Category: God & His Glory

Even the Waves Obey Him

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Last night I read with my children how Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat (see Mark 4:35-41).  Jesus was sleeping as a gigantic storm came up.  The wind began to blow.  The waves began to rise.  The boat began to fill.  The disciples began to panic.  And Jesus was still sleeping.  The terrified fisherman woke Jesus.  Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves, “Peace! Be still!”  The wind became still.  The sea became still.  And the fisherman were still terrified – but now for a different reason.  “Who is this who commands the wind and waves?”

I recently wrote about how Lake Superior gives me a glimpse of God’s power.  As I see the powerful waves, I am reminded of God’s greater power.  And yet this story from Jesus’ life reminds me that the powerful waves of Lake Superior are no match for God’s power.  The waves of Lake Superior at their greatest are nothing compared to God.  With just a word, Jesus could instantly calm the waves of Lake Superior.  With just a word, God could calm the wind and waves and water of the hurricane that just soaked the east coast.  Peace!  Be still!  This is real power.  No wonder the disciples were afraid.  No wonder we are told to fear God.  We would be fools not to fear.

Amazingly, this great power comes along side of us.  When we are weak and hurting, God’s great power that calms the wind and waves rests upon us, calming our hearts and giving us strength to endure (II Corinthians 12:9-10).  And that great power that terrified the disciples long ago is now transforming his disciples today, powerfully changing our hearts (Ephesians 1:19).  With such great power at work in our lives, anything is possible.

Glimpses of God’s Power

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Every summer my family goes camping along Lake Superior.  I love this lake.  It reminds me of God.

It reminds me of God’s power.  There are days when the waves come crashing in ready to knock you over if you choose to wade out into them.  I see the power of the waves, and I think of God’s power.  I think of his power which made those waves, the lake, the earth, the entire universe.  I think of his power of which these waves give only a small glimpse.

I need that glimpse of God’s power.  In my weakness, I need to see his strength.  In my weariness, I need to see his great power that can renew my strength. 

As I see people hurting from great tragedies, I need to see God’s power which is sufficient in our weakness and is greater than anything that can come against us. 

As I see people wounded from their past, I need to see God’s power that can bring healing.

As I see people on the brink of despair, I need to see God’s power that can bring hope.

As I see people in turmoil, I need to see God’s power that can bring peace.

As I see people wrestling with depression, I need to see God’s power that can bring joy.

As I see people caught in the strong bonds of sin, I need to see God’s greater power which can break those bonds and bring freedom.

As I see people morning the loss of a brother or sister in Christ, I need see God’s power that will one day raise the dead. 

I need to see God’s power.  And I get a glimpse in the waves.

Saved to Give Thanks To God

On By BrianIn Church Life, God & His Glory

…so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
– II Corinthians 4:15b

Why does God save us?  This verse tells us at least one reason.  He saves us so that we might give thanks to God.  He saves us for his glory.  As more people are saved, more thanksgiving is offered up to God – and he is glorified.  Here is a radical God-centered view of salvation.

A few questions follow:

Are we giving thanks to God?  Are we reminding ourselves and each other of our great salvation so that, continually amazed by his love, we can’t stop praising God?

Are we sharing the good news so more people can be saved and give thanks to God?

And tying those questions together, are we preaching the gospel in our churches?  The gospel needs to be preached because lost people need to be saved, and because saved people need to be continually reminded of what God has done for them so that they will give thanks to God.

If you are his child, his grace has extended to you.  You don’t deserve it.  You are not worth it.  But he loves you.  He chose you.  He died for you.  He forgave you.  He changed you.  He saved you.  So let us join the the Psalmist and:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
– Psalm 100:4-5

Better Than Life

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
– Psalm 63:3

Because your steadfast love…
Your help
Your strength
Your comfort
Your blessing
Your sustaining
Your sacrifice
Your forgiveness
Your salvation
Your promises

…is better than life…
Money
Things
Job
Vacations
Recreation
Entertainment
Internet
Sleep
Food
Popularity
Status
Friends
Family
Health

…my lips will praise you.
Celebrate you
Sing of you
Honor you
Glorify you
Tell of you

Amen.

Our Delight

On By BrianIn God & His Glory, Virtue of Joy

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
– Psalm 115:1

God loves us us.  He daily showers us with his many blessings. 
He is a refuge in our trials.  He is always faithful.
He saves us through the cross.  He makes us his children – and heirs.
He loves us with an amazing undeserved love.
And so we want him to be glorified; we want him to be honored.

Our sinful tendency is to want others to honor us, for us to receive the glory.
But as we grasp his great love for us who are unworthy of any love,
we can desire the glory to go not to us, but to him.
It becomes our delight to see him honored in our lives.

How can we honor him in our lives?

We honor him as we obey him, put his will before our own.

We honor him with our thoughts – as we think about him,
and as we thing rightly about him;
as we guard our thoughts to think what is pleasing to him.

We honor him with our lips – as we gather with his people to praise him,
and as we tell others about his glory.

We honor him with our actions – as we do our best for him
in our work, our chores, our studies, and everything else we do;
as we point to Jesus rather than ourselves.

Father, may it be our growing delight to honor you with all of our lives.  Amen.

I Am With You

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Jacob is leaving behind everything he knows.  He has been sent by his parents to his mom’s family whom he has never met.  On the way, God speaks to him.  God repeats the promises he made to Abraham and Isaac now to Jacob.  God will give him many offspring who will receive the land.  And more – all the families of the earth will be blessed through him and his offspring.  And then God promises, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (Genesis 28:15). 

Hundreds of years later, Jacob’s descendent Jesus will die on a cross to save people from their sins.  In this Descendent, truly all the families of the earth are blessed.  And this Descendent issues the same promises to his followers that God gave to Jacob: “Behold, I am with you” (Matthew 28:20). 

