Read: 1 Chronicles 16:28-29 |
The purpose of a floodlight is make a building or edifice visible when otherwise darkness would drape its presence and hide it from view. Floodlights, when placed correctly, do not draw attention to the floodlight itself but instead illuminate and point to the edifice where aimed. As a believer, we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We must let this little light shine. When done correctly, our praise illuminates the God we worship and reveals His presence to a dark and dying world draped in sin. In turn, our light becomes a floodlight of praise as we give glory to God.
God is the King of Glory. God is glorious. God exists to be glorified. The angels give glory to God everyday all-day. However, God created angels for that purpose. As believers created in God’s image, we have a free will. Yet, He created us for His glory as we exercise our freewill. Isaiah 43:7 says, “…whom I created for my glory” and I Corinthians 10:31 says “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”. God wants our unfettered worship and praise; He wants us to give Him glory.
The Bible speaks of the glory of God as a mega-theme that appears over 275 times in the English translation, 50 times alone in the book of Psalms. In reviewing our key scripture I Chronicles 16, we find a command to give glory to God. The verse cites two actions, we are to give Him glory and bring Him glory.
Give Him Glory
God commands us to give Him glory. We give Him glory by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. As we go through our day, God’s glory is present in everything we see, touch, feel or sense. His glory is infinite, innate and intrinsic. His pre-existing, unlimited, unsurpassable and unfathomable glory cannot be adequately described on this world. We cannot add more glory nor can we take glory away from God. Therefore, our purpose as Christians is to follow His commandments and be the light to this world. We must learn how to follow His Spirit, be cleansed by His Spirit, filled with His Spirit and then walk by His Spirit, so that we can show forth His likeness to the world, not our own.
Bring Him Glory
We bring Him glory in four ways. [Thomas Watson, “Man’s Chief End is to Glorify God”]
We bring Him glory when we appreciate and acknowledge His glory and value it above all things. We bring Him glory when we adore Him and work to make Him known to others. We bring Him glory when we discover, develop and demonstrate a heartfelt affection for Him. We bring Him glory when we subject our will to His Will. In short, we are to glorify God in everything we do (John 15:8)
Jesus is God’s glory. Jesus, the manifestation of divine glory and the express image of God the Father, is our role model. (Hebrews 1:3; John 17:5; John 1:14; 2 Pet 1:17) He brought glory to God in everything He said and did. He brought God’s innate glory to light the world. He reflected His presence, His essence, His name and manifested all that God is.
Give glory to God Saints. Glorify God today, every day and all-day. Glorify Him by letting your light illuminate Jesus. In fact, let your glorifying God be the spark for someone else catching fire for the Lord and glorifying Him as well.
Questions:
1.Discover –
A. Do you spend any of your prayer time glorifying God?
2.Develop –
A. With your prayer partner or mentor, see who can list the most things we can glorify God for.
3.Demonstrate –
A. Suggestion: Ask to lead the prayer during your next Bible Study or small group meeting. Give the instructions based on the example and link below.
One example is during our Sunday School Training last weekend, a fellow “Prayer Warrior” teacher led our prayer time by passing out strips of paper with sixty attributes of God along with the associated scriptures. She asked each of us to pick up two or three of the strips and pray the text out-loud round robin style. As we prayed earnestly, all of our hearts were moved during this prayer, praise and worship time as we gave glory to God.
B. Link to Learning to Know God – Sixty Attributes of God