O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done.
Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness (Ps. 29:1-2)
The Psalmist repeats “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name.” Give Him the honor He deserves, choosing Him over all other gods, idols, and masters. Abandon all others, glorifying Him alone as the Almighty, Everlasting Father and the only true God. In worship, the believer is exhorted to be aware of the beauty of His holiness, to adore Him as infinitely lovely, deserving of all affection; to love and delight in Him above all else. He is the God of all Glory, possessing all power. He is omnipotent, manifesting His power and His glory in the storm and throughout nature. Such magnificent displays of force and strength inspire fear and worship. The believer is encouraged to humbly submit to God, seeking fellowship with Him in worship, fully devoted to His Authority and His glory.
Our God, mighty in nature, will strengthen and encourage us. The thunderstorm invoking fear in men, inspires the believer with trust and confidence in His God—unlimited in power. We glorify His name, singing praises to Him for He is all-powerful in heaven and on earth. We glorify Him for He has sheltered us under His wing and shieled us with His mighty hand. We take refuge in Him and are hidden in Him. When troubles surround us like a storm, we run to Him for shelter. We trust God and wait on Him, our Defense and Deliverer. Whether He defends us by placing a wall of protection round about us or plunging us into a ditch to intercept our enemy, we praise His name. Whether He calls in a body of troops to defend us or places us in a desert storm, He is our refuge in the day of trouble. Let us glorify Him with our lives, our hearts, and our minds.
How is the Lord protecting you from the storms in your life today? Is He shielding you under His wing or has He plunged you in a ditch on the battlefield? When you see the Mighty Hand of God in His “Book of Nature” are you humbled by His holiness? A clash within your soul is inevitable as your former interests collide with a desire for God. It is a humbling task to work out the holiness that He has worked in you. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (Jn. 17:3)
What is the life gate that leads to eternal life? Jesus. Through Jesus one comes to know God. Not just an intellectual knowledge, but to be intimately acquainted with Him through personal experience. The same word for know is used in Gen. 4:1, “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain.” He didn’t just know her from a distance; he had an intimate, personal relationship with her. God desires to have a personal relationship with each person. Of course, man cannot know everything about God this side of heaven, but he can know that God is wise, just, loving, kind and faithful. A child cannot understand his father’s occupation, but he can appreciate his father’s abilities, confident that his father will give him good advice and provide for his needs. Christians cannot understand God’s ways or thoughts for they are higher than mans (Is. 55:9), but they can appreciate His attributes, trust His Word, and live their life daily aiming to follow Jesus.
When we have an intimate relationship with God, we will naturally inspire those whose lives ours touches at home, at work, at church and in the neighborhood. Like the fresh fragrance of a rose penetrating the air, we become the aroma of Christ, a moment of beauty when we choose to rise above the thorns in our life. We are given opportunities every day to discover the beauty of trusting the Author and Finisher of our faith on an ever-deepening level. We pray that our children and loved ones will follow our example and develop an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord, keeping our eyes fixed on our final destiny, heaven. When the day comes and we enter our eternal home, we will reside with Jesus in heaven, feasting at His table, jointing the angels singing our praises to God. Our eternal state in heaven will never end.
Do you have an intimate relationship with the Lord? Is your relationship with Him visible to those around you? How can you be the fragrance of Christ today? Are you able to seek the face of God and sing praise to Him in the midst of the battle set before you today? This is the perfect day to take a small step toward eternal life and choose a more intimate relationship with Him. He is there, waiting, and ready to receive even the smallest offering you would give Him for He has opened the life gate that all may go in.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (I Jn. 2:2)
All have sinned, disregarding God’s Law, giving Him reason to be offended. For God to be consistent with His Law and His nature, He must recognize this. Consequently, it is only right and just for Him to punish all people, banishing them from His presence. But His love for mankind caused Him to find a way by sacrificing His Only Son. When one yields to Jesus, God removes His wrath because He paid the penalty for sin, reconciling reconciles the believer to the Father. He is the propitiation, He paid the debt, He is the atonement, for the sins of the whole world—yesterday, today, and forever.
There is a story about a bridge master who loved his son more than life itself. The son loved his father too and spent many hours sitting on the riverbank watching his dad in the bridge booth. One day he sat on the edge of the river, fishing. His father sat in the bridge booth smiling as he watched his beloved son. A large tugboat approached. The father raised the bridge, then went to the back of the room to make a picnic lunch for them. The son was puzzled because his father had not lowered the bridge. In the distance the son heard a train whistle. He desperately tried to get his father’s attention. Finally, the young boy ran to the tracks, pulled open a trap door, and struggled to reach the leaver lowering the bridge. When the father returned with their picnic lunch, he was terrified to discover that his son had lost his balance and fallen through the trap door, unable to escape. If he closed the bridge with his son trapped underneath, it would crush and kill him. If he left the bridge open, the train would crash into the river, sending its passenger to a watery grave. He knew what he had to do . . . With tears in his eyes, heart throbbing, and hands trembling, he closed the leaver, killing his one and only son whom he loved.
Think of the emotions our Father in Heaven must have gone through when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the chasm between Himself and man. When you place your faith in Jesus, God freely receives you, no matter what. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down His life for his friends (Jn. 15:13). Today, won’t you thank your heavenly Father for sacrificing His only Son for you? Jesus, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin.
