No Longer a Sinner - The Glory of the Lord

 

Peter, James and John witnessed Christ's glory as the Beloved Son who pleased our Father (John 17:5). Jesus was on a mountain and appeared with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:2-8; 2 Peter 1:16-17).

Jesus is also our light who shines in our darkest hour. When we come to Christ, His glory shines in us and from us as the Light of the world, the light of life (John 8:12; Acts 6:15). We lay down our penchant to sin at His feet.

At salvation, He comes to dwell within us; however when He returns to claim us as His bride, we will see Him as He is and we will reflect His supernatural glory (John 3:1-2; Philippians 3:20-21).

In His face, we will see and understand the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). Jesus will transform our mortal body into conformity with His glorious, immortal body (2 Thessalonians 1:10-12).

As we keep our focus on Christ, we are no longer affected by the events in this life; because our attention is absorbed by the only One who matters. Even in our hour of death, God's Spirit will sustain us and shine forth from us (Acts 7:51-60).

We mirror the glory of the Lord to the masses of unsaved people all around us. They know that something is very different about us (2 Corinthians 3:18). They are drawn to us by God's Spirit, and He gives us the opportunity to share Christ with them.

We may not even have to use words, because a Spirit-filled smile or a simple "Hello" will touch their hearts as no sermon ever did. Jesus bought us at a great price to Himself, now it is time for us to lay down our life for others (John 15:13).

Prayer:

Father God, You revealed Jesus to us face-to-face and His presence burns in our heart. We see Him in all of His glory and we submit to His sovereignty in our life. Your glory is gradually enveloping us by Your sanctifying process in our life. You will eventually craft us into the image of Christ on this earth.

The marks of the cross are on our heart; and we want nothing more than to bring You pleasure by our every thought, word and deed. You give us the deep, spiritual mind of Christ in exchange for the meager, carnal mind closed off to spiritual Truth (2 Corinthians 3:14-15). We are no longer our own; we belong to You, and we serve at Your pleasure.

Thought for the Day:

Let us reveal the glory of the Lord, which arises within us, to the world around us rather than the human pride, selfishness, hypocritical double-standard, frustration and carnality that we commonly feel within us. - Isaiah 61:1

God's Eternal Nature in Us

God loves us and shows Himself to us (John 14:21). He calls us through the gospel to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14), and claims us as His children (Ephesians 1:4-5).

God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). He created us in His own likeness with a triune nature - our spirit, soul and body (Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 12:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). His Spirit transforms us with the divine nature of Christ.

We are born of the first Adam from the dust of the earth, but also Born Again of the second Adam, Jesus, by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 15:45). God created us as physical human beings, but He also gave us a soul - thoughts, feelings and choices - and a spirit.

God made Jesus the firstborn among many adopted brethren  (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5). He gives us exceedingly great and precious promises of salvation, so that we might be partakers of Christ’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

He sanctifies our soul throughout our lifetime, until we are holy and without sin in His sight. His rich grace abounds in our life, and He gives us His wisdom to deal with every issue we face (2 Corinthians 9:8).

God wants to fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness, so that we may obtain the richest portion of His presence in our life (Ephesians 3:16-19; 4:13).

As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, we are transformed into His likeness with an ever-increasing resemblance to Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). Jesus is equal to God, and He lives in us, sharing His divine nature with us (John 5:18).

We have the same potential, which Jesus did, of becoming spiritual beings, because Christ in us is Spirit. When we crucify the deeds of our flesh, walk in the Spirit and pray without ceasing, we make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

Prayer:

Father God, by Your glorious grace we gradually walk into the divine nature of Christ in us, and we walk away from the corruption in this world (1 Peter 2:2-4). We are growing in our understanding of the amazing magnitude of Your power available to all authentic Believers. It is the same dynamite power that resurrected Christ from the grave and returned Him to His glory in Heaven (Ephesians 1:19-20).

Thank You that He fills us with this life and supplies us with everything we need to function in unity with You and to accomplish Your will for us in the earth (Ephesians 1:23). Enable the world to see that You sent Jesus on their behalf, by making our life a living testimony to them (John 17:21-23).  

Thought for the Day:

Eternal life is not some future event that we will experience some day; it occurs within us, as we come to intimately know Jesus, and our God who sent Him. - John 17:3

Proof that God Exists

 

God reveals His thoughts to His people just as surely as He formed the mountains, named the stars and makes night follow each day (Psalm 42:8, 90:2, 147:4). He stretches out the heavens over the foundations of the earth, which He set in place (Job 9:8-10).

God created mankind and all of the universe. Nothing is too challenging for Him (Jeremiah 32:27). He always existed and He will remain forever throughout eternity.

God thought about every contingency before He created humanity, the heavens and the earth. We have the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night.

His reign over the universe continues throughout every generation (Lamentations 5:19; Daniel 4:3). God creates the winds in their seasons (Amos 4:13).

He even has fun with the waves of the sea by stirring them up into mountains of mighty water (Jeremiah 31:35). He gives us signs of His existence in the mighty wonders He created (Romans 1:20; Daniel 4:3).

If we could ask the earth, animal, fish or birds, they would teach us that the hand of the Lord created us all, and in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind (Job 12:7-10).

Each day, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the wondrous works of His hands. In every land on the earth, everyone can hear the heavens and earth declaring the existence of God (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:20).

The great creatures of the ocean depths; the rain, snow and hail; the stormy winds; mountains, fruit trees and firs, wild and domestic animals, and even the rodents and birds all do God's bidding (Psalm 148:7-10).

The heavens and earth rejoice, the seas roar, the fields exult, and the trees of the forest sing for joy, because the Lord is coming again to earth in His righteousness and faithfulness (Psalm 96:11-13).

Prayer:

Father God, You tread the high places of the earth and the earth is Your footstool (Micah 1:3; Zechariah 12:1). Although You are involved in every detail of nature around us, You also formed Your Spirit within each and every Born Again Believer (Zechariah 12:1).

We can never thank You enough for sharing Your Kingdom with everyone willing to surrender to Your love. We pray that You will draw all of our loved ones to Your heart, until they stop resisting Your love and grace.

Thought for the Day:

If people fail to praise God, even the rocks will cry out to honor and praise Him. 
- Luke 19:40; Habakkuk 19:40