Sunday was ONE AMAZING DAY!
BETHANY UNITED is the day all three campuses combine their services to squeeze in to Bethany North Auditorium in one service. The worship was really heavenly. Pastor Joel testified that he has lived nine years longer than his doctors told him he would in September, 2000! We could hardly calm the place down after that testimony!
The Lord placed a message on my heart called “Glory to God” from Ephesians 4-6. Paris Riedhead said that humanism is the “deification of man” and Christianity is the “glorification of God.” One is hatched in hell and the other celebrated in heaven. God does not exist to make us happy: We exist to give Him glory! We are called to “reflect the glory of God from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3: 18).
Paul told us seven ways we can give God glory:
1. Unity (4: 1)–When Christians, denominations, small groups, and churches come together in love, it brings God great glory. Jesus said that in Jn. 17: 21.
2. Maturity (4: 11)–When a Christian grows up in the knowledge of the Word into a “mature man,” it brings great glory to God.
3. Ministry (4: 15)–When a Christian moves out into their own calling, ministry, and place of service, it brings great glory to God. NOTHING is insignificant when done in the name of Jesus to the glory of God.
4. Purity (5: 3)–Imagine a bride that is wrinkled, spotted, and torn. Her glory is her purity. Sin is “falling short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23). We should never ask ourselves, “Can I do this and still be saved?” but “Will this action bring glory to God?”
5. Family (5: 27)–When a husband lays down his life for his wife and a wife honors and respects her husband as her spiritual head, it brings glory to God. Thank God for Melanie’s faithfulness to me for 33 years and my mother’s faithfulness to my Dad for 63 1/2 years! Glory to God…
6. Activity (6: 7)–When I do my job, not for my boss or recognition but for the glory of God. My cars, my hobbies, my home should all reflect the glory of God.
7. Difficulty (6: 20)–Paul was in chains, yet glorifying the Lord. He understood that this light, momentary world of difficulty we are in is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal “weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4: 17). WHATEVER you are going through, it can turn out for the glory of God as Jesus taught His disciples in the case of Lazarus (Jn. 11: 4).
GLORY TO GOD! Look up to heaven right now and take your place in the eternal chorus:
“For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To God be the glory forever, Amen (Rom. 11: 36)
You got it?
Bro. Larry
