OUR FOCUS PRODUCES OUR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS!
Psalm 65:1-4
1 Praise is
due to you, O God, in Zion,
and
to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who
hear prayer,
to
you shall all flesh come.
3 When
iniquities prevail against me,
you
atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed
is the one you choose and bring near,
to
dwell in your courts!
We shall be
satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the
holiness of your temple!
This is the way every day should begin for all of us: praising
God for His wonderful work in our lives. Our lives should be dedicated only to
Him. Our every action should be consciously done to His glory. Everything we
are, have and are surrounded by is because of God’s provision and loving care
for us.
Being a son or a daughter should be done to the glory of
God: our respect and honor and care for our parents should be obvious and
heartfelt.
As husbands and wives: every attitude, every response, every
action, every desire should be done to the glory of God.
As parents: our education, correction, encouragement, and care
should be done to the glory of God.
As workers: whether we have nice employers or not, the
excellence of our work should be directed to the glory of God, rather than as a
response to recognition or for a paycheck.
As members of a local church: our timeliness, presence,
service, and love for the brethren should be done to the glory of God.
We could go on, thinking about how we live along our
neighbors, how we drive, how we stand in line at stores, how we respond to our
authorities should also be done to the glory of God.
Have I been redundant with the phrase ‘to the glory of God’?
Well, I need to be reminded that as I have committed to serve and submit to the
Lord, I have also committed to do all things to the glory of God.
Does God deserve this kind of commitment? He most certainly
does!
What a wonderful privilege we have, to know that He listens
to our prayers. We can come to God with our deepest feelings, our sorrows, our
hurts, our confusion, and our disappointments and lay them at His feet. God
hears them and is always careful to respond in the most loving and appropriate way
for meeting our need to grow as children who are pleasing to Him.
As we approach God in His holiness and perfection, it is no
small blessing to know that He forgives our iniquities. He forgives by grace
alone, for we cannot merit or repay any of the forgiveness He offers to us. We
never need to wonder if there is something He is holding against us. His
forgiveness is always complete, when we repent and confess our sins to Him.
Christ paid for our sin and God is pleased to show mercy and forgive.
Dear friends, as we reflect on God’s care for us and His
forgiveness, living our lives to His glory is the only response we should ever
have.
Lest we forget, it is God who chose us and brought us near
to Him. He knew exactly what kind of sinners we would be and how many times we
would be unfaithful. He chose us before the foundation of the world. We cannot respond
in any other way but with humble and grateful amazement.
There is complete satisfaction in God’s presence and His
care.
Do we ever become ungrateful and dissatisfied? Certainly
yes, and it happens when we take our eyes off of the glories of who God is and onto
the world’s empty enticements. When this happens, we are paving the way to sin.
Each day anew, we need to devote ourselves to our wonderful
God and Savior. We must take time to reflect on our privilege to know Him, to
speak to Him, and to be cleansed by Him. We must recommit ourselves to lead
lives that bring glory to Him in every aspect. Then we will be blessed and find
the inner peace and joy that cannot be tarnished or taken away.
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