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The Presence of 

God as What

Makes You Special

Repent From Earthly

Sources as Your Glory! 

Let me remind you again that the Bible says, "return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods...from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord" (1 Sam. 7:3). Repentance is about directing your heart away from the gods of this world and toward the Lord. 

Another idol we need to repent from has to do with our dependence on other gods as our glory. We should, "...worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3). We need to repent in order to do that.  

More than you may now understand—"God’s people" have exchanged the glory of God for the glory of little gods which do not profit. Please note the pain that all of heaven feels because of our not receiving what God offers freely.

Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. ‘Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate,’ declares the Lord. ‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.’ (Jer. 2 :11-13).

Compared to God as our glory, earthly sources don’t hold water. We have traded the glory of God for the earthly glories and have "forsaken" the "fountain of living waters." It makes heaven hurt. The result of having forsaken the glorious "fountain of living waters" is that most Christians today are missing out and don’t even know it.

Making God our glory is about receiving His presence--from the "fountain of living waters" and making the closeness of His attributes our boast--not our own. 

It is right that you boast in the Lord. One of the many examples of how David directed his heart toward God was by telling himself, "My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice" (Psa. 34:2). 

God doesn't have an emotional need for us to boast in Him. We need to boast in the Lord for us. 

Boasting is an important part of being able to get through the day. On a human level it is subtle forms of boasting and self-directed praise that gives us energy and a positive outlook to face the difficulties of the day.  

Boast in the Lord because you need it! It is right to praise Him. 

But remember this. We are trying to meet our need for God! And, the idolatry in which we are so entrenched has to do with sources that are close to us—what we know, what we do or don’t do, how we appear, the influence of what we say, the approval we sense from other people. By this, we are ascribing glory to ourselves--and not God. That we boast in these kinds of things is reason to boast in the closeness of God. But make it more real than it is even now! 

Train your heart so that you find freedom to draw near to God and let Him draw near to you! Then, you'll have even greater reason praise His closeness.

David was boasting in God when he wrote, "But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head" (Ps. 3:3). 

Nothing gives confidence, nothing helps you hold your head up, like the presence of God around you. It is far more effective--even on a human level--to boast in God by ascribing glory to Him rather than to yourself. Nothing is greater reason to erupt with praise than the closeness of the attributes of God. 

Let me remind you again that God isn’t asking you to give up anything that He isn’t fully committed to replacing with something far better. Don’t just think about repentance as turning from what you are "receiving" from earthly sources. Think about it in ways that are more consistent with the weakness of our humanity. Turn to God because of His grace! God wants to be your glory! 

Turn to Him because what you can receive from Him is far better than "receiving glory" by earthly sources (John 5:44). Doing so will be much more effective in helping you to turn to Him.

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

     What to Repent From — Continued...

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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