Tag Archives: experience

Stand Firm; Fight with Faith

Stand Firm; Fight with Faith

 “And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4b

When we think of words like fight, battle, and war we often get an image in our head that resembles many gruesome scenes. Perhaps this is due to the movie generation we live in where everything is put on the “big screen”, and easy for us to imagine. War movies are particularly popular. Maybe you’ve already got scenes from “Saving Private Ryan” in your head, or “Independence Day” (if you’re into alien movies), a western story like “Tombstone” is a favorite of mine. All of these movies have a common theme: the heroes have to fight for their freedom, and they must use a lot of violence. In all practical sense it is very logical to believe that in war we must fight with weapons, and use force to take what is rightfully ours.

Friends, we are in a very real battle in the spiritual realms. We are cautioned:

 “For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12(NLT)

Does this verse make you a bit nervous? The truth is, we are in a very real war, it is raging and you and I are IN this war, whether or not we want to admit it. We are either pawns on the chessboard, or we are active participants, ranking in God’s army and being used to fight against the “rulers…of the unseen world”. I know I would rather be a bishop in God’s army then a pawn in Satan’s chess game. We do have a choice as to what “player” we are going to be.

 But this isn’t a message about choosing to fight, or what player you want to be in the war. This is about strategy. Assuming you want to fight, what is the strategy you need to use to be a successful victor against these “mighty powers in this dark world”? We can be sure that this is serious business, and we need to know how to fight God’s way. One thing is certain: our battle plan will always fail.

First, we look to God’s Word and see how He instructed His faithful followers to fight in the battles laid out before them, and from that we will get some clues as to what our strategy should be.

Read Exodus 14:21-30

 Finally the Israelites have been released from captivity under the oppression of the Egyptians. As they are fleeing, the Pharaoh is enraged and has a little change of heart. He instructs his armies to chase after the Israelites. Coming up to the Red Sea the people become desperate. Did they come all this way just to be recaptured and killed by the wicked Pharaoh?

 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Pick up your staff and raise it over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground…My great glory will be displayed.’” Exodus 14:15-17(NLT)

 God didn’t tell the people to grab the nearest blunt object and fight for their lives, He didn’t even tell them to run across the dry ground. He instructed Moses to stand still and hold up his staff to part the Red Sea so the people could walk across. Be calm, and trust God to fight your battle.

 “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today…The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.’” Exodus 14:13-14(NIV)

This is one marvelous example of many. You can look at them for yourself. In Judges 7:19-22 we see how God delivered Gideon and his very small army from the Midianites. What did they have to do? We are told:

“Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.” Judges 7:21

Again we see words like, stood, and watched as the means for “battle”. Not exactly logical by worldly standards, but that is exactly how God’s glory is revealed! He takes the impossible and makes it possible only through Him, so there can be no denying His hand’s work. In Acts 16:25-27 Paul and Silas literally sat and sang their way out of prison!

 “All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off.”

In Daniel 3 we read of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who did nothing but stand for what they knew was right and they were delivered from the fiery furnace and God’s glory was revealed to all who witnessed it. Daniel 7 reminds us of how Daniel stood for what he knew was right, and was cast into a den of hungry lions for it! Did he pick up a club and start fighting for his life? Nope! It wasn’t necessary because he trusted God.

 “My God sent His angel to shut the lion’s mouth so that they would not hurt me.” Daniel 7:22

And finally I will mention the greatest example of all. Jesus Himself modeled for us His desire for us to stand firm, and fight with our faith, and use the Word of God as our weapon. In Matthew 4:1-11 we read of how Satan came to tempt Jesus after He had spent 40 days and nights fasting in the wilderness. He was in a state of physical weakness, and most vulnerable to a spiritual attack. From this we are given an important clue. Our physical weakness does matter, and Satan will use that against us. He comes to us in our weakness and whispers enticing deceptions into our minds, and this is the biggest battle of all. We must have the Word of God stored up in our hearts to fight against this attack. During this time of temptation Jesus did not physically fight with Satan, He only used His words. He quoted the Scriptures, and He knew the will of His Father so He was not deterred by any of the “enticements” laid out before Him. Some things are made very clear from this encounter.

