"How Do We Glorify God?" (Charles Spurgeon Sermon) - Inspirational Weekend

[Taro Fields, Hanalei Overlook, Kauai, Hawaii]

This  blog features articles about Bible Prophecy as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today (Wednesday) while reading my Bible in the book of Psalms the following verse really made me realize the importance of always stressing the glory of God, and giving Him the glory for everything:

"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name;  Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."    -  Psalm 29:2

God's very creation praises Him and gives Him glory as seen in Psalm 19:1 which follows:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His  handywork."

Also, His creation of mankind was miraculous and glorious and showed His great love and desire for companionship, although He had Jesus and the angels with Him before then.  

We should make sure that we bring glory to God.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."   -                       1 Corinthians 10:31

Jesus' life and purpose was to bring glory to God. He lived and died to do the Heavenly Father's will.  And that was to provide a way for lost mankind to be saved from the darkness of this world and to come to the saving light of salvation; to know God's love and forgiveness and grace by Jesus' sacrificial death at Calvary, whereby Jesus' shed blood will wash away all of our sins from us if we but believe in Him and have faith that He paid our sin debt in full by taking our place and our sins upon Himself and dying for us; thereby making a way for us to have everlasting life.  What love!

[Hill side near Salt Lake City]

When believers endeavor to live as godly a life as they are able, and show the love of God to others, and - most importantly - to love God and to obey Him and to try to follow closely in Jesus' footsteps,  then we are bringing glory to God.  That we are revealing the glory of God to others through our lifestyles, words, and actions; as well as praising Him and submitting to His will.

Mainly, just showing faith that God and Jesus will take care of you and guide you and protect you -  showing trust in Him.  Rely on Him and not yourself. Be humble.  

In Habakkuk 3:17-19, it shows that Habakkuk had learned faith in God regardless of circumstances - even if there be suffering and loss:

In verse 17 Habakkuk discusses possible dire circumstances, and then in verse 18 and 19 he says: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.  The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds feet."

Many commentators think the above verses are one of the strongest statements of faith in all the Bible.

So our faith can bring glory to God.  

Remember Abraham!  Romans 4:20 tells us:  "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

Following is a 39 minute audio sermon by Charles Spurgeon titled   "A View Of God's Glory" :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy8xuV4Kz_c

[Hawaiian Black Crowned Night Heron]

So how do we acquire a strong faith?  How do we draw close to the good Lord?  The answer to the question "How do we glorify God?" has already been touched upon in the above paragraphs.  The key to everything spiritual - and understanding what God requires of us - is by putting God and Jesus first in our lives.  

As has been stated many times on this blog,  God desires to fellowship with us because He loves us.  We can draw close to the Lord by much prayer and by reading and studying His Holy Word, the Bible.  Then we will learn just how much He and Jesus loves us, and we will grow to appreciate their attributes and their greatness.  It is amazing how the Lord will take the time to listen to us and answer our prayers;  we who are so weak and fragile ; we who sin (hopefully not intentionally!); we who can be stubborn at times and want our own way for the most part.  If you spend a lot of quality time with the good Lord, you will grow spiritually and He will renew your mind (Romans 12:1-2  which follows):

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Only those who are truly born again (a spiritual rebirth) have the Holy Spirit within them Who enables them to be godly and to obey God and to have faith in Him and Jesus, our Savior.

Yes, we are still living in an imperfect world which can affect us at times, and we ourselves are still imperfect right now, so Christians will at times weaken and sin.  (If a person willfully and deliberately sins, and it is a frequent occurrence, then either he is not truly born again, or he does not fully understand what salvation is all about.)

"For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."  -     Romans 10:2-3

If we confess our sins and repent, God our heavenly Father will forgive us and and restore us. He will see us as "clean" because of Jesus' sacrificial death -  see our sin debt as paid in full.

[Kailua Beach, Oahu, Hawaii]

One major way we bring glory to God, is to witness to unbelievers about Jesus; to share the gospel and help lost souls to come to a saving relationship with Jesus.  That is every true believer's work for the Lord.   Note that we are NOT saved by works, but by faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says: (8) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast."

"For God, Who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of  Jesus Christ."   - 2 Corinthians 4:6

"Whoso offereth praise glorifieth  Me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the salvation of God."       -  Psalm 50:23


Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend - and life !!

