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Page 1: Passion for God’s Glory - livgivministry.comlivgivministry.com/sitebuildercontent/.../passionforgodsglory.pdf · Passion for God’s Glory Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord; that is my

Passion for God’s Glory

Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my

glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved

idols.

Free

Not for sale

www.livgivministry.com

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Scripture references: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) 1

Passion for God’s Glory

Introduction

My prayer is that this book will help us all understand God

deeper and love Him more so that, above all else, we will

have a passion for His glory.

My concern over the years has been that, as we focus our

teaching on how Jesus loves us, we risk insulting God. How?

By making Him sound like a loving old grandfather that will

do whatever He can to make us happy and keep us contented.

This is not the case, however.

While He does love us as stated in verses like John 3:16, we

must remember:

He is God.

He is in control.

He is everlasting.

He is all powerful.

He is self-sufficient.

He does not need us.

He is worshiped.

He is adored.

He is righteous.

He is holy.

He is magnificent.

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He is jealous.

He is sovereign.

He is not to be taken for granted.

He is to be feared.

While God loves us, there is so much more to Him. Scripture

talks about how God does things for His glory. Yes, God

loves us; however, what He does is for His glory.

He uses salvation for His glory.

He uses judgment for His glory.

The Bible says He even created evil people for the day

of trouble where He will show His glory.

Proverbs 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,

even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Jesus always said, “For the glory of God.” His whole purpose

was for God’s glory.

Yes, people were healed. Yes, lives were changed. However,

that does not change the fact that Jesus was here for God’s

glory.

Salvation is not for us to feel like God is our best friend and

will do anything for us. The main purpose of salvation is for

God and His glory. Let us not be fooled, God shows His

glory in both the good and the evil that occurs. Salvation is

another way for that glory to be shown.

Please understand that I am not trying to belittle salvation. I

am just saying salvation is a part of what God uses for His

glory. God is far greater than just salvation.

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In short, I am saying that we need to see God for who He is

and develop a healthy fear of Him and respect for Him. I am

afraid that we have made a politically correct “god of love”

for a world of narcissists. I have no doubt this angers God.

We have reduced Him to our level and in the process we have

insulted and angered Him by not acknowledging His glory.

My prayer is that this book will help us to search our hearts

and once again find the great glory of God.

So, what is God’s glory?

A harder question has never been asked. It is something no

man this side of heaven will ever be able to answer fully. We

can, though, answer a good part of that question.

Moses said, “Show me your glory, God.” So what did God

show him? God said, “I will show you my goodness,”

Exodus 33:18. Now, God didn’t say that goodness was all of

His glory. He was saying, “I will show my goodness as a part

of my glory.” Moses had no idea just how big his request was

of such an immense God.

So, what is God’s glory?

His righteousness in all things.

His holiness in all things.

His goodness in all things.

His majesty in all things.

His love in all things.

His truth in all things.

The list about His glory goes on and on, but most important is

His Sovereignty in all universes and dimensions and beyond.

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This is one reason God does not conform to our moral code

and thinking: His glory extends far beyond earth.

As we read this, may we search our hearts to see what

motivates us. I pray we will learn and see that all we need in

this life is to seek God’s glory.

Needs and wants have different meanings to each of us. I

contend that if you are a pastor, you do not need buildings.

You need only passion for God’s glory. You do not need

programs; you need only passion for God’s glory.

Jesus had no buildings and yet He turned the world upside

down because He had passion for God’s glory. Ministry tools

can be a blessing from God or they can be a curse if we do

not seek His glory. (A curse is anything that keeps us from

seeing and following God’s true glory.)

God’s glory does not go forth because of man-made things.

God’s glory goes forth because God says so.

As one pastor said, we do not need buildings and things to

proclaim God’s glory – that can be done with or without

dedicated buildings. We need people willing to proclaim His

glory in the streets and parks and houses.

May we search our hearts and see if we really have a passion

for God’s true glory.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 1

Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give

to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Exodus 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord

was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the

sight of the people of Israel.

Exodus 40:34-35 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting,

and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses

was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud

settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Psalm 97:1-9 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the

many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all

around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of

his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries

all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees

and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

before the Lord of all the earth . . .

Psalm 24:7-8 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up,

O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is

this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord,

mighty in battle!

Isaiah 6:1-4 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the

Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train

of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with

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two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called

to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of

the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the

house was filled with smoke.

Are these passages describing a loving, doddering, old

grandfather? No, they describe a God that will be feared and

respected for His glory!

As we go through this book we will realize different things

about His glory and I know, in the end, it will be an eye

opening comfort to us all.

