How many times have you heard that people ought to give glory to God? How many of you have read biblical passages about God asking to glorify His name? Have you felt kind of taken aback by what seems to be such an egocentric request from God? Well, you're not alone. I remember feeling that way too and today I'd like to share with you all what it actually means to glorify God.
God's glory
There is a Bible passage that explains this so well for me. Let's go to the Book of Exodus, Chapter 33.
In this chapter, Moses is talking with God and asks God for His presence to be with him and the people of Israel as they move forward on their journey. As their conversation continues, Moses asks something very special of God.
"And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." Exodus 33:18
Other words for glory include: splendour, magnificence and great beauty. Moses is asking God to show him His beauty. How does God respond?
"And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee" Exodus 33:19
The goodness of God / God's glory
"And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7
So what do we learn is God's glory or His beauty? It's His character. This what makes God so exceptionally magnificent. So glorious. His perfect character of love. The description of Himself above is what love is. He IS love. He is the perfect balance between mercy and justice as we read above.
Glorifying God
We live in a world where most people do not know God. Let alone His character. There are many who think they know God but they only have a broken picture of who He really is. Often, this is because people who claim to follow God possess terrible characters and totally misrepresent Him to the world. Even we are guilty of this sometimes. This is exactly why God constantly tells us to glorify Him in the Bible. To glorify means to acknowledge and reveal the majesty and splendour of (God) by one's actions. It is by our actions and our example that God's beauty is revealed to the world. God wants us to glorify Him or represent Him through our characters that the world would see Him in His true light.
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
This is exactly why Jesus came on earth! For years people had misrepresented God's character as being this exacting and tyrannical God who was angry every time you made a mistake. But Jesus came down to show who God really was. He was literally God on earth. Jesus says "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" John 14:9.
Jesus is to the Father "the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person" Hebrews 1:3 .
It is by our actions and our example that God's beauty is revealed to the world.
God loves everyone on this planet and wants to reconnect with everyone but so many stop themselves from fully accepting Him in their lives because they have such a false and negative view of who He is. That's why God wants us to glorify Him so bad. He wants people to see that He is good so that they'll want to have a relationship with Him.
Imagine if people had been telling a bunch of lies to your children about who you are as a parent and this had caused them to distance themselves from you. How would you feel? Wouldn't you want your true character to be revealed to them so they can come back and be close to you again? This is how God feels!
Far from being a self-centered God wanting all praise to Him and recognition just for His own pleasure and pride, God is a selfless God. One that sent His Son to die for us so that we can have the possibility of being reconnected to Him. That's amazing.
How to Glorify God?
To the Christian reading this...
Ask yourself if you are abiding in Christ daily through the reading, studying and meditating on His word. Through constant praying/talking to God. Because you can only represent God's character, have the fruits of the spirit, if you abide in Him.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4
Another word for abide in the Greek is "to remain" or "not to depart". Jesus asks us to remain in Him, not to depart. To look to Him always despite the struggles. Especially when we sin and mess up do we have to remain in Him. Only He can forgive us and cleanse us. But the devil wants us to feel too guilty and ashamed to go to Christ. He whispers lies that we are worthless and Jesus is sick of us failing Him. Too often do we fall prey to his deceptions and feel discouraged and hopeless for our condition.
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.In the world you[a]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer,I have overcome the world.”" John 16:33
"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand." Psalm 37:24
"Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
Claim these promises! Remain in Jesus. Go to Him when you fail, fall, sin, mess up, whatever it is go to Him so He can help you. He can change your heart of stone, He can change your desires to align with what's right, He can do all things except force the will. All you need to do is let Him in. Ask Him for help. Let Him work. Remain in Him. Do not depart from Him. Abide in Him and you will bear good fruits. You will be an example of His character to the world that they would fall in love with Him as we have.
To the non-Christian reading this...
I would like to ask for forgiveness on behalf of all Christians, including myself, that have been a bad example of who Christ is. Forgive us for the times where you felt judged by us. Forgive us for the times you saw hypocrisy in our behaviour. Forgive us for often failing you as a friend. Forgive us for whatever else we may have done to drive you further away from wanting to know God.
Today I'd like to ask you to reconsider getting to know Him. Not based on what other people have shown you of God but based on your own personal experience. The Bible says "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;" Psalm 34:8 . This is exactly the purpose of this blog. That the posts would lead people to see that the Lord is good. But although I strive for this on my blog, it's very possible I've failed at demonstrating God's goodness in some areas. This is why it's important that you taste for yourself God's goodness. I can tell you as much as many times and in many different ways that the cake I had a few days ago was delicious but if you've never tasted for yourself, can you really ever be convinced?
Give God an opportunity to reveal Himself to you. Try inviting Him, what do you have to lose?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, my marvellous God. I am so grateful to have You in my life. I know personally that You are good. Help me to remain in You always and be an example of who You are. Forgive me for the times I've failed at giving Your glory and help me be wiser as of now. Bless those who decide to give you an opportunity and open their eyes to Your wonderful character. In Jesus name, Amen.
Much love and smiles,
Nahisha :)
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