![Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41u9kx4miUL.jpg)
Preaching Christ
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:2 (NKJV)
Glory Forever And Ever
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
Who gets the glory for our development and the good works we do in the will of God? Christ does. God gets the glory in the sense that He perfects us, but what He does to equip us is through Christ. Therefore, when it comes down to the final analysis, Christ gets the glory. Why does that matter? It matters because God’s whole purpose is to bring us to Christ, to bind us to Him in an indissoluble union; to make us the Body of which He is the Head; to make us the bride to Him, the Bridegroom. He is the brightness of God’s glory. He is the express image of His Person. God has magnified Christ, His living Word, above all His name. Therefore when we are equipped to do His will and perform the Christlike works which He has for us to do, Christ gets the glory. Our cry is, ‘Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.’ We cannot take the credit or appropriate any glory to ourselves because of any good work we do. Christ has done in us what is necessary for us to do the will of God. He has set the good works before us to do. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Our Great God and our Savior,
we rejoice at all Your works.
We praise You that You lead us,
to do what will bring You the most glory.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Well Pleasing
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
What is well pleasing in the sight of God? Within the context, the writer of Hebrews is speaking of God’s equipping of us to engage in good works which are His will for us. In order to perfect us, He must do works of grace in us. Thus He, through the Spirit of Christ, renews us in our whole person after the image of Christ and enables us to die more and more unto sin and to live unto righteousness. When He equips us, the end result is well pleasing in His sight because He has conformed us to the image of Christ and prepared us to do good works which are like what he did. Christ said this would be so. ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.’ God is well pleased with what He has done in us to conform us to Christ’s likeness, because He is using us as the Body of Christ on earth as well as preparing us to spend eternity in His Presence. This equipping of us is an ongoing work of grace which continues throughout our lifetime. He is well pleased with where we are today and will be well pleased with where He brings us every step of our pilgrim pathway.
Our Holy and Wise God,
we praise You that You continue Your work in us.
We rejoice that you will conform us to what
is most pleasing in Your sight.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
To Do His Will
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
If God perfects us in every good work it is to the end purpose that we will do His will. How can we be certain that is the case? As with everything else, Christ is the touchstone of truth. Christ said, ‘I do always those things which please the Father.’ We know that Christ, ‘went about doing good.’ If what He did was good and He always did the will of the Father, then the good works for which God perfects us are works we will do according to His will. This is tremendously encouraging when we are doing what we know is good, even though it may seem to have very little effect. When God has perfected us to the extent He has put a good work in front of us to do, we can be well assured that work is His will regardless of the apparent success of it in our eyes or anyone else’s. Noah’s work seemed futile and ridiculous, until it started to rain. God perfects each of us to perform the good work He has for us to do His will. It will look very different for each of us.
Our Wise and Wonderful God,
we rejoice in Your will for us.
We praise You that You will equip us
to do those good works for Your glory.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
In Every Good Work
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21
If God perfects us in every good work to do His will, what will our life look like? Christ gives us a good idea when He describes the life of those who are on His right hand at His Throne of Judgment. He says to them, ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Every one of these are good works which would be in the will of God. Certainly there are many other actions which the Scripture points out as good works which would be in His will, but He Himself lists these. If God perfects us to every good work, they will at least be these to which He refers, regardless of whatever else we might do. All these good works to which He refers are practical, everyday things which are so simple the people who did them barely recognized them as being particularly noteworthy. When God perfects us, He does so in order that we may closely imitate Christ. This imitation of Christ will be effective in every good work to do His will. Before us lies an abundance of opportunity. Oh, that God would perfect us in every good work.
Our Good and Gracious God,
we rejoice that there are people all around us,
to whom we can do good.
We pray that You will guide us every day,
in the imitation of Christ.
Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning