Category: Glory of God

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Did you see God?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  Did you stand there and tell him all the things that troubled you?  Did you expressed your frustrations about circumstances, people, your current situation?  Did you tell Him about how the world seems to be going crazy; that people are doing things that hurt, harm and injure one another and themselves?  Or did you tell Him how sorry you were for doubting Him; or for what you just did that was wrong?

Did you see God today?  What was it like? Did you just sit there?  Did you cry out to Him or say nothing at all?  Did you smile and thank Him for your life, your home and family?  Did you express appreciation for another day; for the sunshine, rain, clouds, or for holding this world in His hands?  Did did you say?  What did you do?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  Did you bask in the glow of His love, or fall to your knees?  Did you feel His amazing love, and experience the warmth of His embrace? What did you do?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  Did you look in the face of a stranger, loved one or friend and say there is the image of God before me?  Or did the sight of them bring anguish, and not joy?  What did you do?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  Did you see hope in the midst of the storm?  Could you utter the words, “Peace, be still” knowing His incomparable power was at your command?  What did you do?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  How did you feel?  Was He hiding in that regret, that pain, and suffering, or triumphant victory?  Was He in the burning bush, in the silence of indecision, or unanswered prayer?

Did you see God today?  What was it like?  Did you see Him in all His glory; the Mighty God, Wonderful Counsellor, Prince of Peace, Creator of Heaven and Earth?  What did you do?

Did you see God today?  If you didn’t see Him, look again?  He is there.

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Order with Peace

This meditation by C.H. Spurgeon is powerful.  I am being lead to share it with you this morning.

“Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path.” Joel 2:8

“Locust always keep their rank, and although their number is legion, they do not crowd upon each other, so as to throw their columns into confusion.  This remarkable fact in natural history shows how thoroughly the Lord has infused the spirit of order into his universe, since the smallest animate creatures are as much controlled by it as are the rolling spheres or the seraphic messengers. It would be wise for believers to be ruled by the same influence in all their spiritual life.  In their Christian graces no one virtue should usurp the sphere of another, or eat out the vitals of the rest of its own support.

Affection must not smother honesty, courage must not elbow weakness out of the field, modesty must not jostle energy, and patience must not slaughter resolution.  So also with our duties; one must not interfere with another; public usefulness must not injure private piety; church work must not push family worship into a corner.  It is ill to offer God one duty stained with the blood of another.

Each thing is beautiful in its season, but not otherwise.  It was to the Pharisee that Jesus said, “This ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone.”  The same rule applies to our personal position; we must take care to know our place, take it, and keep to it. We must minister as the Spirit has given us ability, and not intrude upon our fellow servant’s domain.  Our Lord Jesus taught us not to covet the high places, but to be willing to be the least among the brethren. Far from us be an envious, ambitious spirit, let us feel the force of the Master’s command, and do as he bids us, keeping rank with the rest of the host.

…let us see whether we are keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, and let our prayer be that, in all the churches of the Lord Jesus, peace and order prevail.”

Amen.

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Burden-bearer

“Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others.

Give me a believing heart to cast all burdens upon Thee, O Lord.” 

 John Baillie

Read the quote above again.  Do you see the difference, dear friend?  Baillie asked the Lord to give him a stout heart to carry his own burdens, and a willing heart to carry burdens of others.  There are two different types of burden-bearers.

First, I am to carry my own burdens with a stout heart.  Stretch my spiritual muscles, and lift those cares He wants me to carry as I work out my soul salvation.   Yes, we can do all things, however we still need to know which burdens to carry, how many and for how long.  Carrying burdens brings pressure, and that pressure, or the attention caused by the burdens may keep our minds on the burdens, and not on Christ.   Also, additional strength may be required due to the weight of these burdens.  So, you and I need to be fully aware of the weight of those burdens, the limitations and the risks involved in carrying those burdens.

Oftentimes, we are tempted to carry too many things at the same time, or carry the wrong things.   We need to stop, and drop some things before moving forward.  God is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek him“. [Hebrews 11:6]  Stoutness of heart requires not only strength, but wisdom also.   James wrote God gives wisdom liberally to those who ask for it. It is through a sound heart encased with wisdom that we learn the amount and types of things we are to bear.    Carrying our own burdens as directed by the Holy Spirit, turns us into effective witnesses of how to carry burdens, and also demonstrates the power of Almighty.

