pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: glory


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Bringing Christ 

Reading: Colossians 1: 24-28

One of the reasons Christ became flesh was to be like one of us.  Jesus Christ walked the earth in a human body and set for us an example of how we are to live.  Once we come to the point of accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, then His Spirit comes to dwell in our fleshy bodies.  With the indwelling of Christ in us we know the hope of our eternity.  We know that once Christ dwells in us and lives in us, that one day we too will experience resurrection and will rejoice in the hope of eternal life in the heavens.  This is wonderful news for all believers.

Paul also writes of suffering.  He rejoices in what he has suffered in order to continue advancing the gospel.  Paul is always ready to suffer for others.  He is so willing to do so because Jesus Christ first suffered for him.  Through the ultimate suffering on the cross, Jesus provided the path to our hope of glory, to eternal life.

Once we come to have Christ in us and to live our lives in Christ, we begin to take on and then seek to emulate all aspects of Christ.  Suffering is one aspect of Christ that we, like Paul, are called to take on.  As His followers we too must be committed to suffering as Christ suffered.  It is a willingness to both suffer for and to suffer with those who suffer.  It is a willingness to have less so that another may have some.  It is a willingness to enter into relationships with those who suffer and to walk alongside them to alleviate some of the suffering.  It is a willingness to give one of the things we hold most dear: time.

In willingly offering ourselves in suffering for another, we bring Christ himself to those most in need.  As Paul wrote, we share Christ so that “we may present everyone perfect in Christ”.  It is living out our great commission to bring all people in all nations to kneel at the foot of the cross.  This day and each day may we embrace each opportunity God brings to suffer as Christ suffered, all for the building of the kingdom and all for the glory of God.


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Offering a Witness

Reading: Psalm 96: 1-9

Psalm 96 calls us to sing praises to God and to declare His gift of salvation day after day.  It reminds us that God is great and majestic and strong.  It urges us to bring an offering to Him and to worship God in the splendor of His holiness.  In these opening verses of the Psalm we get a clear picture of who God is and what our response should be.  The overarching theme of this Psalm is the call to declare our unfaltering allegiance to the one true God.  This is both a corporate and a personal call.

As the church, no matter what the denomination, we are called to proclaim the good news, to worship God alone, and to bring relief to the oppressed and the needy.  As the church this is what God clearly expects of us.  The two greatest commandments – to love God and to live neighbor – are lived out by doing these three things.  Ask a non-believer what a church should do and odds are they will name at least two of these three.  In an ideal world, all churches would be growing in their love of God and changing the world for the better each day.  All churches should be known for their compassion, love, witness, forgiveness, and service.  And all of God’s people said, “Amen”!

But in order for the church to be known for these characteristics, as members of these churches we must first be known individually for these traits.  No one comes to the faith because of a church.  They come to faith by first experiencing what faith lived out looks like.  They experience this vicariously when one loves or serves them in a radical or unexpected way.  It draws them in and opens their hearts so that the Holy Spirit can begin to work in them.  This day and each day, may our lives be the offering we bring to God and may our lives be a living witness to the splendor of His holiness.


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Rejoice in All

Reading: Romans 5: 2b-5

Paul calls for us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  For the believer, it is easy, almost natural, to hope in God’s glory.  His glory was revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, who rose to eternal life and calls on His followers to walk in His ways so that one day we too can do the same.  This glory is something we can find hope in!

Paul also goes on, in the very next verse, to call us to rejoice in our sufferings.  Why, oh why, would we be happy in our sufferings?  It is in the place of suffering that we can truly experience God’s power and presence.  In those times of high stress, emotional overload, heavy grief, and other sufferings that we best realize our need for the hope that He brings.  In these times we come to see that when we cannot, He can.  In our own sufferings and in the sufferings of the world, the hope of His glory can be all we have at times.  When we cling to this, we can rejoice in this hope.

It is through our experiences and the living out of our faith that we experience hope in our sufferings.  It is not, however, a direct line between the two.  Paul traces the path for us.  First, suffering produces perseverance.  Through remaining faithful to His promises, we learn to persevere in the face of trials.  We know the end game.  Second, perseverance builds character.  In the trial, we are refined.  Who and what we are is developed and cones to shine out.  It is the peace that passes understanding.  And lastly, character leads to hope.  Who we are as a Christian is shaped on our journey.  As we come through the trials and we realize that not only is God still there, but that He carried us through, we come to know His love in a deeper way.  Our hope and faith in Him grows.  As He pours out His love into us, may we rejoice in all that life brings!


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Such a God

Reading: Psalm 8

The psalmist writes, “when I consider your heavens, the works of your fingers”.  As we imagine the vastness of the universe we are amazed that God created it all.  But scripture also reveals that God calls each star by name.  It is humbling to be in a relationship with such a God.

When one looks at the relatively small slice of the universe that is planet earth, again we see a complex, widely varied, and stunning creation of His hand as well.  The human mind cannot begin to wrap itself around the intricacy and detail of our world.  Again, it is humbling to think of being in a relationship with such a powerful and huge God.

Add to His creative magnificence the order that is layered over the top of it all and one is left speechless.  If earth were just a fraction closer to or further from our sun, the earth would be radically different.  Life might not even exist on our planet.  So many things function and just are in our world, seemingly moving along on their own.  But we know from the Word that God continues to watch over the plans and mechanisms that He set in motion at the beginning of time.

The psalmist goes on to ask, “what is man that you are mindful of him?”  It is again so humbling to realize that God chose mankind to be over creation.  He placed humanity just under the heavenly beings.  What a special place to occupy in the created order.  And what a task!

In spite of all the wonder of creation, still more amazing is that our God knows each hair on our head and calls each one of us by name.  The God who made and knows billions of billions of stars by name and set this vastly complex world into motion also knows each of us by name.  Not only that, but He also seeks and desires to be in a personal relationship with each one of us.  Our response?  To bring Him praise and glory and honor in all we do.


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Realize and Recognize

Readings: Psalms 47 and 97

Both Psalms exclaim, “God reigns”!  In one we see the physical ways in which we can offer our praise: singing, clapping, shouting, and with instruments.  In the second, we see many ways we can experience or observe this exclamation: clouds, melting mountains, consuming fires, and images of heaven.  In these two Psalms, we see God’s grandeur, we see His glory.

At a concert last night we sang songs of praise to our God and to Jesus.  We also clapped and shouted; the band’s sang and played a variety of instruments to lead our praise and worship.  The Word was also proclaimed and the message of salvation was loud and clear.  Perhaps many of us also experienced something similar in church yesterday morning!  One leaves gatherings such as worhsip or a concert with energy, enthusiasm, and the Spirit of the Lord upon them.  We go forth with an exalted sense of who God is.  We go forth filled with joy, hope, love, and a sense of now being closer to God.

Often this reframed sense of our relationship to and with God causes us to see the world and people around us in a different way.  We exit an experience that drew us closer to God more able to see Him in our world – in nature and in people.  We also can recognize Him in people more quickly and more clearly.  When we choose to draw closer to God we are also choosing to be more like Him.  That joy, love, and hope that we now know better more easily flows from us to others in our lives.  Each time we allow ourselves to connect to, to share, to be a part of His activity in our worlds, the more we come to realize and recognize His presence the next time.  May we ever continue to seek, share, and grow in our relationship with our God!


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Worship

Reading: Revelation 5: 11-14

Reading of the worship around the throne in heaven makes me think of times of worship that have been powerful and amazing.  The first that comes to mind was the choir and orchestra that led worship at a big conference I attended in a Kansas City suburb.  There were hundreds on the platform and thousands in the congregation who joined together to praise our God.  Next my mind went to any number of Promise Keepers events where almost twenty thousand men would lift our voices as one and fill the stadium or arena.  The power and majesty and presence of God was real.

Of course both of these events pale in comparison to John’s description of the thousands upon thousands – literally millions – of voices gathered to praise the Lamb who was slain.  John goes on to include every being born since the creation story.  It will be quite the choir!  If we expand our ‘grandest’ worship experience hundreds on hundreds of times over, it may get us close to what John saw in his vision.

The thousands or even millions lifted in one voice, bringing praise and glory to God, surely pleases Him. There is an undeniable power felt when a large number gather for worship.  This experience occurs at large events throughout the year and at churches across the world on days like Christmas Eve.

Yet I believe God is also greatly pleased with the worship of one.  We all experience times of worship where we are the only ones there and we definitely feel the presence of God.  Maybe it is during a walk along the beach or maybe it happens sitting alone on the deck at sunrise.  Maybe it occurs during a hymn when you too have felt tears streaming down your cheeks.  In our times of worship, whether alone or with a handful or with hundreds, He is every bit as pleased as with millions upon millions in worship.  Praise be to the Lamb!  Praise to our God who is pleased when we bow and worship His Holy name!  All honor and glory is His, both now and forever!


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In Desert Seasons

Reading: Psalm 63:1-8

King David finds himself in a desert season.  During our lives, we will find ourselves in just such a place as well.  These times of trial and struggle will come and go; perhaps now is just such a season.  David’s beautiful words give us encouragement and advice for when we find ourselves in a desert season.

David begins by expressing the thirst he feels in the desert.  In the times we find ourselves in a trial, we too must admit our need for God and then we must seek His guidance and presence in our lives.  To reinforce this, David recalls how he saw God’s power and glory in the sanctuary.  To remember how God has always been there in our times of need reassures us that He will be there again.

