Glory Thieves

The Life of Moses- ep. #24 🔆 What if we told you that recognizing yourself as merely an instrument in God's hands could transform your entire approach to life and worship? Welcome to Whispers of Grace! Today our discussion is rooted in Exodus 20:22-26, where we explore the significance of attributing all glory to God and examine the concept of "Glory Thieves" who mistakenly seek recognition for themselves.

Journey with us as we delve into the themes of idolatry, altar construction, and humble worship. We'll uncover God's specific instructions to the Israelites about building altars from uncut stones and maintaining modesty during worship. Drawing on rich insights from Matthew Henry and Paul's teachings in Romans, we challenge ourselves to recognize how idolatry can subtly infiltrate our lives, urging us to seek validation in all the wrong places. This part of our discussion will truly make you question where you may be placing undue importance on worldly recognition.

We wrap up by focusing on the teachings of Jesus from Matthew, chapter six, highlighting the importance of inner devotion over outward appearances. With personal experiences and biblical stories like that of Nadab and Abihu, we underscore the serious consequences of seeking attention in worship. Drawing on the allegory of Aslan's claws from "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," we encourage deep introspection and humility, reminding ourselves that true fulfillment and freedom come from God's love alone. This episode will leave you inspired to stand aside and give all the glory to God, steering clear of becoming a "glory thief".

Transcript

Julie: 0:19

Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's Holy Word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Hello everyone, and welcome back to Whispers of Grace. I am so excited to be here with you today and I wanted to let you know about a really fun new feature that we have on the podcast. You can now directly send me a text. So if you click into the podcast description where it tells you what the episode is about, if you scroll to the bottom, there should be a little link that says send me a text, and you can click on there and the messages actually come right into the podcast host site where I can read them. So I would love to utilize this space for questions about content or comments about episodes or requests or more information or really anything that you guys have on your hearts. So if there's something that you want to hear more of or a topic that you'd like to talk about, please send me a message. I can review these questions at the beginning of each episode. Or if you just want to pop in and say hi from your region or your country, I would love to share that too at the beginning of episodes, so we can start to build a bit of a community where you as listeners can feel more connected to one another as a group, because there are people literally all around the world that tune in and listen to this. So I thought it would be an awesome opportunity for us to come together and, honestly, it would be great for me to hear too, because I do this for you, so I'd love to learn what you want to hear more about and just hear your voice.

Julie: 2:06

So I'm so excited for this and, as we get kicked off today for what we're going to be talking about, my pastor at my church right now likes to give this little analogy about a paint brush at service. That I always think is so effective, and I've heard a few other pastors use this in different ways, but it's so applicable today. So it goes that you don't come to a painter who's just painted you know your home this beautiful new coat of paint and say hey, where's your paintbrush? And pick up that paintbrush and look at the paintbrush and say, wow, paintbrush, you've done such a wonderful job of painting this house. It's really fantastic. What a wonderful. You've done such a wonderful job of painting this house. It's really fantastic. What a wonderful job you've done. That's silly, right? We don't actually thank the paintbrush. We know that it's the painter who is responsible for painting the house. So to think about even praising the instrument that was used in painting the house seems ridiculous and silly. But that is essentially what we're going to be talking about today.

Julie: 3:07

This episode is called Glory Thieves because so often we, as that paintbrush, can steal the glory away from God, even though we are just his vessels, we're just the tools that he's using. It's so, so easy for us to stand in the way of what he's doing or to take the praise and the glory. So that is what we're going to be talking a little bit about today. So we are back in Exodus, chapter 20, at the end. We went through the 10 commandments last time and this time we're only going to be going through a few verses at the end of Exodus 20, verses 22 to 26. And these little verses have so much packed into them.

