January 2012
Photo courtesy of Stock.XCHNG.com/bjearwicke
1 Corinthians 10:31 – Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
1. There are many compartments in our lives. Many Christians live their lives like train compartments. One compartment may represent their home life; another compartment is for work; and another for church, etc. Each compartment carries its own set of rules, standards, and customs.
In the compartment of our home life (for example), we may act, lead, and love according to our upbringing and our position in the home. Because the home is closed to the outside world (unless you welcome people over), you will often be the most ‘loose’ with your mouth and behavior than in any other compartment.
The work ‘compartment’ encompasses another set of rules, standards, and customs separate from the home compartment. Some work centers encourage (or influence) people to dress, talk, and conduct themselves in a specific manner to be accepted or promoted. There is an unwritten desire or need to become one of the ‘guys or girls’ in the office where they are known by their superiors positively. In many work centers, the goal is to reach the ‘top,’ and many do so without the slightest concern for how they get there. Such strivings may influence or ‘encourage’ people to compromise their moral standards and conduct.
The church ‘compartment’ is fitted with a set of rules, standards, and customs different from the other two. This compartment is filled with outward displays of piety and godliness. Some churches also carry specific (or unwritten) rules for dress or conduct. Additionally, congregations will often worship the Lord in similar fashion (based on their affiliation or cultural background). Their children are well kept and their family is pictured as the Christian model for all, even if this is not true in the home compartment.
2. Only one rule must exist among our life compartments. Our lives may have different compartments of home, work, church, etc., but only one rule must govern them all, to the glory of God. Jesus has given two great commandments that should govern our conduct (Matthew 22:36-40).
As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he stated that whether they ate, drank, or whatever they did, to do it for the glory of God. Some definitions of glory from the translated Greek are magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace; majesty; the kingly majesty that belongs to him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity.1 In every thing we do and in every situation, God is to be glorified.
3. How to glorify God in each compartment of life.
Some people would ask, ‘how do I glorify God in eating or drinking?’
If we look back on the definition of glory above and consider the things that we eat, drink, and do on a daily basis, consider this:
- Do you eat to where you become gluttonous? Filthy? Pig-like? Do you eat foods that God would not be pleased to see you eat? Do you eat fattening foods that cause you to gain excessive weight, creating numerous health problems? Would this type of eating honor God and your body, where the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)?
- For the things you drink, do you become drunk with alcohol (even if it is in your own home)? Do you drink to the point where you would dishonor your own body by consuming liquids that are clearly unhealthy and destroy your body? Would the Lord be pleased and glorified?
- What about your conduct… When working with difficult bosses, do you apply Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38-45? Or do you treat them like the world would treat them, curse at them, and ensure they know you don’t like them? Do you work each task and responsibility to the best of your ability? Do you love others as yourself and give each person the very best of what you have to give?
4. Living for God’s glory is moment-to-moment. Living for God’s glory requires a concentrated effort with each situation and circumstance. It will require some of the following (this is not an exhaustive list):
- Times of prayer and intimacy with the Lord throughout the day
- Bridling the tongue from speaking falsely, course joking, and saying evil things (Proverbs 21:23; Ephesians 4:29, 5:1-4; James 1:26, 3:3-13)
- Meditating on scriptures throughout the day that help us stay focused on the Lord (Psalm 1:1-3)
- Fellowship with like Christians that motivate and encourage you
- Remaining unspotted from the world and its ways (this may require separating yourself from certain events and people) – Psalm 1:1; James 1:27
1 – Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for doxa (Strong’s 1391)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 26 Jan 2012. http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1391&t=KJV
Psalm 37:4 – Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
To delight in something is to be happy about it; take exquisite delight; to make merry over, or make sport of.1 Within this writing, we take notice to the delight that is in the Lord, but there is another ‘delight’ that affects the hearts and souls of men as well.
There are but two delights a person can place their hearts upon. To witness the first delight, we can go to the beginning with Adam and Eve. The Lord created the heavens and earth. They had been dressed and arrayed according to His good pleasure. The man was created out of the dust of the ground and the woman out of one of his ribs. She was to be a help meet to share a common purpose: to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over ever living thing that moves upon the earth (Genesis 2:29).
