The Greek word for glory is doxa, which has the same connotation as recognition. So giving glory to God is simply but profoundly recognizing Him for who He is and allowing Him to be recognized in and through us.

Now this statement was so simple, but yet, for me, so profound. Maybe you have grasped the realization of giving Him glory, but for me, I had some understanding, but reading this has caused a deeper understanding. It has caused a light to go off and become the light to my pathway of getting closer to Him. Let me show you where it has taken me.

In Joshua 7:19 it says, “now Joshua said to Achan, ‘my son I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession to him and tell me now what you have done, do not hide it from me.’” Joshua is telling him to recognize God. Recognize it is God and not those in the camp that he has sinned against. Achan disobeyed God’s orders when they defeated the city of Jericho they were instructed to take nothing. Achan disobeyed God’s orders and took of the accursed thing and hid it amongst his stuff. When I confess my sin and ask for forgiveness I give Him the glory, for I recognize that it is God whom I have sinned against.

Let’s look in first Samuel and see what happen when the Philistines took the Ark of the Lord. They stole the Ark of the Lord and tried to put it among their gods. Read I Samuel and see what happened. But what we want to look at today is chapter 6 where we find the Philistines are suffering because they have taken what does not belong to them. Some of them have died and those that have not died have been stricken with tumors. They now begin to cry out to the priest and ask how shall we send back the Ark? The priest instructs them not to send it back empty but fill it with a trespass offering and maybe God will heal them.

In verse five of chapter six, the Philistines are told, “therefore you shall make images of your tumors and of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel………..” In other words you will recognize that God is superior to any of your gods.

We give God glory when we recognize Him as the author of the miracles that occur in our lives. They may have come through the hand of a doctor, through medication and through the laying on of hands. But the glory belongs to God. The recognition for the miracle belongs to God.

In John 9:24 the young man that was blind and has been healed by Jesus is being questioned by the Jews in the synagogue as to who has performed this healing. “So they again called the man who was blind and said to him give God the glory. We know this man is a sinner.” They were telling him to recognize God as the healer not this man (Jesus) who they called a sinner. Oh how foolish and deceived they were, not knowing that this man, as they called him was God in the flesh.

You say so what are you saying preacher? I’m saying giving God the glory is not just done in the sanctuary with hands lifted up and a sweet expression on our face, as we sing and tell Him how much we love Him. But giving Him the glory is when we walk in obedience to his commands, it is when we stand tall and no matter what someone may think we acknowledge God as the only true and living God. Giving Him the glory is when we recognize without God there are no miracles; there is no healing.

But most important we give God glory when He is recognized in our lives. Jesus said in John 15:8, “by this is my Father glorified (or recognized) that you bear much fruit: so you will be my disciples.” When we walk up right before men and obey the word of God, and treat our fellow man right, love our neighbor as ourself God is given glory, because those who knew us before salvation can say look what the Lord has done.

Is God getting any glory out of your life? Can He be recognized without you telling someone or without you carrying a big bible and wearing a big cross? Give Him glory.

God bless.

This was written for the residents at the Palmer House at UPMC when the Women’s Aglow Chapter of McKeesport went out to minister to and just share a little time and love with them and I thought I would share it in “The Well” with all of our wonderful readers.

When we come into the winter of our lives
We often find that what use to be fast has now become slow
We then look around and what use to be high has now become low.

In the winter of our lives
What used to be tight is now very loose and what use to be loose is now too tight
Then the things that seemed so wrong now look a little right
But I guess that’s because we need a lot more light.

We look in the mirror and find that we have lost a little hair
The next thing you know it’s a struggle to climb the stairs.

Days become faster and nights become longer
While we lay there and pray,
“Dear Lord, in the morning, please let me be stronger.”

But as we enter the winter of our lives
One thing we can be assured of
Each morning as we rise
God will always be there as we open up our eyes

Although we are in the winter of our lives and have lost a little hair and we struggle so climbing those stairs,
God’s love for us will stay the same
And we thank Him that it will always remain.

Well in the past few issues we have dealt with believing and walking in our salvation and then we came to the place of trying to rest in knowing that God still loves us in spite of who we are and what we do. Now we want to look at the last phase that I spoke of in the beginning and that being trust.

All of this that we have been dealing with is really about relationship – growing in our relationship with God. We have to admit that no relationship can work unless there is trust.

We have got to get hold of the fact that God is our source. As I recently heard a preacher say that Jesus is my shepherd and that is enough. You see our jobs are not our source, our spouse is not our source, our parents, children, fraternity, lodge, bank account, friends – none of these things are the source of our life. I can tell you with all assurance that these things will come to an end. But God is forever; He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Psalm 121 says that we are to “look to the hills from whence cometh our help, our help comes from the Lord.” The Jews worshiped in the hills of Jerusalem and they were saying that that is not where their help came from in those hills but the One that they worshiped in those hills is where their help came from.

Our trust is built on knowing that in spite of who I am and what I have done because of Jesus and what he has done and because I have accepted what he has done and I have invited him into my heart to be Lord of my life I am saved.

