Wednesday, January 23, 2008

All to the Glory of God

1 cor 10:31
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Today I am reflecting on the whatever I do. In my life that is being a son, brother, husband, father, pastor, friend, triathlete, and founder of a cup of Joe. I do want to bring glory to God in everything I do, and yet I do find myself coming short daily. I would love ot hear comment on what brings glory to God. God is good- so if I do something that is good- it brings Him glory since he is the author of anything that is good. Let us spur one another on to good works. Lord today I want to bring you glory. Help me be sensitive to where you're working. When it comes to what I do everyday I am constantly meditating on the words Jesus spoke in John

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Father help me see what the Father is doing because that is what I must do.

The Father is working in lives all around you and he has positioned you there to bring him glory. Can you see Him. I do

I see dead people...and I see people alive in Christ...

What do you see?
Joe

9 comments:

Sara said...

Alright! First comment on chapter 10! What brings glory to God.... doing what we were created to do. God gave us all different talents, skills, gifts etc, and we glorify Him when we do those things. What's also cool is that it isn't even just about our talents and gifts - Paul says "whether you eat or drink, whatever you do" so even in the mundane day-to-day things we are still giving glory to him - why? Because he created us to do all those things too! he created us to eat and drink, to take care of daily needs, to shower (and sing in it), to plant flowers, to say hi to someone. In the same way ants or flowers or mountains don't do much... but they are doing what God created them to do and so by that they also declare God's glory and bring him pleasure. We glorify him by being and by being like Him.

Unknown said...

v13 "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

I can breathe now...
It will be ok...

Robby said...

Oh wow! My first cup of joe!

"Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." (vs. 14)

I feel that I don't really have problems with idols, that is putting anything above God in my life. But, then I look at what I've spent a bunch of time doing in the past few days... Oops. TV, music, being a bum and sitting around. It says to flee from idolatry, to not even entertain the thought of it. I ask myself: Am I allowing sin wiggle room in my life? Am I border line or am I steerng completly clear of it?

Also, am I glorifying God in everything I do? A challinging and convicting question.

Robby

Joe said...

Thanks for the post Robby and welcome to a cup of joe

Jimmy James said...

Luis! I'm on the same page with you my friend! ahhh Thank you Jesus! Reading the Promises of God is like drinking a ice cold GLASS OF WATER after a long Run. Just like we are Men, it's are being. Its not what we do that defines us as men. In the same way God is faithful in his innermost BEING! thank you God for leading me with your Instruction/Wisdom.. and going before me with your JOY and LOVE. My praise will be to you alone .. my savior God the risen one!! WOOT!!!! (It's Hard being away from you guys!)*side note*
-Toes-

nathanael john said...

Corinthians 10

The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre--
To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar name
Behind the hand that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.

-TS Eliot, Little Gidding, IV

After reading the current chapter, I remembered reading this poem back in high school and relating the last stanza to the choice we have as Christians: "We only live, only suspire…Consumed by either fire or fire…" It’s a righteous stand that we make daily as godly men and woman to be refined and consumed by the fire which is the Holy Spirit, rather than burn in the worldly pleasures that attack us constantly.

The title of chapter 10 is AVOID ISRAEL’S MISTAKES….How apt. Wisdom is not learning from your own mistakes; it’s learning from other people’s. The equation is simple, and Paul goes further to break it down as such in verse 13:

“…No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

The promise of God’s burden is supposed to be light, and how freeing will it be to grab hold of that in its fullness and understand that He will never give us more than we can handle?? The movie Evan Almighty recently pointed out, to my pleasant surprise, a couple of tenets founded in Christ that are simply overlooked by the average believer: if we are to ask for courage on a daily basis, God isn’t simply going to give us courage, but rather situations in which to be courageous. If we ask for an increase in faith, I’m not going to wake up one day with a faith level AMAZING…but rather I’ll be faced with increasing situations that will test my faith by fire, and by leaning on Christ, will be able to endure and grow supernaturally in Him.

You see the intricacy of how God works?! Only He is worthy of our praise…so rejoice and be encouraged in that!!

See ya on the flip-flop…

nathan l

Kristie said...

Ok so I know today we're on chapter 11 and this is gonna be a day late...but I can't sleep so I figured I would jump on the blogging train.

v23-24 --Everything is permissible-we can chose to do anything we want. --Not everything is beneficial or constructive-some things will hurt us. That is why we are instructed NOT to do them.

We live a society completely run by "our rights". No one wants to inhibit anyone else or be inhibited. In a country that is driven by selfishness and a "look out for numero uno" attitude, we are called to be the difference. We are called to be an example of what is looks like to care about the people around you.

I went to traffic school tonight (I know you're all jealous!). There was a man in my class that said something like, if I'm going 90 in a 40 and there isn't anyone on the road, why does it matter? I'm only putting myself at risk, no one else. My teacher responded with this, "Your life must not mean very much. Your wife and kids must not need a husband or a father for you to so easily dismiss keeping yourself out of harms way." That conversation really reminded me of this bit of scripture. We need to be cautious of the things around us. How much of the "ok you can do it if you want but you know you shouldn't" stuff are we letting seep into our daily lives?

Just like we have traffic laws and rules we have spiritual guidelines and warnings. They are there to protect us not inhibit us. They are in place to help us lead the best lives we can, the lives that God intended for us to live. What we does not only effect our lives, but the lives of those around us, and the lives of the people that God intends for us to reach.

I think it's always good to do a bit of inventory in our daily lives. Give God all the glory. How does me speeding and breaking the law give glory to God?

These are just a few thoughts that came to my mind during my 4 glorious hours of traffic school: 1. What am I doing that is pointless and needless? 2. What am I doing that is permissible but maybe not beneficial or constructive? 3. What can I do instead and also how much of what I do, do I justify or overlook? 4. What gifts and skills am I misusing or not using enough? 5. What can I do more of? 6. HOW CAN I BRING GLORY TO GOD IN EVERYTHING THAT I DO?

Pr. Juan said...

I believe we bring ultimate Glory to God when we love Him sooooo much that it's clearly evident by th way we choose to live our lives. "God is faithful" so we need not doubt. "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too" so we need to make the choice that to follow God and Him alone. Key words: Love, Obedience, Surrender, Purpose.

Be blessed!

Dan The Man said...

Chapter 10:
Examples, examples, examples... Paul definitely puts it in black and white and gives us perfect reasons how to behave and why. Even complaining can lead to destruction by the destroyer. wow... He says these things for our sake. if it is hot don't touch it is what I understand of it.
Verse 13 "The Temptation Verse"
I would say the part that sticks out the most to me is "..But God is Faithful.." He is in control. If we can't handle it he won't give it to us. How awesome is that. If we can't escape we can endure. If we can't endure we can escape. If we can not do either, god will not give it to us. God is a Good God!

Yay! Robbie for bringing up idolatry. You have reminded me to check myself before I wreck myself. I being a young guy without school or a job definitely have a lot of spare time. With all this spare time I need to focus on how I can use it for the glory of God. I am definitely reading more but not the Bible all the time. I am going to be focusing on that one day at a time now.
Verse 31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
So whatever we are doing in our daily lives should be glorifying to God. That way if anyone should see us, we should be above reproach and should be good exampled to believers and nonbelievers.

Hey does a cup of Joe stunt my growth? lol