Learning to Love Glory from God More Than From Man

    Last week I gave you lists of indicators that would help you determine if you are seeking approval and/or praise from man or from God. I hope you read them carefully and have taken time to consider your heart honestly in this matter over the past few days.

    If the Lord wills, over the next few weeks I would like to dig into the verses that help us better understand that we can receive glory and praise from God and we can and should learn to love receiving His praise and glory more than any praise or glory man may offer.

Throughout this study I would like you to ask yourself:

Does my life express more of a love for the glory that comes from God or the glory that comes from man?

Do I seek the advancement of my own name more than God’s/the Lord’s name?

    In my personal bible reading I came across a passage that fitted so well with this topic and I thought it would be a good place to begin. While this particular passage is speaking about the people of Judah turning from God and trusting in themselves and their neighbouring Gentile nations (and their gods) for help, I felt it could also apply to this study. Consider these verses:

“Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8 NKJV)

    You truly are cursed if you rely on man for your esteem and sense of self/well-being. Have you heard the phrase: “If you live by men’s praise, you will die by their criticism”? It is true that more you rely on man to lift you up and inform you that you are doing a good job – and nine out of ten may do that for you – you will be consumed with that one who either criticized, or worse, said nothing at all – you will forget all the good for that one who was critical or silent – and you will let it eat at you and provoke you, “you will inhabit the parched places of the wilderness” – if only in your mind – allowing that one ‘negative’ to drain your energies, both mental and physical, so that you have less and less desire to continue doing the good you were accomplishing.

“How can you believe, who receive honour from one another, and do not seek the honour that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44 NKJV)

    When we look to God and trust in Him, live humbly before Him, seeking only His praise – “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23) – we will thrive, “as tree planted by the waters;” we will not fear heat nor drought (the lack or absence of man’s praises) but continue to grow and develop fruit, inhibited by nothing.

    Are you continuing to thrive, knowing God is pleased with your service, or are you wilting for want of man’s words of approval? Examine your own heart. You can change your habitual desire for man’s words to trusting, with quiet confidence, that you have God’s approval. Are you ready to try?

You can do it! So can I!!

Learning to Love the Glory and Praise From God More Than From Men

    We have spent the past few weeks looking at what it means to give God the glory due His name and how we can glorify Him, but there are also many verses in the Bible that speak of receiving glory and praise from God, so I would like to spend our next few weeks, if the Lord wills, to dig into the topic of ‘Learning to Love Glory From God.’

Do You Love Praise and Glory from Man More Than Praise and Glory from God?

    This is an area that I struggle with, and maybe you do, too. We want affirmation, we want to hear that what we are doing is good; we want to be appreciated for our efforts, in the form of a kind compliment or even words of praise. Sometimes those words get showered on us, whether we desire them or not and sometimes there is nary a droplet of praise for our continuing hard work.

    No matter where you consider yourself – desiring praise or content without it - I would like you to take this “quiz,” consider the statements carefully as you examine your own heart.

*Note: These statements are not original to me. I found them online and thought them helpful. They are written by Sarah Walton (I do not endorse her, or anything else she has written, as I have no knowledge of her work beyond this information I have chosen to share), from an article she wrote titled, “Are you Seeking the Glory of God or the Glory of Man?” (April 6, 2016). This is an excerpt from her article.

Indicators That You Love Man’s Glory

• You measure success by what you see and feel in the moment (eg: if others don’t appreciate what you’ve done or your work isn’t flourishing, it must be a failure and not worth continuing)
• You are motivated/unmotivated in your work, friendships, church, etc. by the praise or lack of praise of those around you.
• Your decisions are often driven by what others think.
• You are easily discouraged, irritated, or angry when your efforts are not appreciated by others or when others receive credit for something you’ve done.
• When others praise you, you begin to feel self-confident in your own abilities, rather than rely on the Lord to lead and provide.
• You are more drawn to the type of work and serving opportunities that will be noticed and praised by others.
• You struggle with competitiveness and envy when someone else succeeds or is given praise (even within the body of Christ)
• You measure success with a short term view, rather than an eternal one.
• You spend less time in the Word and prayer and more time perfecting your craft, skill, job, reputation.
• You only portray the admirable aspects of your life to those around you (in church services, on social media, etc.)
• You find comfort in making sure others see your pain and shower you with attention because of it.
• Your relationships only go so deep that your struggles are not revealed (eg: keep people at “arm’s length”)
• Your emotions and how you feel about yourself are constantly swayed by what you assume others think of you.
• You only share a surface level of your faith out of fear of offending someone or giving the perception that you’re weak, strange, narrow-minded.