Don’t carry someone else’s burdens, no matter how tempting.  Don’t do it!   “Each one should carry his own load.” Galatians 6:5 tells us everyone has his own burdens to bear.  Stop trying to rescue everybody, or fix everything.  Prevention can be worst than the cure.  Some will have a Job experience, others a Jonah.  But each person has to carry their own load.   There is a Damascus Road encounter awaiting.  Don’t be like Sarah who created Ishmael, instead of waiting for the promise Isaac.  She tried to carry the burden of giving Abraham a son, instead of allowing God to complete the divine plan.  People stretch their spiritual muscles from carrying their own burdens.  They also learn to trust God if allowed to grow through the experiences.  Rushing in deprives them of the Damascus Road experience.  They need to meet the Lord, and learn from Him how to carry their own load with a willing heart.  Let them grow. Let them learn to trust the Lord and seek Him.  They must pick their cross daily and follow Him.  Besides, if we are burdened down with their load, then we will be unable or unwilling to successfully carry our own.

However, look at the second sentence in the above quote, “Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others.” Seems like a contradiction from what I just wrote. But it really isn’t.  God wants to bear the burdens of others, but by doing it His way.  Some believers’ spirits are being crushed by emotional and physical distress. They need us to fulfill the divine law by sharing God’s love.  However, sometimes, we are unwilling, or go overboard.  That is our lesson.  Ask God for a willing, and discerning heart to know when and how to bear another’s burden.   We must understand what it means to be a burden-bearer.   Show Christ to others with a willing heart, and as we do, we demonstrate His commandment to love one another as Christ loved the church.  The whole experience strengthens everyone, including ourselves, and brings Him glory.  Remember, the key is a willing heart.

Finally, with a believing heart bring ALL the cares to Christ, the Power that calmed the raging seas, gave sight to the blind, and healed the sick, and gave us new life.  In spite of our stoutness and willingness, we still need to bring all the cares, all the burdens to Him – our ultimate burden-bearer.  

So don’t hold those burdens.  Give them to Christ, and rest in the knowledge that He is fully capable of carrying all things, according to His perfect, divine plan far better than we ever could.

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Hymnal

A hymnal is a collection of songs meant to worship or praise God, or express His relationship in human affairs.   Hymns growing up as a child were just songs we had to sing before the minister got up to preach.  “Jesus loves me this I know” was the first song I remember learning.  It was a cute, simple tune.  The congregation often smiled in approval, and an occasional “Amen” could be heard if we got it just right.  As I grew up I thought it was too cute to be sung by anyone.

As we grew older, we sung songs like “A Mighty Fortress“, “Rock of Ages” and “Blessed Assurance.”  I often thought why sing these old songs, doesn’t the preacher know anything modern?  Sunday after Sunday, we pulled out those hymn books, and turn to a page and begin singing as a church-one song-one voice.  Expressions on the faces were mixed. Some smiles, tears, blank or disinterested looks. I’m sure at times my face projected these same looks.  It was the words that struck me though.  Where did they come from, who wrote them and why?  It wasn’t until I got older and been through the storms of life, faced my fair share of challenges, gone down in defeat, battled the enemy, and felt the precious hand of Jesus did those old hymns become real to me.

Finally I understood.  Words to a song like “Amazing Grace” meant something.  These were expressions of love; of thanksgiving; of hope; of desperation; of grief and sorrow, frank and earnest conversations with Our Father which Art in Heaven.  And more importantly when sung now, within a community of believers, words such as “saved a wretch like me” are more profound.  Now when we sing them, we (the community of believers) become the hymnal.   We’re the praise, the thanksgiving, the love song to God.

Look at the pages of any current or past hymnal, and we are there, on every page and in every note praising God from whom all blessings flow with every song of tragedy, triumph, hope and redemption.  Yes, hymnal are a collection of songs, but as time passes they become so much more and so do we.

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Loving Eyes

Yesterday, as we prepared to leave to attend our uncle’s funeral, I thought about how we look at each other.  Although we are made in the image of God, we look at each other differently.  There are eyes of compassion, love, judgment, joy, sorrow, pain, celebration, and yes even hate.

