Jesus

God’s Glory or Personal Glory?

~ ckwills ~ Leave a comment

I like to read books about people’s visions of heaven. Of course, I take them all with a grain of salt, and I compare them to Scripture, but I do find them inspiring. The descriptions thrill me and help me keep my eyes on the prize. 

One book was particularly sobering. This young man was a military recruit in World War II, and he died of pneumonia in the barracks hospital during training. He saw his own body with the sheet pulled over his head. Then Jesus, the Man made of Light, came into the room, and the young man’s life started playing like a 3D movie around him. A question came from the living Light: What did you do with your life? Every response the young man made was met with the answer, That glorified you. Then came the next question: What have you done with your life to show Me? He grasped instantly that Jesus was asking what he had done with His life to show the world the unconditional love of Jesus. 

That scene has replayed in my mind many times. It has caused a knot in my stomach as I’ve struggled with how to live my life for God’s glory and not my own. That is the question, isn’t it? Our actions, our deeds, our words — they may be the same either way; but one way brings glory to God, the other is for personal glory. What is the difference? How do I live for God’s glory?

This week I read a scripture that shed some light on this for me. Let me put it in context. In the encounters Jesus has with the people and the Pharisees in John 6-8, He continually tells them that He isn’t acting on His own, that He is not doing His own will or saying His own words, but He is doing and saying only that which He receives from His Father. He tells them this over and over, hoping against hope that they will put their faith in Him.

Then, in John 7:17-18, Jesus says, 

Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 

It hit me. Doing and saying things that originate from me bring personal glory; doing and saying things that originate from God bring Him the glory. It’s so obvious that you are probably wondering what I’m so stunned about. Let me try to explain. 

Jesus always sought the Father, in order to receive from Him, and then He did and spoke what He heard the Father say or saw the Father do (John 5:19; 12:49-50). He spent time with God, received from Him, and broke that bread before the people. That brought glory to the Father, not to Himself. That is how we live our lives for God’s glory. 

Of course, that’s why the Father has given us the Holy Spirit. When we live out of the infinite resource of the Holy Spirit in us, we will bring glory to God by showing Him to the world. When we live out of our desires, our flesh, our thinking or our feelings —  then it’s all for personal glory or personal satisfaction.  

Have you noticed those times when you are living out of the Holy Spirit only? Your words, your actions, the great love you have for people — how it is from Him and not you? For me, this only happens when I spend more time with Him, when I’ve been filled with Him — saturated with the Spirit and not the world. Otherwise, I live out of my own desires, out of my own impulses — for my own glory. Lord, help me.

I can only end with a prayer.

Father, draw me to you as I’ve never been drawn before. Forgive me for all the times I’ve neglected being with You. Retrain me. Let the world fall away. Make my priorities right. Help me let go of my own agenda. I want to please you. I want to bring glory to You, to reveal You to the world, as You’ve asked. Just….. help.  

The tender love of Jesus for His mother

Aside ~ ~ ckwills ~ 5 Comments

One reason I fell in love with Jesus is because He set women free. He honored and respected women, and He treated them as just as much potential citizens of heaven as men. He raised their status from chattel to equals, and we still see the impact of that today everywhere people have basically followed His teachings. Jesus loves women, and I love that because I am one!

The story of the wedding at Cana in John chapter 2 has always fascinated me. This story is not in any of the other gospels. And as I wonder why, I remember that John was the disciple Jesus assigned from the cross to take care of His mother, Mary. So John spent a lot of time with her over the years. He must have heard this story from her point of view, and that’s what I’ve been pondering.

To me, the miracle of turning water into wine at this wedding feast has always seemed so different from the other signs and miracles of Jesus. This week, the involvement of Jesus’ mother has caught my attention.

We know that Mary had been observing her firstborn son for thirty years. We don’t know all that Jesus did during that time, but John does say that this was His first miracle. This leads us to conclude that He had a normal life, “growing in favor with God and man.” Yet all this time, Mary was “pondering in her heart” all that had taken place surrounding Jesus: His conception, including the announcement from Gabriel that she would bear “the Son of God”; the prophetic words from Simeon and Anna at the dedication of baby Jesus in the temple, especially the words of Simeon that now he had seen God’s salvation, and that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart; the magi coming in splendor from the East, bringing luxurious gifts and worshiping the King of the Jews; the words of the twelve-year-old Jesus, found after three days in the temple courts, saying that he had to be about His “Father’s business.”

Now Jesus has become a rabbi and has disciples following Him. They were invited to the wedding along with Jesus. Mary sees all this, and continues to ponder, to wonder, to dream….. and to worry? Then a social crisis occurs at the wedding — no wine — and somehow Mary is involved enough that she goes to her eldest son and tells him the problem. I wonder, what is she expecting Him to do?

At first, Jesus seems to rebuff her, but still she tells the servants to do whatever He tells them. Then He calls the servants and instructs them to fill the jars with water and take a cup to the master of the banquet. Of course, when they do, the water turns into wine, the best wine of all.

The next moment is the one that fascinates me. As Mary sees what has happened, what Jesus has done, I can see everything falling into place in her mind. All her experiences, the prophecies, the angelic words — they all come into focus as she, for the first time, sees her Son as truly the Messiah. It must have been a tremendous moment — one of instant insight and revelation.

And in my mind’s eye, I can see the looks Jesus and His mother give each other. His, a tender look that said, “See, this is what it was all leading up to. This is what you suffered the humiliation of being an unwed mother for. This is what all the prophecies and signs pointed to. The time has come, and you are the one who nurtured me and wondered for all these years what it was all about. Here it is. The revealing of the Messiah, your Son, has come.” And Mary’s look, her gasp, her flash of understanding, her brand new love –not just for her Son — but for the Messiah of all mankind.

Jesus chose to honor His mother, Mary, through His first miracle. It was a simple miracle just for her. It was a great, big thank-you. It was tender and sweet and kind.

And I’m falling in love with Jesus all over again.