give god glory

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” Proverbs 25:2

Heavenly Father, King above all kings, you know my sinful heart and yet you love me. You know my sinful ways yet you love me. You know my idolatries that I struggle to get out from under yet somehow you forgive me and love me. I reach out to you Lord in all your mystery and glory and thank you for the mercy only you can give. Amen

I was asked in a study to write down all the reasons why I pray. I listed thankfulness, requests, intercession, praise and repentance. I was then asked to circle the reason that comes up most in my prayer life. I have to admit “repentance” wasn’t one of them. Thankfulness is probably the most frequent expression I find in my prayer life. And it’s usually related to blessings – not for keeping me from the fires of my sinful ways.

A few years ago, I finally grasped the concept of God’s mercy with this helpful saying, “Mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve and grace is when you get something you don’t deserve.” Boy, should I be constantly thanking God for His mercy!

"Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions." Psalms 51:1

The problem is we sometimes lack of awareness of our destructive swaths we create through sin. Realizing that, we should find it even more amazing that God gives us believers His mercy. He doesn’t always save us from earthly consequences but we know that when Jesus returns to judge the earth we won’t be thrown into the fire. What a glorious and loving God!

God has not asked us to wander bewildered by our transgressions and consequences. From beginning to end He has set the stage for our success. Through first giving us the Law, therefore defining sin, then sending Christ to teach us about God, how to live the Christian life and best of all, cleansing us of eternal punishment, He has taught us how to align ourselves with His ways. The Holy Spirit, which He left to dwell in us, provides us a daily conduit to keep us on track.

Friend, He thought of everything because He is our Glorious God! His mercy is our safety net. He knew we would struggle, and boy do we ever! Maybe you, like me need to tune in better to the Holy Spirit before we pray today. Ask Him to search our hearts and minds, like only the King of Kings can do. Have Him show us those corners of our life that seem blind to us. Let His glorious light shine to cleanse you.

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Colossians 1:27

Father God, your riches are boundless, your love endless, and your provisions unending! While I go throughout my day today help me to take my thoughts off the world’s insufficiencies and turn my eyes to your plentiful ways. Amen

It was only a short time ago that most of us worried about the scarcity of one product – toilet paper. It was a man-made problem borne out fear and selfishness. In fact, one day while at a home improvement store I witnessed a man and woman gleefully overloading their pickup truck with hundreds of rolls of toilet paper. I’m sure their plan was to sell most of it and their excitement was over the thousands of dollars they would make. A small part of me hopes they still have a garage full of toilet paper. My husband’s solution to this dire 21^stcentury problem was to install bidets in our bathrooms, therefore eliminating the need for toilet paper. Two points-of-view to the same problem. Scarcity vs. abundance.

We humans have a tendency to always worry about not having enough, whether it be food, water, fuel, trees, love, friends, money, work, or even toilet paper. But God’s plan for us is so completely different. He is always wanting us to model our lives, actions and thoughts to His kingdom—which He shows to be the opposite of scarcity thinking.

"Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies.
⁶Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
    your justice like the great deep.
    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
⁷How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights.
⁹For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light."  Psalm 36:5-9

You might be thinking, “that all sounds good but what about droughts and food shortages and waning oil reserves?” To that I say, trust God first for He is always about abundance. Throughout scripture, especially in the letters to the churches, we are reminded about the basic lesson of childhood – sharing. (Something the folks in the pickup truck forgot) You see, God provides. He may provide more to you than you need so that you can give to another. He also provides others with knowledge and skills to discover new ways for God to meet our needs. Abundant thinking is always solution-based rather than fear-based.

I learned a valuable “point of view” lesson once from Dr. Laura Schlessinger about marriage. If you always have the perspective that divorce is not an option then you will always find new solutions to marital problems (barring issues with violence and other abuses). It’s the same with God. If we always have the perspective that God is a god of abundance – overflowing with unending love and grace and mercy for us – then we will seek ways to see Him at work. We will see our own abundance as His tools to serve others.

Friend, God’s kingdom is overflowing with milk and honey. When we see the world in a panic over the latest scarcity-based fear we need to turn our eyes to God. His kingdom of abundance is open to all who call Him Savior and for that we should give Him all glory and honor!

Tag: give god glory

His Mercy