Press the pause button for a moment, and recall someone special in your life.  Maybe it is your mother, father, grandparent, spouse, friend, or a child.  Bring that person into your mind’s eye.  What and how do you feel?  Are you smiling, right now?  Does the very thought of that person brings joy to your heart?   When we look at these special individuals, we look at them with loving eyes.    My uncle looked at me with loving eyes.  I knew his look.  It was a look of acceptance and appreciation.  I was valued, and important to him.   Everything about me was okay, and in return I looked at him with loving eyes.

Our Lord looks at us with the most indescribable loving eyes.  Everything about us at divine levels we can’t even imagine is filtered with love.  He looks at you and me with eyes of love – smiling eyes, hopeful eyes-grace filled eyes.  Only His loving eyes could look at us and say yes I will go to Calvary. [John 3:16] Only His loving eyes could see our sins, and love us anyway. 1 John 4:8 “God is love.”  Only Jesus could look at us, and despite our mistakes, flaws, challenges, see the beauty of our destiny with Him.  Jesus loving eyes looks at us daily, and sees God the Father’s crowning achievement in creation with love and compassion.  [Proverbs 10:12 (b) “…love covers all sins.” NKJV.]  What a glorious thing it is to know our Savior looks at us with those loving eyes.

I challenge you to look at others with the loving eyes of Jesus.  It is our role as His ambassadors to demonstrate His love to this hurting world. They need to see His loving eyes through us.  So look at someone with His loving eyes, and let them experience being appreciated, and accepted and loved.

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Man’s Image

God made man in His Image.[Genesis 1:26-27] Within man’s image, the essence of the divine resides, and man was originally designed to reflect that essence, and to carry out God’s plans.  Man was told to prosper, reproduce, and subdue the earth; be a steward – a reasonable manager in the administration of his duties on the earth.   Man’s image should mirror and be in alignment with our Heavenly Father.    What a glorious gift and inheritance!  And yet stories like the one involving the slain students near the campus of Auburn University, you can’t help but to grieve.   Our people perish for a lack of knowledge.  So many don’t know who they are and what is their purpose.

Made in the image of God, and yet we hate ourselves.  Our reflection has been damaged, distorted and diseased by the enemy.  We no longer reflect our original image, nor carry out the purpose and plans for which we were designed.

But there is good news!   Our image can be restored!   Christ, our Savior, the hope of glory is our master conduit through which we are remade into a new “creation.”   With His precious blood, He restores our divine image and set us on the path to our purpose.  Through Christ we prosper, reproduce, and fulfill our duties.     Through Christ the world learns the truth about – man’s image.    Reflect today!

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Deep Knowing

My husband and I made an 11 hour road trip yesterday to see our granddaughter perform in a dance recital.  Watching her and others dance, I thought, at what moment do we recognize our special gift or talent? What triggers the thought this is what I want to do, this is who I am, this is what I came to do?   I’ve read that some can recall in vivid detail the moment they realized their gift or purpose.  They called it a “deep knowing” which they stated made them realized this is why God made them.  With this knowing they move into the flow of their giftedness.

There are plenty of distractions, lost opportunities which delay, or prevent this discovery.  Lots of people go through life feeling there is nothing special about them.  That they are not valued, and have nothing to contribute. Some abused, and discarded souls fail to launch sensing their only purpose is to experience pain, and not to experience the feeling of being in their destiny.

What I witnessed yesterday was the beginning stages of recognition.  It was evident on some dancer’s faces, in their movements and in their eyes. There was a yes, this is what I am supposed to do.

Why is this important?  God wants us to recognize who and what we are.  He wants us to express our gifts and talents.  Expressing our gifts shows our gratitude to Him, and give the world a chance to experience more of God.  The Bible tells us, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from Him”. Our source and connection to the Creator and Source of All Things is the creative lifeline. We were made in his likeness and image, and because of it, there is a longing to express beauty, love, peace. [Genesis 1:25-27] 

The moment you begin the journey of discovery you change.  Life flows differently.  Just as some of those young people yesterday began discovering their gifts, it can happen to you.
It has been a joy and privilege to watch the flower of discovery unfold in our grandchildren.   I believe their journey of learning who they are, and what God made them for will culminate in pure joy.  As they move forward, and they will come closer to God, and their purpose. Ecclesiastes 8:6 states, “to every purpose there is a time”, and there is an eternal plan for us.  While we are here, we are called to demonstrate to the world who we truly are [Ephesians 3:11].

