Tag: glory of God
Blessings From Proper Priorities
Scripture reading for September 27th: Haggai 1-2
Haggai had been sent by the Lord to speak to His people who had returned to Jerusalem after the exile to rebuild the city and temple. Haggai had the people’s respect because he obeyed the Lord and spoke for God plainly. (Haggai 1:12) The people he spoke to feared the Lord and received the word brought to them.
One of the problems with the returning exiles was misplaced priorities. They came back to Jerusalem and found a mess. The walls were broken down and houses and vineyards were overgrown with weeds. They got their eyes off fixing the city wall and the temple and began working on their own houses. (Haggai 1:2-11) They focused on themselves and their own needs and neglected God’s plans and His house. This resulted in drought on the fields and poverty in their lives. They could not get ahead.
The remedy for this was to refocus on God’s house, placing Him first! God promised them that if they did this, He would be with them and bless them. They obeyed and began the work. Some of the workers were depressed because the rebuilt temple was not nearly as beautiful as the original temple that they remembered. Haggai had to speak a word from God to help them stay focused. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says the Lord Almighty. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:9)
God would bring even greater glory to His house in the last days. God would shake the nations, and the desired of the nations, Jesus Christ, would come and bring glory to the Temple. He would sacrifice Himself for the sins of the people of all nations, enabling them to be forgiven and adopted by God into His family. They would be able to receive the Holy Spirit, a deposit of God’s glory. This glory would be within each believer, which now makes up the new temple of God. The glory of this later house would be greater than the former!
We, too, must check our priorities. Are you seeking to put God’s kingdom first in your life? Have you prioritized building His temple over building your own bank account or business? Put the Lord first and He will bless you!
Sunday rest and reflection: the glory of God
Dear Friends,
Another needed day of rest, worship, fellowship and refreshing! I am ready for a great day of resting in Christ and allowing His peace and presence to come into clearer focus in my life. Life is busy and I often find myself going from one meeting to another and one appointment to another without a break. Something is always needing attention or fixing. On the day of rest, I need fixing by enjoying the glory of His presence!
In reflecting on this past weeks reading in Ezekiel, I am impressed by Ezekiel’s visions of the glory of God. Ezekiel saw things in heaven around the throne of God’s glory that he had trouble describing in earthly language or word pictures. How does a finite creature describe an infinite being? The glory of God was life-changing for Ezekiel. He was encouraged and motivated to speak God’s message and obey even difficult assignments that would be uncomfortable and even dangerous.
The saddest part of this past week’s reading was the part where God’s glory reluctantly left the Temple and city that God loved. God tried over and over to make a place for His glory in the midst of His people. They refused to honor Him and worship Him in Spirit and truth. He withdrew His glory to show them what darkness was in them. It was truly a dark time in the history of God’s people.
I am thankful that God’s glory now resides in His church among His people. He has filled His church with His glory. The day of Pentecost brought a rushing wind and tongues of fire bringing glory back to His living stones in the New Temple. We are now being transformed by the glory of God living in our midst personally and corporately. We have new revelations of that glory daily as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit fills us with power to share His glory with others! Sunday morning worship explodes with God’s glory descending into the midst of His worshiping church! Would that we do everything we can to welcome the God of glory today! We never want to see Him take His glory and depart! In His Love and Glory, Pastor John
The Tabernacle of God!
Scripture reading for January 28: Exodus 25-27
Do you like to follow directions? Men are particularly prone to trying to put something together from trial and error. We like the adventure and take pride in being able to do complex projects from our memories or experience. We often feel that instructions are unnecessary. This attitude usually gets us into trouble and we either get lost or end up with left over parts from the project!
Moses was given a pattern for the Tabernacle. God gave him specific instructions as to how this “dwelling place” was to be constructed. He told them numbers, lengths, weights and the type of materials for each part. God left nothing to chance when it came to His first dwelling here with His people on earth. It was a mobile dwelling because God was moving with the Israelites and leading them as they journeyed. He moved in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Four times in our reading today God re-emphasizes the need to make everything after the pattern shown on the mountain. (Exodus 25:9,40; 26:30; 27:9) It may be that God knew Moses was a typical man!
The instructions for this Tabernacle starts with the Ark of the Covenant! Everything begins with God at the center! God’s dwelling place was a special representation of a heavenly reality. It was a chest of acacia wood about 4 feet long. It was to be coated with pure gold. Two gold cherubim were to be beaten out for each end and they were to face the lid of this box. The box was to have two rings on each side where poles of acacia wood would be used to transport it. Everything was coated with pure gold. It was to be carried by priests who were consecrated for this job. The tablets of Testimony, the ten commands, were to be placed inside of this box. Later a jar of manna was placed there as well as Aaron’s rod that had budded and sprouted in God’s presence. (Hebrews 9:1-5)
This ark of the Covenant represents Jesus Christ, God dwelling with us. John 1:14-15 tells us that Jesus came and “pitched his tent” (tabernacled) among us. We beheld His glory! Jesus kept the law of God, the tablets of Testimony. He was the only man who has ever lived who fully obeyed the Law and was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15-16) He was the living bread (manna) come down from heaven, that if any man eat of this bread, he would never die! (John 6:47-50) He was the one chosen by God to have all authority in heaven and on earth! (Aaron’s rod!) (Matthew 28:18) He was worshiped by angels at his birth, and now is in the presence of holy angels in heaven. (Revelation 4:12) This is an awesome object lesson meant to teach the Israelites of that day and us today about Jesus and his glory.
We who are saved and in relationship with Jesus have his glory in our earthen “tents”. (2 Corinthians 4:7) We are being transformed by that glory into God’s image! (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) The Spirit is God with us! We are made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ and desire to keep his law in obedience with grace.(Hebrews 8:10-11) We receive authority to pray and witness in His name! (Luke 10:19-20) We are destined for the gold streets of Glory and to see the face of Jesus! Thank him today for his perfect plans!