For the Glory of God

Some encouraging words on a Saturday morning:

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, and I’ll love Thee in death,
I’ll praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in Heaven so bright;
And sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

Jesus is becoming sweeter to me every day. I am learning more things about Him and seeing Him in a new way. This morning God spoke to my heart and encouraged me so much. I feel like I am bursting with joy and excitement today!

I don't usually wake up at 6:30am on a Saturday morning, but today I was awakened and decided I might as well make the most of it. I sat down to read John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, which our church is reading through at the moment. I was so blessed by what I read this morning. I wanted to share it with you today because I want you to be blessed too. (If you have never read Don't Waste Your Life, stop what you are doing and go buy yourself a copy. Hey, I'll even mail you one if you want - it's that good!)

We were created for God's glory. When we delight in God's glory, we are satisfied. How many other things do I fill my life with, thinking that it will satisfy me. It is only when I come to that point and realize that God is the only thing that will ever satisfy, that I am truly satisfied. This satisfaction brings joy. God wants us to be joyful.

So many times I feel like I am just going through the motions and not really living life with joy or purpose. Those moments have less to do with God and more to do with me. I am the one that needs a change of heart, I am the one that needs to change my attitude. I have found that when I give God His glory and praise His name, my heart is instantly encouraged. If I give God glory, I will be satisfied.

I'll share with you a paragraph from the book that really spoke to me this morning:

"God created me--and you--to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion--namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both very crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples." (pg. 31)

As I was reading this morning I was thinking of the hymn "My Jesus, I love Thee". If I don't embrace what Jesus did for me on the cross, my life will have little joy. God's love for us is not logical. I can try and comprehend why someone would want to die for me, but I cannot. I need to trust in God's love by faith. Ephesians 3:19 says, "and to know this love that surpasses knowledge." When I understand Jesus and what He did for me, I get a glimpse of who God is - His greatness.

May we all delight in God today! May we bring Him glory!

I leave you with a picture Michael has posted on here before. He took this picture of the moon with a telescope lens that he attached to his camera. I see that picture and I see God's glory and power. I think I'm going to print it up, as a reminder of God's greatness and His great love for me...