First, let me address any thoughts that I am talking about the

God of the Old Testament before grace on the cross. Bear

with me as I set the stage from the Bible. We will see that the

God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New

Testament. He has not relinquished His glory in any way in

the New Testament. But, for this chapter, let’s stay with the

Old Testament.

We must remember that in the Old Testament we get a rare

view into who God is. Why, you ask? Because people did not

know God. They had drifted so far from the Garden of Eden

that God needed to reveal Himself in amazing ways.

To make this point, even Moses asked God on Mount Sinai,

“Who do I say sent me?” Exodus 3:13. Moses had no clue

what to even call God, and God answered, “I AM.” meaning,

tell them I AM everything has sent you.

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In the Old Testament we see one demonstration after another

of God’s glory, from pillars of fire to a pillar of cloud by day

to guide the people of Israel.

We see God in a burning bush talking to Moses.

We see Jacob wrestling with God in the night.

We see the Red Sea parted and the ground dry for

Israel to cross.

We see Enoch taken up into heaven.

We see Elijah taken up into heaven by whirlwinds and

chariots of fire.

We see Jericho’s great walls crumble at God’s

command.

We see God turn Lot’s wife into salt for turning back.

We see cities destroyed for their blasphemy against

God.

We see kings like Belshazzar, in the book of Daniel,

killed for his mockery of God.

Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest Babylonian king,

wandered in the fields and acted like an animal for

seven years because of his pride and arrogance against

God’s glory.

The list goes on and on in the Old Testament.

So my question is this:

If God would destroy cities and nations and humble

kings for stealing His glory, why do we think He

would turn the other way when we do not proclaim His

glory in our lives?

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No, we cannot preach a God that loves us no matter what we

do. We must preach a God that loves us, and we must preach

He loves us for His glory.

We must find a passion in our lives for His glory. This is the

passion we need to find as Christians:

A passion to search for His glory.

A passion to display His glory.

A passion to proclaim His glory.

His Glory must motivate us before we even get out of bed

in the morning.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 2

Now let’s look at the New Testament and see what it says

about God’s glory.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven

and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the

exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by

the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he

sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him

are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

John 17:4-5 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished

the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me

in your own presence with the glory that I had with you

before the world existed.

Note: In this last verse Jesus picked up His Glory as God

immediately . . . not eventually, not second. It was the

very first thing he did. God’s glory is who He is and we

must not think of Him without it. To do so would be a

grave sin against God.

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To get us focused on God’s glory in the New Testament, let’s

start with Paul (Saul) on the road to Damascus.

As he entered a town, Saul would kill anyone who claimed

Jesus. Christians were being murdered for being Christians,

just as we are seeing in the Middle East today.

So, when Saul came to town, Christians new this would be

their last day on earth. He was brutal, he was uncaring, but,

he was religious! He was probably the most self-righteous

person around doing what he thought would please God.

But Saul’s actions were about to change in a big way. As he

was going to Damascus, suddenly Saul was blinded by God’s

glory. A thunderous voice came from heaven and the ground

shook.

Acts 9:4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying

to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

A whole book could be written about Acts chapter 9:1-4, but

we will stay focused here on two things:

First, Saul was so filled with religion that he went asking for

permission to persecute the Christians, both men and women.

Acts 9:1-2 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder

against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and

asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that

if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he

might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

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That passage tells us a lot about Saul’s attitude: Saul had a

great passion. That’s why we see that a passion apart

from God’s glory is very dangerous.

Second, though Jesus says, “Saul, why are you persecuting

me?”

5. And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am

Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Jesus does not say, “Why are you persecuting my children?”

He says: “Why are you persecuting me?”

Saul was stepping into God’s glory and God was going to put

Saul in his place. Basically saying, Saul, you are so arrogant

that you are picking a fight with the creator of the universe!

Notice that God is more concerned about His glory than the

Christians that are being persecuted. Think about that. This

does not mean, however, that God did not care about the

Christians, but rather that His main priority was His glory.

As we know, Saul becomes Paul and eventually is one of the

strongest Christian founding fathers. God’s glory again!!!

God could have killed Saul and brought someone else along

to be a founding father of the faith, but God said, “No, I will

use Saul so that people know even my enemies bow before

me and I alone can change their hearts and lives.”

Notice though, before his conversion, Christians died at

Saul’s hand and now, he will be a founding father of the

faith! That doesn’t seem fair, does it? But we must realize

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that God’s glory doesn’t have to sound fair to us mere

mortals!

