To God be the glory, great things He has done

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son.

Who yielded His life an atonement for sin

and opened the lifegate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord

Let the earth hear His voice

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the people rejoice.

Oh come to the Father through Jesus His Son

And give Him the glory great things He hath done.

Fanny Crosby wrote this hymn which originally was published in l875.  It wasn't until a 1954 Billy Graham crusade - which was highly criticized by the British Press - that this hymn helped spark a sense of revival in Great Britain.  It has been an important hymn to us in the church ever since.

The truth is in the world today most individuals tend to seek their own glory...their own success...their own acclaim,  rather than live for the glory of God.  I recently attended a wonderful Gospel Coalition women's conference in which Tim and Kathy Keller spoke - among other great teachers.  Kathy said "We can choose to glorify (God) or self-indulge in ourselves." Do you recognize you make choices every day to whom you will seek to glorify? She went on to say that too many of us operate - even in the church - out of our giftedness rather than God's grace.  In times of trouble, our gifts may fail, but grace never does.  If it's His grace, then it is certainly not our glory.

I think it's good to ask the question:  To whose glory am I working toward?  If it's not His, then we must be prepared for His power to "readust" our thinking...His purposes will not be thwarted. (Job 42:2)

I must confess in my zeal to embroider, I got the wording wrong in this verse.  It actually reads "To God be the glory and power forever."  Hope you'll give me grace for the error...I do recognize His glory must always come first!

For further study: Gen. 1:26, 1 Sam. 4:21-22, 1 Chron. 16:24, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 34:2-3, Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 43:6-7,  Luke 2:14, Romans 1:21-25, Col. 3:23-24.

Be blesssed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly