Who get's the Glory?

Isaiah 61:4-11

Yesterday, we looked at the first three verses of this chapter and we learned when the Spirit of the Lord God is on us, it will affect the people we come in contact with.  We become more than conquerors.  Now many of us connect the word conquer to defeating people in war, but that is not what Paul is referring to in Romans 8:37, it is being an overcomer of death and life, of angels and rulers, of things present and things to come, because of the relationship we have with Jesus Christ.  Isaiah tells us they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

There is a problem for many of us who follow Christ, we forget who is to get the glory, and remember the flesh likes to be noticed, be first, and receive praise for an act of righteousness.  I’ve come to this understanding about my flesh, it cannot be trusted, and it likes to take credit and be noticed   So if it is an act of kindness, I know it is not my flesh, if it is an act of righteousness it is not my flesh, and the glory is the LORDS.

The remainder of this chapter tells us what takes place in the life of one who has become an “Oak of Righteousness,” they rebuild the sinful devastations of many generations, and God sends strangers to come and work, but you will be referred to as ministers of our God.  In verses 6 and 7 Isaiah sounds like one of the T.V. preachers, with this exception, Isaiah is God’s spokesman and it is God, not man who has spoken about how they will be blessed by the wealth of nations and honored because the Spirit of the Lord God is upon them.

In the first chapter of the Psalms, we see a righteous man being compared to a tree, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.”  (Psalms 1:3)  The actions and results of the Spirit of God being upon and in you is found in verses 10-11, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”  (Isaiah 61:10-11 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice