Whose Glory are you Seeking

"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"

John 6:44 (NASB)

When we go through our lives and think mainly of ourselves and little of what God would want of us, what is really happening.  For the most part we do not give this a second thought.  And yet Jesus words in his third discourse should cause some concern for most of us as we are notoriously good at seeking our own glory.  The hard part is that Jesus makes this a point of difficulty for genuine belief in Him as the source of salvation. 

In the Old Testament Isaiah said it this way:

"I am the Lord, that is my name; I will not give My glory to another. . . "  Isaiah 42:8 (NASB)

God it would seem has revealed that He does not share glory with anyone.  That means all my attempts to build my own glory are actually fighting against the God who deserves all the glory.  This puts my choices in a slightly different context. 

Our desire should be to seek that God be honored and glorified about all things.  That means He is to be exalted above ourselves.  That means each choice we make should be made with the desire and goal to bring honor and glory to God.  When we get this backward and make ourselves the goal of God's actions we can tend to really get discouraged.  When we correctly see that we are the tools of God's glory we can endure even difficulty knowing that God is going to bring about our good through His glory!  And sometimes that has to be enough. 

So I will end with a question - whose glory are you seeking today?

A tribute to Mother's

Mother's Day is just around the corner.  I know this because I have been trying to rack my brain to think about what to do for my beautiful wife when all of the usual places that I would shop are closed!  And the more I got to thinking about all she does for our family, I realized something.  Most of the rest of the world has had some sort of differences that have given more time to many.  Many people are either working from home and schooling from home.  Many people are out of work at the moment.  And all of this means that more people are home.  And for many moms, this has meant more work and not less.  More time watching the kids with fewer breaks and not even the ability to take them to a playground for a few minutes of respite. 

Moms have had to endure more time with toddlers and little ones.  More time breaking up fights between the older ones.  More time enduring the age old statement, "Mom, I'm bored."  Moms have had to endure a lot, and there is no extra payment received that I am aware of anywhere for being a mom. 

I think that a lot of times we look to our moms and wives to do much more than they ever intended.  So, dads, here is a list of free things that you can do this Mother's Day to help your wife have the best Mother's Day ever. 

1. Be the spiritual leader that God calls you to be. 
2. Listen to her frustrations.
3. Help her raise the kids.
4. Show your kids that you love your wife and will support her in all she does.
5. Make a meal (or at least bring one home)
6. Say something nice to her just because.
7. Make a list of all the things you notice she does for you and your kids and thank her for it.
8. Make her a card.
9. Give her a morning off where she can do whatever she wants and you will feed, care and nurture the children.
10. Pray for her daily.

None of these things cost a dime and they are always open for business!  So make use of this list and do even more to show how much you appreciate the mother of your children!