Next, David does something that may seem odd when one is in a desert place – he praises God.  In verse three he writes, “Because your love is better than life”.  It is such a powerful and moving statement.  We come to God in praise because of His gift and promise of eternal life.  We know that no matter what this life brings, our ticket to eternal life in glory has already been bought.  There is no better reason to praise!

Lastly, David ends with “my soul clings to You”.  Although it can sometimes be hard to sense God’s presence in the midst of a trial, we must nonetheless cling to God.  We are promised that His love never fails and that He has only good plans for us.  In the midst of it all, may we cling to Him knowing that it is Hi slight at the end of the tunnel and that it is really His arms alone that will carry us through.


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Growing

In our relationship with Jesus Christ we can be doing one of three things: we can grow to be more like Him, we can stay where we are, or we can become less like Him.  In Revelation 3:16 Jesus warns us that if we are lukewarm, He will ‘vomit’ us out.  Another word for lukewarm would be stagnant and no one wants to be stagnant.  The path of becoming less like Jesus is the path of sin and that only leads to death and destruction.  Paul instead urges us to seek to grow from “one degree of glory to another” as we strive to grow in our faith.

As Moses’ face reflected God’s glory, our lives should also reflect God’s glory that is within us.  The love that Jesus has for us is the love that we should reflect to others.  He challenges us to love others as He first loved us.  As we grow in our faith and in the depth of our understanding of Jesus, we come to know more and more how deep and vast and wide His love is for us.  As we grow in this way, we are in essence moving from one degree of glory to the next as our lives come to reflect His love more and more to those around us.

This transformation that is occurring in us should be noticeable to those in our lives.  If we are growing in our faith, others should see this.  The love and compassion we exhibit should slowly grow.  The care and understanding we offer should slowly become greater and greater.  The depth of mercy and forgiveness we extend should be ever-increasing.  In all aspects of our lives we should be seeking to become more and more like Christ.  This day may we strive to grow a little more in our faith, growing so that we may know Jesus more, reflecting His glory in increasing measure.

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3:17 to 4:2


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Shining

Paul reminds us how Moses’ face would shine after he had spent time with God.  It was a physical reminder of the Israelites direct connection to God.  So in those moments when Moses was still aglow, the words he shared from God must have carried a little extra weight.  Paul also points out, however, that the Israelites were also quick to forget God’s words and to turn away.  The light of God’s glory quickly faded for some of the people.

Jesus’ gift to us is the Holy Spirit.  Paul parallels the glory of God shining on Moses with the glory of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us.  When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we too can shine God’s glory out to those we encounter.  God’s light and love dwelling in us should be a constant glow that radiates from us through our lives in the many ways we share our faith and hope with others.

But we too can be like the Israelites.  We too can mask the light within at times as we make poor decisions and sinful choices.  In these times we are like Moses putting that veil over God’s glory.  We too can become stubborn or unwilling to allow the light of the Holy Spirit that is within to guide our steps.  God can place opportunities before us and the Spirit can nudge us towards them and we can still turn away.  We can sometimes be too good at rationalizing or making excuses.

The good news is that the Spirit’s light never goes out and it continues to work in us.  Sometimes it convicts us and steels us for action when the next opportunity comes.  Sometimes it softens our hearts and makes us more willing the next time.  May we learn to be ever open to allowing the Spirit free reign so that God’s glory will shine forth from us for all to see!

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3: 12-16


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Experience God

Reds, oranges, and yellows slowly fill the sky as the sun begins to break forth over the horizon.  At the end of the day, the occasional purple or blue may mix with the reds, oranges, and yellows as God says ‘good night’ and brings rest to the earth.  The beauty, power, and majesty we find in sunrises and sunsets is spoken in every language in every place on earth.  “Their voice goes out into all the earth”, declares the psalmist.

As a Youth growing up in Connecticut, I can remember going out early to a rural turkey farm early on Easter morning.  We would arrive when it was still dark.  It was always cold.  As we waited in only the calm sounds of nature, one could sense God was near.  Slowly the sun would creep up and begin to warm our silent faces, simply watching God’s handiwork unfold.  Once the sun was risen, we would join in song, prayer, and the Word for our Easter sunrise service.  The sunrise was always like God’s welcoming presence coming amongst us.

We were very intentional about awaiting God’s entrance and His presence on those mornings.  Sometimes life can just become so busy that opportunities like this are gobbled up.  We can work and work and work and become so consumed that we miss the beauty of God’s voice calling out to us as it echoes through nature.  We miss those still moments where God is trying to consume us with His power and beauty and majesty so that He can refresh and renew our spirits and our souls.  It is a shame we so often miss it.

“The heavens declare the glory of God” reminds the psalmist.  May we more often make the time to experience the things of God.  Let it begin today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6