Throughout the Bible we are not just encouraged,
… but instructed to glorify God,
And man in responding to that,
… has been quick to say that he or she does glorify God!
BUT …
What does it really mean to glorify God?

Does it mean to …

Worship God and give Him praise?
Display God’s goodness?
Dwell in His presence?

To correctly answer that, let’s see what the Bible Dictionaries have to say about “glory” and “glorifying” …

Glory ... the weighty heaviness of God's presence!
... abundance, reputation, riches

Glorify ... to cause someone’s worth to become manifest
... to impart to or render it excellent

Glorifying therefore is much more than just saying something,
… but involves character, ability and manifestation…
For the same reason also King David asked God about man,
… and about that relationship between God and man!

In answering David, God not only confirmed man's special place and position,
but God also referred to a special characteristic or ability, (Gen.1:26)
... of His that He bestowed on man, saying …

... and You have crowned him with glory and honour.
--- Psalm 8:5

Why did God do that?

Being crowned with God’s glory is wonderful to know, but more importantly,
... what is this glory that man has been crowned with?
Because from the instruction that God gave us concerning His glory on us,
It is obvious that it is more than just a special attribute,
… or characteristic, or ability from God,
For God says to us ...

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
--- Isa. 60:1

Arise, shine!
Why? What then?
Obviously to get up and go … and do what?
Crowned with God’s glory, with His presence, reputation, ability!
Instructed to get up and go!
To do what?

… to glorify Him!

As this glory, His glory on us, is obviously important, very important,
... and not just some information or notification from God,
Jesus went on to tell us, that ...

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;
so you will be My disciples..
--- John 15:8

So, what is this glory that man is crowned with?
... what is this glory that has risen upon us?
... what is it that man should be doing because of this glory?
and ...
... what does this glory have to do with bearing fruit?

Glory, according to the Greek and Hebrew concordances, is translated as,

The manifestation of God's presence,
... the there-ness or tangible evidence of God himself,
Touching, effecting, changing everything through His presence!

In other words,
The Glory or God's Glory is the manifestation of who and what God is,
The reality of the presence of God,
... in our lives, our circumstances and in our needs, etc.

So what is the Glory of God on us?
… what is it that glorifies God?
or what is it that gives God glory?

The Greek and Hebrew dictionaries tell us that glory is,
… manifesting or the very presence of God, accomplishing or doing something.

In other words …
The manifest presence of God in our lives,
... doing or accomplishing something in our lives,
and as Jesus said,
... in particular to do or accomplish something through our lives!
and thereby showing and manifesting the goodness and power of God,
... in the lives of others! (fruit or fruitful!)

Displaying and releasing God's power, manifesting His glory,
… in what is happening (to others) for all to see!

This is so vividly displayed for us in the life and ministry of the Apostle Peter,

And through the hands of the apostles
many signs and wonders were done among the people...
Yet none of the rest dared join them,
but the people esteemed them highly.
And believers were increasingly added to the Lord,
multitudes of both men and women,
so that they brought the sick out into the streets
and laid them on beds and couches, that at least
the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
... and they were all healed.
--- Acts 5:12-16

Jesus was describing a relationship,
... the relationship between the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father
and,
... the relationship that there should be between us and the Holy Spirit.

Peter's shadow was certainly not able to heal anyone,
... that is fact!

So what happened there along the street?
How did those people lying there get healed?
Not by Peter's shadow, but by another’s ... by Jesus' shadow!

In other words, by the manifestation of God’s presence,
… producing the fruit of healing that Peter bore, glorifying God!
In John chapter 21 Jesus taught Peter that,
… if you want to do something for God,
... you need to do it with God, relying on Him as your source!

In Acts as summed up in Ch. 5, we find that Peter had learnt this,
… he had learnt to truly rely on God,
and thus learnt to walk with God and in His presence!
So much so that,
… where God went Peter went, thus
… where Peter went, God's presence went also,
touching and healing everyone who came in contact with God’s presence!

In fact, Peter was living what Jesus spoke about in John 15:1-7

I am the vine, you are the branches:
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me,
he is cast out as a branch and is withered;
and they gather them and throw them into the fire,
and they are burned
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,
you shall ask what you will,
and it shall be done unto you.
--- John 15:4-7

What was the result of this lesson,
... of this lifestyle?
of this close, personal relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?

The same as what happened with Jesus …

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way
raise herself up.
But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her,
"Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."
And He laid His hands on her,
and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put
to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced
for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
--- Luke 13:10-17

In other words,
… they experienced, a manifestation of God's glory!

By this My Father is glorified,
that you bear much fruit;
so you will be My disciples..
--- John 15:8

The manifest presence of God Himself!