Julie: 3:50

We're actually going to hit three topics, but they're all very related. So first we're going to talk about idolatry, which is worshiping something besides God, and then we're going to merge into talking about the Israelites, how they were instructed to build altars, dirt altars with uncut stones that were used to worship God. It says that if a tool is used to shape the altar then it is profaned. There is no mark of man to be on God's altar. And the third thing we're going to talk about is when the priests serve at the altar. There must be no flesh indecently exposed, so there's no flesh of man that should distract from the worship of God. So as I read through this little section, just kind of keep your mind on those little topics as we go through.

Julie: 4:44

This is Exodus, chapter 20, 20, verses 22 to 26. Then the Lord said to Moses thus you shall say to the children of Israel you have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with me Gods of silver or gods of gold. You shall not make for yourselves An altar of earth. You shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name, I will come to you and I will bless you. And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up my steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed on it. So three little mentions of things to do and not to do Make no idols. When you make altars, make them of dirt and uncut stone. And lastly, no flesh should glory in his presence. This is when he's talking about your nakedness not being exposed.

Julie: 5:55

But when we look at these three topics, they really beautifully weave together. So he starts out this little section as so often he does. God says thus you shall say to the children of Israel you have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. So God once again reminds the Israelites you've seen me. The Israelites have just experienced God at Mount Sinai, the thunderings and the lightnings and the smoke and the fire and all of these manifestations of God's presence. They've seen it and all of the miracles. But God is still reminding them. He says remember how I've revealed myself to you, I've met you, I've provided, I've walked with you through disappointment. And every time that God says this, I think it's important for us to notice how often God reminds us to remember. We need to remember, to remember. It's so vitally important and God starts so often in this place with remember, remember what I've done, remember who I am, because this, right here, friends, is the key to humility. When we remember who God is and what he's done, and the gravity of that really hits us, it really humbles us, which is what we're going to be talking about.

Julie: 7:25

So, starting to talk about idolatry, it looked very blatant in the days of Moses. There was idolatry everywhere. Everyone had idols. If you've ever seen ancient Egypt, idols everywhere. Idol worship was so prominent in the days of Moses and there's still idolatry today in many parts of the world, in Hinduism, in Buddhism and in lots of other religions. There are tangible idols that people place and worship. They bow down to them, they think of them as gods, and there are many, many things that we bow down to and worship and don't even acknowledge it.

Julie: 8:01

We are going to dive into this topic very deeply when we get to the golden calf a little bit later in the book of Exodus, so I'm not going to go into it too deep. But as I was studying and thinking about this, I ran across just this little comment from Matthew Henry, who is a Bible commentator, and he was talking all about idolatry and how it affects us. But this little statement. He was talking about how strange it is and how we're so easily drawn into idolatry, and he just says our peculiar addictedness to idolatry and the particular sinfulness of that crime. It's true, we are addicted to idolatry and it is incredibly sinful because it's letting something take the place of God, worshiping something as though it was God. Even if it's meant to be a representation of him, it will never properly reflect our God.

Julie: 8:58

Paul talks a lot about this in the book of Romans. I'm going to read to you a little bit from chapter 1, verses 21 to 25. Paul says For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, god gave them up in the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is forever blessed. Amen, and that's it right there, at the end of the statement.

Julie: 9:54

Idolatry is worshipping and serving a creature rather than the creator, putting something in the place of God, and that something can so often be ourselves. We can worship ourselves over God so often because our human spirits, they long for recognition, for respect, for appreciation, for validation. We want to be noticed and respected and praised and, if you're really honest with yourself, these things rule our hearts so often. I have had such a hard month studying for this because I feel like, in studying it and praying about it and asking God to reveal it in my heart, he has. And it has just been so depressing to notice how often I say or do things because I want to be validated or I want to be noticed or I want to be respected or recognized or praised. It's just, it's so sad how frail and insecure we can really be in and of ourselves and create ourselves an idol that takes the place of God. And it just caused me to think about the Westminster Confession, because I think this is such a beautiful statement of faith that I run back to consistently.