First, we must have an intimate prayer life with our heavenly Father to know His will for our lives. If we are in a state of confusion we are more vulnerable to the lies of the Enemy and more likely to make unwise choices.

 Secondly, we must know the Word of God, it must be hidden in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). How can we resist the devil unless we know what we are resisting? We have to know the truth to recognize the lies!

 Third, when we know the truth, we must then rest in that knowledge and trust God to follow through on His promises.

 “The Lord Himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The Lord will keep watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Psalm 121:5,8

This is truth that sets us free! We must trust in this truth, choose to believe what He tells us, and live with faith. The key strategy for our battle is standing firm, using our weapon (the Word of God), and exercising Faith in His truth!

“Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13

 “Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 3:7-8

 “Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” Psalm 4:4

 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

 “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” Ephesians 6:13-14 (NLT)

“Good” Parenting Starts in My Heart

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deut 6:5-8

How to be a good parent in one sentence.

Society chooses to fill the minds of children with useless garbage, yet we as parents have a choice as what to teach our kids. What we allow them to spend time with, what we allow them to read, watch, and DO. All of these things truly effect their eternity, and it falls on US to teach them the right path. It is our responsibility as parents, and indeed, we will answer for our choices to teach our children-or not teach them the only thing that truly matters. Sounds serious? This is serious! Life is not a joke, and we are responsible with equipping our children with the appropriate tools to deal with life in a godly, wise way. We can’t expect them to do this unless we ourselves are living it. After all, we are immitators of Christ, and this is what we want our children to immulate in us.

We are quick to quote Proverbs “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”, however, that training involves a lifestyle, not just filling our children’s minds with knowledge or sending them to Sunday School once a week. This passage from Deuteronomy is perfect; we are told to walk it, talk it, live it every morning noon and night. It is a way of life. It starts with us as parents. Do WE love the Lord our God with all OUR hearts, soul, strength, and mind? Let’s start there, and we won’t need to worry so much about what happens with our kids…

“Lord, change ME, teach ME, and let my child see YOU in me, and grow to love YOU as they see me loving You!”

Godly Friendships and the Bible

Godly Friendships and the Bible

 

What does the Bible say about Godly friendships? What does the Bible say about how we are to conduct ourselves once we have found ourselves in a Godly friendship? We can be certain that there are principles to be found in the Bible relating to this important message and how we can be sure our friendships are God-honoring, personally edifying to the glory of God, and sanctifying to both individuals.

First and most importantly we are told in Ecclesiastes 4:12 that a close Godly friendship is essential in our Christian walk. It is not really an option if we want to be successful and victorious in our Christian living.

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken.” (NLT)

 

A Godly friend is necessary if we hope to stand firm against the Enemy’s attacks. Without that companionship we are made weaker. So, once we have found that Godly friend/s, how are we to act within that friendship? Will it always be perfect since all people involved are “Godly” and seeking Him first with their whole hearts? What happens in real life within the parameters of these friendships?

1-Face to Face Fellowship

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Exodus 3:11 (NIV)

In this day and age this simple concept is quick to be overlooked. We text, we type, we email. Rarely do we meet face to face in real time fellowship with our friends. Can you imagine God texting Moses? Did you laugh? It sounds ludicrous doesn’t it? You might argue that this is the day and age we live in, and while there is truth in that statement, there is even greater truth in the words we read in Exodus. Friends see each other face to face. Let’s face it, when we can talk to each other and see each other’s facial expressions, hear each other’s tones, it lends itself to a lot less misinterpretation, misunderstanding, hurt feelings…etc. (Why didn’t she text me back? Why hasn’t she emailed me in 3 days? She hasn’t called me back, I know she must be mad, I better call so and so and talk about it!) Let’s commit to getting back to basics within our Godly friendships and just have some coffee (or tea or whatever!) and have some real fellowship, because that is how true Godly friendships are cultivated in a healthy way.

2-Influential

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 (NLT)

It’s very clear from this simple verse that those we choose to keep company with will influence our attitudes. Whether that’s in a Godly way or in a worldly way depends on those we spend time with. Proverbs is full of wisdom written by the wisest man on the earth, and we would do well to listen to the advice given when choosing that Godly friend. If we have our radar set on someone, we should ask ourselves, is this person going to influence me towards the character of Christ? Will this person be “sharpening” me into the fruits of the Spirit or the lusts of the flesh?

3-Openly Honest and Always Sincere

“An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.” Proverbs 27:5-6 (NLT)

Sometimes even our best intentions are hurtful. The fact of the matter is this: even in the closest and Godliest of friendships, people are going to get hurt. This proverb tells us as much. It also tells us that this “friendly fire” is better than an enemy who merely pretends to be nice to your face while speaking blasphemies behind your back. I think we all know what it feels like to be betrayed in this way. You find out this person who you know and trusted has been gossiping about you, spreading hurtful rumors about you all the while pretending to be something totally different to your face. We are warned about this person, this person is double-minded, and not to be trusted. The friend who wounds us in their sincerity is much more desirable.  You can be reminded that even this wounding is a blessing! Your Godly friend is being honest and sincere as God has designed! Not that it makes the hurt any less painful…but we will deal with that.

4-Loves at All Times

“A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 17:17

Here we have the first solution to our issue of hurts. Love. It doesn’t say “A friend loves when it feels good”, or “A friend loves until he is hurt”, it states very clearly “all times”.  Love is an action, and it is a choice. Love is not a feeling in the context of this verse. There comes a point when the hurts are going to be so deep, perhaps the pain so intense that love will not come easily, and it may not seem possible. The most logical choice may seem to move on and be done with the whole mess. It is at this moment we are faced with a crucial choice-will we love at any cost? This is the Godly friend that you want in your life! This love has no strings attached, it is unconditional, and is not related to circumstances. It is the love that Jesus has for us, and the love He tells us to have for each other.

5-Forgives First

“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.” Matthew 5:23-24 (The Message)

Loving through hurts must involve forgiveness. This passage could not possibly be interpreted any other way then to forgive first before bringing your worship to God. God is not interested in your lip service when you have outstanding debts of bitterness against your friends. Settle all accounts before offering your praises to God! He sees our hearts, knows our thoughts, whether or not we like it! There is no way around this one. If we are hurt by the actions or words of another, we need to speak up and be honest and sincere always of how we feel, in love. Our feelings are valid, and our friend’s feelings are valid. We need to be heard, and they need to be heard, and we need good communication in order to have Godly friendships that glorify and edify each other towards love and good works! When we fail to communicate in a timely manner we allow the hurt to fester as we turn it over in our minds, often making things bigger than they are, and further misinterpreting the situation, so by the time we do talk about it, emotions are really running high. It makes things that much harder to be made right. These are the times we are tempted by our Enemy to “end” relationships. We are whispered lies that we must give up on this friendship, that it wasn’t what we thought, it wasn’t the right person, we were wrong, we failed again, we messed up again, we better just start over with someone who agrees with us on everything we believe in or hold to so as to avoid any problems. That is when we need to hold fast to the TRUTH of God’s Word, and what He says about Godly friendships. If we have already determined that the friendship we are in is an “iron sharpening iron” friend for Godly character then we must go back to our principles laid out under such a friendship. Am I loving, am I being honest, am I forgiving. Have I laid aside all my offerings to run to this person and make things right? Have I done all I can do to bring restoration, or am I insisting on being right and is that getting in the way of peace? I think the most important question here even than all of that is: am I honoring God in my decision to end this, or would He want me to obey His own command in Matthew 5:23-24? That seems rather clear. (There are SOME exceptions where relationships do need to end because of excessive sinful lifestyles or rebellion…etc, but for the sake of our discussion, I am not referring to those specific incidences.)

6-Sacrifices

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)

Jesus as our Friend made the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, the price we could never pay. He gave His life, so we could have eternal life with Him. With this He modeled His idea of the Godly friendship for us. The true Godly friend is one who sacrifices without question. I’m not just talking about the sacrifice of taking a bullet for your friend in some “what if” scenario that will likely never occur. I am talking about the much smaller things, but perhaps more difficult. The sacrifices of time: the middle of the night phone calls, the house calls, the food delivered when sick, the trips to the hospitals, the sleepless nights, the hours of Bible study when your friend has a crisis and needs an answer, calloused knees from hours of earnest prayer….on and on it goes. These are the sacrifices of life that the true Godly friend gives without a blink of an eye. This person is selfless, and giving, and authentic. This is the person you want as your Godly friend, helping you on your journey of sanctification. If you have this person in your life, thank them, and pray for them! Because you have an Enemy who wants to destroy the beautiful relationship that God has joined together. Satan knows you are stronger together, and it scares him!

Remember to keep up the face to face contact with your dear friend to avoid that confusion and misinterpretation of email and text that may occur, especially in the early stages of a growing relationship. Ask God to help you have the Christ-like influence on your friend that you desire them to have on you, and commit to always being openly honest and sincere no matter how difficult that may be. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in speaking the truth in love at all times. Face to face is best! Throughout everything, choose to love and forgive quickly. As you reflect on building your own character, ask God to help you continue to become the sacrificial friend that He modeled for us in His Word. Putting the needs of our friend first, and truly esteeming each other better than ourselves. In this way we can cultivate our Godly friendship deeper and draw closer to our Creator in unity.

A Godly You+ Your Godly Friend+God Himself=A Triple Braided Cord Not Easily Broken!

Let’s Talk FAITH

Let’s Talk FAITH

“Faith is choosing to believe the Bible is true regardless of circumstances, emotions, or cultural trends.”- Life Builders (Campus Crusade For Christ)

As I find myself falling deeper in love with my Creator, I become consistently overwhelmed with His incredible hand of design and care over every detail of my life. I find myself in a constant state of marvel and worship, always with a song on my heart bursting from my lips. However, it’s not always peaches and roses. As I draw closer in divine intimacy with my Eternal Lover, I become acutely aware of the desperate failing health of hearts around me. Most notably are those of the ones I love most. While I am experiencing, and living a peace beyond compare, and a purpose that literally puts a spring in my step, my closest family members are often the ones suffering the deepest pains as they stagger through life aimlessly. Desperate and hopeless; if nothing else with the appearance of merely existing, which in and of itsef is its own horror. God is orchestrating the symphony of my life and creating the most joyous music I have ever known, and yet my own loved ones wander in darkness. I find I’m tempted to wonder why they don’t want this glorious life so freely offered to them, the life they know of in their heads, yet refuse in their hearts.

I was finally brought to my spiritual knees as I had to face face my precious Jesus, my Champion who has gone before me and continues to intercede for me daily working on my behalf-I had to admit to Him that while I may have faith to move mountains and trust Him to provide all my needs I had major doubts about the hearts of the ones closest to me, and whether they would ever change. Would they ever want to change? Why don’t they want freedom? Who wouldn’t want it?

Ah, but no surprise to my Friend, for He knows my every thought and concern. Any more prayers for these “loved ones” filled with doubt would simply be a wasted breath. It was an honest release necessary for me to see my own spiritual weakness of faith (or lack thereof). And I implored with my God earnestly.

Why, Jesus, why? Why do I trust You to provide my every need? Why do I trust You with the life of my daughter and even the most impossible of tasks and yet to change a couple of hearts I pray with cynicism and doubt with much wavering. (James 1:6) So I sat back and listened. Literally, with my eyes closed, hands lifted, and repeating:

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.”

Psalm 62:5 (NLT)

It seemed like an eternity as His love enveloped me, He wrapped me in His gentle presence. No guilt trips for my bluntness. It was my honesty that He desired, not as if He needed it, but it was for my benefit. I knew He would speak to me in His time. I waited.

He took me back to a place thousands of years ago. It was a heart wrenching scene to be sure. Jesus could have come sooner to save Lazarus, but chose not to. It was not the will of the Father. It didn’t make sense to everyone else. Lazarus died, and had been dead 4 days. Jesus tells them to roll the stone away from the tomb and initially Martha balks at the idea, noting the horrible stench they would encounter from the corpse. However, something deep withing her remembers. She knows who the ultimate authority is, and her spirit submits to the process that on the surface appears to be illogical. She says,

“Even now I know God will give you whatever you ask.”

John 11:22 (NLT)

Does she know the outcome of this story? Of course not! She does know that Jesus can ask anything of His Father, and she truly believes whatever happens is for their greatest good. (And she had never even read Romans 8:28!)

