Faced WIth Glory

Scripture Reading: John 1:11-14

I used to do a fair amount of scenic photography. Needless to say a lot of it wasn't very good and the remainder now resides on a hard drive. I was told once by a photography judge that a sunrise or sunset photo never scores well because it is what a lot of amateurs turn in. The judges grow tired of seeing the same old thing. There is a particular waterfall photo of mine I am fond of (yes, on a hard drive) in fact it may be my best photo I ever took, yet, in all this a photo like the above can not be improved upon. Not so much my ability to photograph it is wonderful, but the majesty and reflection of it True Author is most glorious. Being a photographer, Light, interests me. I am interested by its rays, hues, direction, shadowing, it all speaks of the Creator. Look at this photo for a moment. See the glory of gold beyond into the depths of it. Does it make you want to go far into the picture and experience this brilliance? This photo only represents the sun's magnificence. One day we will see the Son's magnificence, there will be no comparison.

Think about this kind of glory. Have you ever defined glory? We think of glory primarily as a tangible visible thing such as a glowing radiant light. Of course this is not wrong as glory can take on that form and does. I think God's glory is the total enrapture of power, wisdom, strength, beauty, holiness, and love in the same person, always the same time, for the same expression. We could expound on how His glory filled the tabernacle, or how His glory is seen in mortal perils, but let's examine this concept of God's glory and what it means to the believer.

First. His Glory is natural. When we say something is natural, or comes natural to us, we mean that it is easy or even indigenous. God did not earn or practice towards glory. God always had every ounce of Glory that He will always possess. That is a staggering thought. God is eminently glorious and glorified by His own works, His creation, His servants, His Son, His Being. To be God equals to be the total personification of Glory. No human can attain this. Satan tried and was thrown out of Heaven. This type of Holy Glory that God has is reserved for Himself. For the believer, we should feel grateful that the type of Glory ascribed to God is not earned, for then none of His promises or character would be true.

Second, His Glory is transferable. Now this may seem to be a contradiction. but it isn't. God can and will transfer some of His own glory into every believer. This is done while we are living on this Earth, and it is done forever in Heaven. God does not horde up what is special to Him. He spared not His own Son, how much more then will He give us glory! We are told that as we work and feed the flock of God, that God will reward us with a Crown of Glory! (1 Peter 5:2-4).
In the Resurrection we will receive Glorified bodies! (Philippians 3:21) John goes on to say that our new glorified bodies will be like His Glorified body! (1 John 3:2) Not only our bodies but our whole spirit will be glorified anew! (2 Cor. 3:18) Even though God will always remain sovereign and ruler of all creation, He shares His riches with us. We are so favored!

Third, His Glory is indescribable. The Glory ascribed to God cannot be fully understood by the limited scope of man's mind. When John wrote the things revealed to Him in Revelation, he had to describe God's glory in terms that are elemental to this sphere. No human definition could be had that totally described the glory, countenance, and wonders of God. The key point in all this though is the realization that God's glory cannot be counterfeited or superseded by any triumph of man. Julius Ceasar, Napoleon, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod or any other persons individually or put together can match an ounce of God's glory. The culmination of the sum of ordered design from one leaf fallen from a tree is enough to dispel the accomplishments of a thousand rulers working a lifetime to establish themselves. Should the glory of God be measured or matched in any human way, we all would be in trouble. God though can never be judged by His creation, nor put down by them. His Glory is indescribable, and for the believer that means that we serve the God whose power cannot be equaled and thus we can be assured of His staying, keeping power.

Fourthly, His Glory is eternal. What good is glory and honor if it dies? I remember a line from an old Errol Flynn movie (1930's) They Died With Their Boots On describing the 7th US Cavalry at the battle of the Little Big Horn. Flynn who played Col. Custer remarked that glory was to be prized above money, fame, women, etc. "because you can take glory with you when it's your time to go." What utter foolishness! Whatever you have in this world stays in this world! Only that which is done for Christ's sake will be rewarded and remembered in Heaven. The Glory of God has no limits of time, place or quality. God's glory has never flickered, never dimmed, never struggled nor ever questioned. Some preachers I have heard say, "Eternity is a long time." No no friends, eternity is timeless. You don't spend eternity, for there is no time to spend and eventually run out. The same is true with God's Glory, it never runs out, never can be spent and not regained. For the believer, we have that certain assurance that because what He has and what He has given to us will last unlike anything we know of in the world.

