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Morning Devotional...


Glory to God Alone

"I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols."  Isaiah 42:8

Isaiah 42:8


Today we will look at the final sola of the Reformation, the one that sums up the point of all the others. The truth that the Reformers were most concerned to promote and what can be seen as the central theme of Scripture is soli Deo gloria — to God alone be the glory.

The first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us that "man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever." God's glory is the highest good and therefore is the purpose for which we were created. We were made to glorify Him, to reflect His glory and proclaim it to all creation (Isa. 43:6–7). In saving His people and defeating their enemies, His glory is displayed (Ex. 14). Salvation must be sola fide, sola gratia, and solus Christus — through faith alone, by grace alone, and on account of Christ alone — because to attribute redemption to our efforts in any way is to rob God of His full glory. If God and God alone is not the one who saves, then He shares His glory with creatures. But as the prophet Isaiah tells us, God will share His glory with no one ( 42:8 ). Sola Scriptura — Scripture alone is the final, infallible authority — must be the church's confession. If any other source is placed on par with or above the Bible, then the Word of God is no better than the fallible words of creatures, and therefore the one who superintended the writing of the Bible is mocked.

We often think of the Reformation as involving only a doctrinal dispute, but for John Calvin and others, the purity of worship was a major concern as well. Calvin and others took seriously the teaching in Romans 1:18–32 that the basic sin of humanity is its refusal to honor God as God and thank Him for all that He has given us. Instead of bowing the knee to the Almighty, we suppress knowledge of Him and make all sorts of lesser gods.

Some idolatry is crass, such as the worship of trees or nature. Other forms of idolatry are more refined, such as the exaltation of human reason above divine revelation. But any time we substitute something else for the God of the Bible, we attempt to have Him share His glory with another. Any time we deny one of His attributes, we conceive of Him as less than the sovereign Lord of all. 

Coram Deo

It is not all that uncommon to hear someone say, "I refuse to worship a God that would send people to hell." But those who would define God's love in a way that denies His holy wrath do not worship the Creator. Others say, "To me God is...." But it does not matter how we define God, it only matters how He defines Himself. Let us be careful not to adopt the views of God common in our culture but rather allow Scripture to reveal to us the God who is.

Passages for Further Study

Isaiah 66:15–24
John 12:36b–43


From Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul.http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/glory-god-alone/

Buddy, thank you for this morning's devotional study.   

It's starting to look and feel as though summer is about over.  It won't be long, I'm afraid, until I need to keep windows closed in order to prevent the furnace from starting.   

Buddy!  thank you so very much for today's devotions.  They are inspirational and educational.  So many reformers were under dangerous threats and we are fortunate they persevered with their true message.

Liz:  So sad to lose your faithful dog - we feel upset whenever one of our children loses a dog.  A very old & smart dog came to visit us today - he knows our house so well and checks it out every time and he is having health issues too. 

Larry:  Six weeks was along time for Pat to mend - I am sorry to read of her aches now and wish her the best in finding a solution to that pain. 

Jeanne:  We are about to drive south so we won't have to be in the furnace heat - we do set the furnace to go on at 55* when we are away.  Just in case a winter freeze comes early.

Other good news is that my brother (a volunteer fireman in Washington) has not been called upon for almost a week - thanks be! 

A friend (neighbor) and I worked on a charity quilt yesterday and had a long chat and lunch.  It gave me a chance to sew on her super expensive machine - no, I am never going to spend that kind of money but what a wonderful machine. 
 

Hi, friends,

It's good to have another day to worship our Lord.

I've enjoyed hearing of everyone's activities. Wow, Janet, a new car, refrigerator, wheelchair, and son in law! And Carole, y'all enjoy your winter away from your home. Jeanne, our temps are still in the 90s here, but they predict we may see the 80s by the end of this week.

Buddy, thank you for your great devotional. Please inform the ignorant - what does Coram Deo mean? Sorry to be so uninformed.

Y'all have a wonderful rest of the day.

Ruth Ann

Hi, all,
Just got back from a visit with my mother.  She lives about 2 hours away in Jackson, MO.  We went down and went to church with her and spent the day with her.

Thanks, Jeanne, Carol and Ruth.

