Daily Journal: 15 September

That You May Glorify

Your Father In Heaven

We glorify our Father in heaven by loving the truth.

John 14:6 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The truth sets people free. The truth saves people from futility. People who find this scripture divisive aren’t seeking truth. They are seeking what they want truth to be. Think about that word, “saves”.

Saving is when something is in danger of being lost. It is ‘preventing waste of a particular resource’ (OXFORD LANGUAGES). Our lives are wasted when we do not glorify Him, the One who created us in His image. Think about the love in that. God made us in His image and calls us to follow Him, to be like Him, to glorify Him in the way we think, the things we say, and in our behaviour. Our ways are so far beneath His goodness. When we do not seek the truth and follow Him, or respond to His ways, we cannot glorify our Father in heaven. When a soul is lost, that is a waste of the life that God created, and it is lost forever.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 (NIV)

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

We are called to be different; separate from the world.

2 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV)

Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Looking at the world now, it’s easy to see that those who love God are different. Radically different. We love the truth. We love goodness. Truth and goodness are being disparaged and misunderstood.  People are growing cold and turning away from love. God calls us to separate ourselves from that.

Thankfully, when God says live that you may glorify your Father in heaven, He is not expecting perfection, but He is seeking those who will seek Him and in doing that display His glory.

Matthew 5:15-16 (NIV)

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The bible is generous with its warnings that evil will proliferate in the last days so that we are aware and prepared. We are warned out of love so that we will know how to handle ourselves with courage and conviction and continue to live in truth and love, glorifying our Father in heaven.

Ephesians 6:10-11 (NLT)

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 (NLT)

With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.