"Pray Always And Pray Effectual Prayers - Do Not Be Lukewarm" (Video On Prayer By Pastor Adrian Rogers) - Inspirational Weekend

[Waterfall At Descanso Gardens Outside Los Angeles, California]

Monday of this week, the good Lord admonished me and corrected me in the matter of prayer.  I pray everyday and talk to Him throughout the day, but lately they have been short prayers.  It was as if He was telling me to spend even more time with Him on my knees.  It also occurred to me that the Lord wanted me to share more about prayer with you friends here.  Actually, last year I did write an article titled "Faith and Prayer Work Together".  There were two short sermon clips included in that post which were by Andrew Murray; one clip on prayer, and the other clip on faith.  Here is the link to that article:
https://inspiringnaturephotography.blogspot.com/search?q=faith+and+prayer+work+together

Prayer is commanded.  If we are not praying and do not have the desire to pray, then we need to ask ourselves if we sincerely desire time with God, or are we self-absorbed and think only about our fleshly desires and what this world offers.

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:  the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  -  Jesus at Matthew 26:41

We do not want to fall into the category mentioned by Jesus at John 8:47, which follows:

"He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."

Keep in mind in the above Scripture, that Jesus was talking to the hypocritical Pharisees and religious leaders.  So if you are a true believer that verse does not apply to you.   However, there are many who profess to be Christians who are not; they claim to be Christians, but it is in name only.  Granted, some may believe they actually are Christians, when in reality they are lost. We need to help them to come to truly know Jesus as their Savior and for them to love Him with all of their being: heart, mind, soul and spirit.  When you learn to put God and Jesus first, and to love Him deeply, you will want to spend much time with Him in prayer and in reading His Holy Word.

E.M. Bounds, who has written many insightful articles on prayer (I have a large book which includes most, if not all, of his thoughts on prayer), has a lot to say about the necessity of prayer.

He tells us to pray for the desire to pray, for such a desire is God-given and heavenly-born. "Spiritual desire, carried to a high degree, is the evidence of the new birth.  It is born in the renewed soul. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow."  So says Bounds.

"Two things are intolerable to Him (God) - insincerity and lukewarmness," says Bounds, and he goes on to say: "To the Laodiceans He said, in terms of unmistakeable severity  and condemnation:  "I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue  thee out of my mouth."     This quoted verse is found at Revelation 3:16.   When the Lord says in this verse, "I will spue thee out of my mouth," He literally means to vomit.  What a vivid way of depicting His condemnation where lukewarmness is concerned!

Bounds goes on to comment, "This was God's expressed judgment on the lack of fire in one of the churches , and it is His indictment against individual Christians for the fatal want of sacred zeal."

Following is a 44 minute video sermon by Pastor Adrian Rogers on the secret of effectual prayer:

This sermon is the best I have ever heard on the subject of prayer!  Pastor Rogers tells us, among many things, that prayer bonds us with God; and that God wants to work within us through prayer.  Pastor Rogers says that our prayers are not answered because we are not rooted in the purpose of God.

Below is a song  by Tauren Wells titled "When We Pray" :

If you follow this blog, you know there is much information given here on the fact that we are living in the last moments of the last days; and much mention of how ancient Bible prophecies are now coming true.  So much is coming true now that the Bible predicted that many prophecy preachers and scholars say there is no way to keep up with it all; with the convergence of so much prophecy happening at warp speed and all at once now.  Guess what this means?!

Jesus will return any day, any moment now, to take His Bride, the Church, to heaven when He appears in the Rapture!!

Maranatha!  We look forward to that blessed hope!   (Titus 2:13)

Are you Rapture ready?

If you have been saved, born again from above, then you are assured to be taken to heaven when Jesus returns very soon.

If you are carnal, and love the world, and have no desire to know God and His Son, Jesus Christ the Savior, then you are bound for the other alternative.....hell.

But it is not too late!

You do not have to be doomed to eternity in hell!

Jesus loves you and is waiting for you to turn to Him in faith!

Admit you are a sinner and in need of a Savior.  (Romans 3:23)

Believe in Jesus as the Savior and surrender to Him (Romans 6:23 and John 3:16)

Call on the name of the Savior and commit to His will and confess your need of Him   (Romans 10:13)

Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us, (9)  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16


Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend..... and life!