QUESTIONS for Chapter 4 of BREAKING FREE
1. How has God made Himself known to you?
2. What does it mean that Christ is the radiance of God's glory?
3. What does giving glory to God mean to you?
4. How does a christian develop a life that glorifies God?
5. How can a person know if his or her life is glorifying God?
God has made Himself known to me in so many ways since I was young until now, I can clearly see His hand on me and through my life's experiences, through nature around me, through the people I have encountered both real and now virtual, through ones that have had a profound impact on me both good and bad. I have seen or heard God in His Word and by His Spirit within me. I must admit that at the time, quite often, I did not realize that God had made Himself known, yet now as I recall those moments, I know without a doubt. God placed people around me to teach me and help me and He has also placed ones that I was to help or testify of God and His great work in me. I also believe when I saw God answer prayers that He made Himself REAL in that He heard me and answered. This would thrill me and move me quite often to great sobs of emotion.
The most supernatural one was when God's Spirit began to flow through me in signs (during my worship) where the movement of my hands were communicating (ASL) words to the deaf that I did not even know. Also when others would tell me that God had placed angels around me and they saw them. Ya' gotta believe when God's Spirit falls on you or others see angels. I know that they have protected me many times in the last 15 years here in Mexico and on my many trips, God is my Protector and my Shield and He disperses His angels to have charge over me and my safety. I have many examples of this!
As you read in the Old and then the New Testament of God's glory moving before or with the people, we can catch a glimmer or glimpse into how marvelous God's glory is...
yet Christ as the radiance is beyond what we can imagine and far exceeds what we can grasp. A welcome interruption! I agree with Beth that it is undefinable. Christ showing us who God is ... like the sun (Son) radiates the rays to earth, the Father radiates through His Son to us... He is impenetrable... He is the exact representation of His being! Jesus Christ is the Glory of God, His unchanging essence. And His glory supplies all our needs.
The physical sun is a good comparison of how Christ radiates as the Son of God to me; just like the sun supplies many of our needs of light, warmth, plant growth, planet movement; the Son of God provides for all our needs as the Light, the Love, the Planter and Seed of Truth, the move of the Spirit upon us, the very breath of Life from God! He is Creator, He is Life, He is the Word that set all into motion. He is unchanging! He is constant! God wants to make Himself recognizable to us and through us, as He did with Christ and when He made us in His own image! The Holy Spirit in us, transforming us.
For me to give God the glory, a phrase used quite often in Spanish and in my recent years, means for me to credit God with anything that is rightly His and because of Him in me, to honor Him and give Him thanks for all He is doing and does in me or hopefully through me to others. To acknowledge Him for who He is and that all comes from Him.
When I give God the glory, I am praising Him for who He is, His very essence alive and moving through the power of His Holy Spirit. I just don't see who He is but I believe who He is, who He said He is and was and how He is revealed to me or others as they share Him with me.
As a Christian, I have developed a life to bring glory to God by being filled with His Spirit and acting on His Word. Spending time with Him daily and in His Word daily! If God is recognizable in me to others than I am glorifying God. I'm making progress each day and hope that when or if I return to my home life, that they will notice and want more of Jesus as well. Study to show myself approved but even more so that others may want what they see in me and I can say that's Him, not me. May I truly reflect all that I read and study, may I obey the moment I hear or understand, may I follow Jesus' way, and not my own, in hopes that He'll meet me where I am and lead me forward to shine His light in the darkness around me, to set other captives free and to speak His truth boldly without any hesitancy.
Here is the personal checklist that Beth Moore gives to evaluate against Scripture if our lives are glorifying God:
- "Is my most important consideration in every undertaking whether or not God could be glorified?" (1 Cor. 10:31)
- "Do I desire God's glory or my own? (John 8:50, 54)
- "In my service to others, is my sincere hope that they will somehow see God in me?" (1 Peter 4:10-11)
- "When I am going through hardships, do I turn to God and try to cooperate with Him so He can use them for my good and for His glory?" (1 Peter 4:12-13)
- "Am I sometimes able to accomplish things or withstand things only through the power of God?" (2 Cor. 4:7)
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
“. . . Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” — John 14:13.
Jesus revealed His purpose in answering prayer when He said, “. . . That the Father may be glorified in the Son.” In order to achieve His exalted purpose to glorify the Father, the Son has bestowed on His redeemed people the inalienable right to ask anything in His Name. from PRAYER AVAILETH MUCH
So I bow before You, O Lord and Glorify Your Name
QUESTIONS for Chapter 4 of BREAKING FREE
ReplyDelete1. How has God made Himself known to you?
2. What does it mean that Christ is the radiance of God's glory?
3. What does giving glory to God mean to you?
4. How does a christian develop a life that glorifies God?
5. How can a person know if his or her life is glorifying God?
Chapter 4 - To Glorify God
ReplyDelete1. How has God made Himself known to you?
Through nature, through His Word, through the words of others, through His Holy Spirit - through that inexplicable something inside of me that can't be explained by anything other than His Love.
2. What does it mean that Christ is the radiance of God's glory?
I was reminded of the Sun. If God's glory is like the sun, then Christ is like the sunbeams that shine through my window in the morning.
3. What does giving glory to God mean to you?
It means acknowledging that I am nothing without Him. It means honoring Him, worshiping Him. It means praising Him for the mighty things He does, and for the awesome things He is.
4. How does a christian develop a life that glorifies God?
In my opinion, it requires a CONSCIOUS effort to seek God above all else. Reading and studying the Bible, prayer, fellowship with other believers are all aspects of developing a life that glorifies God. And also, it's SO important to realize that our bodies are the temple of the LIVING God - we must ask God to keep us holy.
5. How can a person know if his or her life is glorifying God?
Measure your life - your thoughts, your attitudes, your actions - by the yardstick of God's Word. He has told us what the fruit of the Spirit is - are we exemplifying those things in our lives?