Breaking Free-Part 2: To Glorify God

       I love the Bible study "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore. It makes the old testament so much more interesting for me. It turns the strange wording around to where I can understand it and apply it to my life. This week is a challenge for me because we are going through the 5 benefits we could have once we are free in Christ. those 5 things are to know and trust (believe in) Him, to glorify Him, to know His peace, to be in His Presence, and to be satisfy in Him.  The theme of this week (week 2) is "That You May Know".
        I already have done the know and believe in Him and to glorify Him. Those were the first two days and it is strong. It was so God for some reason because I study the "get to know and believe Him" part on saturday day and that night at church it was about getting to know Jesus. I think God is trying to tell me something through this study and this time in my life. Every time I am in a study at the church, it seems like it just fits my life at that moment. God does work like that a lot.
           I studied the glorifying him today and it was just really hard to wrap my mind around. The book gave me verses to look up and it was strange. The thing that pointed out to me was that the Old Testament was giving glory to God through the things He made and with noise and so on. The New Testament was giving glory to God through Jesus Christ, His Son. It showed me that I need to turn everything to God and give thankful and glory to Him for those things even if it something as simple as getting through a busy and energetic day at work.
           I give thanks to Him through my prayers or at least I try to remember to do that but I need to glorify or give thanks to Him out loud so other people can see Him through me. That is just one way all of us can show God to other people. I love how a friend of mine gives glory to God for the hunts that he goes on and to be honest I never thought of the real reason behind the words that he would say. I would always think, "Well, yeah that was nice that he did that and that is getting people to see who the show it all about and where he stands." Now that I have study this part of my study, I look back and think it is a really good thing to do that. He is giving glory to God for the simplest of things.
            I know I have seen it in other friends' lives too but since that is the show I watch the most it just sticks out more. We can sing and make noise with anything and when we do we usually think of that as glorifying God, which it is but it doesn't need to stop on a Saturday night or Sunday morning. It needs to go on throughout the week in our lives. We need to talk to God more and thank Him for every little thing whether it is not losing our patience at work to losing someone or something we love dearly.
             I got part of this from a friend of mine too. To have "a better than average day" you need to glorify God in the simplest of ways. Being a simple, country girl at heart, you would think I would understand and do that. I do understand now but it is hard to do everyday especially on days you don't feel like it. Another thing I learn in my study today is that we all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but God keeps working on us by transforming us in His Image. It takes a lot of work but it is worth it in the long run.
             I have started to write an outline for me during this study because there are so many things I would love to remember without having to look them up again. I hoping maybe I can get the outlines up on here sometime even if it is after the study is over. The study is hard and yes it is a women's Bible study for older women but it wouldn't hurt for younger women around my age (27) to take it either. We might not get it right off the bat but it is something to challenge us and help us grow into the women God wants us to be.

Challenge:    Talk with God throughout your day. Find something in each day and give Him glory for it. It will make your walk with Him stronger and make your day better.