SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #166 ---- 3/12/01
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight In This New Millennium
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #166 ---- 3/12/01
Title: "If I Could Tell You Why You're Here"
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My Dear Friend:
What a privilege it is to write you again today. Of all the things I do,
and there are many, this ranks high on my list. When I ask myself why I
enjoy it so much, there seem to be a variety or reasons.
1. It is intriguing. While I know many to whom the letter goes, the
majority are total strangers to me (at least from the human perspective).
I find my curiosity really gets the best of me sometimes when I read the
user names on the e-mail address list I receive every Saturday morning
and try to figure out who is who.
I try to imagine what they might be thinking, or what they might be
facing at the moment which I could pray about if I new.
2. It is humbling. Occasionally I'll look through that e-mail address
list and notice the host suffixes ---- Uganda, Zambia, Australia, New
Zealand, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia, France . . . . It's incredible! Never
in my wildest dreams did I anticipate that people from every continent
would be receiving my letters.
3. It is inspiring. The joy of sharing my heart with people like you is
beyond description, and it really is one of two or three things that
really keep me "pumped". And then when someone takes time from a busy
schedule to write me a note, it inspires me even more.
4. It is burdening. Not the task of writing, but the awareness that
someone to whom I am writing may be going through a terrible time. Even
though I cannot possibly know what it is, I still can sense the
heaviness, the burden of knowing a brother or sister in Christ somewhere
in the world is enduring great hardship.
5. It is motivating. Writing to you and the rest of my Shoulders
friends reminds me of my own frailties and struggles. It reminds me also
to pray. It motivates me to serious consideration of the subject about
which I might write on any given day.
So, with all that in mind, I can clearly declare that this is one of the
greatest blessings of my life. I cannot verbalize it sufficiently, and I
cannot describe to someone else the precious joy I receive from doing it
---- it's my little inner secret to enjoy all by myself! But, I can say
. . . . .
THANK YOU:
I do want to clarify some comments from last week. The point I wanted to
make was that there are times when my "well" runs a little dry and I have
to work at writing something. I've never wanted that to happen. I
preached too many sermons that way in my day, and I don't want my letters
to end up filled with meaningless small talk. You get enough such stuff
without my adding to it.
So ---- I have no intention of quitting anytime soon. I just need your
prayers, though, that my heart will be fresh and sensitive for you. I
really appreciate the encouragement several sent me. Here are a couple:
1. "I also wanted to say that I really appreciate the sacrifice you make
each week to put out the shoulders newsletter. They are such a blessing
to me and I send them along to others I know in ministry regularly. God
bless you abundantly."
2. "Don't stop writing! You know not the impact you have on the
secondary audience that receive your letters from a friend or
acquaintance. I have been remiss in providing feedback to you when I
receive positive comments from someone I have shared a specific S2S
(Shoulder to Shoulder) with."
BEFORE I FORGET:
On occasion I recommend resources which might be of interest. I've
posted three at the end of the letter. Be sure to note them. I am
particularly impressed with them and believe they would be excellent
tools and resources for people who need them.
IF I COULD TELL YOU WHY YOU'RE HERE:
Not long ago I pastor wrote telling me he really wondered why he was
still pastoring his current church. A few days later another pastor told
me he didn't know why he was still in the ministry. Some months before,
a missionary friend confided that he wondered why he was still on the
mission field.
Not knowing why we're here is almost as debilitating as not knowing who
we are.
Most days when I write to you I have more in my heart than I can ever
express. There's no doubt that my letters are usually to long as it is;
if I were to write everything, there's no e-mail service that would send
them out for me.
It seems the older I get the more I think. So ---- if I could tell you
why you're here, would you be interested in knowing?
Yesterday morning after church services, as Jo Ann and I drove home, this
thought came to mind. It was triggered by the subject about which I had
just preached ---- "God's Purpose For The Church".
You may not agree, but I am absolutely convinced that God's primary
purpose for the Church is not to win the world, fulfill the Great
Commission, or minister to people with compassionate servanthood. Those
are all part of the tasks and duties of the church.
The purpose of the Church is very simple ---- "Glorify God In All we Are,
Have, and Do". In Ephesians 3, after Paul has described his own
experience of discovering the "mystery" that the Gospel was for the whole
world and not just for the Jews, he goes on to explain that the Church
is to declare God's wisdom to the rulers and authorities in heavenly
places.
Then he continues with one of his great prayers, praying that Christ will
"settle down solidly" in their hearts through faith, that they will be
rooted and grounded in love, and that they will comprehend, along with
all believers, the breadth, length, height, and depth of God's love ----
and not only that, but also that they will "know" (epignosis ---- fully
know by revelation) that love.
