How to glorify God while drinking a cup of coffee.

I love drinking coffee, but I have to be careful not to drink coffee to the glory of coffee, but to the glory of God!  How am I supposed to do that?! 

• First of all, I must be grateful to Almighty God for creating the coffee.  He made the coffee plant grow so we might enjoy it!  Genesis 1:29
  
• God also provided people to harvest the coffee beans from the plant to make my job as a coffee drinker easier.  I don’t have to pick the beans, I just grind them and pour them in the coffeemaker. 
  
• God has given me the ability and strength to drink coffee, as well as the ability to taste it!  Psalm 139:14-“I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
• When I drink coffee, it reminds me of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are missionaries in Brazil, where coffee is primarily grown.  It reminds me to pray for each one of them and the work the Lord is doing through them in Brazil.  Philippians 1
• I need to be careful that I do not put my desires above God and His glory.  Philippians 3:18-20
• Don’t be greedy or selfish by drinking all the coffee.  Share your blessings with others.  Proverbs 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:24- “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”
  
• Another way to apply the previous principle is to surprise the guy behind you at Starbucks or your coffeehouse of choice by buying their cup of coffee.  Let them know they’re worth a million, too!  Philippians 2:3-4  
  

How to glorify God while grocery shopping.

Grocery shopping is definitely not on my list of favorite things to do.  I love to cook, but I really don’t like to grocery shop that much!  However, I’m trying to look at grocery shopping from a little different perspective. 

How can you glorify God while you are grocery shopping? 

• Buy foods that are good for you.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20- “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.”)
• Watch what you spend.  Be a good steward of your money.  (Luke 12:42- “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?’”)
• Let the lady with four screaming kids and two carts full of groceries go in front of you.  She’ll be surprised!  (Philippians 2:3-4- “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”)
• Offer to pick something up for your neighbor to save them a trip.  (Galatians 5:14- “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”)
• Be genuinely interested in how the cashier is doing.  Strike up a conversation with them.  View their life in light of eternity.  (James 4:14- “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”)
• Leave a tract in a noticable spot, perhaps in a greeting card, magazine, empty cart, or in a carton of drinks. 

What other ways can you think of? 

How to glorify God by taking care of your friends’ dogs.

So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can glorify God even in the little things of life. 

I’ve been watching Nick’s and Brooke’s dogs Peanut & Rocco for the past few days and have about a week left to watch them while they’re out of town. 

Every time Brooke has called me while on their vacation, she thanks me and several times she’s said that I must be really happy.  When I asked why the first time, she replied, “You know Nick’s favorite verse…’You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’ (Psalm 16:11)”  And that made me think, you know, I really am happy.  I enjoy serving others. 

Paul writes this a little bit further down in verse 33 of 1 Corinthians 10: “just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many…”

Then it is fitting that I should be happy taking care of my “niece and nephew” because through taking care of them, I am serving my brother and sister in Christ. 

Here’s just a few ways I can glorify God while dog-sitting. 

• I thank God for the privilege and ability to care for His creatures.  (1 Peter 4:11- “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”)
• I can be a witness to their neighbors, hopefully spurring them to glorify God because they see a difference in my life.  (Galatians 1:24- “And they glorified God because of me.”)
• I glorify God not only by not complaining about my responsibilities, but by taking joy in doing them.  (Philippians 2:14- “Do all things without grumbling or questioning…”)
• I express my love for my friends by taking care of their dogs.  (Galatians 5:13- “…through love serve one another.”) 
• By going above and beyond my call of duty because I realize, ultimately, I’m serving God.  (Ephesians 6:7- “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”)

How can you glorify God today?

1 Corinthians 10:31

All the main versions agree on this one: whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God! 

KJV: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
ESV: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
NIV: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 
NKJV: Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
NLT: So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
NASB: Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Let’s dissect it a little bit:
So what does glory mean exactly?  This is what Merriam-Webster says…

Main Entry:
         ¹glo·ry 

Pronunciation:

\ˈglȯr-ē\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural glories

Etymology:

Middle English glorie, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin gloria

Date:

14th century
1 a: praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent : renown b: worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving <giving glory to God>2 a: something that secures praise or renown <the glory of a brilliant career> b: a distinguished quality or asset3 a (1): great beauty and splendor : magnificence <the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome — E. A. Poe> (2): something marked by beauty or resplendence <a perfect glory of a day> b: the splendor and beatific happiness of heaven; broadly : eternity4 a: a state of great gratification or exaltation <when she’s acting she’s in her glory>And now, an enlightening note by John Piper, explaining how to drink orange juice to the glory of God. 

Some of you then asked the practical question: Well, how do you “eat and drink” to the glory of God? Say, orange juice for breakfast?

One answer is found in 1 Timothy 4:3-5: “[Some] forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”

Orange juice was “created to be received with gratitude by those who believe the truth.” Therefore, unbelievers cannot use orange juice for the purpose God intended-namely, as a occasion for heartfelt thanksgiving to God from a truth heart of faith.

But believers can, and this is how they glorify God. Their drinking orange juice is “sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.” The word of God teaches us that juice, and even our strength to drink it, is a free gift of God (1 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Peter 4:11). The prayer is our humble response of thanks from the heart. Believing this truth in the word, and offering thanks in prayer is one way we drink orange juice to the glory of God.

The other way is to drink lovingly. For example, don’t insist on the biggest helping. This is taught in the context of 1 Corinthians 10:33, “I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (RSV). “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Everything we do-even drinking orange juice-can be done with the intention and hope that it will be to the advantage of many that they may be saved.

Let us praise God that we have escaped by his grace from the total ruin of all our deeds. And let us do everything, whether we eat or drink, to the glory of our great God!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how can we glorify God even in the little things?  Let’s learn together!