Jude 24-25
24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
I love these verses!
The word that keeps snagging my attention is majesty.
I looked it up in the lexicon to see what it means:
Majesty is the Greek word megalosyne. Megalosyne means “magesty”.
Pretty straight forward.
So, when we pray Jude 24-25 and offer up majesty to God- maybe we should think about this:
God, King of the Universe, adopted us as His heirs.
We have been made His children.
Therefore, we are of the noblesse.
If we are nobility, maybe we need some nobility training.
Here is another scripture (shared by our pastor today) that sheds more light:
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (biblegateway.com)
We are:
Chosen
Royal
Holy
There it is again. Royalty.
We are royalty. A royal person carries him/herself with majesty.
Imagine yourself as majestic. Shoulders back, head up, dignity, bestowing grace and mercy on others.
How lovely.
If we go about majestically bestowing grace and mercy on others, daily we can offer service up to God in thanksgiving for what He has given us.
What a prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for making me Your child. Thank you that you made me one of Your Royal Priesthood. The acts of grace You have given me strength to do today, I offer up to you in gratitude.
Posted by vicki on Mar 11, 2011 in
Praise stuff
My daughter is getting married in two weeks. We are celebrating! The spring flowers are preparing to bloom. We are celebrating! The migrating songbirds are resting and singing as they head north. We are celebrating!
The best celebration of all time is described in Revelation 5. It describes the Lamb of God approaching God’s throne and receiving His book. It is such a profound moment that when the Lamb (Jesus) takes the book, everyone falls down and begins to sing praise to God. Here are some of those who were celebrating:
-the 4 beasts that stay at the throne
-the 24 elders
-at least 100,002,000 angels
-every creature in heaven
-every creature on earth
-every creature in the sea
Here is some of what they sang together: “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
Think about it! What a celebration!
Our earthly celebrations are warm ups for that great day. What can you celebrate today?
Posted by vicki on Feb 18, 2011 in
Praise stuff Why on earth would God want our praise?
C.S. Lewis, in Reflections on the Psalms gave our praise to God the comparison to his dog barking praise of Lewis’s books. Not necessary for Lewis to have his dog’s approval. God does not need our approval in order to feel fulfilled.
Lewis’s conclusion, then, opened my eyes! He went back to the catechism (which I, like many folks, do not have experience with). The catechism is memorized by children and new believers in many Christian denominations. The first thing to memorize is this:
What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Lewis points out that glorifying God and enjoying Him are the same thing. Praising God unites us with Him. Our praise of Him is the vehicle He uses in giving us joy and love.
Think about the earthly things you enjoy- a good joke, a beautiful sunset, a baby’s laugh- you probably find yourself wanting to celebrate it by laughing or sharing it with others.
That is what our praise for God is:
We love Him and show it by an offering of ourselves by our words. He then fulfills that offering by giving us His joy and love.
Next time you have a chance to earnestly praise Him, watch your own soul at the end. See if you are enjoying Him. It is His gift to you.
Tags: praising God