God’s glory will always be God’s top priority. Really think

about that for a moment. In it you can find comfort and you

can also find God’s direction for your life.

In the New Testament

We see disciples freed from jail with earthquakes.

We see demons panic at the name and or sight of Jesus.

We see people brought to life.

We see people healed.

We see people drop dead for lying to God.

We see the cross.

We see the empty grave.

We see sins paid.

We see Christians killed.

We see Christians persecuted.

And, everything we see has one purpose:

To bring Glory to God.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 3

Salvation has very little to do with us and everything to do

with God’s glory.

That statement can be taken two ways, so let me explain

both:

1. We, as individuals, play a very small part in a person’s

salvation. As the Bible says: some plant, some water,

some reap the harvest, John 4:37. In the end though,

none of us change a heart. None of us paid the price of

sin. None of us can open a person’s eyes.

The total glory goes to God, not to the one that shared

the Gospel. We must always watch our pride and keep

it in check. A person does not get saved because of

how good we look or how well we speak. I have said

many times that people get saved in spite of me and my

life.

Now don’t lean too far to the other direction and think,

“Okay, then I won’t bother to share the Gospel.” If we

do that, we are just sinning against God and He will

discipline us for that.

The point is, even if He had no servants on earth, God

would still change people’s lives. He could use a rock

to speak the Gospel and through the whole process He

would get the glory.

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The Bible actually teaches that, at the heart of it, our

salvation is not about us being saved but about God

showing His glory. Remember at the start of the book I

said salvation was just another way for God to reveal

His glory? This is what I was referring to, so let’s look

at Scripture and see if salvation is less about us being

saved and more about God and His glory:

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted

him and bestowed on him the name that is above every

name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should

bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the

glory of God the Father.

In these verses alone, we see salvation is for God’s

glory. That does not mean He does not love us. It

actually shows His love even more. His love for us

does not change because of what we do. His love is

steadfast in His glory.

God did not panic at man’s fall in the garden. He was

going to show us His glory in ways that no one could

imagine. The whole Bible declares His glory but it

really reached its peak when Jesus came and was by far

the main attraction to His glory.

So, what is my point? My point is that our salvation

and happiness is not what makes God who He is. God

is who He is because of His glory.

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Christians have to stop thinking that somehow we

complete God. The truth is that we do not complete

God. God is complete in His glory. God has been

around a lot longer than this earth has been and He has

always been complete. By His glory and love He has

allowed us into His presence. Please understand that

even if He had not extended salvation to us, God would

still be complete in His glory.

That alone should make us love, fear and respect Him.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 4

We as Christians put a lot of emphasis on having passion for

saving souls. Rightly so, God commands us throughout

Scripture to share the Gospel.

The dangers that can come from not balancing the Christian

life can be seen in my own experience. I personally became

so involved in my passion to see souls saved that I lost my

passion for the Glory of God.

Is that possible, you ask? Let me explain to you the danger

and what we are now seeing in our world because we lost

passion for God’s glory.

A person can be so passionate about seeing souls saved that

they forget it is about God’s glory. Once we forget it is about

God’s glory, we slowly change who God is. We make Him

this doting grandfather that wants the best for His creation so

that they are happy and at peace.

You see, when we remove God’s glory as the driving factor,

we start to focus on the person and their problems. We

become like a counselor wanting to ease their pain and make

them happy.

If we remove God’s glory as the primary focus, the person

becomes the primary focus. Then, before we know it, our

churches have become nothing more than a club for

socializing so that people can feel good and make friends.

Worst of all, they look at God as their best friend that just

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wants them to be happy. God is so much greater than that

thought process.

Within that context, speaking of God’s glory makes God

sound like an ego maniac and we think it is foreign that

God’s glory is more important to Him than we are.

We have gotten so far away from God’s glory that we don’t

even know what His glory looks like any more. Essentially,

we have stolen His glory and taught people a lie about God

and who He is.

My warning is that anything less than a passion for God’s

glory will lead us to water down who God is, especially when

we are ministering to people. It is our nature to want to make

people feel good. However, anything less than passion for

God’s glory will eventually lead us away from God’s will

and God’s purpose in ministry and in our lives. Worse yet,

we will lead others away from who God really is.

In my own life when I put my focus on passion for God’s

glory, passion to share Jesus boldly is present automatically.

When my passion is on His glory I do not worry about the

results. Whether a person responds or not is not my problem.

My focus just needs to be on His glory.

I can also provide better counseling when my focus is the

Glory of God. It is easier to speak truth when the focus is His

glory. Now, the truth may not always be accepted well at

first. People are used to being more concerned about their

happiness than for God’s glory. We have to remember this

world has become very self-absorbed and people want to be

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made to feel good rather than wanting to focus on God’s

glory. (Sadly, that way of thinking has filled the church also.)

What we do not realize is that, until we really understand

God’s glory and the importance of declaring His glory, we

will never feel better. God’s glory speaks never changing

truth into our lives. We can accept it or reject it and how we

feel will be a direct result of which choice we make.

Let me challenge you to one more thought because it is heavy

on my heart and I have done a lot of soul searching to try and

figure this out. If we put God’s glory first, what would our

lives and ministry look like? I think to get that answer we just

need to read the Bible, see what God felt was so important to

put into the Bible and see how He used and worked through

people.

So let me ask, are our churches and ministries focused on

God’s glory and God’s ways?

I would say for the most part, no. Sometimes when I go to a

church, I feel like I am in a corporate customer service

department. There are free cafes with all kinds of pastries,

juices and fancy coffee and free wifi. Please forgive my

sarcasm, but who needs free wifi when they go to worship

God? I submit that church should be so sacred that we should

discourage cell phones and wifi in the house of God where

God’s glory should be the only focus and priority.

My point is, who has had the biggest influence on our

churches, commercial corporations or God and His glory? I

believe our churches do not have power like we see in the

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Bible because we have rejected His glory and followed the

lead of earthly thinking on how to reach people. If the

unsaved culture came up with an idea of how to market, you

can be sure God’s ways are the opposite of their earthly

concept. God works in rejuvenated hearts not in hearts of the

unsaved corporate world, meaning His ways will always be

opposite of their ways of thinking.

If we want to see God’s glory, we have to stop looking at the

corporate world and look in the Bible once again to find His

working power.

Yes, we may get people to come into church this way, but,

we will never see God’s working power the way we see it in

the Bible. We can have a moral minded fancy church with

none of the power that God shows us in Scripture. Anything

less than worshiping God’s full glory is failure on our part.

I acknowledge that the church leaders’ intentions are

typically good but unfortunately their theology is all wrong.

Hence, there is a passion for people but not a passion for

God’s glory.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 5

Balance in the Christian life is not hard to find once we

understand passion for God’s glory. If our sole passion is for

God’s glory, all other aspects in our life will balance out.

We need to stop harping about passion for souls. If we teach

passion for God’s glory, our people will find passion for

souls within their passion for God’s glory. Funny how that

works.

When we have passion for God’s glory all the other passions

come with it. Jesus didn’t have to teach His disciples a lot

about passion for souls. He taught them passion for God’s

glory. When Jesus said go and tell people, they took off like a

wild fire because they already had passion for God’s glory.

Whenever I hear a Christian or a pastor make statements like:

our church has no passion for souls or no passion for the poor

or some other lack of passion, I tell them the real problem is

no passion for God’s glory. We focus on the symptom when

we need to cure the disease.

We need to start understanding God’s glory because that is

all heaven will be about. I’ve often wondered if God waits to

call us home because when we find out how much heaven

will be about God and His glory and nothing else, we would

be the most miserable people in heaven. I say that

sarcastically, but to make a point.

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Let’s do a little pop quiz here. If you or your church is

lacking a passion for:

Prayer

Souls

Visitation

Bible study

Missions

Or ___________ (whatever it might be)

What do you do first? Teach on it? No!!! You focus yourself

and the church on passion for God’s glory.

Why? Because actions done without passion for God’s glory

become duty and those actions will ultimately fail.

When evaluating our life or our ministries, we must be

careful not to count material blessings as proof that God is

pleased with what we are doing with His Glory. It is very

easy to say, “This money came in for this.” or “God gave us

this so He must be pleased with us.”

The truth is, the material things we consider blessings may

actually be distractions that Satan is using to slowly lure us

away from seeing God’s real glory. If Satan see’s you

measuring your spiritual rightness with God based on

material things. He just figured out how to lure you away

from God’s will.

The only way we can know if God is truly happy with what

we are doing is by reading the Bible and seeing if our hearts

match up with His glory. Most Christians are not destroyed

because Satan offered them vile sin. Most Christians are

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destroyed because Satan slowly seduced them with material

possessions, either personal or ministry related.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 6

As Jeremiah records in Jeremiah 29:13 Seek me with your

whole heart and you will find me. Seeking His glory will

cause pain and discomfort as God starts to mold us so we can

see His glory.

The earthly things we hold onto will slowly start to have no

meaning. Money and material things lose their grip on our

lives. We begin to realize that God’s glory is so amazing and

the only thing that matters is to walk with Him today, the way

the Bible instructs.