I Corinthians 6:11 tells us that we are “washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Washed meaning we are washed in the shed blood of Christ, sanctified means because of what Christ has done we are set apart for the Master’s use, and we are justified, made just as if I never sinned. Isn’t that good news?

So we can rest in the fact that we are saved. What does that mean – we are saved? That means that I now have use of the free will that God gave me. I can choose to do right. I can choose to yield to the Father and be as it tells me in Galatians 2:20. “I am crucified with Christ (dead to my flesh) but nevertheless I live, for it is not I that liveth but Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Italics is mine.)

I rest in the love that has been shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I trust in knowing, but God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

So why do I trust this? Because I did nothing to get it so I can do nothing to keep it. It is a free gift from God.

I begin to trust in the fact that God is not a man that he should lie and whatsoever he says that He will do, He will do.

It is not easy for some of us to trust in this unseen God, because many of those whom we can see we cannot trust. But remember Proverbs 3:5 & 6 says, “trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thy own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and He will direct your path.”

As I bring this to a close remember that I said this was not a definite process or way that everyone goes. Maybe you have or are going through some or all of these stages just remember that we each go through in different ways. But the bottom line is salvation is a process. We are not changed at the moment of salvation. Our spirit man is awakened but the flesh man is still fighting the new creature.

There is only one that was perfect and that was Christ. So know that we will make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God. But there is good news. I John 1:9 says, “confess your sins, pick yourself up and keep on going in the name of the Lord.” God will never fail you.

God bless and please remember, God loves you and so do I.

You might say, “Right, no one here can meet all of that.” You are absolutely right. But, I can tell you about someone who can meet it all. Jesus Christ has already met it all for our sakes. He is committed for he said in Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” He denied himself and put us first. II Corinthians 8:9 says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

They crucified Jesus but he still forgave. Luke 23:34 tells us that while on the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jesus left the comfort of his home in heaven to come down here and have no where to lay his head. Scripture tells us in Matthew 8:20 that Jesus said, “the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Love is going beyond your strength to help another. Jesus met this. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to the Father before the hour of his crucifixion. Luke 22:44, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” We said that love is standing up against an enemy for someone else. Jesus did that at Calvary, when he allowed them to take his life. I say allowed because no man took his life he laid it down for our sakes and defeated the enemy of our souls.

At Calvary Jesus met the enemy of our souls and paid a price we could never pay. All that is asked of us is we confess our sins, repent and ask for forgiveness. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We ask Jesus to come into our hearts and be Lord of our life. We then have to let go of the reigns and let Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, lead us in the way the Father would have us to go. We have to learn then to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding.” We must learn to “acknowledge him in all our ways and then he will direct our paths.” Proverbs 3:5 & 6

The end is just the beginning.

But, with Christ love is more than just one month. The gift that we receive is eternal and forever. John 3:16 & 17 says “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

The love that God loves us with is everlasting and it does not change. He will always love us. It is the sin that he does not love. God does not pick one day out of a month to show us his love. He loves us everyday and he shows us everyday. Psalm 19 tells us “the Heavens declare his glory,” but let me say that it also declares his love. As I look at the beauty of the sky on some mornings, it looks as though God took a paint brush and painted the sky with beautiful reds and blues just for me. Some days I look at the light of the sun reflecting on earth and I can feel the warmth of his love. As I listen in the morning and hear the song of the birds, I know that a God who loves me gave them their song just for me. Look around you sometime and see just how much God loves you.

Think about it now, whose love do you want, the world’s that is celebrated once a year with gifts that do not last or would you rather have the love of God that keeps on giving and giving day after day. The choice is yours.

While all the earth was so very unaware
Of how much the Father truly cared.

For in that little bundle
Wrapped in a manger so humble

Came the greatest gift
Sent to give all mankind a lift.

If you look real close you will see
The whole world was asleep;
They did not realize this event so sweet.

But none the less in a meager stable
God set before us a banquet table.

Can you hear Him say,
“Receive My Son and eat of peace.
He came to serve a spiritual feast.”

If you let Him in
You will no longer be ruled by sin.

So know that this little package small and meek
Came to strengthen and save the poor and weak.

In each of our lives, if we just keep on living, there comes a time where the struggles and confusion of everything begins to weigh us down. Our shoulders begin to slump under the weight of trying to carry the things of life. The book of Hebrews tells that we are to lay aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us. Now you are saying, easier said than done. Well, stick with me for just a little while and we will see.

Some of the things of life that weigh us down are family problems, work, health, and finances. They can become heavy weights that will press us down. We begin to feel like we are drowning or we feel like that lady in the commercial that said, “I have fallen and I can’t get up.” We find ourselves saying, “I’m under all of this and I can’t get out.” Our thoughts begin to flip and flop, who am I, where am I, how did I get into this situation and someone please tell me or show me what do I do next?

