We are vessels made for God’s glory. Once we are bought by Him we begin to live and work under the Master and Lord of all things. Our life itself revolves around Him. God is in everything related to our life. The more desirous we are for Him, the more and more He partners with us and participates in our life journey. Desiring Him is not all that a difficult task; neither will it be easy if we are unwilling to totally submit to Him. However, when we desire Him, He works for us in whatever condition we are. Asking the Lord to come into our life brings His serendipitous acts to us. The Lord continually works for the obedient and the desirous not only that they greatly rejoice, but also in that joy give something back to Him. The goodness He shows toward us is like the seed planted and the reaction we show by and for that goodness is the good things we say about Him. Jesus desires this from us and is delighted when we do it. “And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed” (Mark 5:20).
Forget what others proclaim about Him and how they do it. Disregard whether or not they do it in truth. Jesus has called you to speak of those things you know He did for you. Falsifying His acts brings no good, but harm. Crediting glory to Him when He did not play a part amounts to the same. Those that do it will reap from it. Do not fret about them, because in doing so you neglect and forget your part in glorifying Him. Do not give Satan an opportunity to divert your attention and so delay the fulfilling of your calling. For a period of time in the past I focused more on how and why many falsely glorify the Lord. It helped to an extent, for I was able to despise their ways. They did not match the things they spoke of Him. But I learned from the Lord that to focus more on them does no good both to Him and me as well. Rather, He wanted me to concentrate on what He is doing in my life. What I learned was when I began speaking of how and what great things He had done in my life, I began feeling His peace and joy even more. I began to see that He is with me and not with the fake. I realized that it is He who judges and that it is necessary for the wheat and the weeds to grow together until a certain time. I began to receive more from Him. I began to understand that when He works for me to glorify Him those that I worried about can no longer impede me. God will do the same in your life when you begin to glorify Him by that which He did for you.
When Jesus asks you to glorify His name, He at the same time provides people and time as well. You receive strength by the joy you received from His works. Yet, you have to wait if your glorifying Him should mean anything. A key for Jesus to perform great things for you lies in your listening to Him. Not just any listening, but proper listening, i.e. with a listening spirit. “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:5). This is such a pivotal aspect. You have to come to terms with Him. It never works the other way around. He knows what’s right and what’s best for you. He cannot lie, deceive or be without full knowledge. The more you approach Him with an open heart the more He teaches you to walk with Him. Sometimes He may say things you do not like to do or have never done before or will make you appear weak and humiliating before men. Yet, you must do them. Then you will see Him do great things in your life. You will not belittle yourselves because you see Him work in others’ lives. Your witness too increases among men, and when you speak, they listen. When you listen to the Lord, He makes you walk through a path that has all ingredients; you walk through many curves. Though your situation may worsen, he allows it so that He can exalt you far more times than you could otherwise do for yourselves. So, let this be reiterated to you that you’ll know its immediacy and significance. “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you” (Acts 3:22).
You will only see Him do great works for you by your measure of listening to Him. There will be times you fall back or feel like protesting, because the flesh is weak. But gather yourselves by reminding how good He was to you when you listened to Him or how you passed from death to life when you obeyed Him for salvation. He will never lead you to wrong and perpetual loss. The life we live in the flesh is such that we are unequipped to fathom all things. Commit to Him! “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom. 3:28). To commit to Him is to trust Him. Until the Lord justifies your faith for a particular matter you seek Him He will not do great things. So, your faith must be unadulterated. Some for the lack of courage to trust Him revert to works. Those works appear satisfying only until their heart gives up. With them a person misses the Lord’s justification and so, misses the unfathomable results and perpetual joy. Do not go on doing works, but rather trust Him to accomplish all things for you. When your faith is complete, He will justify you and do amazing things for you “so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:12).
You see, you glorify or proclaim Christ by that which He does for you. Hence, Paul says He will be glorified in you. The more you are into this the less the world matters to you. This means you are glorified in Him. But a word of caution: “for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (Heb. 2:1). Not any attention, but pay much closer attention to whatever He says. Or else, Satan will work to drift you away from it. Your emotions too will lead you away from it. When you know Jesus asked you to do (obey) something, put double the effort to hold on to it. He will help as many times as possible to give you understanding, but you should not keep losing it. If you are being attacked by various thoughts and circumstances, go to Him and He will protect your obedience. As you pay closer attention to His word, your faith becomes stronger leading Him to justify you and then you know what’s next.
Do not forget. You are preserved or saved only by His amazing works toward you; not of your will or your strength. For you hear the word that said “and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:5). Can we or Noah for one second think that they are saved apart from God’s works? In the midst of danger and fear of death they were saved. It is impossible to complete our journey of faith and glorifying the Lord without His great things. So, it is necessary to know as to how we go about it. In this world of ungodliness Christ alone can give us deliverance, safety and irreparable joy. May God do profound things for you that you persistently glorify Him!