ways of living that bring God glory. For example, by telling the Good News to people so that they will understand God’s love and praise Him; by serving people in need, so that they will praise God for the blessing you are to them; and by encouraging people through maybe a kind word or stimulating thought.
Today as I was reading, I found another way to bring God glory. Here it is: Psalm 50:15 says, “Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”
So, when I’m in trouble, I’m going to call on God and let him rescue me to bring him Glory!