What do we do next? We surrender all to Jesus. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast our cares upon Him (Jesus) for He cares for us. 1 John 1:9 tells us to confess our sins and repent. We next ask Jesus to come into our lives and be Lord of our lives. We exchange places by getting off the throne of our heart and letting Jesus take up residence on the throne and be in control. We let Him be the driver, the pilot, the teacher, and the banker in our lives.

Scripture tells us that there is a rest for the people of God. We find our rest and relief in Christ. We cease from our labor and turn our family, our job, our health, our finances and any other weight that is holding us down.

While living under and trying to handle these pressures we lose sight on who we are, but in Christ we begin to learn just who God created us to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away and all things have become new. This requires change. God, in the Spirit, has already done the work. How can I say that? Well, the scripture says if we are in Christ we are a new creature, old things have passed away, not passing, but have passed away and all things have become new, not becoming, but become new. So God has already done the work. We must go through the process of conversion. Remember when Jesus spoke to Peter and told him that Satan desired to sift him and Christ said but he had prayed for him and after he was converted he should strengthen his brethren.

When we come to Christ there are a lot of thought patterns, attitudes, desires, and many other things that we have acquired as we have lived our lives. All of that needs to be changed.

We live beneath our privileges when we do not begin to embrace the changes God is working in our lives. We have ideas of who we think we are and how we think we are and when someone tries to show us that this is all wrong, we become offended or angry because we do not want to hear that we need to change.

What is change? Webster says change is to make different, to give a totally different form or appearance, to transform. Scripture tells us in Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In other words, change your mind.”

We have lived our lives for years being led by our flesh. Now that has to change. We have got to learn how to allow the spirit man to lead us through the power of the Holy Ghost. This amounts to a change that is unfamiliar and even uncomfortable, so we shy away from it. Many of us want to be in charge and will feel like this is giving over control. Not so. The Holy Spirit will only do what you agree to. We always have the control. How? It is because the choice is always left up to us to say yes or no.

As we are looking at the season change and watching the beautiful change of the leaves on the trees and the beautiful change of the sky, we can be thankful we serve a God who loves us not just the way we are but loves us too much to leave us as we are. So in this season of Thanksgiving we need to thank God for the things He has done and for the things that He is about to do in our lives.

I tell you speak this word
But you say I don’t know if I really heard.

Don’t you trust Me?

I tell you look at all I’ve made for you
And you turn to man to see if he approves.

Just for you I flung the starts, the sun, and the moon in the sky
And there you sit scratching your head and wondering why

Don’t you trust Me?

To Calvary I sent my son, even if you were the only one
But you still ponder in your heart, I’m just a wretch undone.

Don’t you trust Me?

Lord I see and hear all You have said and done
I truly know for me you sent Your Son.

But Lord I know that my flesh is weak
That out of my mouth awful things I can speak.

I know that you are still working on me in this place
So daily I must seek your grace.

Yes Lord I trust you.

It is just me I do not trust.

Troubles, sickness, depression, financial difficulties, all come. When we see someone going through them, we want to run and try to bring them out, talk them through, pray them out. But we are usually working against God’s timing.

Let me stop here and share a story with you. One day there was a man who went to the park and sat on a bench to eat his lunch. While sitting there he looked up and on the back side of a branch he saw a sack. Now he should have realized if it was on the back side of the branch this was private between the sack and its creator. He sat there and as he ate he watched a struggle going on in the sack. The sack would begin to move and then stop and move again. What the man was watching was the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly.

The man continued watching the process taking place, the cocoon seemed to sometimes move violently, then rest and begin again. As the man’s lunch time drew to an end he decided that he would help the butterfly get out a little quicker. He may have wanted to ease the pain he felt the butterfly was suffering. He may have wanted to lesson the turmoil. But how many know that God knows how much pressure and how long it should be applied? You see the butterfly only becomes beautiful through the pressing that occurs as the butterfly struggles to come out of the sack. Just as we become beautiful in the Lord when we press through our struggles and temptations.

So as the man ended his lunch he took out his pocket knife and cut open the cocoon. When his day ended he returned to that spot to see how the butterfly had made out and on the ground he saw a dead butterfly with only one beautiful wing. The butterfly was not allowed to stay in for the allotted time that God had for him and therefore he did not complete the metamorphosis.

We often do this to the people around us. We are good meaning, caring, concerned people. Just like the man with the knife we mean no harm. We are just trying to help. We do not realize we are trying to take the place of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God. We try to save them from their struggle. We try to heal them and we want to comfort them. We can be a greater help by allowing God to have His way. We should stand in the gap and pray for them while they make it through the situation just as we did.
We need to realize that when the butterfly emerges he has changed but where he lives is the same world he lived in as a caterpillar. He is just able to live in it a little differently than he did as a caterpillar. Well, when God is changing us he is causing us to be able to live a little differently in our surroundings. We come to realize Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We stand back and allow them to understand that greater is He that is in them than he that is in the world.

When we try to do God’s job we hinder the person’s growth and we impair their vision. They see us instead of God.

So when someone you know is going through a struggle, seek the Lord and see what He would have you to do. Do not just run in with your knife and cut them out of the cocoon too soon. Just know that God is creating another beautiful butterfly.