December 22, 2010

2 Chronicles 26
Uzziah’s fame spread far and wide, till he became strong. But when he was strong, he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. It was only for the priests to burn incense. I am so tempted to want to receive praise for the things I do. Whenever I seek the praise of man, whenever the praise of others is my motivation for action, I am infringing on the glory of the Lord. Uzziah had been abundantly blessed by the Lord. In that blessing he became deceived thinking that God had elevated him to a place to which he had not been elevated. How could he possibly have thought that? That is the subtle temptation of pride. If we could see it coming, it would not overtake us. How could Satan have thought that He could elevate himself to God’s level? How could he ever have thought, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High?” Yet he did, and Uzziah followed in his steps. If we have an elevated view of ourselves and devalued view of His glory, we too will follow in his steps. Lord, let me constantly know who I am and who You are! Break down the pride in me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Revelation 13
It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to over come them. And authority was given him over every tribe tongue, and nation. . . . Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Satan is incapable of beating the Lamb and he knows it. Yet he continues in his rebellion. The only way that he can diminish the glory of the Lamb is by coercing those who have chosen to receive the Lamb to despair and give up. The Lamb could respond in one of two ways. He could put a hedge around those who receive Him and not allow the temptation. Or He could allow Satan to attack and see if His followers will remain steadfast in the midst of the attack. Which will bring the Lamb more glory? It would seem to me that to stand steadfast in the midst of a horrible ordeal because one has found the Lamb's glory more valuable than comfort, speaks more loudly of the Lamb's glory than to be coddled in comfort, never having been aware that you have been protected from a fierce enemy.
In our time of serving the Lord, Laura and I have experienced-at no direct fault of our own-financial deprivation, rejection, death of loved ones, false accusations, illnesses etc. While I don't necessarily want to go through any of those experiences again, I am well within the mark when I say that in each and every situation, when it seemed the darkest, the Lord met us and walked us, if not carried us, through the situation. And some of those times His presence was so strong that I would have been willing to continue on in those situations for the sheer joy of experiencing His presence. Satan can not do anything to us without it being granted to him by the Lamb. What blessed opportunities to show the glory of the Lamb! He suffered and died for me. I am willing to live, suffer and die for Him. In so doing I have the privilege of increasing His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John