Postkiwi

“Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory”
Romans 11:36 (Living Bible)

As a young Presbyterian I grew up with the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession. It was a question and answer way of helping people learn doctrine, or be indoctrinated. I learned the first one indelibly: “What is the chief end of Man? The chief end of Man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever”. Every now and then there’d be a slip of the tongue and we’d say “glorify God and endure him forever”.

In this chapter Rick Warren introduces us to the concept of glorifying God and not glorifying God (sin). He introduces us to the five purposes he’s found in the Scriptures that apply to everybody:
1. We bring God glory by worshipping him.
2. We bring God glory by loving other believers.
3. We bring God glory by becoming like Christ.
4. We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts.
5. We bring God glory by telling others about him.

We’re invited to believe God loves us and made us for his purposes, believe we’re not accidents, believe we were made to last forever, believe God has chosen us to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for us.
We’re invited to receive Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, receive his forgiveness, receive his Spirit, who will give us the power to fulful our life purpose.

The question to consider today: “Where in my daily routine can I become more aware of God’s glory?”
I see God’s glory reflected in God’s creation everyday - I need to remember to stop and ’smell the daisies’.
I experience God’s glory as I rub shoulders with my fellow travellers each day. Makes a difference to the way I see the other people on the motorway.
I experience God’s glory as I offer every part of my routine to serve God.

I think the glory of God is something that bursts outside the bounds of the church. It breaks into my homelife - even in the middle of domestic squabbles over who washes up. The glory of God surprises me in the people who reflect the character of Jesus even though they’re not keen on professing Christian faith. The glory of God turns up on TV every now and then - when people profess their beliefs and values in public.