Jesus responds to her simple act of faith with a statement that initially seems to be unrelated:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

John 11:25-26 (NLT)

Looking into the eyes of her Savior she is questioned. Do you believe? I am life, do you believe? You will never die, do you believe? Life is more than your physical body, do you believe? I came so you could have life abundantly, do you believe?

She could look Him straight in the eyes and say truthfully, honestly:

“Yes, Lord.”
John 11:27

And what happens next is the real meat and potatoes of the story:

The doubters (all of us-or is it just me?) say:

“This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

John 11:37

Or as we like to put it: God, I know You can change this situation and I want to trust You, but I’m really having a hard time. It’s coming across to me as if you enjoy watching me suffer. I’m starting to lose heart here. I’m not sure about that thing called “faith”, especially when these circumstances are less than appealing.

Jesus responds:

“‘Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?’

So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, thank You for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe You sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out…”

John 11:40-44 (NLT)

And so it happened. The big light bulb clicked on and a little more of God’s truth was illuminated in the depths of my wayward heart that night. Everything, even down to the smallest detail has a purpose. Do I believe that? Yes, I do. And I know what that purpose always is: bringing glory to Jesus Christ and His Father in heaven. Can He change hearts? Of course He can! Do I believe He can use every choice (good or bad) that my loved ones make (or I make!) for their greatest good and for His ultimate glory? You bet I do!

Yes, Jesus, I do believe.

When the enemy tells me my prayers are pointless because “they’ll never change anyways”, I can tell Satan to get lost because with my God, the Only True God, the God of Life, ALL things are possible, and that is the truth my soul rests on!

“For we live by believing, and not by seeing.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe…”

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

“Faith is the confidence that what we ask for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

And so you’re loving Comforter asks you to be sincere with Him. Where do you lack faith? It’s there right now, and you can hear Him calling out to you to lay it at His feet. Ask Him to simply help you’re “unbelief”. One of the most beautiful prayers you can utter and He wants to hear it is this:

“I believe; help thou my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24 (KJV)

It’s the best place to start! When you can be honest before you’re Maker and allow Him to build you’re faith one small brick at a time, you’ll soon find yourself rejoicing passionately:

“Satisfy [me]…with Your unfailing love, so [I] may sing for joy to the end of [my] life.”

Psalm 90:14 (NLT)

Do you believe?

Delight, Desire…Worship

Delight, Desire….Worship

 “I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.

Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

John 16:13 (NIV)

 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

 “Whom have I in heaven but You?

I desire You more than anything.”

Psalm 73:25 (NLT)

“Only as we truly delight in God is it safe to give us our desires, for then they are not likely to become idols. And by our delighting in God, He heals our false desires as our souls come true in light of their Maker. Worship becomes the means by which we most deeply heal our desire.

Worship is the act of the abandoned heart adoring its God.

Simply showing up for church on Sunday is not even close to worship. Neither does singing songs with religious content pass for worship. What counts is the posture of the soul involved, the open heart pouring forth its love toward God and communing with Him. It is a question of desire.

Worship occurs when we say to God, from the bottom of our hearts, ‘You are the One whom I desire.'” –

John Eldredge (Desire)

As we come together week after week to bring “worship” to the congregation I believe it becomes imperative that we must first ask God to search our own hearts and motives and show us our inner most desires. Can we say to God, in all honesty that He is our only desire, above all else? How can we express true worship to our brothers and sisters in the congregation if our own hearts are not in the right place? It becomes clearer that just showing up on Sunday (and Wednesday) with our “talents” is not enough. The people need to see us fully abandoned before God, every Sunday. The only way we can do that is if we are delighting in Him every other day of the week.

Glory Manifested

Glory Manifested

We know that we are the glory of God, made in His image. (Genesis 1:27) We know we are continuously being changed into His glorious image, under constant construction of heart. ( 2 Corinthians 3:18)

What a glorious thought to understand the place we have in God’s heart! But let’s face facts here, life is tough, and it’s easy to think of “God’s glory” as some future event meant for heavenly times and a perfect world. Nice thought, but just not a reality for us now.

Friends, this is not how it was meant to be! We are the glory of God to be manifested now, not some future time in some unknown place. No, this glory was made for you, for me, for a time that is now.