Finally, he rises in a crescendo of praise by saying, "Now to Him who is
able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according
to the power that works within us, to Him Be The Glory In The Church and
In Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen!" (Eph
3:20-21).
This really began to soak in on me back in 1994 when I was doing an
interim pastorate in the Kansas City area. I was watching a church
struggle with who it was, why it was here, and what it was to do in light
of a heartbreaking termination of a pastor.
I told them then, and I tell you today that we have been corporately and
personally called to glorify God in absolutely everything we Are, in
everything we Have, and in everything we Do.
If that is true, and in order for me to fully comprehend that command of
purpose ---- "Glorify God in All Things", I needed to know three things
---- 1) What it means to glorify an already all glorious God, 2) What
God's glory is in the first place, and 3) How to glorify Him
properly. Let's take them in this order:
DESCRIBING GOD'S GLORY:
Everywhere God presenced Himself in the Bible, it is described by the
evidentiary presence of His glory. Sometimes His glory was manifested in
a cloud, sometimes in an earthquake, sometimes in fire, sometimes in a
misty fog, sometimes in other ways. But, what does all that mean?
I'm not sure it is possible to sufficiently describe His glory, but as I
understand it, God's glory is the radiating manifest expression of Who He
is, What He is like, Why He exists, Where He is present, What He does,
Why He does it, and a dozen other facets of His total being.
In other words, it is the divine and supernatural revelation and
manifestation of all that He is, all that He has, and all that He does.
Now . . . . here comes the rub. How in heaven's name can you and I, mere
humans with feet of clay and born of man, glorify Him who is the very
embodiment of glory? How can the creation express the glory of the
Creator?
And yet . . . . we're are commanded to do just that!
Like Isaiah (6:1-8), you and I both must say, "Woe is me! I am undone!
I am a person with unclean lips!"
Still, God doesn't excuse us from the command to glorify Him.
But, if maybe we can now define what it means to glorify Him, we might
have a shot at it.
GLORIFYING THE GLORIOUS:
I say it again ---- how can a mere human being glorify the all-glorious
God?
No matter that we cannot explain it. No matter than we cannot
sufficiently define it. No matter that we cannot describe it, nor how we
feel about it. No matter that we cannot comprehend it.
We are to do it.
(Take a deep breath, and resign yourself to that expectation.)
O.K. Now . . . . .
What does it mean to glorify Him?
Taken from the Greek word "Doxazo", to glorify means "the human, yet
Spirit-inspired and empowered effort to magnify, extol, and praise God's
being, nature, attributes, and acts." It means "to do honor" ---- "to
make glorious".
It is the intentional act of enthusiastically exposing and promoting His
glory through your own attitude, nature, words, and acts.
But ---- how is that even remotely possible?
Well, it is possible for one reason only ---- Exhibited Relationship. It
is that divine relationship between God and us that has been demonstrated
in absolute reality.
1. Exhibited TO Us ---- by Him. At your leisure read Romans 11:33-36.
It concludes, after describing how God has manifested His love and
exhibited His glory to us by saying, "For from Him and through Him and To
Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!"
In Col 1:18-27 Paul tells us that all there is of God is found in Jesus
Christ. He goes on to say that we, formerly alienated and hostile toward
God and having engaged in all kinds of evil, have been redeemed and
indwelt by that same Jesus Christ.
In John 1:14, after reminding us that the "Word became flesh and dwelt
among us", he goes on by saying, "And we Beheld ---- we saw! ---- His
glory!" Hallelujah that God's glory is perceived!
God exhibited His glory to us by His Son.
However, He didn't stop there. As Paul continued in Col 1:26-27, that
same Jesus who contains the fullness of the Godhead bodily, lives within
us through the new birth. He describes it like this ---- "Christ In You!
The hope of . . . ."
Of what?
"Glory!" The hope of glory!
And, dear friend . . . . "unto whomsoever much has been given, much has
been required."
I'm sure you'd agree that much has been given to you and me through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, much is required of us.
But, not most of the "much" that you and I cling to and think we are to
do.
The real "much" is very simple.
Glorify Him!
His glory was exhibited in eternity past before the world even was. It
was exhibited in all of creation. It was exhibited in the divine
creation of man. It was exhibited in the law and prophets. It was
exhibited ultimately in His Son, the Glorified One.
We we became recipients of His glory. Therefore, it now falls due that
it be . . . .
2. Exhibited BY Us ---- In that we have seen and received His glory, it
is not ours to keep. To do so would be to make the same mistake Lucifer
made in the heavenlies.
As an angelic "prophet", he was to take God's instructions and give them
to the angels. As an angelic "priest", he was to take the praises of the
other angels in glorifying God and offer it to God in their behalf. As
angelic [king] "prince" of the powers of the air, he was to rule as a
delegated authority-servant over that which God had entrusted to him.
