Glory
Leviticus 9:22, 23
Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.
In 9:6 Moses said to the people, "This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you." Moses, Aaron, and the people then got to work and followed God's instructions. Soon after, the glory of the Lord appeared. Often we look for God's glorious acts without concern for following his instruction. Do you serve God in the daily routines of life, or do you wait for him to do a mighty act? If you depend on his glorious acts, you may find yourself sidestepping your everyday duty to obey.
Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
The Psalmist asked that God's name, not the nation's, be glorified. Too often we ask God to glorify his name with ours. For example, we may pray for help to do a good job so that our work will be noticed. Or we may ask that a presentation go well so we will get applause. There is nothing wrong with looking good or impressing others; the problem comes when we want to look good no matter what happens to God's reputation in the process. Before you pray, ask yourself, "Who will get the credit if God answers my prayer?"
Luke 24:25, 26
He said the them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"
Why did Jesus call these disciples foolish? Even though they well knew the Biblical prophecies, they failed to understand that Christ's suffering was his path to glory. They could not understand why God did not intervene to save Jesus from the cross. They were so caught up in the world's admiration of political power and military might that they were unprepared for the reversal of values in God's kingdom - that the last will be first, and that life grows out of death. The world has not changed its values: a suffering servant is no more popular today than 2,000 years ago. But we have not only the witness of the Old Testament prophets; we have also the witness of the New Testament apostles and the history of the Christian church all pointing to Jesus' victory over death. Will we step outside the values of our culture and put our faith in Jesus? Or will we foolishly continue to be baffled by his Good News?
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
God's love must so permeate our motives that all we do will be for his glory. Keep this as a guiding principle by asking. "Is this action glorifying God? or "How can I honor God through this action?"