In conclusion,
We as believer's are so privileged to not only know of His Glory, but to be partakers and beholders of it. We will see first hand true Omnipotence before us. We are so fortunate to have a measure of that same glory imputed to us. We are not treated as orphans or second rate citizens. The Glory of God is unchanging and unique. Though we will never understand the full sum of what His Glory entails, we know that it is not an excuse for harsh governing over us, but is given in fairness and love. We serve a Glorified God and He has chosen us to be a glorified people.

Father thank You that Your Glory is so much more than what we realize. Thank You for the desire to share such an awesome privilege with us. We are unworthy of Your love and fall short of Your Grace and certainly unable to shine in Your Glory. Yet in all these things, You planned we should have all this through Your own dear Son Jesus. Help us to get a grasp on this concept in our lives this week. Thank You that you already see us as we shall be and not what we are now. We love You Lord, thank You for loving us first. In Your Name, Amen.

Give and Take Prayers, Part 2 of 2

Last time we were reading together, we were discussing how a majority of our prayers are more request or "taking" oriented. That is OK given the proper attitude. However, in our personal prayer times we should remember the giving as well.

In fact, if we were to do anything better in our prayers it should be this attitude and action of Giving. What do we mean by giving? Giving to God? Giving what to God?

Isn't it interesting that we fall so short of seeing God as a genuine person with feelings. We rightfully think of Him as a Sovereign Being with Omnipotence and judgement at His disposal, but we seldom see the nature of His loving heart. He desires we give back to Him. You see the painting here in the article, it is called simply "Grace." This painting (a copy) has hung in my Grandma's house for as long as I can remember. So simple it is in its imagery, yet how profound in its message. The subject of the painting is simply doing what God delights in the most. Giving thanks. All the elements are present: the person, the Word of God, the daily bread, the soup, the utensils for eating, the table, but most importantly the attitude. It is most true that we as Christians can and should give back to God our money, our service, our talents and skills, our lives, but in all that He is more delighted when we give Him our heart of gratitude. When we pray, our hearts should be set on thanking Him for all things. When we do so we are expressing our complete dependence on Him and we are grateful that He so mighty should favor us wonderfully the lowly.

My dad's side of the family at the dinner table, usually at Christmas, would call on me to "return thanks." I always thought that an odd saying, but you know when we pray that is what we do. We return our thankfulness and point it to the ear of the Almighty. As He has allowed others to be thankful for kind deeds we have shown them, so to shall we not all return our thanks for the immense blessings He has given us.

Simply put,

Everything that we are, everything that we have, every possession, every dollar, every skill, every morsel of food, every talent, every good memory, every joy, every hope, every ounce of bodily strength, every idea of mental capacity, every blessing in any form has all passed from His hand to our being. How dare we not acknowledge the Source as the Source has acknowledged us?

Perhaps the Psalmist David is the one most credited for offering praise and Thanksgivings the most to God. But it was the Apostle Paul who reminded us in 2 Corinthians 9:11 that we are Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. In the fourth chapter of this same book Paul speaks of His afflictions with thankfulness to God because it was being used for the sakes of his readers and to redound to the Glory of God.

We have Jesus Christ, need any other excuse in the heart for being downcast be created? I forget, you do too, when things are tough and are more than what we consider to be our fair share of suffering doled out to us, we should remember Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary. What Calvary gives the believer is the supreme guarantee among many things that we are not always going to face illness, pain, loss, hurt, hardship, despair, loneliness, disease, wrongdoing, unprecedented and undeserved torture, etc. that One Day, most assuredly, because we place our trust in Jesus Christ and what He did at Calvary, all the former things Shall be passed away and Eternity holds no fear or trepidation for the saints. All of what we experience shall be swallowed up with death in everlasting hope and glory. Shall we praise God and give Him thanks?

Nothing can be named or spoken that can give God more joy than to hear the true heartfelt thankfulness given from His children's lips. Let's make more of our daily prayer time a simple time of giving.

Father, Thank You, for Jesus Christ our Savior and Hope. Thank you God for supplying all our needs as Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:19. Thank you for us having something to eat today and for our senses and our breathing this earthly air as it is a sign that you love us and are looking out for us. We have so much to give you thanks and praise for, help us not to be slack or vainly ritualistic in our offerings to you. Thank you Father for all the hope we have and the home awaiting us with all the saints for the unending expanse of Eternity. In thy name we praise, Amen.

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