declare HIS praise

Last night CK was watching March Madness and ... if you know me at all, I don't understand it nor does it interest me. But, like a good wife, I sat with him on the couch and replied to his groanings when his team was behind and his excitement when they were ahead. During the other moments however, I was reading Luke and I couldn't stop reading a verse.

And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
-Luke 16:15

Woah. An abomination! Dictionary.com says abomination means a vile, shameful, or detestable action. Very strong language. I decided to read the footnotes of the passage in our ESV study bible and it says that everything not done for the Glory of God is detestable to him. Why, you ask ? We were created for a purpose. A purpose that far outweighs anything that we think we are here for. Some think that their purpose is to be a loving and faithful wife, a comforting and attentive mama, a reliable and hard-working employee, a enthusiastic and eager sports fan, a beautiful and put together fashionista, on and on this list could go.

But none of that is our purpose.
Well, if those aren't our purpose, what is??

Isaiah 43:20-23 says,

The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices.

Our purpose is to declare HIS praise. To glorify HIM. To testify about HIM. The verse in Luke is clearly stating that anything we do in life, anything, that isn't glorifying HIM is detestable because that is taking away the purpose for doing things. So, it may sound ridiculous, but even the smallest act of getting a glass of water, changing a diaper, washing your car, cheering for a sports team, talking to your neighbor... they can ALL be done to the glory of God. We can choose to understand that we are stewarding (managing) well the body that he has given us by drinking water. We can choose to think about how by changing our baby's diaper we are taking care of the blessing that he has given us and therefore are glorifying him in that act. All things can be done with our Creator in mind, therefore glorifying him instead of ourselves. If we chose to glorify ourselves instead of Him, we would do those things to get other's praise, to think highly of ourselves, and to attain something. But this way, the pure and true motivation to go about life is lived out; Glorifying Him. This is something that is beyond hard for me. I find myself constantly doing things for praise, adoration, and the happiness of others. But this is not the point and I wrestle with that constantly. I want to do all things for the glory of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.





Cinderella,

Your "fourth" month of life was different all the time! You were at the stage in your young life where you did not want to be put down. All day long your tired mama held you. Some days for around four hours and other days for up to eight. While you were sleeping I read, blogged, prayed, and talked to friends and your Grammie when she would visit. It was pretty hard to leave you with anyone during the day because I would explain that you only napped in their arms. Because of this, when you were awake (instead of playing with you) I would rush around cleaning the house like a mad woman because I couldn't at any other time of the day. You were a great eater at all times even when someone fed you out of a bottle. To get you to sleep, daddy and I would have to bounce you around the house sometimes with your binky and other times without. We would gently lay you down and MANY times you would wake up instantly and we would have to do the whole process again. You started teething this month and were very unhappy for about a week and a half. For the first two weeks of your fourth month you slept from 10pm-8am. It was glorious! You were very well rested as well! You laughed for the first time this month and we were at the Dean's house for dinner with the MacEwens. From then on I could get you to laugh occasionally especially when I would blow raspberries at you. You loved playing on your play mat! You got sad and cried for the first time when Daddy scared you one day. He came home from work for lunch and did a big silly noise and you got scared and cried. It was really sad to me but daddy thought it was a little funny. He picked you up and we both told you how much we loved you. During this month you were wearing 0-3months and 3months clothes. You were (and are) so cute. You rolled to your side for the first time and we thought for sure that you would roll over soon. (You still haven't & that's ok!)
We love you so much baby girl,
Love Mama