Giving God the Glory!

"I am the Lord; that is My Name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols...Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim His praise...!" Is. 42:8,12

I saw this scripture on Beth Moore’s blog and I was convicted. There are so many times when it is evident that God has done a work in my life and I don’t give Him the glory He is due. Why do I struggle with this? I should be shouting from the rooftops, “Look at what my God has done for me!”. I should be giving Him all the praise that He deserves just for being who He is. He is LORD! He is my provider, my sustainer, my redeemer, my resurrection, my strength, my healer, my sin bearer, my counselor, my creator, my rock, my deliverer and so much more. Oh, how I love Him!

The Lord has brought me out of a slimy pit and set my feet on the rock—I am no longer standing on shifting sand, but the never-changing Word of the Most High. Praise God!! There are so many things that He has brought me through—and I am so thankful that He has allowed me the opportunity to experience the life that I have lived. Whew! I never thought that I would say that. I remember one Sunday when Rhett preached, the sermon was on the sovereignty of God and how He allows everything to happen. I asked Rhett, “Well, what about when bad things happen to children?” I don’t remember his exact words, but it was something to the effect that God is able to bring good from anything bad. Since that time, one of my favorite passages in the Bible is Isaiah 61:3 “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” I truly think that God has given me beauty from ashes. The scars that I have inside are a reminder that if not for the grace of God, I would still be in the pit. There is no telling where I would be if not for His grace and mercy. You see, I was heading down a path of self-destruction, trying to fill a God-sized hole in my life with worldly stuff—some of it bad, bad stuff. He has truly given me a testimony and I should be shouting it from the rooftop! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that You have done in my life and all that You are going to do—I can’t wait to see what’s next!!