Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. – John 14:13
Johann Sebastian Bach was the Baroque composer of 1,128 finished pieces of music, including the familiar Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the Brandenburg Concertos, and “Sheep May Safely Graze.” He was born in 1685 and, when he died 65 years later, he left behind nearly 30 unfinished works. As he began his compositions, he would often initial the manuscripts JJ for the Latin Jesu juva, “Jesus, help.” At the conclusion, along with his own initials, he would add SDG for Soli Deo Gloria, “Glory to God alone.” Whether he was writing a piece commissioned by Prince Leopold, something for the church, or for a friend, he began asking Christ to help him. Bach saw what he was writing as having a singularity of purpose: to bring God glory.
In John 14, Jesus was telling His disciples He would be leaving them soon, reassuring them of the coming Holy Spirit, and reminding them that He would remain “only a prayer away.” Jesus said that by providing answers to their prayers, the Father would be glorified, just as He had been through Christ’s life on Earth. From the start, that had been Jesus’ singular purpose in His ministry, death, and resurrection. Jesus would later tell His disciples that the Holy Spirit would, in turn, glorify Christ, and thus also the Father.
Is it your purpose to glorify God? Do you begin your day seeking the Lord’s guidance? Do you live a life that honors Him, loving Him with all your heart, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself? Are you investing time in the development of your personal relationship with the Living God? Have you made it a practice to meditate on His love, justice, and mercies on the Earth (Jeremiah 9:24)? Reaffirm your commitment to acknowledge Him in all your ways (Proverbs 3:6). Pray for members of the federal judiciary who know the Lord to mentally, if not actually, sign “SDG“ to their opinions and mean it.
Today’s Verse: John 14:13
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: John 14:12-21
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
