Renewed to Honor

During a recent worship service, a thought struck me while singing about giving glory to Jesus. I wondered if it would be appropriate to ask for glory or to claim it for oneself. This idea felt blasphemous, as it seemed to imply that one could steal or exceed God's glory. History is filled with examples of kings and rulers who sought such glory, only to end up as dust and bones. But then I realized that even Jesus, in his prayer to the Father, asked for glory: 'Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed' (John 17:5). How could Jesus, being fully God, ask for glory? The Chalcedonian and Nicene Creeds affirms the answer as said in the verse "He (Jesus), Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage, (Philippians 2:6)". They affirm that Jesus, though fully God, did not cling to his divine equality but humbled himself. He is the only one who truly des...

Herr, stempel die Ewigkeit auf meine Augäpfel Ich liebe dieses Gebet von Jonathan Edwards. Es erinnert mich daran, dass nicht die gegenwärtigen Dinge oder Umstände, ob groß oder klein, erstaunlich oder schrecklich, unser Hauptaugenmerk sein sollten, sondern vielmehr die ständige Erinnerung an die Ewigkeit mit Jesus. Besonders wenn wir traurig und niedergeschlagen sind, fühlen wir die Last der Welt auf uns und versäumen es, den Meister zu sehen, der das Kreuz getragen hat und sagte: 'Mein Joch ist leicht, meine Last ist leicht' (Matthäus 11,28-30). Ein Schriftsteller erzählt mehr über dieses leichte Joch. Wenn Paulus über die Ehe spricht, sagt er, man solle sich nicht ungleich unter das Joch spannen. Das bedeutet, man solle nicht jemanden heiraten, der der Welt und ihren Wünschen nachjagt, wenn man den Herrn nachjagt. Dein Weg teilt sich, und dann ist das Joch schwer und beschwerlich. In alten Zeiten, bevor es Traktoren gab, wurden Ochsen unter dasselbe Joch gespannt, um das Fel...

 “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” ― Jonathan Edwards I love this prayer by Jonathan Edwards. The prayer reminds me that it is not the present things or the present circumstances, whether they are great or small, amazing or terrible, but rather the constant reminder of eternity with Jesus that our main focus should be. Most often, especially when we are sad and down cast, we feel the burden of the world on our selves and fail to see the master who carried the cross and said "my yoke is easy, my burden is light" Matthew 11:28-30. One writer tell more about this yoke being easy. When talking about marriage, Paul says do not be unequally yoked. It means that do not marry someone who chases the world and its desires if you chase the Lord. Your way splits and then the yoke is hard and burdensome. In the olden days before tractors, oxen would be put under the same yoke to plough the field. This means, if one is strong and the other is weak, the stronger one leads the plough. B...