Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. - Psa_29:2 Gods glory is the result of His nature and acts. He is glorious in His character, for there is such a large stockpile of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that He must be glorified. The actions which flow from His character are also glorious; but while He intends that they should manifest to His creatures, His goodness, and mercy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to Himself. There is no reason in ourselves in that we may take the glory; for who is it that makes us to be different from one another? And what is it that we have that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then we must be very careful that we walk humbly before the Lord! The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for only one to have the glory in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High God. Well the insect for an hour glorify itself next to the sun that warmed it into life? Shall the vase exalt itself above the potter who fashioned it on the wheel? Shall the dust of the desert struggle with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean resist the hurricane? Give unto the Lord, all you who are good, give unto the Lord the glory and strength; give unto Him the honor that is due to His name. Yet this prideful nature in us is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life is to learn this sentence-Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the glory. It is a lesson which God is always teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by the most painful discipline. Let a Christian begin to boast, I can do all things, without adding through Christ which strengthens me, and before long they will have to cry out, I can do nothing, and regret they ever thought such a thought of pride. When we do anything for the Lord, like sing a song, help some one in trouble or give of ourselves in one way or another; He is pleased to accept our deeds, let us lay our crown at his feet, and exclaim, Not I, but the grace of God which was with me! I should add one more thought today to help us with this giving God ALL the glory. If you receive help from someone, are blessed from your pastors message, or enjoyed some service from some ones kindness; always thank God for that person. They are a gift from God. The gift they have is from God. Everything about them is from God. After thanking God for this person, tell the person I thank God for you and your help. This gives God all the glory and allows this person who helped you to join with you to give God all the glory. I guaranty it will put a smile on their face as well. |