Indicators That You Love God’s Glory

• You find joy in Christ’s name being exalted, even if you receive no attention or praise in the process.
• When others praise you, you feel genuinely humbled, undeserving, and overwhelmed by God’s grace in your life.
• You persevere in doing good and find joy in serving Christ, even when it isn’t glamourous and goes unappreciated.
• You find pleasure in exercising unique abilities God has given you, no matter the outcome or level of success it brings.
• You are excited for those who do well and compassionate and gracious toward those who fail.
• You do not measure success by the world’s terms, but by the truth of God’s word.
• You are honest about your struggles, failures, and sin, recognizing you are always learning and growing alongside every Christian.
• You do not feel the need to portray a certain type of life on social media and do not need a certain amount of likes, comments, shares, friends, or followers to feel good about yourself.
• You respect church leadership (and others) with the goal of glorifying Christ, rather than needing to be seen and heard.
• You seek to know and pursue what Christ values more than climbing the ladder of success and seeking what the world values.
• You extend grace and forgiveness to those around you, seeking unity in Christ rather than self-protection and justice/revenge.
• You do not feel threatened or intimidated by those who seem to be more spiritually mature than you, but you humbly desire to learn from others, knowing we are all in different places in our faith.

    Think of these things today and over the next few days, as the Lord wills. Ponder them in your heart and mind, analyze your own thoughts and actions over the next few days and be truthful with yourself. Then next week we will begin to learn how to love praise from God more than from man.

    Are you ready and willing? Me, too! 

Giving God the Glory: How We Glorify God – Part 2

Praise Glorifies God

“Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23 NKJV)

    Christians are to be to the praise of God’s glory (Ephesians 1:12-13). We have every reason to praise God, and we should grow to a point that it is completely natural for us to openly declare His greatness to others and to God, Himself, in prayer. A good place to begin your journey in praise is to read the psalms; much can be learned from King David and the other psalmists that will open our minds to God’s greatness and majesty!

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.” (Psalm 34:1-3 NKJV)

    “Bless” when in reference to God (ex: ‘bless the LORD’) means to speak beautiful words about – sounds like praise, doesn’t it? And to ‘magnify’ Him means to declare His greatness. You need to know it to speak about it, so keep digging into the Bible each day and learning of God’s astounding goodness and power, so you can offer praise and glorify God!

Glorify God in Your Body and in Your Spirit

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV)

    This is why we practice self-control and why we must “order our conduct aright” – we appreciate what was done for us, we respect the price paid to redeem us from sin, and we realize we are walking/talking billboards, representing God and His way to the world around us. That is why we do our best to be holy in all our conduct, because God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) and why we work at purifying ourselves just as He is pure (1 John 3:3).

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)

    Consider also Matthew 16:24-26 – if you desire to follow Jesus you must deny self, take up your cross, and follow Him (see 1 John 2:6). Let’s remember who our body and spirits belong to – we were bought with Jesus’ blood – let’s honour God by using them in His service and for His glory (Matthew 5:14-16)!

Confessing Jesus Christ is Lord Glorifies God the Father

“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11 NKJV)

    If one does not bow his knee to Jesus in this life, he will fall to his knees before Him in the final Day. We, who know the magnificent blessings found only in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14), should make sure that we are honouring the gospel message and showing, in all we do and say, that we humbly bow our knee to our King Jesus and confess that He is Lord!

“If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11 NKJV)

    Let’s give God the glory by daily appreciating the purchase price of our salvation, by honouring and confessing Jesus as Lord (1 John 4:15) and following His way, by speaking God’s words, and by helping others with the abilities God has given us (2 Corinthians 9:8)!

Bearing Fruit Glorifies God

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:5, 8 NKJV)

    Bearing good fruit is not our doing, it's our doing God's commands; we need to be walking in the Spirit so that the Spirit's fruit can develop in us (Galatians 5:16-26). 

    God’s commands are only ever for our good (Deuteronomy 6:24-25). When we submit to His way and obey His commands, we will begin to bear good fruit (see Matthew 13:13:23, Luke 8:15). Bearing good fruit causes others to rejoice and give God glory (Matthew 5:16, Titus 3:8) and God will not be ashamed to be called our God (consider Hebrews 11:13-16).  We prove ourselves to be disciples of Jesus when we bear fruit to God’s glory (1 John 2:3-6, John 8:31-32).

Part 1 and Part 2 Summary:

What glorifies God? How do we glorify Him?

·         The church glorifies Him – are you a part of the Christ’s church?

·         Putting on His whole armour each day – having you been wearing it?

·         Our transformation from hapless to holy – are you still growing and making changes for good (2 Peter 3:18)?

·         Praise – are you speaking beautiful words about God and declaring His greatness?

·         Our body and spirit – are you using these for God’s service? Consider Psalm 16:2 and Psalm 27:8

·         Confessing Jesus Christ is Lord – do your words and conduct confess Jesus as Lord of your life?

·         Bearing Fruit – have you let God’s word (Luke 8:11-15) take root in your heart so that you are bearing fruit to His glory?

    Think on these things this week. Take an honest look at your habits, at your heart; I pray that you will make the changes needed so you can confidently answer 'yes' to each question listed above.   

You can do it! So can I!!