Soli Deo Gloria: To God Alone Be the Glory

By Sharon Rivera

Many of us get up every day and go about our lives as if God is there. But he’s in the background. That is, until something happens, and we need him. In Soli Deo Gloria, author Sharon Rivera discusses how God alone is the glory, and he should be at the forefront of our lives every day. Many Christians today struggle with doubt when the hard times come upon them unexpectantly. The facts in this book will give you a reason to erase doubt and enable you to stand firm in th midst of trials.

With a mix of scriptures and her own observations based on years of Bible study and prayer, Rivera offers strong insight that will help Christians grow on their journey to heaven. The message, inspired by and funneled from God, celebrates our relationship with Jesus and guides us into living and enjoying him today.

Soli Deo Gloria teems with important Christian messages encouraging us to stand firm in our faith no matter the circumstances. Rivera communicates there is nothing too big for God; everything is possible with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973671862

Sharon Rivera

I HAVE HAD THE privilege of Teaching the Bible at times over a 40 year period. I traveled on a speaking circuit, years ago I was invited to teach a class on how to study the bible at a yearly event in our city of Eugene Oregon and it was an honor because the professors from the bible college were also invited to teach classes. The joy of my life is to have the privilege to teach or speak of Jesus anytime anywhere, but I am just like you an ordinary everyday person without any big credentials who loves Jesus and wants to tell the world what he has taught me about himself. My credentials are with Jesus.

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Copyright © 2019 Sharon Rivera.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7185-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7187-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7186-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019911759

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/28/2019

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Challenge

Chapter 2 The Great I Am

Chapter 3 Holy Setup Number 1

Chapter 4 Holy Setup Number 2

Chapter 5 Things Unseen

Chapter 6 Jesus

Chapter 7 The Greatest Miracle of All

Chapter 8 The Coke Bottle

Chapter 9 It’s All about the Heart

Chapter 10 How?

Chapter 11 Where Is My House Built?

Chapter 12 The Plan of Attack

Chapter 13 The Fear of the Lord

Chapter 14 The Beginning, Not the End

I dedicate this book

to the great I Am, who inspired me and kept it in my mind for several years to write down who I knew Him to be on earthly terms. He is the undefeated champion of my life period.

And to Julie, my good friend and the librarian of my church, who encouraged me to publish this book.

Introduction

I wrote this book for a couple of reasons. One, God had prompted me to do so for years. I brushed it off thinking, Aww, I could never write a book. What would I say?

But along the way, I had the privilege of teaching Bible study classes and had some opportunities to speak to groups about my beloved Lord Jesus Christ, and people would tell me, You should write a book.

Though it registered with me, my first thought was, I can’t write a book. I don’t know how. I compare myself to Moses, who in Exodus 3:11 asked God, Who am I? Exodus 4:1 says, What if?

We all have reasons we can’t do what God is prompting us to do, but our reasoning is a direct violation of His Word. Mark 9:23 says, If you can, all things are possible to those who believe. If you can is Jesus’s way of telling us that we have a part to play in this miraculous life on earth and into eternity; it’s called faith.

God is not a sugar daddy to be used for our purposes. He is the great I Am, the creator of the universe far beyond our knowledge and understanding, the author of the perfect Word, the Bible, whether we understand it all or not. Thank God He has all power and resources to fix our problems and lives. Thank God we are not alone; we can count on Him, and we can always have hope until our last breath.

I refer to God throughout this book as the great I Am for lack of better words to describe His greatness. We cannot understand His ways and how He thinks. He spoke, and things were created; He got down on His hands and knees and created Adam and Eve, you and me. We have mind-boggling bodies that function miraculously. (Wait until you read the story of the little Coke bottle later.)

I am writing this book for another and more important reason—to tell my readers Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be the glory, because it’s true, and there is no other God besides our God. We tend to get up every day and go about our lives as if God were there but not too relevant until somethings happens that we can’t control or some disaster hits. He is the awesome, unexplainable, omnipotent, omnipresent, and great I Am. We nullify who God is by drawing boundaries around our understanding like a picture frame and trying to bring God down to our level of thinking so we can understand Him. God forbid. We hate to give up control of our lives to God, whom we don’t understand and can’t control, so we come up with religious programs and all kinds of busywork for God that takes the place of what He really wants—a daily life with all of us. Yes, my beloved friends, He wants you; everything else is a result of a relationship with you. For example, we get involved in the church or teaching the Bible and even our jobs or hobbies; we get caught up in the things of this world without knowing the magnitude of who He is.

The great I Am created and fashioned us. In Psalm 139:13–14, the author addressed Him this way: You formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

So, let’s start with chapter 1, The Challenge. I’m going to be myself and write out of my character. I’m not trying to impress anyone; it is God we want to be impressed with. I am just like you and have made the same kinds of mistakes you have, but I’m writing out of my hard-learned experiences and want you to relate to that and know I love you all.

Keep in mind also, my friends, that this is only the beginning. We have scratched only the surface and have seen only the tip of the iceberg. There is much, much more.

Chapter 1

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The Challenge

I f we want to build a firm faith that endures the trials that come upon us, we must be awestruck by God’s glory as much as we can and know beyond doubt that God is who He said He is. And I mean really know. How do you answer the question in Jeremiah 32:27 Is anything impossible to God? when you are in the storms of life? I start my day with this question, which makes my day much easier. Without the right answer from your heart, not just your mind, you will always be unsure of God and live with faltering faith.

What you believe is how you will live. So, who do you believe He is? It’s time to evaluate filtered through the Word of God what you know about Him. Who is He? And what role does He play in your life as opposed to the role He should play in your life or wants to play in your life? These are questions I want you to answer by the time we finish this journey together.

Without knowing the right answer in your heart and mind to Jeremiah 32:27, your faith will falter in hard times. I talk about hard times because it’s easy to gloss over the good times with Oh, God is so good. My questions are for the hard times. I ask myself these questions when times are tough, and right now is probably the hardest time in my Christian life; God is challenging me as much as He is challenging you. He is making it better for me right now because I am writing this book.

The second question you must answer correctly is this: do you believe that every word in the Bible is true whether you understand it or not? I never understood why God told the people of Israel not to consume meat and milk at the same meal until I started studying nutrition and understood how certain foods affect our bodies. Milk and meat digest differently and affect the liver differently. The combination puts serious stress on the digestive system and especially the liver. God knows what’s best.

When God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they didn’t understand that, but God knew what would happen. They doubted God and listened to the liar, Satan, and disaster resulted. We may not understand many other things in His Word, but it is imperative to strong faith that you are committed to believing every word. The answers are there; you’ll have to dig them out.

God is not there to ward off trouble and make life easy for you. If that