Compelling Love

The high calling of God for His people is to give Him glory in all we say and do.  Like David, we can command our souls, “Awake my glory”, which is a way of saying, “let everything within me wake up and give glory to God.”

Psalm 57 (NKJV)⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
⁸ Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
⁹ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
¹⁰ For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

The very fact that God has made us, and that He guides us, is reason enough to sing and rejoice, and to give Him all the glory:

Psalm 100 (NKJV)
¹Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Jesus calls us to shine as lights in this world, giving glory to God through what we do:

Matthew 5 (NKJV)
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus exemplified God’s calling for all of us when he prayed in John 17:4-5, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

John 17 (NKJV)
¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Pastor Larry Pabiona comments on these verses:

Jesus’ longest recorded prayer can be found in the 17th chapter of John. This one-of-a-kind prayer talks about the eternal majesty of Jesus—and that is why this prayer itself is majestic. Here we will see that the Father glorified the Son because He faithfully completed the purpose set for His life. In this prayer, Jesus shows us not only the eternal deity He enjoyed before the creation of the world—it also shows believers today a pattern for living that glorifies God. Knowing how Jesus Himself became obedient to the Father, even to the point of death, we are also invited to live lives completely offered to God—lives that fulfill His purposes. (http://www.gcf.org.ph/sermons/2017-06-04-the-one-whom-the-father-glorifies-finding-your-purpose-in-life)

Later in John 17, Jesus prayed that He would be glorified in his disciples:

⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus then prayed that all of his followers would see and receive His glory, and experience a deep unity with Him in love.

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Paul exhorts us to give ourselves completely to God, living for His glory:

Romans 12 (NKJV)
¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Walking with Jesus, living for God’s glory, culminates in a grand marriage in heaven with great rejoicing and glory being given to God:

Revelation 19 (NKJV)
⁶ And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! ⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” ⁸ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Fannie Crosby captures this high calling in her song, “To God be the Glory”:

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 Life gate 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!
O come to the Father,
Through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory,
Great things He has done.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 11/11/2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1) https://pennamen.com/praise/
(2) https://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20170113&ver=niv
(3) https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-17-4
(4) https://wiirocku.tumblr.com/post/170556746391/john-1722-nkjv-and-the-glory-which-you-gave
(5) http://www.godtreasure.net/sunday-praise-revelation-196-7/