Gracious God Is Worthy of Glory – 11/4/2026

When the kids were younger, I would read books to them before nap and often play a children’s hymn on the piano while we sang it together. Then, if there was time after our nightly Bible reading and prayer, I’d play another hymn for us to sing before bed. Singing or speaking praises to God at the start and end of our days is one way to keep our focus on worshiping our Creator rather than on lesser priorities.

If we aren’t regularly glorifying and thanking God, we can easily be deceived by the world, and our thoughts can become foolish. We will worship either God or something else. As Paul describes in this next section of Romans, we can trade the glory of God for temporal things.

Romans 1:21-23: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

As verse 21 indicates, there is a difference between knowing God and glorifying Him. I know who the true God is, but I don’t always glorify Him.

We glorify God by:

• growing in a personal relationship with Him. 
• adoring Him.
• worshiping and praising Him for who He is.
• giving Him the credit for all of our accomplishments.
• thanking Him for all of our blessings and sufferings.  
• exalting Him above anyone and anything else.

This week, what mortal thing have we placed above our relationship with God (a possession, person, project, plan, player, etc.)? Our relationship with God is eternal and the most important one we have.

One of the hymns we sometimes sing with the kids is “To God Be the Glory.” Let’s give glory to God rather than exchange it for something mortal.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Give Over

A couple weeks ago we talked about how we can glorify God instead of exchanging it for glorifying mortal things. As Paul continues in Romans chapter 1, he explains what happens when someone chooses to glorify mortal things versus God.

Romans 1:24-32     “²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:24-32

It’s not enough to know God’s righteous decrees. We must retain them, believe them, want them and live by them. It’s a dangerous place to be when we continue in a sin to the point that God gives us over to it.

What sin do you and I need to give over to God so He doesn’t give us over to it? He wants to help us overcome!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Glorifying God

Romans 1:21-23            “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”            Romans 1:21-23

So often I read through passages like this thinking it doesn’t apply to me because I know who the true God is and I don’t worship idols. There is a difference between knowing and glorifying God, though, as verse 21 indicates. I know who the true God is, but I don’t always glorify Him.

We glorify God by growing in a personal relationship with Him.

We glorify God by adoring Him.

We glorify God by worshiping and praising Him for who He is.

We glorify God by giving Him the credit for all of our accomplishments.

We glorify God by thanking Him for all of our blessings and sufferings. 

We glorify God by exalting Him above anyone and anything else.

This week, what mortal thing have you and I placed above our relationship with God? (possession, person, project, plan, player, etc.) Our relationship with God is eternal and the most important.

One of the hymns I sang with the kids last night was “To God Be the Glory.” Let’s give glory to God rather than exchanging it for glorifying something mortal!

Alice