He made three simple mistakes. He decided to originate some of the
instructions himself, keep some of God's praises for himself, and rule by
himself.
Because you and I are impregnated with that same spirit of independence,
it is equally easy for us to brush off the command to glorify God in all
things by trying to do our own thing, have our own praise, and be our own
king. (There's that "Be-Have-Do" thing again!)
However, because of that relationship that has been established between
us and God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to live in juxtaposition
to Him as the moon orbits in relationship to the sun. The sun creates
the light, the moon reflects it. The sun reveals its glory; the moon
glorifies it ---- reflects it, espouses it, proclaims it. Likewise,
that's what it means to glorify God.
Notice that the moon has no glory which it has originated in itself ----
it has only the sun's. Therefore, it cannot take credit for its own
glory or its own beauty, no matter how much it may shine. Basically
without the glory of the sun, it's nothing more than a giant, black
scarred and battered piece of rock . . . . much like man without Christ.
So it is with you and me. Sometimes when we're in the heat of conflict,
the fire of refining, or the spotlight of ministry, we think the shining
comes from us.
But it doesn't.
It comes from God only . . . . expressed and delivered to us. We are not
to keep it for ourselves, we are to let it shine. We'd better remember
that He's the light . . . . we're the lamps. Lamps are worthless, other
than for ornamentation and false expectations, unless there is light.
So . . . the bottom line is simple. Glorify Him!
But to whom?
1) First, to Him. "To Him be glory in the church world without end."
Glorify Him to Him. He delights in it. That's what praise is ----
glorifying Him for Who He is. That's what thanksgiving is ----
glorifying Him for What He has done.
2) Next to the rulers of darkness. " . . . so that the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers
and authorities in the heavenly places." (Eph 3:10).
True, they already know . . . . but they need to both be reminded of what
they already know, and to also be aware that you know, too! They need to
know that you know the truth . . . .and the truth is setting you free.
So, "bug off!" is your command to them.
3) Then, to the world. How else do you expect the world to know? If
we don't tell them, who will? The devil surely won't. The new agers
definitely won't. The politicians won't.
If not you, who? If not here, where? If not now, when?
4) Finally to one another. We are commanded by God to minister to
one another through encouragement, love, etc., always giving glory to
God.
Well! That leads us to the final question ---- "How?"
HOW DO I DO IT?
This is the question that really got me digging into scripture. I
thought to myself, "O.K. ---- if God expresses His glory to me and has
done it through giving His son, and if I am commanded to glorify Him in
return, then I need to figure out how it's done."
To my astonishment I found scripture after scripture that gave me exact
instructions on how to do just that. I was dumbfounded over the
simplicity of it all. I thought I had to be some super saint or great
theological giant in order to adequately glorify Him.
Rather than describe it further, let me just reference some of the
scriptures and let you study them on your own. Here are some ways "how"
we can glorify Him. How exciting and simple!
1. Psalm 86:12 ---- "I will give thanks to Thee O Lord my God, with all
my heart, and will GLORIFY Thy name forever." ---- Praise Him. Worship
Him. He alone is worthy and is glorified in it.
2. II Cor 4:15 ---- "For all things are for your sakes, so that the
grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of
thanks to abound to the GLORY of God." ---- Thank Him. He likes that and
is glorified when you do.
3. Phil 2:11 ---- " . . . . that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the GLORY of God the Father." ---- Acknowledge His
Lordship over you. It glorifies Him.
4. I Cor 6:19-20 ---- " . . . GLORIFY God in your body." Honor him in
what you say, how you dress, what you eat, how you treat His temple. He
will be glorified.
5. I Peter 2:12 ---- "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles .
. . so that . . . they may . . . as they observe . . . GLORIFY God in the
day of visitation." ---- Behave like what you have Become ---- a new
creation in Christ. He is glorified when you do.
6. Rev 15:4 ---- "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy Name? For
Thou alone art holy; for all the nations will come and worship before
Thee. For Thy righteous acts have been revealed." ---- Live in awe and
reverential fear of God. That glorifies Him.
7. John 15:8 ---- "In this is My Father glorified; that you bear much
fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." ---- Be a fruitful Christian.
It proves you are truly one of His followers, and glorifies the Father.
8. Matt 5:16 ---- "Let your light shine before men in such a way that
they will see your good works and glorify God your Father." ---- As the
moon reflects the sun, reflect the glory of God. When you do, your good
works are noticed, and God is glorified.
9. II Cor 9:13 ---- "Because of the proof given by this ministry they
will glorify God for . . . the liberality of your contribution to them
and to all." ---- Give generously and liberally, whether it be money,
time, effort, or something else. Both believers and non-believers will
see that and will glorify God.