This is a process but there is no other option. We must

remember though, just like those in the Bible, any time we

take our eyes off His glory we fade back into the world’s way

of thinking.

The five churches in Revelation, chapters 1-3, saw God’s

glory at one time, but they vanished into history because they

lost passion for God’s glory. We must constantly guard

against the dangers of losing passion for God’s glory.

1. Search our hearts

We must search our hearts and see what our passion is

and why.

2. Repent

We must repent of everything that is not about His

glory.

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3. Pray

We must pray for God to show us His glory. Our

prayers should be more about His glory than anything

else.

4. Study the Bible

We must deliberately study the Bible in search of His

glory. Doing this is vitally important. Many people

today do not want to study the Bible. They are guided

by what they think or feel and justify it with, “God told

me.” I have found that this so-called, “God told me,”

feeling people claim they have experienced is actually

the opposite of what God says in His Word.

We must understand, God said all we needed to know

when the Bible was written. If God was to tell us

something in our hearts, it is our responsibility to

verify it through Scripture. It is critical for us to study

the Bible on every thought and feeling we have and

decision we make. The Bible warns us of this in the

last days in 1 Timothy 4:1, But the Spirit explicitly says

that in later times some will fall away from the faith,

paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of

demons,

Some will fall away. We cannot stop that. The question

is this: will we be ’a someone’ who falls away from the

faith, led by doctrines of demons?

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5. Proclaim His glory

God shows His glory if we are willing to proclaim it to

people. The amount of noise and volume does not

necessarily mean a person is more or less in love with

God’s glory. Just because a person does not jump up

and down does not mean they are not proclaiming His

glory. We are all made differently and will all proclaim

God’s glory differently.

6. Praise and thank Him for His Glory

When God shows you His glory, praise and thank Him

for His Glory. Never take it for granted . . . I call that a

glory killer because His Glory will stop if we do not

praise Him for it. 1 Samuel 4:21 calls this Ichabod,

meaning the Glory has gone. Please understand it is not

that God’s glory stopped, but rather God’s glory has

gone from you.

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Passion for God’s Glory

Chapter 7

1 Samuel 17 gives us the account of David and Goliath.

David was a man that had passion for God’s glory. Even

when his oldest brother insulted him and tried to belittle him,

David stayed focused.

The king weighed him down with his fighting equipment and

still David stayed focused and said, just let me go with the

glory of the living God.

We must be careful not to weigh ourselves down with what

other Christians say we need in order to serve God. We need

our Bible and a passion for God’s glory – be very careful of

anything else that may weigh you down.

The king’s intensions, while good, were wrong. David was

the only one concerned about the glory of God,

demonstrating why the king and the whole army of Israel

were wrong. Be cautious of good intensions as they are often

at odds with God’s glory. Good intensions have interfered

with the glory of God being proclaimed in the church and in

people’s lives.

In the 1 Samuel 17 text, you will notice David was the only

one that cared who was insulting the living God. Later in the

text he also informs Goliath that the living God will destroy

him and that the world will know the God of Israel. This took

a man that had passion for God’s glory – not a man of

strength, not a man of great speech, not a man of wealth.

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God’s glory was revealed because of David’s passion for

God’s glory. In summary, God did not use a so-called

professional. He used the most unlikely candidate, David,

because of his passion for God’s glory. God does not need or

want professionals. As we saw in Isaiah 42:8 earlier, I will

give my glory to no other. 1 Corinthians 1:27but God chose

the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame

them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the

world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;

As a life lesson, be cautious not to come up against a person

that has a passion for God’s glory when their passion aligns

with the Bible. But, also beware in the end days of passion

for a false version of God.

Saul’s actions against David came out of pride and jealousy

and Saul ended up living with a tormented soul for the rest of

his life with no relief.

Also note, even though Israel was God’s chosen people and

the army and the king had a passion for Israel, God could not

use them because they had no passion for God’s glory. So,

He used David. I pray that we will be ‘a David’ and that our

only passion will be for God’s glory.

There is so much more that can be written on God’s glory.

Let’s take what God has shown us so far in this book and

meditate on it. We can use it as a launching point to seek

God’s glory and leading in our lives.

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I don’t have all the answers, but God’s glory does. I pray that

today will be the start for you and me to find a deeper passion

for God’s glory.

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Finally, let me say that if we will seek God’s glory every day

we will be amazed day after day as He reveals more and more

to us.

And each day we will say, I thought I knew God’s glory

yesterday but today He proved I knew only a little bit about

His glory.

Scripture references

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001

by Crossway Bibles