Who Gets the Glory!?!

Would you deliver my message if you had to do so anonymously? The question cuts to the heart of the matter without sugarcoating a single ounce!

Who was asking? None other than God Almighty Himself. When I asked Him why He was asking, He continued His teaching . . . because I care more about motives behind why you do something more than if you do it. Rhetorically, I asked in response, "Really?"

"If it were not so, would I have spoken it?"

Which brings me to one word-- one that's both a question and an answer-- GLORY! Who gets the glory? Do you want to receive the compliments, accolades and acclaim only for your 'fans,' or audience if you will, to look at you? Or do you want to get all the attention, so that when you have their attention, you can direct the glory back to the Gifter God!?!

God did not give ANY of us our gifts or talents to ONLY benefit ourselves. Our gifts, talents and lives are ALL from Him and for Him (James 1:17, Romans 11:36 and Col. 1:16). If I had to narrow our lives and purpose down to two things my answer would be a simple one-- to share His Love with everyone we come into contact with for His unsurpassable Glory!

Sure we are supposed to extend the same mercy, grace and forgiveness we've been extended and let people know there is hope and that's Hope's last name is Christ . . . but all that falls under the category of sharing His Love.

I only want to bring Him glory without my life-- plain and simple . . . nothing more and nothing less because I've definitely glorified ME, sex, lust, perversion and the Devil himself plenty! God relentlessly pursued me even when I was steadily running away from Him-- now that's LOVE!! Since He accepted me with open arms, after I had done nothing but accept counterfeit love, pursued and caught lies in a feeble attempt to satisfy and to find contentment, I feel compelled to use my talent to write for His Glory.

Do I do so out of GUILT, self-condemnation or trying to earn acceptance from God? Do I do so to try to prove to myself I am no longer that pitiful excuse of a man, who made a boatload of pitiful decisions, selfish, at best, destructive, in truth, I was for years? No . . . the TRUTH is He loves me, and each one of us, enough to send His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. GRACE, which is freely given but came at the ultimate cost, covers every bad decision we will ever make throughout the course of our lifetimes. Even though we CHOSE to separate ourselves from Him, God still chose to love us enough to find a way back to Him.

Simply put, grace means there is no longer condemnation-- hear that-- NO condemnation! He did not give us gifts and talents so that the world would just look at us or so our bank accounts could get larger, cars get nicer and houses could get bigger . . . He gave them to us so that when the world looks at us, we could instantly point them to Him! There is nothing wrong with having nice things and earning them through utilizing our gifts and talents. But if the only people who benefit from your platform, and profession, are you and your inner circle then I believe that saddens God.

"To whom much is given, much is required." Luke 12:48 I believe what is required is gratitude, humility, a servant's heart and blessing those who are less fortunate and in need. It would be amazing to see how much of the world's hunger problem would go away if those who have would SHARE.  Do unto the least of these (Matthew 25:40) . . . is the command Jesus Himself gave us. But sadly the truth is MANY don't give a damn about the 'least of these' as long as they are good and have everything they want and need.

It's not my place to judge . . . after all, it's only been the past couple of years I've become less selfish enough to do unto those who have much less than I have! In fact, I believe most people couldn't really care less about growing closer to God as long as He keeps the conveyor belt of blessings down from Heaven to them a'rolling! Sad but TRUE.

As for me-- I don't want a single crumb that falls from Heaven if I can't have the One whose hands it falls from! I don't get it right. Rather, I should say I don't allow the Lord to get it right through me all the time, but one area I strive to get it right in is where I direct the glory for ANY good thing I do, which is back to my Source, my All in All (who I treat like Nothing at times), my Creator and my Savior. After all, hasn't He earned that?

While He's earned all of our fierce allegiances . . . He also has earned getting the recognition instead of pitiful, without Him ,insignificant me! I take 99% and deflect the glory to God and take ONE percent, for myself, to put in my sails to use it as inspiration and motivation to keep sailing along. But may my Earthly voyage come to an end if I ever take much more than that no matter if my words touch hundreds, thousands (like they do now) or millions.