Ephesians 5:1-4 – Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
In our society today, we are bombarded with fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, jesting, and foolish talk. We don’t have to look any further than television, music, and our surrounding environment to find these in abundance. As Paul told the church in Ephesus, these things were not to be named even once among them. Sadly however, it is these very things that have become sources of conduct and entertainment in our own lives. .
We’ve become accustomed to sin.
Photo courtesy of Stock.XCHNG.com/zasvedogov
Psalm 34:8 – O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
There are times when we are offered sample foods or want to try (or taste) what someone else has. When we try (or taste) the particular item, we make a determination on whether we want more for ourselves. The same occurrence happens for those in the Lord.
Taste and See
When a person is first introduced to the Lord, they enter into a ‘trial period.’ They may wonder what Christianity is about and desire to learn more about God. Sometimes they have no idea what to expect when they come to church or meet other Christians. They are coming for a taste.
Others may experience a situation where the Lord intercedes on their behalf or another person close to them. They have become first-hand witnesses of something the Lord has done. They have received a taste.
The taste we receive is an understanding that the LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy (Psalm 103:8). We taste His goodness, mercy, love, and grace. We witness His care and concern for His children and even those that are far from Him. We see this and can testify to it. We have received a taste.
Trust
As we come to take a sample of something and find that it’s good, we’ll typically go out to purchase more for ourselves. If we tried a sample food at a restaurant and like it, the next time we return, we’ll request a platter for ourselves. We have come to trust in that taste.
When a person asked for your help and you came to their aid, that person learned that you were dependable and could be relied upon for further assistance. That person has come to trust in that taste.
As we learn more about the Lord’s goodness, we too must come to trust in the ‘taste’ we received from Him. In doing so, we must understand the following:
1. We can no longer take samples. Have you ever seen someone trying to become full eating only samples? That person would eat countless samples hoping to be filled without buying the product. Samples are good, but as we learn that they are good, we must move on to the purchase. As we tasted and found how good the Lord is, we must move on to trusting in Him.
2. Trusting God will cost you. The word trust is translated in the original Hebrew as to confide or hope in God.1 In the best and worse of days, you can place your trust, confidence, and hope in the Lord. You have already tasted that He is good, merciful, and loving. Now, He wants you to trust Him in the quiet seasons of your life; in the moments when there seems like there’s no way out; to trust in His decisions and Word when everyone else doubts. This is where He wants us to be. Tasting is free. Trusting will require a lot more.
3. People that trust in the Lord are blessed. The Hebrew word for blessed is translated as happiness or blessedness.2 Those that trust in the Lord become happy in Him. This is more than what a sampling of God can provide. This happiness fills the heart and soul as you immerse yourself more in the Lord. An intimacy develops that draws you closer, wanting more.
A taste of the Lord cannot give you the same ‘experience’ as trusting in Him. The Lord is good and merciful to the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), but there are some things we may not be able to attest to without a taste of His goodness and love.
1: Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for chacah (Strong’s 2620)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 5 Feb 2012. http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H2620&t=KJV. 2: Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for ‘esher (Strong’s 835)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 5 Feb 2012.http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H835&t=KJV.
Acts 6:1-7 – And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The Grecian widows were being neglected in the daily ministration. They had a need that wasn’t being met, so they addressed it. When the murmuring of the Grecian widows came to the attention of the twelve, the called the multitude of disciples unto them to discuss the matter further.
As we continue to read, we will discover that as the Grecian widows had a need, so did the twelve apostles.
Psalm 1:1-5 – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
The first Psalm begins with how a man can be blessed. Immediate attention is given to those characteristics:
1. A blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. The ungodly may say if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard. However, the Word of God calls us to love, forgive, and show mercy. A blessed man must be cautious of the sources they receive counsel. A blessed man must allow the scriptures and godly counsel to direct and guide them.
5 Ways We Honor God
#1: Make the two greatest commandments your life’s pursuit.
#2: Do not be ashamed to live as a child of God among the world.
#3: Find joy in obeying God’s Word by meditating on it day AND night.
#4: Represent God as His ambassador in all situations.
#5: Pray throughout the day.
Matthew 22:35-40 – Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Our lives are filled with many goals, dreams, and desires. We think about losing more weight, starting a new hobby, saving more money, getting a promotion, etc. However, how often do we think about loving the Lord more?
What does it mean to love the Lord thy God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind?
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