Julie: 11:21

The Westminster Confession addresses the question what is the chief end of man? So what is our purpose. What are we living for? And this is what they said to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That is our purpose. That's the chief end of man. That is what we are here. That is what we are living for One, to glorify God, to bring him glory, and number two, to enjoy him forever. This seems simple, but we get in the way all the time.

Julie: 11:58

And when I read this passage in Exodus, it just hit me how clear it is. Back in Exodus, chapter 20, verse 24, it says An altar of earth you shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name, I will come to you and I will bless you. So he says. When you make an altar, it needs to be simple, it needs to be made of earth. And then he goes on in verse 25 and God says and if you make me an altar of stones, you shall not build it of hewn stones, so no stones that have been shaped by a tool of man, for if you use your tool on it, you've profaned it. So this simplicity of dirt and stones, it reminds us that what God has already created. It brings him glory that what God has already created. It brings him glory Just as simple as the dirt and the stones, because God put his hands on those things and created them and they're beautiful just the way that God made them.

Julie: 13:11

But we always feel like we have to improve on the things that God has created. Now I'm not disparaging the artistic side that all of us have, because God has put that into us as well, where we love beauty and we love to create and innovate, and those are beautiful aspects of the heart of God. And God is not against beauty and creating to this the tabernacle and the temple. They will be beautiful and ornate and the spirit of God will empower skilled artisans to make these beautiful places of worship. So God is not against artistry and imagination and creativity. That is not what we're saying. What God is against is distracting away from him, because when the tabernacle and the temple were built, god gave very specific plans as to exactly what they should look like, down to every single cubit and the decoration and the color and the thread to be used and the metals to be used. God gave a perfect plan for all of those things, because they're actually a picture of what's going on in heaven. God has a plan for the way that he wants to be worshiped and viewed by us, and we should never get in the way of what that plan looks like In thinking about this, about how just the simple dirt and stones were holy and fit for use as an altar.

Julie: 14:42

It reminded me of when Moses comes to the burning bush in the desert If you remember, we went over this long ago. But God tells him do you remember what he says? He approaches the bush and God says take off your sandals because the place where you're standing is holy. And there's lots of speculation as to why this could be. But one of my favorite things to think about is that he was connecting with his creatureliness, with the fact that he was a simple created being, connecting his feet back to the dust that he came from. There's so much humility and acknowledgement of God's supreme power and of Moses's createdness in that simple act and taking away that piece of dead animal probably it was a piece of leather on his foot just removing that man-made item that was standing between Moses and the earth because he was standing on holy ground. There's so much beauty and depth to that simple little story and that's a lot of what we're looking at here, with these dirt and stone altars.

Julie: 15:52

This reminds me again a lot of Paul in first Corinthians, chapter one, 1, verse 17. He says this for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. So in this verse Paul is telling the Corinthians when I came to you, when I shared the gospel with you, it wasn't with all of this worldly wisdom which he had, because he was a well-trained man who could reason with the best of them, and I'm sure he was eloquent as well. But he said he didn't come with all of this wisdom and eloquence. Why he says so? That the cross of Christ wouldn't be emptied of its power. He didn't want to substitute the fine words of man for the power of the gospel. He continues down in verse 27 and says but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

Julie: 16:57

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Jesus Christ, who has become for us the wisdom from God that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. So he's encouraging the Corinthians here to understand that we didn't bring anything to God. We weren't wise and wonderful, we were foolish, and God uses those foolish and lowly things to bring him glory.

Julie: 17:48

I want to read to you just one more little section. This is from 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. And so it was with me. Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God, for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness, with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.

