Thoughtful Thursday

**below is something that my mama emailed to me several days ago...**

The center of all reality, physical and spiritual, is God. The great end
toward which time itself moves is God's glorification and revelation.

...Satan('s)...only goal - to turn humans from giving God glory, infuses his
every thought, word, and action. He tempted Eve, who tempted Adam, to
reveal a stronger love for a thing than for God. In Job 1 he snatches away
all Job's possessions and kills all Job's children to tempt Job to admit a
stronger love for his things or his family than for God.

What form will your temptation take? Or mine? Satan spares no one. Neither
does God. God himself tested Abraham, placing Issac in the scale opposite
God. Whom would Abraham love more? God's tests strip away confusion and
distractions, revealing truth. Abraham, while loving his son, trusted and
loved God more. God's test of Abraham brought glory to God, strengthened
Abraham's faith, and worked toward the ultimate revelation of God's love in
Jesus Christ.

Satan's temptations, too, cannot thwart God's plans; his efforts merely
reinforce God's grandeur. Neither good nor evil can supersede God Himself.
In Job 1, Satan's cruel attacks only revealed that Job's love for his good

life was inferior to Job's love for God, the giver or good things. Satan's
sly tempting of Eve, to which both she and Adam succumbed, led directly to
the most powerful revelation of God's character in all time: His forgiving
grace through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

All my anxious thoughts and bitter cries occur when I forget that God's
glory is the point of life. Everything around me may appear to go wrong,
especially if I think my success, my happiness, or my comfort own the center
stage of life. But the moment I remember that God's glory cannot be
tarnished, I can see my troubles for what they are: temptations to indulge
my love for me or tests to reveal my love for God.

"Lord, help me grow stronger daily in my love for You, so that neither the
addition nor the subtraction of good, and neither the addition nor
subtraction of ill can reveal anything more but more love for You. Amen."

- Mary

"Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the LORD, 'You are
my Lord; I have no good apart from You.' " Psalm 16:1,2