“Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!” Psalm 135:1
“I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 134:1-3
The more sold out I am to the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I passionately pursue Him, the more devoted I am to God almighty and to fulfilling my life’s purpose for Him, the more I chase after Him and hungrily and thirstily study and learn to live by His Word, the more I serve Him in my love for Him, the more I write for Him, the more I walk the streets with my Gospel tracts and wheelchair dogs and other dogs in tow, the more I share with people about Him and about my calling without the dogs in tow, the more people tell me in one way or another they think I’m special. I absolutely LOVE being told I’m special. Here’s why.
Because EVERYTHING good people see in me and EVERYTHING good people see through me is BECAUSE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST alive in me, because of God’s Spirit taking up residence in me, because of God’s love, mercy, grace, peace, hope, and joy, because of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection, because of God’s kindness, forgiveness, compassion, tenderness, and comfort, because of God’s Word, because of JESUS, because of THE LORD, NOT BECAUSE OF ME! EVERY SINGLE OUNCE OF GLORY for anything good and beautiful and special in my life GOES TO GOD ALMIGHTY IN CHRIST. I don’t want one single ounce of glory; I long for Him to have it all because He deserves it all and because it’s one way I get to love and adore and revere and honor and praise and be in awe of and fear of and worship and point people to THE LORD!
I LOVE being told I’m special because every single time it happens, especially when people see me walking in a little parade of paralyzed dogs in their wheelchairs behind me, or when people read my writing, or hear how I minister to people on the streets, EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS I am given an opportunity to tell people this:
“ALL THE GLORY BELONGS TO THE LORD!” I proclaim. See, I am being given opportunity after opportunity to use what others perceive as a compliment to magnify and exalt and worship and glorify the Lord while pointing people to Him! I’m not the special one. THE LORD IS! THE LORD WHO WILL REIGN FOREVER!
Years ago, I told a woman how wonderful her worship song was when she sang in front of the Bible study gathering. Her voice was so beautiful!
“To God be all the glory!” she exclaimed. I couldn’t understand back then what she was doing. She didn’t receive what I thought was a compliment to her. She used what I told her as an opportunity to give God the glory for the gift of music He had given her! And she used the music itself to worship Him and bring Him glory!
When people compliment you and give you praise and pat you on the back and say wonderful things about you and call you special, please give the glory to where it is due. TO THE LORD!