Everyone was given something unique in which to express their connectedness to the Holy One.  It’s quite remarkable.  Just as Jesus’ purpose was to reveal His deity, and destiny to mankind, so to are we.  Do you know your purpose?  Are you expressing your true gifts and talents? Do you know what they are? If not, take the journey of discovery.  The world needs to experience those precious gifts.  Don’t hide them under a bushel.

Liturgical Dance performed by Elder Cassandra Henry. All rights reserved. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 2008.

 

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The Body Temple

First Lady Michelle Obama was on The View sharing her new book,  “American Grown” and recipes on healthy eating.  As I briefly watched I thought about how sick our country is health wise.  More and more of our children are obese along with their parents and guardians, and how difficult it is for our minds and spirits to be healthy when our bodies aren’t.

I encourage all of us, including myself to take another look at ways to create all around health.

“You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you, and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own.” I Corinthians 6:19 CEV

Our bodies are temples of the living God, entrusted to us to create love and life on earth.  We dishonor the sacred trust God granted us when we chose not to maintain these bodies as best we can.  From the beginning God gave us a plan for life-healthy life and living which included the body, the mind and the spirit.  Failure to follow the plan leaves us to the mercy of the enemy whose mission it is to kill, steal and destroy.

However, even small, incremental steps can minimize and in some cases reverse the damage done.  The choice is up to us.  We can have a more abundantly life filled with all the best things God want for us.  And at the same time, have a strong body ready prepared and ready to meet those divine assignments.

Ask God to help you get your whole body prepare for what lies ahead, and then follow the plan.  Your body will thank you.

 

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The Event

http://www.examiner.com/article/skywatchers-prepare-super-full-moon-to-rise-on-may-5-2012

It has been a couple of days since the appearance of what is being called the “Super Moon.” Some truly amazing pictures were taken from around the world. Professional and amateur photographers as well as NASA turned their attention toward the moon. After looking at several pictures, because I missed the event, I was struck by not only the images, but also on how many people commented on it. Then I asked myself how many missed “the event” because our attention was elsewhere.
Many have already missed “the event.” And many more will miss it. What event is this? The coming of Christ. Despite books, films, testimonies, and organizations proclaiming His first and foretelling his second coming many will miss it as well.

The moon’s beauty on the horizon was spectacular. But is seeing or participating in this or any other event worth missing the signs of the coming of Christ? For believers, we can stop to appreciate the beauty and majesty of God in nature, noting that the “real event” of Christ Jesus far outweighs anything in this world.

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Power Belongs to God

Power Belongs To God

Over the weekend, we witnessed the power of a spirit yielded to God.  One of the new converts was dancing for the first time, and she was terrified.  To further complicate the situation, one of the dancers was not with us. So here we were, out-of-town, and it was her first time.  So they had to learn, within two hours new steps.   Fear had gripped them. Tears backstage.  Before the music started, the director told the audience shared they had to learn new parts in less than two hours, and asked for our prayers.  The music started, and when it came time for her part, she step boldly into the power that was within her.  The audience leaped to their feet.  It was a triumph.  We all witnessed and felt it. We became part of the Power.  And that is how it should be. We should alway step, leap, jump, walk forward, and pass our fears into the sacred place of power and appointment.

Remember being on the playground for the first time.  We wanted to try everything.  There is no fear.  The monkey bars, teeter-totter, jungle gym, swings…whatever there was we wanted to go there and try it.  And when we felt the point of mastery…we were free, and felt “I can do it all.”  That is the transforming power of God.  There is no fear in God.   There is liberty from bondage, from the shackles, the chains, the sin that so easily besets us.   He gave us power, love and a sound mind.  We feel capable, ready to use whatever talents, skills, abilities with the world to His glory. His power opens us up to our rightful place in the kingdom, where we experience what it is like to be children of the King.  It is joyous. It is glorious the shining brightness of His love and power.