Saturday, August 22, 2009

What Comes DOWN Down down, must go up Up UP!

Romans 11:36 (NLT)
For everything comes from Him and exists by His power
and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.


As I read this passage, it jumpstarted my heart. He read it to me piece by piece, and it was powerful.

For ___________ comes from Him—

Fill in the blank. For (blank) comes from Him.

Think of a gift, a talent, a provision, a privilege or a blessing. Put it in the blank.

and exists by His power…

Whatever you put in the blank—not only does it come from Him, it exists by His power. That means that it is still there because of His power to give, sustain and take away. Whatever you have been given and still have is nothing short of His choice for you to have it.

and is intended for His glory…

This thing, do I really use it for His glory? Am I proud of the gift itself or am I proudly proclaiming the Gift-Giver? The word intended kind of caught me off guard. He, the Maker, the Giver, and the powerful Sustainer didn’t intend for us to use our fill-in-the-blank for our own egos…but for His glory. Period.

All glory to him forever!

All that we have, all that we are, all our hopes and dreams…they are to be for His glory. The forever part makes this so.

Want a promotion in your job? Only if it is for My glory, Child.

Are you using a special talent for Him? Please care more about My fame and renown than your own, Dear One.

Have you been given wisdom and faith? Let your motive be to draw others closer to me.

May the very life we have been given be used for His glory. This is something we must ask from Him, because it will not come naturally for us. It very well may be a trait that is grown little by little in us as we submit to Him each day. Let’s pray to earnestly desire for Him to be our glory forever and ever…

Lord God, I am blown away by the power of Your Word. So impacting. The same Word that has been there from the beginning of time—in its power—in its perfect timing—has convicted me once again. May it do the same in my brothers and sisters as You choose, and may we constantly remind each other of all the glorious things You have done in our lives. I pray from the bottom of my heart that You would help me to learn how to use all my stuff for Your purposes…that I would come to You with empty hands, an undistracted mind and an open heart. Lord, for all of us, when we see each others’ gifts and talents and blessings, may we see only You—and You alone. And then give You the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“For in HIM we live and move and have our being.”
Acts 17:28a

9 friends shared a comment:

Shelby said...

I love this post, LauraLee! It definitely reflects where I am in my Christian walk and life is so much more abundant and joyful when the glory is given to Him rather than trying to grab it for myself!

HisFireFly said...

Wonderful truth to your words. We exist to glorify the One Who created us. Everything that we are, have or do, is to bring Him honour and praise.

That's true as well about the hard times we go through.. He will be glorified when we pass through the struggles!

Anonymous said...

Thank you LaureaLee. You blessed me with this devotion no end. It is just what I needed to consider at this time, in my writing adventures. I hope you will be blessed to know that you have been used by God to remind me of the great importance of HIM in my writing - and not ME!
Intended for His glory, not my ego..... beautiful words of direction. Many thanks!

Joanne Sher said...

Wonderful. Such an important reminder that I SO needed. ALL for, and FROM, Him!

Runner Mom said...

Oh, LauraLee!! Love this, girl!! I needed this reminder so much and the scripture is so rich in truth as you pulled it a part!

Hugs!
Susan

Cathy said...

I loved that beautiful post, Laura Lee.

Denise said...

Beautiful reminder dear, love you.

Tracy said...

Beautiful and great reminder!

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Love this, friend! It seems to me you've done something along these same lines in the past; can't quite put my finger on it now, but this is so powerful. I'm looking of the card when I wrote it down about a year ago... hold on;

Found it;exact same Scripture. Loved it then; love it now.

See I really do read your stuff!

peace~elaine