January 24 – Taught by God

“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:14 (NIV)

During the last hours that Jesus was with His disciples before His death on the cross, He revealed many things to them. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and revealed what the Holy Spirit would do for them. The disciples had walked and lived with Jesus for about three years. Yet, there was much they needed to understand about Him. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and live within them and teach them more to help them understand their Lord Jesus more fully. He would also bring to their remembrance and understanding of all that they had experienced with Him. That is our promise and that is what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives too. Through some New Testament inspired by the Holy Spirit we learn of Jesus. Actually how else would we really know Him since we've never seen Him with our eyes or heard him with our ears. When the Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus, He becomes glorious to us. Is Jesus a person of glory to you? If He is becoming more and more glorious it's because the Holy Spirit is teaching you.

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What is the glory of God? - See the Note

August 7 – Guide, Teach, and Comfort

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:13-14 (NIV)

When Jesus' time on this earth was nearing the end, He promised that He would send from the Father, the Holy Spirit to live with His followers. We believe that you who are reading this have learned what a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus Christ. It is through the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus abides in us and through the Spirit we are guided and taught and comforted in any and all experiences – even in times like these when our future here is not so certain. We can all know what He did for us when He died on the cross. We are aware that He knows our needs today and that He is praying for us. When we think of Jesus our heart is warmed and we grow to love Him more. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us to make these truths real to us all. So my friend, thank God today for the gift He has given to us in sending the Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and comfort us.

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June 1 – Suffering Righteously

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”  - 1 Peter 4:15-16 (ESV)

Suffering is not in itself all that great.  Most of the time, we suffer because of our own disobedience (of the law), foolishness, recklessness, or carelessness due to ignorance.  If we end up busting rocks in a chain gang due to violating the law of the land, we can not expect a blessing for the suffering that comes our way. We should not take comfort in suffering that we bring on ourselves for sinning, in contrast to suffering that we experience "as a Christian," because we take a stand with Jesus Christ. In our verse of promise yesterday, we learned that being insulted or rejected by society is the suffering that brings the glory of God upon us and we are blessed in the midst of what we are suffering. Kicked out, banned, fired, turned away, not counted, ignored, branded, and seeing your witness and testimony posts on social media taken down. These and others are ways we suffer for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The world hates God and hates the name of Jesus even more.  If we carry that name, we will suffer and we are promised that we can glorify God in that way. 

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August 16 – Be a Temple

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 -  (NASB)

Today's verse is a reminder, another lesson in the truth that we do not live our Christian lives by ourselves.  Abiding in us is the Spirit of God who we was given to us when we believed and received Jesus as our Savior.  All of us need to be conscious regarding how God works with us and within us when we accept Jesus.  God knows our needs and He knows we need help constantly if we are going to live a life pleasing to Him.  So we are reminded of the gift of God the Holy Spirit, He lives in us to make us realize what it means to be a child of God.  Our promise is this, we have been purchased, bought with a price that cost Jesus His life and we have been purchased in order to glorify God by the way we live and how we treat our bodies.  This is a tough promise to live up to but God is here with us.  He knows and He will help if we let Him.

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March 14 – Being A Light Not Hidden

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;” …   “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   Matthew 5:14, 16 (NASB)

Our words of promise today come from what we call the “Sermon on the Mount.”  Not intended to be a sermon so much as a time of  training His disciples in the true ways which God wants us to live.  Crowds were following Jesus wherever He went because of the miracles and healing Jesus was doing.  Jesus moved with the disciples to a place where there was enough room to include the crowds in the audience to this teaching,.  In our verses today, Jesus is using the illustration of light.  We do not set a light in our house and then cover it so we see no light.  No, we hang our light from the ceiling or on a stand or table and above what we want to illuminate.  So, that is how our lives are to be, like lights shining out so others can see them.  Our message is the way we live and our testimony is the light that shines in such a way that others see the glory of God our Father.  The promise is just that, if we live lives which reflect God love and His will, others will see.  Let's shine today and not hide for in Christ we are the light that the world needs.   

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January 8 – Taught by God

“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:14 (NIV)

During the last hours that Jesus was with His disciples before His death on the cross, He told them what the Holy Spirit would do for them. The disciples had walked and lived with Jesus for about three years. Yet, there was much they needed to understand about Him. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and live within them and teach them more to help them understand their Lord Jesus more fully. That promise is also our promise and that is what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives too. He helps us understand how wonderful our Lord is. Actually how else would we really know Him since we've never seen Him with our eyes or heard him with our ears. When the Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus, He become glorious to us. Is Jesus a person of glory to you? If He is becoming more and more glorious it's because the Holy Spirit is teaching you. 

What is the glory of God?

August 7 – Guide, Teach, and Comfort

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:13-14 (NIV)

When Jesus' time on this earth was nearing the end, He promised that He would send from the Father, the Holy Spirit to live with His followers. We believe that you who are reading this have learned what a wonderful Savior we have. You know what He did for us when He died on the cross. You are aware that He knows your needs today and that He is praying for you. When you think of Jesus your heart is warmed and you love Him. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us to make these truths real to us all. So my friend, thank God today for the gift He has given to us in sending the Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and comfort us.

June 17 – From Our Inner Being

“And Mary said:  “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Luke 1:46-47 (NIV)

These words are from a song that Mary, the mother of Jesus sang when she visited her cousin Elizabeth before Jesus was born. This song reminds us what true praise is and so we read these words today and think about them. We sometimes think that in order to praise God, we need to say something with our lips. Mary sang this song with her lips, we are certain but she sang that it was her soul that was glorifying and praising God. Before she put her thoughts into words she was praising God with her inner being. We can glorify God wherever we are. We do not have to be in a particular place with particular people singing out loud particular words. We can all do the same as Mary did. If we praise God in our hearts our Lord is aware of it and He will respond. What a good example Mary gave us. Let's praise God with our whole being today.

December 14

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:20 (NIV)

These were the shepherds to whom the angel had come with the good news of the birth of a Savior. They had gone in to Bethlehem and had found the baby in the manger. What they had seen inspired them to praise God and to glorify Him. Shouldn’t that be our reaction, too? Have not we met the Savior? Has not He shown Himself to us – the faithful One meeting our needs? Has not all we have heard about Him become true in our lives? Let us remember what He has done for us and then do as the shepherds did – glorify and praise Our God.

November 24 – Thanksgiving Day (USA)

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.” Psalm 69:30-31 (NIV)

The psalmist David understood the real meaning of thanksgiving. He knew that it glorified God. It made God more glorious. That is also what happens when we thank God, too.  It reminds us of His glory and it reminds others who hear us thank Him. So God is pleased when we thank Him. David realized that genuine and sincere thanksgiving made the Lord truly happy – more so than the many valuable animal sacrifices people were bringing. So, also, God is more pleased with our thanks than anything else we could do for Him today. 

June 20

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69:30 (NIV)

David, of course, not only wrote songs, he also did a lot of singing, beginning when he was very young. Here he explains why he did it. He wanted to praise God and glorify Him. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to make God more glorious. That does not mean that we can change God or add to His glory in heaven. So how can we make Him more glorious by our praise? What really happens when we thank God is that we see more clearly how glorious He is. And others who hear our praise will see more of His glory too. So our thanksgiving really increases our concept of God’s glory and He becomes more glorious to us and to others.