...So He could be glorified!

I spent many years of my life thinking that it was all about me. It took me a while to realize that, in fact, it is not.

I remember listening to quite a few teachings of Joyce Meyer during that time on this exact topic, and gradually God changed that aspect about me. I remember Joyce saying: “...so get over your sweet little self.” Even though this was (and can be for some) a rather harsh statement, she spoke it with such love, and Holy Spirit started showing me Who it is really about... and it took my breath away.

I started pondering Romans 11:36 For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.

For many years a husband was my greatest desire; someone who would be mine; to know what family feels like; something I’ve never had the privilege to know for how God intends it. I thought that if I had a husband that I would be happy and whole. Then God spoke to my heart: even if I got a husband, he would never be mine.

What is wedding vows? It is in effect a promise to God that you will take care of the other person as best as you know how, look after them when they’re sick, laugh with them, give advice, pray for them, listen to them, feed them, and help God to let them become all that they can be as far as you can support them, so that He could be glorified. It is not your ‘possession’. You ‘report’ to God on this assignment of love.

Then God asks the woman: “Woman, can I borrow your body to bear a little boy or girl? I have awesome plans for them (and you along the way), and I need you to take special care of them; feed them, love them, kiss the “eina’s” better, hold them when they’re scared and provide in their daily needs. Will you teach them My ways, help Me shape and mold them so that they may grow up to fulfill that awesome plan so that I can be glorified?” It is not your ‘possession’. It is a borrowed blessing from God, as is everything else, and an awesome assignment of love to enjoy and for it to enrich your life.

Then God asks us to take special care of our bodies, His temple. He provides us with an income to be able to put this body in a home, sheltered from the elements, to be able to buy food to nourish it, and clothing to dress it. You need to be in a good condition if God’s going to use you to make a difference so that He could be glorified.

Are you taking care of your ‘temple’, or are you too busy to work, and your schedule is crammed so full of “have to’s” that you never have time to rest and be balanced? If you are paralyzed by illness, how then can He be glorified? You are like an injured rugby player that has to go off the field for treatment, and the team is at a loss for your absence. They need you; God needs you to be His hands and feet on this earth. It is not the same without you because there are certain gifts that you’ve been given, and certain assignments that only you have been equipped for. Who will do it if you don’t?

So if you really desire to do great things for God, starting right where you are, you cannot neglect the body in which you are supposed to exist so that He can be glorified. It is not your body. You’ve only been appointed the keeper. Keep it in good shape to honor Him.

The car you drive has been ‘borrowed’ to you from God’s fleet. EVERYTHING belongs to Him. He spoils you to drive that nice Ferrari, or that sporty Mercedes, or even that Golf, Toyota or Ford. That vehicle is not merely for your enjoyment and comfort, but it serves to transport you to places and people whose lives need to be touched by God’s Spirit in you so that He could be glorified by their powerful testimonies.

You’ve been given certain abilities to do a certain job that will position you in certain places, surrounded by certain people in whose lives God has destined to use you so that He could be glorified. You should do what you do with excellence, as if unto the Lord, so that He could be glorified, and when it is God’s perfect time (not our time, or our way – we who don’t know the plan) He will move you around, or promote you, allowing you to continue making an even greater difference for His Kingdom so that He could be glorified.

The money that you earn is God’s blessing and provision for you. With it you maintain yourself and your family, meeting daily needs. You can even spoil yourself some. It should make your heart grateful so that He can be glorified. But then it is also intended to go beyond yourself and your home. God provides us with money to help Him bless the poor and needy so that He could be glorified when someone realized that God still sees them and know of their needs; they have not been forgotten. It is our income that is also sown into churches, charity organizations and ministries around the world so that they could be Jesus with skin on for countless needy and hopeless people so that He could be glorified.

God sends special friends into our lives that bless us and cheer us up, or pray with us when we need it most, and out of our gratefulness He can be glorified. He places us in families who challenge us to change and grow to become more like Him, holy as He is holy, so that He could be glorified in how we live before Him, and also the example that we show others as representatives of an awesome and loving God.

He touches and heals a broken heart and causes light to shine in the darkness again, so that we may rejoice and tell of His greatness so that He could be glorified. He created beautiful flowers, rain, sunrise and sunset, the ocean, the grass, the trees, the animals, all things perfect and beautiful for us to behold, and as we realize His power and majesty it causes Him to be glorified.

God blesses us to walk so that we may reach those that we need to meet with, whose lives we will touch so that He could be glorified. He lets us see, so that we can know where we’re going, and get there to do what we have to do so that He could be glorified. He gives us ears to hear the needs of others, and to hear their laughter and share in it so that we may edify each other so that He could be glorified. He gives us a mouth and speech so that we may speak words that bring life and blessing, and testify of His awesome greatness so that He could be glorified.

There are too many examples to describe them all...

Isaiah 55: 9 (NLT) For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours.

It is indeed not about me. He is God, and it’s all about Him, yet He lowers himself to my level of earthly existence to show me that He loves and treasures me; that he knows my every desire and every need – to show me that I am more precious to Him than I will ever be able to comprehend. And even though He has big plans that overwhelm my understanding, He never loses sight of me... His child.

As I love Him more and more because He loved me first, and as His goodness amaze me more, a desire rise up in my heart... “Lord, may I live and move and have my being more in such a way....

....so You could be glorified!!