Ruth, Coram Deo, his phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one's entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.  Here is a link that tells more about it. http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/

Hi everyone.  We are enjoying a few days of relatively cooler weather here.  However, this morning the humidity is really high.  We had a couple of short showers late yesterday afternoon.  We have a quiet holiday day planned.  I did try to walk this morning but only got about 6 minutes in before I had to stop due to the chest discomfort.  We expect Scott to come over later this morning.  He doesn't have to work today. 

Buddy, thanks for providing the devotional thoughts for today.  This sentence really stands out for me this morning:  "But it does not matter how we define God, it only matters how He defines Himself."

Jeanne, I think we are several weeks away from having to be worried about the furnace going on. 

Carol, it is not likely that Pat will ever be pain free from this fibromyalgia as she has had it since she was a child.  She did enjoy getting to Sunday School and church yesterday although came home pretty tired.  So glad your firefighting brother has had a break and hopefully won't be needed for the rest of this year.  What kind of a machine does your friend have for quilting? 

Ruth Ann, we have had temps only in the mid to high 80's for the last two or three days and 84 is our predicted high for today. 

Buddy, I bet your mother was delighted to have you visit here yesterday and to go to church with her. 

Larry, Yes she was very happy to see us.  My wife and both of my kids went.  My son brought his girlfriend also.

My plans for today are to have a little birthday celebration for Beth, since I was away on her birthday.  Then Abby has volunteered to come up and provide some more tech support for me with the iPhone.  After about six hours on various calls to our provider, then Apple support, then provider; they FINALLY got the voicemail to set up!  I was ready to send the thing back and go back to my previous phone!  Mercy! 

I still didn't recieve email notification from here, had to sneak in the back door again. 

I hope you all have a great day!

Janet:  you must be tuckered out with all that new knowledge!  I know I would be..  things are moving fast for you and Darrel now - be sure to take a break.  We are all so thankful that you two recovered so well after that horrible car crash. 

Larry:  She has a 700 series Bernina plus a big long arm in her wonderful lighted walk-out basement.  She has a ton of fabric and it is amazing to go there.  By the way, our grandson is now with a Long Island, New York hockey team - looking for a family to put him up or  an apartment with other guys.  We all hope for a billet family.

Chicken bones with some meat is slowly simmering for a nice broth.  We are almost down to eating Dribs and Drabs as I call it - for the next week and half.  The freezer has exciting and unexpected packages.    

I'm just back from the birthday party.  Party was a success, cake was a flop!  Not a good idea to try to transport an ice cream cake in 110* weather!  It looked really sad.....but it tasted good, and they ate every bite!    We just had Beth's college friend Mindi, a lady she worked with at the school, John, me and several residents of the other apartments in John's complex.  They all enjoyed visiting and are a very congenial bunch.

My Tech Support girl is on her way!    She wants to go eat at Alejandro's tonight.  I have learned that having phone problems sure does cut down on the number of calls you get!  Very quiet around here!  Hope we haven't missed anything important.

Carol, sounds like your friend has your dream sewing room!  Nice you could visit.  And I hope grandson gets the type of housing you want for him.

I just read about a group of our soldiers boarding a plane to come home, with all their rifles, pistols, etc. and one had a nail clipper.  TSA guy said he couldn't board the plane with it, he asked why, and TSA said because it could be used as a weapon.  The guy patted his rifle, and said, But this is a weapon, and i'm allowed to get on with it!  TSA said But you can't use that to take over the plane, because you don't have bullets!  Soldier:  And I can take over the plane with NAIL CLIPPERS?  One of his buddies told him just give the guy the clippers, I will buy you a new pair.  Stupid??  Yep.

I want to rest a few minutes before Abby gets here.  See you tomorrow, probably.

Hi, friends,

I had lunch with friends today, and enjoyed the rest of it for my evening meal.

Other than that, I've enjoyed catching up on some tv programs that I've saved on my DVR. That's a really handy device.

Buddy, thank you for that good explanation.

Y'all have a good rest of the day.

