Is it possible for us to “Behold His Glory”?
God says, “Yes” and He has a plan and a path for us to follow. The desire of my heart for today, is for you to ponder this thought. To allow the Lord to speak to you regarding how you can do this and also if you are doing something which blocks this from happening. I know it’s hard to put on the brakes, and quiet our hearts and mind. But I pray you will be willing to make time today. I hope you will try not to talk during your quiet time and really focus your thoughts on the Lord. Looking up scripture in your own Bible, and asking the Lord to reveal to you personally the truth of these verses.
II Corinthians 3:18 tells us that it is possible for all of us to “Behold His Glory”.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Really think about this wonderful verse and what each part of it says to you.
John 16:13a “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
In Isaiah 58:8 we find a wonderful promise and then directions as to how to claim that promise.
“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”
The wonderful promise in the first part of this verse is that our light shall break forth. ( I like to think of it as breaking thru to glory). Then the second part shows us how we are able to do this and with whose help. Our righteousness will go before us. Who is your righteousness?
Jeremiah 26:6b “The Lord is our righteousness.”
So He is going before leading and directing us into this wonderful promise. The song just came to me, “I’ve got a home in Glory Land that outshines the sun”. I know we have a place reserved in Heaven which is the ultimate Glory Land, but many verses seem to show that we can experience His glory on earth also. Not only are we striving to reach Glory- but the glory of the Lord is our rear guard, and prodding us along and protecting us along the way also. We are on a path heading towards glory.
Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the righteousness is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”
(Oh Lord, may the path you are putting us on today shine brighter and brighter and reveal wondrous things to us along the way.)
Consider this wonderful promise in Isaiah 40:5 “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Here are some thoughts about Moses seeing “The Glory” and then some thoughts from the Living Study Bible regarding those verses.
Exodus 24:16-18 “The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”
From the Life Application Bible page 1772: “The glory that the Spirit imparts to the believer is greater both in quality and longevity than that which Moses experienced. The glory gradually transforms the believer into Chistlikeness. Becoming Christlike is a progressive experience. The more closely we relate to him, the more we will be like him.”
(Lord, show me today the “hidden” things that are in the verses I am looking at)
Matthew 11:25 “At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes.”
Some verses to ponder on your way to breaking through to Glory:
- I Pater 4:13
- Isaiah 28:5a
- II Thessalonians 2:14
- Isaiah 60:1
- Psalms 104:31
- Daniel 2:20-23
- “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He change times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and mysterious things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for thou hast given me wisdom and strength, and hast now made known to me what we asked of thee.”
What is holding me back from breaking through to “His Glory” and becoming all he would have you be? If you are feeling that these verses and thoughts are great but you have had a hard time really experiencing what they are talking about, the Bible also has some help in that area.
Romans 3:23 “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
That is the basis for asking God to be our Savior and forgive us all our wins and accept us as his child. Therefore one of the reasons we are not experiencing all that is possible would be that we have not totally surrendered our lives to Jesus. Before doing that, we all fall short of his glory.
There are other reasons why Christians also fall short of experiencing this glory. Let us ponder these two verses, one from the Old Testament and one from the New.
Psalm 106:20 “They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.”
Romans 1:22,23 “Claiming to be wise, they become fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.”
Have you come close to receiving God’s glory but before you open the package you make an exchange. Those mentioned in the above verses exchanged the glory for images. What kind of image or mirage could you possibly be exchanging his glory for. Something that looks real but is not the real thing God would have us have. Ask God to reveal to you anything in your life that would be a block in receiving his glory.
Also, let us look at II Corinthians 3:18 “And we all with UNVEILED FACE, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
(Lord, is there a veil of some kind over my face, keeping me from seeing your glory fully. Please reveal that to me and show me what I can do to be changed into your likeness, little by little, degree by degree.)
What needs changing first? My attitude? My busyness? My not putting God first in my life?
I would like to close with some comments from Oswald Chambers from April 22nd of My Utmost for His Highest:
“We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When important individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do– to look into the face of God for ourselves……A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.”
Exodus 34:29 “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with two tables of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
Look to Him and be RADIANT!!!!!
Mali’s addition:
These finals words in this post really resonated with me because Grandma Rosy has been the faithful Christian servant who has perpetually looked into the face of God, and as a result shines God’s light into each of our lives. Grandma Rosy’s skin is shining with God’s light because she continues to talk with God daily. She doesn’t need her voice or strength to exude God’s brilliant and radiant light! What an amazing example for us all!