Glorification Today!

Summer vacation is here--along with many new opportunities to indulge (did you hear the words, "ice cream" and "sleep in?").  I'm so thankful for God's Word, that His mercies are new every morning.  This is where I'm at today.
John 13:21-38

v. 31-32:  Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;  if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.”

Impression:  Jesus the Son and God the Father were glorified in the crucifixion.  It doesn’t fit with our idea of being glorified.  It didn’t fit the disciples’ idea, either.  But God is God.  If He glorified Jesus in His death and was magnified by it, He continues to be magnified.  What do I know about God that makes sense of this?  God is glorified when I depend on Him and when I choose to obey Him instead of self, just like Jesus did.   Jesus obeyed to the point of death, physical death.  The death I am called to is so much less.  Every decision I make that is reliant on Him and places His decrees above my own desires glorifies Him. (Ps. 37:4-6, 7, 23-26).

Application:  Whom will I choose to glorify today?  Even the smallest decisions and tasks are opportunities to glorify God.  How will I choose to put God ahead of myself?  If I set my mind to think ahead and choose God instead of self….but, oooh, it is so hard in that moment!  I need a Scripture verse for inertia.  So perhaps even as I come to a trying decision to say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified....”  If I can’t say it and mean it, it’s a “me” decision not a “Jesus” decision.  If God will work change in me today, just today, I’ll tackle tomorrow when it comes…

To Serve as Jesus Served

Summer vacation is here and our four children are home from school.   It's 7:00 a.m., the day after Memorial Day, and two of our girls just came in from sleeping outside in hammocks.  One is overly tired, the other is disagreeable (one and the same?).  Perhaps you, like me, find it easy to serve some at some times and difficult to serve others at other times.  Thankfully, this is the passage I read this morning:

John 13:1-20

v. 2-4:  During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

Impression:  Jesus’ service to the disciples was not dependent on who they were or how they would respond to His service.  His blessing of them was dependent on His security in the Father.  Because God sovereignly orchestrates all circumstances, and because Jesus fully trusted the Father’s outcome, He let go of Himself and gave to others.  There was no clinging to pretense or reputation or pride, there was only a complete surrender that loved others with the love of the Father.

Application:  It is only when I am content with God, satisfied with His provision, and trusting in His care that I can love others selflessly.  When I am insecure I cling tenaciously to that which is mine.  When I trust God, I let go of the reigns and love others with abandon.  My love for others is a measure of the center of my life.  Humble, selfless service result from a loving knowledge of and trust in God.  Tight-fisted giving with pre-determined boundaries results from insecurity and self-love.  What do my attitudes and actions reveal?

Everywhere We Go-oh, People Want to Know-ow

How can I think things in my head, even agree that they're good (during the sermon!), but have such a hard time doing it?  Sigh.  The human condition.   I can easily share on paper what I read today, but if you see me in person, you have permission to hold me accountable for this one because it's going to take a lot of practice!

John 11:1-54

v. 41-42:  So they removed the stone.  Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Impression:  It was important for people to know that Jesus wasn’t empowered by Himself, because of who He is—even though He is God.  He wanted others to know, unquestionably, that His power and ability came from the Father.  He stated it over and over.

Application:  If it was that important for Jesus to rely on God and communicate that reliance to others, how obvious is it that I should do the same?  As a simple, finite, fickle person I have a need, a desperate emptiness, that can only be met by God.  To act and live and speak as if I do what I do in my own strength and wisdom is foolish.  There is no way any of us lives, or breathes, or plans, apart from the grace of God.  But to live in reliance—to be aware of our reliance and to speak it--is very different.  My pride fights it.  My arrogance and desire for self-reliance fight it.  That is one of the ways Jesus and I are so different.  He was God, but in humility, He transferred all honor and power to its true source, His Father.  With His help, and by His Spirit, may I learn to do the same…