Ruth Ann

Hi everyone on a nice 69 degree morning.  The lawn people are already started on the lawns in the neighborhood.  I thought I heard rain earlier this morning but no sign of it when I went out for my 10 minute walk this morning.  I got along fine today.  I have a light schedule as plan on meeting Scott for breakfast when I go downtown to coffee and that is all that is on the schedule for today.  He spent several hours here yesterday working on the Internet and got it all back into working shape.  I did enjoy the golf match yesterday afternoon as it had an exciting finish.  I also watched about three quarters of the Virginia Tech/Ohio State football game but didn't make it to the finish as it got too late and my eyes wanted to close.

Janet, glad the birthday party was a success and it sounds like no one cared that the ice cream cake hadn't made the trip from your freezer to the home in good shape.  Glad you have your voice mail working on your new iPhone and that Abby will give you more assistance with the phone. TSA rules don't have to make sense and their inspector was probably just following his orders.

Carol, the next time I am at the Bernina store with Pat I will look for that machine.  The last couple of times I was there I was shocked to see the machine with over 10 needles but guess that is an embroidery machine.  I am thankful that Pat hasn't wanted to do the embroidery.  Hope your grandson soon finds a suitable place to live for the hockey season.  I remember how bare our freezer and refrigerator and pantry became when we prepared to make our move here a few months ago.  However, we didn't starve and it was less to move or worry about. 

Ruth Ann, nice that you could have a special meal out with a friend.  That was a nice way to spend the holiday.  I was listening to WSB radio in Atlanta as I walked this morning and they were talking about the terrible traffic on the roads over their this morning and people return to work.  It is so nice to know I will never have to deal with that kind of traffic again.  Life seems to be lived at a slower pace over here.  I expect Nashville is returning to the very heavy traffic again this morning.

Good morning on this Tuesday that feels like a Monday!    I had a painful, restless night last night, but after my time with the Lord, I felt so much better.  We went to the gym, and found that Kristi is on vacation--which she richly deserves.  So we each did our own thing, I got in a mile on the treadmill, then did the stretches that have been helping me so much.  Tomorrow I will work out with weights--upper body.  I do feel a lot better when I exercise.

Larry, it is nice not to have to fight traffic and not to have to punch a time clock!  I sometimes--well, often, really--feel I need to be doing more than I am doing.  But the Lord has been telling me that I don't have to be DOING all the time!  I need that reminder, as all during my growing up years, I was expected to be working all the time.  If ever I got caught sitting and reading, there was swift, sure and painful punishment, along with verbal insults which took many years to heal.  But God!  How thankful I am for those words--BUT GOD!!  He truly can make all things meant for our harm turn to our good.  How I love our wonderful Lord!!

It really did my heart good to see how loving and kind everyone at Beth's little party was to her.  As John says, Beth is easy to love!  They all seemed to really enjoy the time together.    Just before the party, John's eldest sister called, talked to him a little bit, then talked to Beth and sang Happy Birthday to her.  I'm really pleased that John has such a nice place to live, with lovely neighbors.  He seems quite content there.  I think he is having quite a time shuffling between his car and the van.  He sometimes walks between his apartment and the Legacy, so he can leave the car parked at the apartment. 

I need to get the laundry started, and I've blabbed on too long already.  Bye!

Hi, friends,

I'm preparing to go out for the day - a doctor's appointment and a bit of shopping.

Y'all have a wonderful day.

Love to all,
Ruth Ann

One more thing to add to "strange weather" this year.  Usually there starts to be a little bit of color in the middle of August.  And here we are, well into September, and on my outing this morning I couldn't fine even one leaf that has turned.   

Best wishes Ruth Ann for your medical appointment.

Hi everyone on a very, very humid day here in South Carolina.  I was able to walk OK this morning and as Pat will be going to the church in a little while to work on crafts I fixed her breakfast this morning.  After her crafts she plans on getting a haircut and this evening we will go to church for the Wednesday night dinner and Bible Study that follows.  This is the first time in this fall season and I have been looking forward to it.  We did get a little rain yesterday and today we are to get back up to about 90 degrees.  I plan on staying home today until this evening. 

Janet, your comments about being expected to work all the time as a child explains a lot about how hard you always seem to be working.  It is good to rest and do things, like reading, just because you feel the desire or need to do so.  It seems that your plate is still quite full but know you have to do what you feel is right for you to do.  No one else can decide that for you.  Most things don't have to be done today.  Believe me I am a master at putting off what doesn't really have to be done today.  It sure takes the stress off.  (I am climbing down off my soapbox now.) 