What does the manifestation of the glory of God even look like in every day life? I have also struggled with this very thought process until one night I had my own wrestling match with God, and I wasn’t going anywhere until He gave me an answer. We ask the Spirit of Truth to guide us (John 16:13) and we search the Word of Truth.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Let’s break this down briefly:

“Though outwardly we are wasting away”- roughly referring to the daily grind and misery that is life as we know it in a fallen and sinful world. Sickness, death, pain, disappointment, injustice, cruelties…etc. Physically, we’re all going towards the same end-death. Morbid as it seems, it is the simple truth. Yet there is an exciting truth we find in the next line of the verse:…”yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Wow, that almost sounds hopeful, optimistic…even, refreshing! And here we find the key. God didn’t give us life because of what happens on the outside. God deals with the heart of the matter. He gets down to the glory. We are renewed day by day as we reflect His glory, for it is then that we find our true sense of inner joy and refreshment. Tapping into that stream that is God’s glory, and reflecting that in our inner being. That is how we fix our eyes on what is “unseen” and what is “eternal”.

”Our momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory.”

What did God speak to my heart that night? I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed this in your personal time with God, but whenever I ask God a question, He inevitably answers with something that appears to be completely unrelated. I’ve heard this from others as well. This night was no exception. He took me to Psalm 91:2.

“This I declare of the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I trust Him!”

This is what He spoke to my heart:

“Hope only in Me…

Expect only from Me…

Trust only in Me…

I will thwart you from your plans to save you from your plans and bring you to MY perfect plan….

I will show you your idols to draw you to Me…

I will sanctify you with your circumstances…

THIS IS MY GLORY BEING REVEALED IN YOU DAILY!”

Think about it. Think about the circumstances in your own life. Hope only in Him, expect only from Him, trust only in Him. Freedom comes only in surrender. God’s glory is revealed in the life of the one who is fully submitted to Him, the one who clings to Him with all their heart. (King David repeatedly claimed to search for God with all his heart throughout the Psalms!) His glory is reflected when that heart is focused on the unseen and the eternal.

“God…has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-9 (NLT)

Glory Revealed

Glory Revealed

God’s first great glory was seen in the act of Creation; namely man in His own image:

“So God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27-NIV

God’s greatest glory then came through His Son in human flesh:

“[The Word became human and made His home among us.] We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 [NLT] NIV

Through His unconditional capacity to love His creation, He desired for man to reflect the glory of Himself.

“We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18-NIV

Wrap your head around this truth: you are the glory of God revealed! He created us to be a manifestation of His very likeness, and that “glory” means a lot more than merely an hour in church on Sunday morning singing songs that “glorify God”. It means that our very being is a glorification of God Himself! When He created us, it was in His own image, to glorify Him! My friends, this is a truth that will change your life, if you can grasp it! Ask Him to help you understand even a portion of what it implies for you and your life.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18-NIV

When we see our precious Savior face to face, our glory will finally be complete! We will see it fully revealed, which implies that much of it is hidden from us at the present moment. I imagine some of the reason for this is to protect us from the downfall our pride would cause us. Certainly God only transforms us into His likeness one step at a time for a reason, otherwise we’d all be perfect upon Salvation.

No, there is definitely glory in the process. The sanctification of our hearts brings glory, and makes us a better reflection of Him. I like how the New Living Translation puts it:

“The Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” 2 Cor. 3:18

Go take a look in the mirror. You are no accident. You were made in God’s glorious image! Do you understand what this means? Are you beginning to grasp, even a little, just how much God cares about You, His creation? Have you ever heard the saying, “A man/woman after my own heart”? Well, that’s what we’re talking about here, only to a far greater level. More then we could ever begin to comprehend. And let me mention, none of this is based on, or has anything to do with your performance! None of it! (But that is a whole other issue!)

The next time you hear that voice of self-loathing, doubt, worthlessness, unbelief, or negativity which wants you to question your life, your purpose, your desires, and most of all-who God is, and how God feels about you, RESIST IT OUT LOUD! Declare to your enemy the truth you know; what God has revealed to your heart about how He cares for you, how He loves you, and what He created you for-His glory!

From God’s heart to yours:

“Child, you are My glory, I made you just for Me. I am working everything out around you to daily transform you into My glorious image and one day; yes, one day soon, you will know My glory fully in you. You will be restored, and you will be complete.”