Julie: 18:32

Paul was trying to create an altar of dirt and uncut stones to lay the foundation of faith for the Corinthians. He didn't want it to be based on Paul's words or the fact that he was so convincing and eloquent and amazing. His message was going to be simple, and not with persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power. Words, but with the demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that their faith wouldn't rest on a human wisdom but on the power of God. So this is exactly what we're talking about here. The faith of these Corinthians believers needed to be founded on the simple gospel, on the truth that is there, that is so sweet and perfect in its simplicity, and he knew that there was nothing that he could add to it. Now, again, to give you some balance, later on, in 1 Corinthians, paul also says that he does speak wisdom, and he goes on to say that there is deep spiritual wisdom to be taught and observed by mature minds. So he's not saying that he threw out wisdom altogether, but he's saying when he was sowing the seeds of the gospel, when he first encountered them, he knew that it wasn't going to be because he was so wise or wonderful, but it was going to be the moving of the spirit of God that touched hearts and that simple truth was going to change lives, a time and a place for all things. But God, when he is worshiped, it needs to be in his timing and in his way. We get in our own way so often, and Jesus knows this. God knows this, and this is why we're constantly encouraged to stop looking at ourselves and to look to him.

Julie: 20:23

In Matthew, chapter six, jesus is talking to his disciples. This is a part of the Sermon on the Mount Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and then your Father, who sees what is done is secret, will reward you. So these are red letters in my Bible. This is the words of Jesus telling us to be careful not to practice our righteousness to be seen by others, not to be glory thieves not to steal from those even the good things that we would do to receive glory and admiration for others to think well of us. He warns us against that.

Julie: 21:29

Our flesh, it looks for any opportunity to draw attention to ourself, whether that's positive or negative attention. I don't know if you've ever seen a kid that thrives on negative attention. I had one of those and she didn't care whether it was positive attention or negative attention. So she did something really good and she got applause and praise. Or if she did something really, really naughty and just received, you know, punishment, but there was still attention in it. Those kids that are the ones that you know throw the fruit bowl down the stairs and smash the grapes into the carpet and draw on the walls and cut all the hair off of their dolls and poke babies in the eye and pee on their brother and sister's toys and steals their mom's makeup and rubs it all over their body and into the rug and rips every piece of clothing out of the closet and throws it into a pile on the floor. These children, it's the negative attention, because even if you're upset, even if you're disappointed and angry, you are still focusing all of your attention on this kid, so this was her way to get attention.

Julie: 22:44

And don't we do the same thing? How often we like to complain about our ailments or our issues or the way that people have harmed us? We love attention, whether it's going to be for positive things or for negative things. There's different kinds of people. Some people love that negative attention they can get the shock and awe factor. Or some of us, we go for the sympathy vote. We just want people to feel bad for us, to think about us, to look at us. This is just the way it is. And then there's those of us that are the straight A students that are just looking for the accolades of mom and dad and for everybody else to look at us and say what a good job that we've done. Else to look at us and say what a good job that we've done.

Julie: 23:29

However you slice it, whatever kind of a person you are, we all love the attention and we look for opportunities to draw attention to ourselves. And this is why these scriptures that we're reading, what we're talking about, is so important, because God is telling us God was telling Israel then that there is no flesh to glory in the worship of God. 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, says this, and I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes, for women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things that they do. Now that's in the New Living Translation, and I really, really love the way that it translates this because it's true. This is talking about women gathering together with believers in church.

Julie: 24:34

Do we go to be noticed, to draw attention to ourself? Do we spend way too long doing our hair and makeup and thinking about how our shoes go with our outfit, or are we concerned about the good things that we do and being devoted to God and letting those things be our witness? I think all of us, if we're honest, can say that we have gotten far too caught up in our own appearance more than once. It's true, because we think about our perception, how others are going to think of us. Do we look haggard and tired or like we haven't spent any time on ourselves? We want to look a certain way, we want to be perceived a certain way, but here in First Timothy, we are encouraged to be modest in our appearance, not to be dressing, to be drawing attention to ourselves, but to be focused on our devotion to God and let that be the attractiveness about us. Again, this is not saying that we should never buy nice things, that we shouldn't wear jewelry, that we shouldn't wear makeup. I think that that's an overreaction and an exaggeration of the heart of what this is saying. It's saying don't do these things to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. God delights in beauty. So don't hear this and be discouraged about being concerned with beauty, because God also enjoys beauty. But we have to consider our heart's intent. Now, the ultimate example that I could think of in the Bible when we're talking about heart's intent, now, the ultimate example that I could think of in the Bible when we're talking about heart's intent, is definitely the story of Nadab and Abihu. These men lost their lives over this.