Jeanne, it appears climate conditions are changing all over.  There are still not too many signs of the approaching fall down this way although some of the trees are beginning to show a bit of color at the top. 

Ruth, I join with Carol in hoping that your medical appointment went well yesterday. 

We have been to the gym, Kristi was back so I joined the class for a while.  She told me to take it slowly!  I kept up pretty well.  Larry, I appreciate your comments; and those are things the Lord has been telling me, and I've been telling myself.  I think I am slowly learning...I hope!  Thanks for caring!

Ruth Ann, I too, hope your appointment went well.

Carol, how is the weather up your way?  It was very foggy here this morning.

Jeanne, I love those photos you posted some time back, of the fall colors in your area, something I do want to see.  (It's on my bucket list!)  I agree the weather is very strange this year.

I heard three programs yesterday warning us of big changes coming, possibly this weekend!  Pray, pray, pray!

They are having a pretty good lunch at the Sr. Center today so we are heading there soon.  Then Darrel has an appointment at 1:00 with the dermatologist.  He has a couple of suspicious looking spots on his back I want him to have checked!

Hello to all the missing:  Pat, Paul, Judy, John, Heather, Liz, and so many more.  Don't you know we miss you??   

Janet, I'll try to get some new photos of autumn color - if the colors ever change.   

On leaves changing color - here, there was an abundance of rain for two straight months early and they say it is a fungus now but next year the trees will be back to normal.  So THEY SAY!  Are T HEY in charge of weather & earth???

Back from bible study this morning and a needle arts group this afternoon - I only ate one dessert.  News here is that a couple from Minnesota are coming next week for either one or two days & nights.  Luckily, this is my week now with filled appointments. 

Janet:  It has not been foggy now and the smoke has disappeared so things are almost normal.  Rather warm for this time of the year.  What kind of changes are happening soon?  I expect about a million non-Christians to move into our country - is that what you mean? 

Time to look at easy recipes for next week.  We have two couples coming over for breakfast on Friday as Don is making biscuits and gravy - I'll add fruit and something else too. 

Hi, friends,

This was a sleep specialist appointment. He showed me on the printouts that without my CPAP machine, my breathing is interrupted 131 times an hour. No wonder I feel so bad if I go to sleep without the mask on. Given all that, one thing great is that he says return next year.

I've worked on a data analysis file all day today. My goodness, it made me tired! And, this time, it was merging some data from a PDF file with an existing Excel file. Lots of teeny, tiny type and doing a lot of tedious cut, paste operations.

Well, it's finished, and I get the joys of going on the internet to speak with our Christian friends. It's so good to see y'all again!

Love to all,
Ruth Ann

Always good to see you, too, Ruth Ann!

I am up because I'm having one of those "J" nights, again.     I am so tired but just cannot sleep.

Carol, the programs were talking about the 4th "blood moon", the Shemitah, and the anniversary of 9/11.  And the ever-increasing danger of terrorist attacks...along with the crazy weather patterns, natural disasters, floods of displaced people, and so forth.  One fellow said people are always asking him where they can be safe, and he tells them the safest place to be is in the will of God!

I'm just weeding out email, hoping to get really, really sleepy!

Hi everyone.  I have been outside and walked this morning and it was  not as humid as yesterday.  We should get up to about 89 degrees this afternoon.  We had a delicious dinner at the church last evening as the lady who heads up the kitchen is really a good cook.  She had fixed wings with four different coating.  Along with that she had macaroni and cheese, rolls and we started out with a nice salad and finished with a delicious pound cake with fresh peaches and real whipped cream.  We then attended the Wednesday evening class and on the way home went by where our son was working and dropped off a package that had been sent to us for him.  I watched the entire Apple presentation yesterday afternoon that took two hours.  It completely destroyed my nap time but I was laying down resting while watching it.  Today will be coffee downtown and I will eat a combined breakfast and lunch there as I will go directly from there to the Wisdom group at the church and won't get home until close to 1 pm.  This way I won't have to deal with a late lunch.  We expect Scott to be over this evening to have dinner with us so it will be a fairly full day.