God is with us.  In the hustle and bustle of the day.  At work, at school, at home, at the store, on the roads.  In the trials and struggles of life.  In the good times and celebrations of life.  When we go to sleep tonight and when we wake the next morning.  No matter what we face, where we go, or what we do, God is with us.  His presence goes with us.  The Sovereign Creator and Ruler of the world goes with us.  What a comfort and strength this should be to us today!

Marvel

On By BrianIn Book of Luke, God & His Glory, Idolatry

After Jesus came down from his Transfiguration, he cast out an unclean spirit (Luke 9:37-43).  “And all were astonished at the majesty of God…they were all marveling at everything he was doing….”  In his actions they saw the majesty, the greatness, the glory of God, and they marveled, they were astonished, they wondered, they were amazed.  We too should marvel at the glory of God.  So why don’t we marvel more?  Let me suggest two reasons.

First, we are distracted by idols.  Our world is full of stuff marketed in shining wrappings that make it look glorious.  The glory often fades as soon as you buy it, and it eventually ends up in the trash heap, and yet it still allures us, attracts us, distracts us.  We fill our homes and lives with this stuff that distracts us from the true glory of God.

And it is not just stuff.  Power, sex, fame, popularity, and on the list goes.  All these things present themselves as glorious.  And indeed there is nothing wrong with them in their proper contexts.  But we are attracted by the empty promises that these things will satisfy, will fulfill, and they distract us from the one who truly does.  They are idols distracting us from the true glory of God.

Second, we don’t marvel more because we fail to see the glory of God.  His glory is all around us, but we miss it in the hurry of life.  We need to slow down and open our eyes.

We need to open our eyes to his glory revealed in the Bible.  We get so used to the stories, we miss the glory of the one who is acting in incredible ways.  See his glory in the miracles of Jesus, in the proclamations of Isaiah, the glimpse of heaven in Revelation, the praises in Psalms, and on and on it could go. 

We need to open our eyes to his glory revealed in creation.  I love to camp on the shores of Lake Superior each summer.  As I see the powerful waves of the big lake, as I see the incredible sunsets over the lake, I am struck with the glory of God.  But is his glory not revealed where I live the rest of the year?  Of course it is, but I miss it.  I miss it because I am in too much of a hurry.  I miss it because we have manufactured our own indoor world that keeps me away from his creation.  I miss it because I spend too much time on man’s ultimate creation to date – what we are on right now as I write this and you read it.  I need to go outside and see the sunset outside my home.  I need to open my eyes to the wonder of the towering trees in my backyard, the incredible variety of flowers, and the way the garden grows.  I need to see the glory of God’s image in my family, and my co-workers, and my church.  I need to open my eyes and see his glory all around me in his creation.

We need to open our eyes to his glory revealed in his providential working in our lives.  The ways he answers prayer.  The ways he guides our lives, protects us, cares for us, strengthens us, provides for us.

We need to open our eyes to his glory revealed in our salvation.  That he would come to earth as a man.  That he would suffer and die in my place.  That he powerfully rose from the dead.  That the Spirit of God would choose to come into my life and transform me.  That my sins are washed away.  That I have a new life in Christ.  That I am righteous in his sight.  That I am his child.  That I have an inheritance.  That I will spend eternity with God.  We just need to open our eyes to see his glory.

Father, you reveal your glory all around us.  Help us to topple the idols that distract us.  Help us to open our eyes to see your glory.  Help us to be a people that marvel at your glory.  Amen.

The Coming of the Spirit 8

On By BrianIn God & His Glory1 Comment

The Holy Spirit changes us.  At the moment of salvation, he comes into our lives and gives us a new life.  We are born again of the Spirit (John 3:3-8).  Though we were spiritually dead and unable to please God, the Spirit makes us alive in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:1-10).  The Spirit changes us.

Not only does the Spirit give us a new life, but he then begins a process of making us more holy, more like Christ.  He produces within us the Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  He changes us.

The Spirit changes us, but we must walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).  We must cooperate with him.  We must follow his lead.  Suppose I see my son playing in the middle of a busy road.  I am going to go out and change his location.  He can either cooperate and walk with me off the road.  Or he can drag his feet.  Are we walking with the Spirit away from sin?  Or are we dragging our feet?

To conclude this series – the Holy Spirit comes and does amazing things in our lives:

  • He empowers us for witnessing
  • He makes us part of the church
  • He empowers us for ministry in the church
  • He dwells in his church
  • He makes us God’s children
  • He helps us in our daily lives
  • He dwells within us
  • He changes us

Let us give thanks to God for the work of the Spirit in our lives!

The Coming of the Spirit 7

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

The Spirit of God not only makes us God’s children and helps us in daily life, but he also dwells within us.  I Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  God himself dwells within us.  That is an incredible thought.  Stop and ponder what it means for God to dwell within you.

One response we must have to this incredible truth is that we must glorify God with our bodies.  This is what v20 tells us.  In the context of the chapter, to glorify God with our bodies first means that we must not commit sexual immorality.  But the application can swing much wider.

All of our actions are to glorify God.  All of our words are to glorify God.  All of our thoughts are to glorify God.  When we sin in deed, word, or thought, we desecrate God’s temple.  We bring abominations into God’s temple.  Sin is serious indeed.

What is more, if our bodies are God’s temples than we must take good care of our bodies.  How could we treat God’s temple poorly?  This includes what we eat, proper exercise, and avoiding those things that would be harmful to our bodies.  What we wear must also be considered.  Do my clothes honor God?  Modesty is important here.

The Spirit of God dwells within me.  My body is the Spirit’s temple.  I must use my body for his glory.