Julie: 26:17

I'm going to give you just a little insight as to what's happening here and then I'm going to read you a couple of scriptures. So in this passage of scripture it's recording when the priestly ministry actually begins. So when they build the tabernacle, which is going to be their movable tent of worship that they're going to carry around with them in the desert as they're wandering. This is when it all first starts, when the priests are ordained for ministry, when the tabernacle is set up, when the fire of God first first comes. This is that time. So I'm going to read to you a little bit of that story from Leviticus 9, verse 22.

Julie: 26:56

Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them and, having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down. Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting and when they came out they blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down. So here we see the priests bringing the offering onto the altar and God consuming it with fire. All of the people see this. It says that they shout for joy and they fall in their faces. So at this point all eyes are on the work that God has just done. He has just proven himself in another big way and shown his pleasure for the obedience of these men. And here's what happens next. This is from the beginning of chapter 10.

Julie: 27:57

Aaron's sons, nadab and Abihu, took their censers, they put fire in them and added incense, and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his commandment. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron this is what the Lord spoke of when he said among those who approach me, I will be proved holy in the sight of all the people, I will be honored. And Aaron remained silent. So Aaron's sons two sons, nadab and Abihu actually lose their lives right in the middle of this worship service. That's happening when everybody is filled with joy and falls down on their face.

Julie: 28:46

These two men step out of line. It says that they put fire into their censers and they add the incense and they offer an unauthorized fire before the Lord. So this is something that he had not commanded them to do. Now, there's a thousand reasons why they may have done this. This was their first day on the job, sure, but they had been given such strict instructions as to how God was to be worshipped.

Julie: 29:14

This was not a simple oversight, this was a choice. Maybe their emotions got the best of them. God is answering by fire. All of Israel is bowing down and praising God, and they just wanted to be more a part of it. So they're thinking let's offer some incense to the Lord. It could have been from joy, they could have been excited and just kind of forgotten that they don't get to do whatever they want as priests, but that they are representatives of God and that he has given them a specific way to be worshiped. And they offer this incense and God immediately. He answers by fire and he takes their lives.

Julie: 29:55

It could have been that these men were kind of missing out on the spotlight, because so far it's been Moses and Aaron that are kind of doing the big jobs, and maybe they're standing off to the side and didn't feel like they were a part of it. And they wanted to be part of worshiping God too, and so they offered this incense and just thought it was going to be a small little sacrifice. Either way, it says in the scripture that fire came out from the Lord. It consumed them because they offered unauthorized fire that was contrary to his command. So this was different than what he had asked them to do and it was putting the focus on them. It was not putting the focus on God.

Julie: 30:39

God was having his moment here. He was having a moment with his people, with his children. He was showing them that he accepted their offerings. It was such a moment with his people, with his children. He was showing them that he accepted their offerings. It was such a beautiful moment. And then that flesh of man stepped in for just a minute. That flesh wanted that glory and stepped out of place for just a moment, and it was a serious offense. God is so serious about his glory being guarded and when eyes are on Jesus, you never, ever, ever take them off of Jesus and put them on you.

Julie: 31:14

We are just so very good at stealing God's glory in overt ways, and sometimes in covert ways, that we don't even see where we're taking the attention that is due the Lord and we're putting it somewhere else. I've been thinking just how do I distract from what God is doing? I can distract away from what God is doing by forcing my own timeline instead of waiting for God's, by talking too much, by overthinking situations, by striving for what I think I need, by manipulating situations or rushing ahead to offer the incense that, I think, is best. In needing attention and praise for my good deeds, I can become a glory thief. It's sad, but it's true. We all have the ability to become glory thieves, to come in and steal those things that are due to the Lord and to take credit for them.