Enjoyed all the posting since reading yesterday but will be brief today.  However, don't count on that being the case tomorrow! 

Good morning!  It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood, at least so far!  We went to the gym, but I walked outdoors for 20 minutes, as it is just too delightful weather to stay indoors.  Then I did about six sets of abdominal exercises.  So I'm all set for the day.

Larry, that does sound like a delicious meal you had at church.  That is such a nice service, very helpful to a lot of folks and a good opportunity for fellowship.

Darrel is going to get his driver's license renewed this morning.  And the dermatologist gave him the all clear yesterday.  All those spots are benign keretoses.  Praise the Lord!

I want to go to scrapbooking today and start working on Beth's wedding album.  I haven't been to the little meetings for a while and I miss the gals.

Hope all is well at each of your places of residence!  God bless!

Hello from the west coast. A beautiful sunny day here. I've been getting in around 7-9miles every day between the gym and walking the dogs.

Freckles  and I are loving the therapy dog visits. She is getting used to being with the other dogs but when I take her to play day one the first and third Saturdays, she wants to stay with me instead of just getting out there and being a dog. I am teaching her the agility thinks,  the weave poles,  jumping over the hurdle and through a hoop. as well at the incline and decline boards. she picks it up pretty quick but I am just taking my time teaching her at my pace. The [lace where the play days are located has all the equipment there.

Not much else is now here my  little  golden tomatoes are still going strong and so is the 1 zucchini plant. I've been throwing the zucchinis into the food processor and bagging up 3 cups to each bag for Zucchini bread, plus I've been canning  lots of Blackberry seedless jam.

Marilyn, you sound like a happy, contented woman.     How God has helped you emerge from the conditions when I first "knew" you.   

Amen Jeanne.  Life has really changed for the good form. God is so good too me. He has brought through the worst of times into the best of times,. I have to give Him all the praise and all the glory. He has kept me alive for such a time as this. He gave me the strength to endure . Hallelujah!!!

Hi everyone on this very pleasant Friday morning.  We did have a bit of rain yesterday afternoon but not very much.  Scott was over for a couple of hours last evening and had dinner with us.  I watched about 3/4th of the Pro Football game.  I plan on a very quiet day today as have no plans to go anywhere.  I have already done my morning walk and some other chores.  Today is the day for the housekeeper to be here.  Pat has some plans around noon and to later attend a luncheon with friends.  I am so happy to see her getting out and about again although she comes home very tired.  I expect this will be a TV Dinner night. 

Janet, certainly good news for Darrel from the dermatologist.  Hope you got a lot done on your scrapbook project yesterday and enjoyed the company of the others in attendance.

Marilyn, that is a lot of walking everyday.  So far I have had to limit my walks to about 10 minutes but that is more than I had been doing.  You have a very smart dog and she must enjoy learning the new tricks.  I can tell she has added greatly to your enjoyment of life.  The food preparation and canning sounds wonderful.  I have always liked zucchini bread and the seedless blackberry jam sounds great.

I finally found the correct SD card for that phone I couldn't get the pictures  from and have added the 6 earlier photos of Freckles and I. There are 2 from her very first visit July 28th the rest are from the Wine Walk  Aug. 7th

http://s224.photobucket.com/user/tudogmom/library/Pets/Freckles?sort=3&page=1

Hi, friends,

I've had a busy couple of days, with taking 2 ladies to their doctor appointments, and going to the back doctor for myself today. He says I have a pinched nerve plus significant arthritis in my hip. So, I'll get another steroid shot on Wednesday of next week.  God really works things out - the only day I have a ride to the doctor for that steroid injection is on September 16th. Earlier this week, I tried to make an appointment when I was setting up the one for today, but they said they'd only make it after I had been seen today. Well, the nurse told me that she only had one appointment remaining for next week.  And, you guessed it - it's on September 16th. God knows what we need and makes provision ahead of time for His will to be done.

It has stormed a lot this afternoon. A cold front was coming through and that provided the impetus for the bad weather. They cautioned we might want to take a light sweater or jacket with us tomorrow, since we will only have temps in the low 70s, while all our temps including today have been over 90.

It's good to see y'all again today. I think I may need to think about a new computer. This one keeps on acting up.

Y'all have a good day.

Love to all,
Ruth Ann