how many more nights?

Sometimes I ask myself....”how many more nights will I be free to do as I please?”  My heart is so ready to be a mom that I am willing to say that I hope not too many more nights, but then I have nights like tonight that make me appreciative of the time that God has given me to grow closer to him, fall more in love with his Word, and to grow greater passion for his people.  

I spent some of the night digging into a study that my friend found in the area of the “biblical call to care for orphans.”  It’s really good so far.  There is much that I have not even pondered as I strive to become someone who cares for the orphans of the world.  One of the coolest thoughts came out tonight to me through one of God’s Scriptures that I thought I would share with my blog friends.

The writer of the study is pointing out unique attributes of the life of a Christian.  One of them being that God forgives us in order to bring glory to Himself.  Isn’t this an interesting thought?  Here is the Scripture they included:

Isaiah 48:9-11 - For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off.  See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.  For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.  How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

Seriously sweet verse.  God forgives for His own glory.  I never really thought about this in this way before.  I love how the prophet repeats what God is saying in verse 11.  For my OWN sake I do this...How can I let myself be defamed?  He tests us to refine us, and he forgives us to bring glory to Himself.  He will not be defamed.  We serve a powerful, confident God.

This just gave me a view of God that I hadn’t really spent a lot of time dwelling on before.  He is such an interesting God.  I love that He chooses to reveal more of Himself to me in such unique ways in my walk with Him.  God is capable, he is in control, he will not be defamed.  Isn’t this comforting when you think of it in the context of what goes on in our world today?  God is all over it!  

Take a bite out of that one believer!  Chew on it awhile....it’s good for you.