Welcome to the Word of God For June 16th 2010

Where do you Give Your Glory? To God or To yourself?

How all things are to be referred to God as the end of every work From the Imitation of Christ

My son, says our Savior Christ, I must be the end of all your works, if you desire to be happy and blessed. If you refer all goodness to me, from whom all goodness comes, then all your inward affections will be purified and made clean, which otherwise would be evil and center on yourself and other people. If you seek yourself as the goal of your work in anything, you soon fall short in your activities, and become dry and barren of all the refreshment of grace. And so, you must refer all things to me, for I give all. Behold all things as they are, flowing and springing forth from my sovereign goodness, and reduce all things to me as to the original beginning. From me both great and small, poor and rich, draw the water of life as from a quick springing well.

He who serves me freely and with goodwill receives grace for grace. However, he who glorifies himself, or who will fully rejoice in anything except me, will not be established in perfect joy or enlarged in Soul, but will be hindered and restricted from freedom in many ways from true freedom of spirit. You therefore should ascribe no goodness to yourself, or think that any person has any goodness of himself. But you should always yield the goodness to me, without whom man has nothing. I have given all, and I will have all back again, and with great strictness will I look for your thanks for what I have given.

This is the truth by which all kinds of vainglory and pride of heart driven away. If heavenly Gracce and perfect charity enter into your heart, then no envy or disquiet of mine or any private love will rule in you, for the charity of God will overcome all, and will expand and enkindle all the powers of your soul. And so, if you understand properly, you will never rejoice save in me, and in me alone you will trust, for no man is good, but God alone, who is above all things to be honored and above all things to be blessed.

___________________________________________________

Commentary

Today, we live in a very prideful world. Many of us have been taught and shown that individualism and strength come from within our own selves. Typically we bask in the glory of our accomplishments and base our success upon our own abilities to get. This is very much contradictory to the ways of the Lord. Our own success based on her own works typically leaves us striving for more or empty once we get to that point of success. Why is this the case?

Also in our world we see success coming at the expense of other people. There can be no greater example of this than what is happening in the Gulf right now with the oil spill. I am not the judge and jury of men only God is, but it appears that the British Petroleum Co. was withholding information that could have made a difference in the response to this oil spill.

To live like Christ and to honor God, also means to recognize that all we have been given is from God. All that is taken away is from God. It says in the Scriptures that God gave it and God taketh away.

So to live as Christ did we not assert ourselves and our own needs, but to serve others. It is not about what we can get but what we can give. It is not about our accomplishments, but what God can accomplish in and through us.

True joy and contentment in our souls will only be found when we surrender our will, our pride, and swap them for God’s will in a true heart for the Lord.

In this fast-paced world where people are running to and fro seeking for joy, it is coming at the expense of others without thought or the impact upon them. This thing called pride and greed are one of the strongest forces the enemy uses to keep people from finding the Lord.

The Bible in so many ways contradicts the ways of this world. If you are not walking with the Lord you will not know true joy. Many people find their happiness in stuff, like cars, houses, iPods, vacations, and entertainment, but that happiness is fleeting. It is not joy. It does not bring contentment.

If you truly want to walk and live like Christ, then you will seek the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. You will look to move away from the ways of this world and see them for what they are. Empty… unfulfilling… damaging to others. Instead, you will seek the will of God in your life.

Technorati Tags: Abide in Christ, Christian Living, Christlikeness, like christ