10. II Cor 1:20 ---- "For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him
they are 'Yes': wherefore also by Him is our 'Amen' to the glory of God
through us." ---- Agree with God. "Amening" (so be it), or agreeing with
God glorifies Him.
11. II Cor 9:13 ---- "Because of the proof given by this ministry they
will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of
Christ." ---- Obey Him. He is greatly glorified when you do.
12. Rom 4:20 ---- "With respect to the promise of God, he did not waver
in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God." ---- Trust
Him fully. By this God is glorified.
13. Rom 15:7 ---- "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted us, to
the glory of God." ---- Accept others, no strings attached, warts and
all. When Christ accepted us, God was glorified. When we accept others,
He is again.
14. I Pet 4:16 ---- "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel
ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God." ---- Suffer joyfully.
Christ did (Lk 24:26) and it glorified God. God is glorified when we
suffer for His Name's sake.
15. John 11:4 ---- "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God." ---- Rejoice in sickness instead of complaining. God will be
glorified.
IN CONCLUSION:
Like a painting, by its style, color combinations, subject matter, and
signature, reflects the character, interests, and skills of the artist,
so glorifying God in all these ways and more reveals the character,
interests, and skills of God. We can glorify God in all things.
Well, now . . . .
That brings us to decision time. Do we choose to fulfill our life's
purpose and become a person who glorifies God to our own expense, or do
we choose to satisfy our own ego and visions of grandeur through self
exaltation and self glorification?
In our homes, in our personal lives, and in our ministries, our sole
purpose is to bring all honor and glory and praise to Him. Instead we
far too often bring disrepute, embarrassment, and criticism toward Him.
God called us to be the lamps, not the light. We are the moon, not the
sun. We are display cases ---- containers that have no merit in
themselves other than to beautifully display what is within. "We have
this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be
of God and not of man" (II Cor 4:7).
How about our speech? Our interests? Our preaching? Our witnessing?
Our serving? Do they glorify God, or do they point people's attention
toward us?
How about the way we drive? Or the way we spend our money? What about
the way we treat our spouses? Is God glorified in it all?
Friend, we may be doing all the right things the right way, but if we are
not fulfilling our primary purpose of glorifying God, we have utterly
failed in ministry. We may be part of the fastest growing church in the
region or the one reaching more people for Christ than any other, but if
it is not done in a way in which God is exalted, lifted up, honored,
praised, and glorified, we have missed our purpose.
You see, when we concentrate on glorifying Him, all the other things we
think we should be doing will happen automatically. Why? Because when
we put our focus and attention on Him, all we want to do is please Him
and obey Him. That takes into account the fulfillment of the Great
Commission, seeing people come to Christ, and every other duty that
accompanies the Christian life.
Doing it this way, though, makes it much more fruitful, and lots more
fun.
". . . . Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (I Cor 10:31).
"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through Him to God the Father" (Col 3:17). "Whatever you
do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing
that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is
the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Col 3:23-24).
If I could tell you why you're here, that's what I'd say ---- You're here
to bring glory, honor, and praise to God through who you are and what you
do.
Have a great week, my friend ---- glorifying God.
In His Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright March, 2001. All rights reserved.
P.S. Remember the resources mentioned below.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
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MINISTRY RESOURCES:
You probably are like I am, receiving more e-mail stuff than you really
want. For that reason, I seldom pass on recommended resources. However,
today I want to encourage you to consider three. Two of them I have
recommended before, the third is brand new.
1. National Pastors' Prayer Network (NPPN): It is a weekly letter
calling pastors around the world to become part of a network of prayer
for revival, spiritual awakening, and redemption. It has a major focus
on city-wide prayer movements. To subscribe, click on [email protected]
.
2. Free newsletter mailing service: An amazing ministry of offering
technical and distribution services for people like me, I am absolutely
thrilled with the service I have received for over three years. Here is
Glen's recent offer that I pass on to you.
Share the Gospel Message with over 70 million people on the Internet.
welovegod.org would like to subsidize your ministry by covering certain
costs of participation on the Internet, using the "welovegod.org" site
that's been operating for the past four years. Currently, ministry is
provided using HTML, text, Christian Files, Mailing Lists, and promotion
of Christian products with extremely high emphasis on outreach. Other
technologies/techniques can be readily implemented.
The site is capable of presenting information using several multimedia
tools (stereo-quality sound, high-resolution graphics, and textual
materials) to all computer users on the Internet. Contact
[email protected] to pursue this offer. For further information
about welovegod.org, please visit welovegod.org .
3. Bulletin On Revival: Begun in 1993 in South Africa, this newsletter
calls upon believers to cry out to God for world wide revival. My heart
was stirred again for revival as I read the last two letters which I
recently received. It is biblically sound and filled with great
information on the subject of revival. Not for the faint hearted. To
subscribe, write [email protected] .
-----------------------------------
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