Julie: 32:22

The word says that every good and every perfect gift is from above. It's from the father of lights, it's not from us. Anything good that we can produce is because of Jesus. He is due all the glory and all the honor and all the praise, and I don't want to get in his way by manipulating a situation or by talking over him or overthinking or striving or so many of the things that I can do to get in his way. I want to give him free reign to have his way, to be glorified and to fall to the background, to not need to be acknowledged for when I do a good job or for when I do something for someone else, but to happily fade to the background, to be content in that, not just content to be joyful to be forgotten, to be joyful to let Jesus shine, to let him be noticed and not us. At the end of the day, my friends, we need to be coming to God to get our fulfillment and our acknowledgement, because he's the only one that we really needed from, and he calls us friend, he calls us beloved. He says that we are his chosen people. We are so special and precious to him we don't need to earn our place. He's already got us secure.

Julie: 33:48

So many of us, I think, are striving to please God because we feel like we need to earn his love. We can't, there's nothing that we can do to add to the love that we have right in this very moment from God. There's nothing that you can do to add or take away from the love of God, nothing that you can do to add or take away from the love of God and that fulfillment that we seek the acknowledgement from others. It's because we don't really believe what God says about us. We need somebody else to say it too. So let me challenge you this week, as we set off, really search your heart and find out where those weaknesses are, where you feel that you need to be seen and observed and acknowledged and thanked and praised, and figure out why it's there. And so often this work is really, really, really difficult for us to do.

Julie: 34:42

I've been reading my kids the Chronicles of Narnia and one of my favorite pictures in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, there's a character named Ustas and in the beginning of the book he's just a horrible cranky brat and he finds this dragon's treasure and he takes some of it and it actually turns him into a dragon he can't free. He's just stuck in this dragon's body and as he's a dragon he learns to be helpful, to be part of the group. It's kind of changes who he is, but he can never free himself from this dragon skin that he's stuck in. And then in the story he meets Aslan, who is a great lion, who is a picture of Jesus in these books, and he needs Aslan to come and use his claws to free him from this dragon's skin. So there's this scene when Aslan comes to him and it says that he uses his claws to tear off this dragon's skin. And it's funny because Ustas is a dragon, right. So he's got these claws and this fire and he's constantly clawing at himself trying to get the skin off and there's nothing he can do. He's stuck. He needs the claws of Aslan to come and free him from his flesh. And this is exactly what Jesus does when we come to salvation. He is the one that frees us.

Julie: 36:04

But so often we get stuck again and again and again we put ourselves back into this prison that we've been freed from. In needing the approval of others or in needing praise or acknowledgement, we put ourselves back in these cages and we don't need to be there. But so often we need the claws of Aslan to come and show us our own hearts, to show us what's really there, because we are so often blind to our motives, to our deep heart motives of why we do things. So maybe that can be a helpful picture to you as you consider these things. And I would encourage you let those claws of Aslan go deep. And I would encourage you, let those claws of Aslan go deep.

Julie: 36:47

I don't know about you, but I do not want any part of my flesh to glory in God's work. I want to stand back from that altar. I don't want to put my tools on those stones and think that I can make them more precious. So just one more thing I want to encourage you before we wrap up remember to remember where we started at the beginning. Here is where I think we need to end.

Julie: 37:14

God encourages them to remember. We need to remember who God is and what he's done for us, because it corrects our hearts and it brings a true humility where we don't need to be the focus. We remember how weak we are, we remember our flesh and we remember what he's done and his love, and it corrects us, it helps us to see him well. So, my friends, as we walk into this week, as you walk into the rest of this day, I pray that God would allow these truths to settle on your hearts and that we would never be those glory thieves, but we would stand aside and give him all the glory that is due his name. Thank you.