Tag: My glory

4.y. Have I any help in me?

Job 6:8  “Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?

Numbers 11:14-15    I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.  If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

1 Kings 19:4   But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Jonah 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Psalms 32:4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Isaiah 48:10-13    Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.  For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.  “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.  My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.

Affliction has a way of wearing us down to a place so void of hope that we seek God to just put us out of our misery.  It is not as though we are the only ones who have felt this way or have been afflicted.  The truth is many before us and many after us will experience affliction, this place where we are so over-burdened that our searching for God is hard if not almost impossible.

In the plans and purposes of God, we are allowed to experience and walk through affliction.   It can be to draw us out of sinful path or to draw us into a much deeper and closer walk with Him.  The path of affliction strips away the glossy veneer of this world’s false promises and our dependence on them.  It takes away the lure it has and exposes it for what it is.  Affliction will peel away the skin covering every nerve of our being and leave us wanting nothing this world has to offer.

When all is stripped away it is when we no longer hang on to the temporary things of this world and look only to Jesus Christ.  It is in Him that we find comfort to our hearts deep in our souls.  It is unpleasant but so glorious to have been afflicted and stripped of that which pulls us away from Jesus Christ.  Only those who have experienced this type of affliction can tell of its blessed effect in and on their lives.

I can tell you that affliction without having Jesus Christ in your life leaves you with no hope but can lead you to Hope in Him.  Affliction with Jesus Christ will increase your hope and take you on deeper paths of worship, honor, and glory for Him. Refined in the Furnace of Affliction.

To your name give glory

“the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

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

Psalms 74:22    Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

Isaiah 48:11    For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

Ezekiel 20:14     But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 36:32    It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

Daniel 9:19   O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

Today I am reminded of how self-centered I am at times.  I ask God for help and seek His intervention but it is for my own sake I seek.  Notice how, in scripture, writers record calling out God’s help, not so much for the seeker but for others to see and give honor and glory and power to God.  God’s word gives us wisdom, instruction, and knowledge in how to live in such a way that in all we do, all we think, and all we say brings honor and glory to God.  Stay in His word, learn of His holiness, power, might, grace, mercy, truth, justice and love.  Live each minute of each day bringing glory and honor to Him alone.

Lamb of God

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

“even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

John 1:29  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Hebrews 1:3     He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Revelation 21:22    And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The Lamb of God.  We hear this but to understand it we first must understand what “Lamb” meant to the Jewish people.  In the Old Testament an animal blood sacrifice was required at the altar of God for the redemption of sins (forgiveness). …  We also see the symbolism when the Israelites were freed from Egypt.  . For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…. The lamb became the symbol of prime sacrifice. Jesus, by his death on the cross, became the sacrifice for all man’s sins.

I am not afraid

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Psalms 3:1
O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.”  But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.  I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill.  I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.  Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.  Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!

Psalms 17:7
Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

Psalms 42:10
As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought the world was against you?  Have you ever had hope, faith, and trust in God that you could say  “even if there is a thousand who are against me, I am not afraid” because of your understanding of who God is?  Have you ever known what is like to seek God with your whole heart?  David saw the trouble around him and knew the intent to harm him.  He called out to God with the trouble and then claimed Him as his hope and shield.  He was not going to fear what man could do but rather who God is and what He had promised.  David claimed God’s steadfast love, His strength, and no good thing is withheld from those who walk uprightly.  We have so much to continue to know and understand about God this side of eternity.  Everyday there is something new to be thankful for.  A person once told me recently that he drove 20 miles to work on a farm.  He used to thank God for things he saw on the drive.  Fields, eyesight, hearing, transportation, trees, corn fields, rain, sunshine, clouds, sky, rivers, water, wind, thunder, lightening, snow, rocks, dirt, colors, etc…. the list is endless if we just give the minimal thought to it. Add to this the bible and His promises and now we can really have something to thank Him for.  Today see how many things you can thank God for – Keep Him on your mind no matter where you are or what you are doing.