Give God the Glory

Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

A few months ago, a friend and I were talking about a women’s retreat that had taken place a short time earlier. My Daughter was actively involved in the planning and had MC’d the event. My friend started telling what a great job my Daughter had done and that I had done such a great job raising her.

I tried to tell her that it wasn’t me, it was all God! He brought her up and protected her from me. This loving Lady had no idea of the home life my daughter had during her early years.

The problem was that I had Endometriosis. It played havoc with my hormones big time. I was angry constantly. For hours I would sit in a chair with my hands clenched so I would not hit my child. Even when she crawled up in my lap, I couldn’t hold her. I felt that I was not only living in a black hole but also enveloped in a black cloud in the bottom of a pit.

I took care of her basic needs but, for the life of me, I could not care for her emotional needs. Years later she told me, “All I ever wanted you to do was play with me.”

The bottom line was that it took four years to find the right diagnosis then have the surgery that removed all of the diseased tissue.

After the surgery it was like someone had flipped a switch in my personality. Gone were the wicked witch and her black moods and in came the Son with His blessed light with healing, peace, comfort and forgiveness. Praise God, I was literally a new person.

It was such a release that if that had been the only thing that God ever did in my life, I would follow Him, giving Him the praise, glory and honor that He deserves!

It took a long time for my daughter to learn to trust that things were going to be different in our home. There was healing to be done in both of us. She needed to learn that she could trust me and that changes she saw were real and permanent.

People are desperately looking for women like you and me whose lives have been wonderfully changed by God. They see a power in us that they cannot explain in human terms and a message that shouts of God’s mercy and forgiveness and they want it for themselves.

How can they tell, you ask? Let me put it this way; have you ever had someone come up to you out of the clear blue sky and ask, “You’re a Christian aren’t you?” You nod in the affirmative with this stunned look on your face and they nod and say, “I thought so. I could tell by what you just said (or did)!”

That’s how they can tell, by how you live your daily life and that only comes by spending time with the Father every day and letting Him work a change in your life. Every day, not just a couple of times a week or whenever you think of it. Your spirit needs to be fed on a daily basis just as your body does or it gets weak also.

There is a saying that goes “Seven days without prayer makes one weak!” Arrow prayers are great for a quick shot to the Lord, but you can’t hear Him if you don’t spend time with Him. The best benefit of spending time with God is that you allow Him to make changes in your life.

The catch is that you have to ask Him to make those changes. He can’t answer a prayer that you haven’t prayed. Wishing He would make changes in your life is not the same as asking Him to.

Then remember to not only give God the glory and honor as He works in your life but remember that others are watching you change. They see the benefits that following God brings and that will draw them to Him.  In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

All praise and glory and honor to God that He chooses to work in our lives!