Posts by davepaulsenunplugged@yahoo.com
All Glory To God
The book of Revelation isn’t a simple one for me to understand, yet when I read this verse yesterday, it seemed pretty simple, and convicting, “She glorified herself and lived in luxury, so match it now with torment and sorrow.” (Revelation 18:7a). This verse went along with something God is teaching me and I can’t get it out of my head, so I wanted to write about it. Last Spring the Lord revealed to me that I can be a jealous person. He may have healed me of being jealous of other people many years ago, yet there is another type of jealousy I was blind to. Jealousy of His glory. He showed me ways that I tell stories of what He did and neglect to give Him the glory. And He showed me that I see things that glorify Him (it’s often a book or another writer sharing a story) and I think “I want to write a book like that”. Instead of praising God that He is being glorified through the writer, I could at times get jealous of the glory that only belongs to God Almighty. The Lord reminded me that Satan was once an angel who got kicked out of heaven because he wanted the glory that only belonged to God. Wow! (and Yikes). Lord help me to praise You every time I see or hear of You being glorified. May I be thankful for Your glory and may I never steal the glory that only belongs to You. Be glorified and magnified in my life and may I rejoice over Your glory everywhere in the world. I have been praying the above prayer or something similar and it has helped me, humbled me and freed me. I still need help, yet that’s okay because I will always be transforming and I will always need to depend on God. Two of my greatest fears since I’ve been a Christian are “being famous” and “having a lot of money”. It may be because I used to dream of being famous and having a lot of money (before I knew God). And since it was such an “idol” in my life, I now fear it. I’m not sure if it’s because I fear I won’t need God, or what it is. That is a scary thought. I want to depend on God daily, talk to Him throughout each day and know Him closely. Living in luxury could be something that creeps up on me slowly. So I need to be careful. What if the Lord doubles our income in the next 5 years? Will I be tempted to buy a bigger house or lots more clothes? I tend to think my husband and I live humbly, our house is fairly small (752 square feet) and we are content there. We are generous with the money God give us. God has provided for all of our needs but we normally don’t have a lot left over after we tithe, pay bills, give, and pay for basic needs like food and clothing. Maybe it will always stay that way, and that is okay. I am grateful for what I have and I desire to think more about what I can give, not what I can get. Another thing that comes to mind as I type this is how our lives on this earth are like a vapor, especially compared to eternity. And if we live in luxury in this world, what will happen in the next when we step into life eternal? It seems that the more we give up, the more closely we follow and obey God, and the more we freely give to others (in this super short life), there may be eternal rewards waiting for us when we live into eternity. God is the creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). Because of His love and mercy, He came to the earth in a humble way, through His son Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have...
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