I give You the glory God-- not because of what You've done, continue to do or will do . . . I give You the glory for WHO YOU ARE!! Sadly, many Christian entertainers, athletes, musicians and pastors are caught up in idolatry with the god being themselves. They either turn a blind eye to it, thus showing apathy, or the scales remain on their eyes and they don't even realize it. I refuse to EVER be one of them! If you ever hear about what 'I'm' doing more so than what the Lord is doing then I've become blinded as well. "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another!!" Isaiah 42:8.

Athletes not one touchdown, not one point, not one home run impresses God if done only for YOU, but every single action that glorifies Jesus Christ pleases Him. The same goes for pastors. Not one single sermon meant to make your name blow up is seen as impressive in the eyes of the Almighty, but every single word uttered for His indescribable glory is! Musicians, singers and rappers, not one note sung, one tune played or one word rapped for yourself moves God's heart . . . but every single one with Him at the Center causes ALL of Heaven to break into thunderous applause!  As a writer, not one word written for the sake of notoriety is worthwhile, while every single letter written for the King brims with Life, Hope, Peace, Joy and Love! No matter whether you're a school teacher, a trash man, in sales or in the business world . . . this remains the same. What is done for SELF is EMPTY~ what is done for God will always be a pleasing aroma to the nostrils of the Creator. And what is done for Him will give you the GREATEST fulfillment! It's one of the biggest reasons we were created to bring Him glory!! What a POWERFUL thought!

The problem is MANY forget what God has done for them, so there is no kindness or humility . . . only selfishness and conceit. On Twitter, even sincere believers get caught up in the hierarchy of Blue Checkmarks vs. those who don't have one. Jesus would HARSHLY rebuke  your arrogance and feeling you are better than others. Only misplaced arrogance resides where meekness should be found. Gratitude has taken on the garments of the spirit of Mammon and the growing rationale is the person was somehow primarily responsible for their talent, their gift, their achievements and their platform. Unless you can put breath in your own lungs and unless you can give yourself your next heart beat not one of us is self-made only God-made no matter how big your entrepreneurial pursuits and successes.

Why do I take the subject of glory so serious? In the same way our words can bring about either destruction or life (Proverbs 18:21) so too can we rob people of life in their lives when we keep the glory for ourselves. Every day I live is another opportunity to tell people of God's AWESOMENESS! In all actuality, every single moment is. While I don't capitalize on all of them, I am thankful I do so a lot more than I did in the past. I know I still have my struggles in the area of sin. I acknowledge that, but glory, humility and love are three areas we should get right if we're to call ourselves believers-- those are three core areas that should reflect our love for the Father!

"Do not exalt yourself in the King's presence." Proverbs 25:6 For me, that's why I'm so adamant about walking in humility, gratitude and love, because I know the King chose me as His son . . . despite knowing all the ways I'd fail Him . . . all the times I'd serve his former minister of music (Satan) . . . and all the times I would chose being an orphan over proudly proclaiming He's my Father-- He CHOSE me!

One of the most incredible, phenomenal truths is the times we are selfish, choosing anything over Him, that should've robbed Him of His glory, in the end, He uses it to only magnify Him MORE! The very things the Devil tries to use to destroy us, embarrass us and ruin our credibility . . . Almighty God turns allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll those failures around and uses them for His glory! My credibility was ruined before I even took my first breath-- I was born with sin-- and I've definitely added to it over the years, but every single bad decision, each wrong turn only means one thing I WAS, am and WILL FOREVER be in need of a Savior!

I have One and that-- that's one of the MANY reasons I give Him glory! You can cast stones at me . . you can crucify me for my sins, of which they're plenty, but it won't change Who is sitting on the throne . . . it won't change His Sovereignty or unconditional, complete and ALL-encompassing LOVE for me!

Glory to God! The King of Kings . . . the Lord of Lords! Glory, glory, GLORY!!

Romans12:3 "And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should."

Psalms 145:1 "I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king; I will thank you forever and ever."

Psalm 105:1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Psalm 115:1 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.