We are all probably familiar with the story of Moses, who God chose to lead His people, the children of Israel, out of the wilderness. And we probably know that God performed some miracles through Moses before the eyes of the people and Pharaoh, when God was bringing them out of the land of Egypt. Then we know how the Israelites journeyed in the wilderness for what should have been 11 days, but ended up being 40 years. God had to work some “stuff” out of them before they could enter into the promise. Just like He has to do with us sometimes. We think something is taken a long time, or we are in a situation for what seems to be forever, but we are there because we are not learning a lesson that God is trying to teach us. Or we are refusing to let go of some “ideas” that we cannot bring into our promised land. God will not bring us into the promise until He delivers us from our problem.
Anyway, the Israelites journeyed for 40 years. And of course we’re all familiar with all the complaining the Israelites did as they were going through. SIDENOTE: Complaining does not help you when you are going through. It only extends your “growing” through. But anyway, the people complained and as the Scripture says, it displeased the Lord (Numbers 11:1). But one particular time, the people were in complaining mode and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here in the wilderness to kill us and our children? We are thirsty and have no water, Moses. We would have been better off in Egypt (as slaves?).” Do you see why we shouldn’t complain… we don’t make any sense? It is far better to be thirsty than to be a slave.
So Moses (and Aaron, the Bible says) went to God and fell on his knees. And you can almost hear Moses prayer, “Lord, help us with these people. They are getting on my last nerve with all their complaining.” This is how we sound sometimes, but Moses had it right at first, because when we know we can’t deal with something we need to go to God and ask for His help. But anyway, God told Moses to speak to the rock and the rock will give water. But this is where Moses missed it. He allowed his frustration with the people to get to him. And we have to be careful not to allow people to control our emotions. Then we are giving them power over us. But Moses got so angry with the people that he went back to them and said, “Look here you rebels! Fine, you want some water, here!” (I am paraphrasing.) And he hit the rock out of anger. And the water came out. And because of that the Bible says Moses did not enter the Promised Land.
But God is saying this to me in that, when Moses did not do what God told him to do concerning the rock, which was speak to it, Moses robbed God of His glory. The Bible goes on to say that the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me, in the eyes of the children of Israel, you WILL NOT lead them into the promised land that I have given them.” God saw Moses’ action as a lack of respect for His Word. His direct order. Right out of His mouth. And because the Israelites did not see the splendor (the glory) of God, (Moses simply speaking to the rock, would have shown them God’s glory), but what they saw instead was Moses’ anger and probably thought that the water came out of the rock because of Moses’ anger, instead of God’s power, God was not glorified. God said to Moses, “How could you do that to Me, Moses in the sight of the Israelites? You robbed Me of My glory!”
Now God wants us to know this, every time He tells us to do something a certain way and we fail to do it, we rob Him of His glory. You can be certain that whatever it is He tells you to do, especially in the sight of others; He is going to use it somewhere along the line to get glory. He said, “the whole earth shall be filled with My glory.” How could that be if we do not show forth His glory? We are His vessels. And we must be careful not to rob Him of His glory.
Every time He tells you to sing that song, and ‘you’ choose to sing another because you’re not ‘feelin’ it, you rob God of His glory. Every time He tells you to give and you don’t, in the church or out of the church, you rob God of His glory. He was going to use that seed He asked of you that others might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. But He can’t because you didn’t sow it, so you robbed Him of His glory. I hear God saying, “How dare you not hallow Me in the sight of the people?!”
Every time God tells us to do something, to forgive, to pray for somebody, to obey, or how about this one, to believe Him, we are not reverencing Him or His Word, in the sight of the people. It is not about you. It is not about us. It is about God.
When we become ill and refuse to walk in the healing promises of God (and I say refuse, because we know that by the stripes of Jesus we ARE healed, but we make other confessions that say otherwise, so we REFUSE to walk in His Word), we rob God of His glory. The manifestation of our healing right before our eyes and the eyes of others. But because they don’t see it, God is not glorified.
God Himself told Jesus I was glorified and I shall be glorified again. He said that He will not share His glory with anyone. And will not tolerate us robbing Him of it.
God will get His glory. It would be wise for us to just go along with the program and give it to Him.
God is good and He’s real. And I want Him to get the glory out of my life... willingly.
A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E
http://sis.e.home.comcast.net
http://www.ongoodground.org
Testimonials to the goodness, faithfulness, and "realness" of God and His intervention in our lives.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Don’t You Dare Steal God’s Glory!
Evelyn Fannell has the true heart of a servant. She spends a great deal of her time assisting friends, family, and others with a variety of plans and projects, always seeking simply to be of help; always going the extra mile. A writer since her youth, in 2008 Evelyn created the blog, But God Is Real, inspired by real life situations and circumstances that speak to the “realness” of God and His intervention in daily life. After the death of her son, Joseph, Evelyn started another blog, In the Shadow of Grief, created to chronicle the emotions and stages of grief so that she could help others through their journey of pain and sorrow. Along with the blog, Evelyn also started a grief support group on Facebook, under the same name, where members can share with one another in a supportive, non-judgmental environment
In her spare time, Evelyn enjoys jigsaw puzzles, photography, and planning and creating items for special events. She also serves as First Lady and administrator of her church, On Good Ground Christian Fellowship, now in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to Joseph, she and her husband, Jeff, have two daughters, Brandi and Jasmine, and a grandson, Christian.
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