Barbara Mertz has a complaint about Egypt's Pharoah Ramses II. In her book Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs, archaeologist Mertz writes, "One gets so tired of Ramses; his face, his figure, and/or his name are plastered over half the wall surfaces still standing in Egypt-at least it seems that way." Insatiably thirsty for glory, Ramses reveled in Egyptian religion, which taught that the pharaoh was divine.Contrast Ramses' desire for glory with the attitude of Paul and Barnabas. On one of their missionary journeys, they faced a situation during which they refused to accept vain glory. When a crowd in the idolatrous city of Lysta saw them heal a crippled man, the people exclaimed, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" They immediately prepared animals to sacrifice in honor of Paul and Barnabas. But the two quickly objected, saying, "We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from useless things to the living God."
We do not rival the apostles in our accomplishments for God, but we all have things we do for Him. It's then that we must be "glory deflectors," making sure God gets all the glory for everything we have done.
-Dennis Fisher
Man's greatest goal: Bringing glory to God
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