Posts Tagged "glory"

Do you ever wonder if your pain has a purpose? “Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages. For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.”  -Psalm 135:13-14 Jesus Christ was ridiculously mistreated. He was mocked and murdered, abandoned and abused.  Because He spoke the truth about the darkness, those who lived in darkness made it their mission to silence His voice once and for all, and they succeeded. Or so they thought. With His resurrection, Jesus proved that the power of God is infinitely greater than the persecution of men.  He was not spared from suffering, but He was given far greater glory and restoration on the other side, and that glory has echoed through the ages in the lives...

Do you have a life that glows? “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?  For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.” -2 Corinthians 3:7-9 The call of the Christian is to a Spirit-filled life that glows with the glory of God. This is not about rule-keeping or religion.  It’s not about moral living or church attendance.  It’s not about singing or saying the right things. It’s about an empowered life that overflows with power and love and the glory of God....

What results do your words produce? “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck [Herod] down, because he did not give God the glory… But the word of God increased and multiplied.” -Acts 12:23-24 Herod gives a great oration, a powerful speech that causes all those who hear it to respond in praise, but not to God.  Herod wows the crowd and receives their adoration gladly, but the end result is both judgement for him and an end to his words. BUT the Word of God goes out in power. As if in contrast to the word of man, this Word both increases (linearly) and multiplies (exponentially), proof of God’s favor and His desire for His rightful glory. Let us not seek to impress with our own words, but to incarnate His (“flesh them out”),...

Do you ever wonder if your pain has a purpose? “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter in to His glory?” -Luke 24:26 We all know that, in the words of R.E.M., “everybody hurts.” Yet, though it is often so hard to find hope in the hurting, Jesus shows us both the necessity and the redemption of suffering. Necessity, because what victory can be had without struggle, what triumph without trial? Redemption, because be an overcomer requires an obstacle to overcome, and the greater the obstacle the greater the glory on the other side. It is that glory that serves as the shining beacon of hope in hardship, that glory that Christ received and now offers to us. As we persevere through suffering as He did, we are...

Principles do no good if there’s no practical way to apply them. Have you discovered this? High-minded ideals may be nice to think about, but to really make a difference in our lives, they need to have some skin on and work in the real world. The last two posts have been part of a three-part series on good works that stemmed from a conversation with a friend who had a question about a message I preached called “The Surface and the Substance”. (You can listen to the podcast here.) In posts, we explored Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”, which instructs His disciples to live in such a way that we draw attention to the goodness and glory...