LENT day 7

Something from Purpose Driven Life - Day 7: The Reason for Everything
(quotations in bullets)

• What is the glory of God? It is who God is. It is the essence of his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of his presence.
• Where is the glory of God? Everything created by God reflects his glory in some way. God's glory is best seen in Jesus Christ.
• When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God.We bring glory to God by:
1. worshiping him (worship to be motivated by love, thanksgiving, and delight, not duty. Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes. When you use your life for God's glory, everything you do can become an act of worship.)
2. loving other believers (accept each other just has Christ has accepted you.... love as God does...)
3. becoming like Christ (Spiritual maturity is becoming like Jesus in the way we think, feel, and act.)
4. serving others with our gifts (God didn't give you your abilities for selfish purposes. They were given to benefit others, just as others were given abilities for your benefit.)
5. telling others about him (This is a great privilege - introducing others to Jesus, helping them discover their purpose, and preparing them for their eternal destiny.
• It will sometimes mean choosing a difficult path instead of an easy one.
• Who are you going to live for - yourself or God? You may hesitate, wondering whether you will have strength to live for God. Don't worry. God will give you what you need if you will just make the choice to live for him.
• Will you accept God's offer [to become children of God]? First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you're not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you. Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Saviour. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose.

     Got me thinking of how we can give the most glory to God as we can... not saying we can add to this glory. After some reflection, I'd have to say being still. You're like: Oo what? haha In our stillness, we can reflect more and more of God's glory. We don't add to God's glory, all we do is bring His glory back to Him. I know it specified in the book that we bring glory to God by loving other believers but I'm rather itchy about that specification. We bring glory to God through our acts of love, regardless of who or even what it is directed to, so long as it's God's creation. Yeah, I know I just fully contradicted my 'regardless' but I really don't consider love for pornography, love for sin, love for wealth, love for fame, love for chaos to be bringing glory to God.
     Hmm... what happened today? Now both accounting professors know me. Somewhat awkward to have them talk about me when I was standing right there but they were compliments :] I can't believe the male prof remembers me by the presentation I gave for a business competition called "Auction for Action" back in October o_o He told my accounting prof that I have good presentation skills and my accounting prof told him I was hardworking Oo. That kind of made me happy, yeah I know, I shouldn't be looking for praise from people but it was nice. My family and I went out for dinner at a Chinese restaraunt on Steeles and Ashcott, the place was bleh but the food was surprisingly good (don't remember what it's called, sorry).
     Lately, I kind of feel like life is tedious (school work), nothing special, not that I'm complacent... now that's still a bad sign 'cause when you're close and right with God, there's always something special. Life is never tedious. Working on it, working on it! =)