Friday, July 22, 2011

God's Glory

What Does It Mean to Serve God? by John Piper


The difference is that God has told us not to serve him as though he needed anything..
“He is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).


God is seen as glorious when all our serving is moment-by-moment receiving from God’s supply.
We receive this supply by faith. That is, we trust moment-by-moment that what we need, in serving him, he will supply (“life, breath, and everything”). This is the opposite of being anxious. Such serving is happy. And it makes God look no less authoritative, but infinitely more desirable. This is the glory he means to have. The giver gets the glory.


I enjoyed this post about Serving God and his Glory. Life is a beautiful gift and He enjoys giving it to us if we trust His gift and we can thank him by living it. I can enjoy every moment in His presence, because He has always has taken care of us -whether we asked for it or not. He shows us the purpose and if we pay attention, we will know what it is. I can understand this because, think about it, this is why people enjoy volunteering and doing charity work. It makes us feel good knowing that we can help others when they can't help themselves. When we see that they are successful because we helped them get started, it makes us proud but at the same time we don't want to ask for credit for it. The only way they can thank us is to use our gift and do the same for others. Why do you think there are so many poor people in this world, they are here for a reason, we can help them for God's glory.

I also read this blog about this woman's conversation with God. She talks about how God was trying to ask her this question - "Why do you love Me?" and she responded " I love you because of all the things you've done for us and thank you for all the gifts you have given us." She could feel God ask her again "But why do you love ME?" Do you love God for God's sake and for who He is?      or for what He has done for us?

That was a great question. I thought about it myself. I love God because not only because of all the things He has done for me. I love for what He represents. There's no better feelings than feeling love, trust, pure happiness, confidence, satisfied, generous, forgiving, etc. I want to live in a world like that. That's why this Bible verse is my favorite "Turn from evil, do good. Seek peace and pursue it" (34:14). Peace is where I want to be and follow, because that's where God's glory is.


Isn't she beautiful? Peaceful? I just love her picture.  She's a good friend of mine and she has the most beautiful and radiant soul. There are a few out there that are like that. I'm very blessed to know them. My husband is definitely one of them, he has God's forgiving quality. My mom has the unconditional love. We are His children and I love seeing God's qualities in everyone I meet and it touches me.

As you can see, she's about 8 or 9 months pregnant in the photo. She has an adorable baby and she's a wonderful mother to him. I have another friend who is also a wonderful mother to her daughter, she works so hard and expects nothing in return. I read a blog about motherhood and how it's not a "job" it's a calling.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

It's very interesting and very true. I do believe that it's the children that teach us what life is about. Children teaches us sacrifices, just like Jesus sacrificed His life for us. We would do the same for our children. Children teaches us unconditional love just like God has unconditional love for us.  Having children gives us an "idea" of what kind of love that God has for us. So if we love our children this much, can you imagine how much He loves US?

Check out this cute story...

“Ossie and I have made arrangements (for after our death). Cremation after a public ceremony, and then, into the urn. A special urn, large enough and comfortable enough to hold both our ashes. Whoever goes first will wait inside for the other. When we are reunited at last, we want the family to say good-bye and seal the urn forever. Then on the side, in letters not too bold—but not too modest either—we want the following inscription:
“RUBY AND OSSIE—IN THIS THING TOGETHER.”

Psychiatrist Thomas Hora defines this profound truth for us: “The love of being loving is the desire to manifest or reflect the goodness of God unconditionally and non-personally.” We are not here to ruin ourselves but to love the way God loves (John 13:34), without desire for reward or regard for person. We are all images and likenesses of Love, and are in this thing called love as one, like ashes in an urn.
Excitement is such fun, and such misery. Learning to love is so hard. The love of being loving—being God-like—brings peace and assurance. Why is it that we look for excitement first?  (Michael Leach)





Enjoy today. Think about all the beautiful things you have and...... stay in that moment.

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