Seek God’s Glory

Seek God’s Glory

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.” John 7:18.

Jesus came to offer up Himself, and for that purpose He took the form of a servant. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of sacrifice. Therefore no one can speak or act in the spirit of Christ and seek His own. The person who seeks his own does not believe. Jesus says, “How can you believe, who seek honor [glory] from one another . . . .” John 5:44. Jesus always sought the glory of the Father without considering the consequences to His own person. That is the way of faith which Jesus opened up. We, too, must go this way in order to follow Him.

God is the One who exalts and abases. He makes a person poor or rich. If we believe that, we do not need to fear man but rather fear Him who has all power. Those who possess this rest of faith have full liberty of action. They can speak the truth while others flatter because they are afraid to be rejected. They can hide when others seek to be known, and they can say “No thank you” to gifts when others greedily desire them. He who seeks God’s glory does not end up depending on people so that he has to consider what they think. Jesus’ promise to the church in Thyatira was: “He who overcomes and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations . . . .” Rev. 2:26. The condition for receiving power and glory was that they kept His works. The person who seeks power and glory for himself keeps his own works; but he who seeks God’s kingdom first, “all these things” will be added to him. To seek God’s kingdom first is to think first and foremost of what is true, what is righteousness, and what is good in all circumstances—briefly put, what is God’s will. When it comes to making decisions, we are easily influenced by people’s opinions and wishes; by the spirit of the times and what is current—simply because we seek our own honor. Such people obtain the opposite of their desires. God abases them; He makes them poor.

We read, “He who . . . keeps My works.” These “My works” break with the spirit of the times—with Satan’s plans and the way people think. Then we will be rejected just like Jesus was, but we will be chosen by God and precious.

When we read about the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we can see that they had to forsake their kindred and everything they lived for to be able to take care of God’s works. They did not know the final outcome, but they lived by faith. They lived a solitary life, but they fulfilled God’s plan. The others were destroyed, but Noah and his family were saved. Abraham became the father of those who believe and all the generations were blessed in him. Joseph was able to keep his family alive, and Moses could save his people out of Egypt, etc. God honored them and gave them power over nations. As we can see from all this, the honor belongs to him who believes. 1 Pet. 2:7. God chooses such people and—in spite of the will of people and their calculations—appoints them as princes. On that Day, Joseph’s brothers will blush; the disciples of Balaam, Korah’s men, Saul and all his advisors and all the Pharisees will be put to shame because they did not seek God’s honor.