glory

You Overcame

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Anyone else in here ever get a song stuck in your head? Or are you like me and have a virtual running jukebox in your head with music playing all the time. I mean All. The. Time.

The latest song that’s been playing in my brain is an oldie but a goodie by Jeremy Camp. I remember singing it in church back in the early 2000s. I wish it could make a comeback or that somebody could do a cover. Maybe somewhere some church could have a 2000s worship night.

The lyrics are straight out of the book of Revelation. This song is basically singing scripture, and to my mind, there’s almost nothing better when it comes to worship music than singing the word back to God. Here are the words:

“Seated above, enthroned in the Father’s love
Destined to die, poured out for all mankind
God’s only Son, perfect and spotless one
He never sinned but suffered as if He did

All authority
Every victory is Yours
All authority
Every victory is Yours

Savior
Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name, You overcame

Power in hand speaking the Father’s plan
You’re sending us out, light in this broken land

All authority
Every victory is Yours

Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name, You overcame, yeah

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame, You overcame Jesus
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name, You overcame

You overcame (You overcame)
Jesus (You overcame)
You overcame (You overcame)
You overcame

Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name (Your name), You overcame
You overcame
Jesus
You overcame” (Jon Egan)

From Lonely Agonies to Everlasting Splendors

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“Does it not fill our hearts with a thrilling excitement to think that the costly disciplines and lonely agonies that make up our earthly discipleship may at any moment, and without any warning, be transformed into everlasting splendors the like of which we can scarcely conceive, let alone understand?” (James Phillip)

That’s my hope. One day, this will all make sense. One day, God will pull back the curtain and reveal the totality of a glorious tapestry that He’s been weaving in and through our lives. Currently, we only see the darker threads with occasional glimpses of gold and silver. We only see chaos and confusion.

But one day, we will see the big picture. One day, we will see all the colors woven together and see that every one of them points to the glorious splendor of Jesus our Brother, Friend, Redeemer, and Savior. And every bit of suffering that we have gone through or seen our loved ones go through will have been worth it for the joy of that moment when all of God’s creation is renewed and restored and all those who hope in Christ are forever made new and alive.

One day, all those worries and anxieties that constantly dog at our heels and never seem to let us rest won’t matter anymore. We’ll be too busy adoring and worshipping the Triune God to remember or care. The joy will be so much more glorious and overwhelming than any amount of pain or suffering we endured.

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, The Message).

And the Angels Rejoice

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I used to get super excited when my sports teams won. Especially when they won the championship for their league. The only problem with that is that a couple of years later no one can remember who the champs were except for a very small number of people.

Sometimes, I find myself really looking forward to a new book, a new movie, a new album. But then I get it, play it once or twice, and the novelty is gone. It’s still a great book/movie/album, but I can never again match the thrill of hearing/seeing it for the first time.

These days, I get excited whenever I read about someone coming to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I love reading about how the person used to be a satanist or a porn star or a Muslim but now is a follower of Jesus. I should probably be more discerning because not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” is really a true follower and disciple.

But I also remember that every time one single lost person is found and comes home, the angels rejoice. They throw the party to end all parties. It’s an epic celebration in heaven, and it’s all for one single solitary person.

I think about that prodigal son who came home to a party. He didn’t deserve it. He had done everything to disgrace the family name and dishonor his own father. He hadn’t shown a pattern of changed behavior to show that he wouldn’t run away again. But he came home.

Maybe that’s you. You need to stop making excuses and stop living a lie and come home. The Father is waiting. To come home means doing a 180 from going your own way and doing your own thing to going God’s way and doing things God’s way. It’s called repentance. You confess that your way doesn’t work and that you want God’s way.

Maybe in the grand scheme of things one changed life isn’t a big deal. Maybe one person who turns from sin and self to the Savior isn’t noteworthy or noticeable and will never gain any national headlines. But God knows. Heaven sees. And they throw the most epic celebration ever. Every. Single. Time.

Learning Something New Every Day

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I’ve been listening to The Bible Podcast by Tara-Leigh Cobble on Audible lately. It’s really supposed to supplement a daily reading Bible plan, but since I’ve been reading the Bible on a different plan, I’m basically listening to the segments straight through. It’s been like getting a crash course on the entire Bible in five-minute segments.

One thing I learned blew my mind a bit. It was after Jesus rose from the grave and met the disciples while they were fishing unsuccessfully. He told them to cast the net on the other side, and when they did they caught 153 fish, nearly breaking their net.

Apparently, there are 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Galilee, so they caught one of every kind. That harkened back to Jesus telling these disciples that soon they would be fishing for people instead of fish. This was a visual way of telling them that the gospel they preached was to be for everyone.

That means that in heaven there will be people from every single people group, language, skin color, ethnicity, country, and race. When Jesus returns, there will be no more unreached people groups left. Every one will have heard the good news. That means that this mission Jesus gave to us, His church, will not fail.

That should give us greater joy and hope. We can share the good news knowing that it’s never in vain. While not everyone will believe our message every time, we can know that what we preach and teach never returns void. We can labor with the confidence that God is at work mightily through what we do in the strength and power of His Holy Spirit in us.

I love the scene in Revelation when the heavenly throne room is crowded with people from every tongue, tribe, and race. I don’t know if we’ll each be singing in our heart languages and understand each other or if we’ll have a new heavenly vocabulary that we all share. But I do know the song will be the same and the God we sing to will be the same and the eternal praise that comes from joyful lips and hearts will be the same.

“I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

The slain Lamb is worthy!
Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength!
Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!

Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!
The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength,
For age after age after age.

The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, The Message).

Awed by God’s Glory

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“The ache of life heals when we are awed by God. 

Wherever the ache of life meets more of the awe of God, we are more healed.
More than any other emotion, what heals us is the awe of God. 

And what is awe really but the glory of God? 
That’s what the research undeniably indicates: God’s glory undeniably HEALS us. 
Our story finds healing where we’re awed by God’s glory. 

If you want to heal more of the losses in your life, make it your way of life to get outside every day to hear what God means to tell you: ‘The heavens are telling the glory of God’ [Psalm 19:1].

That means? That means God sings close over us with spread of sky, God stuns and awes with painted sunrises, God unravels stress with His choreographic dance of stars, God enfolds us everywhere in surround sound: ‘Glory, glory, glory, I am glory and I fill everything with glory so why fill with worry?’

When the heart is full of trouble, step outside to see that the whole earth isn’t only full of trouble, but ultimately is full of His glory.

Step outside and watch the Maker of clouds overhead, lift the clouds within. 

He who breaks the clouds can heal our heartbreak, and the Maker of a million stars can heal every kind of broken heart. 

The river winds on and unknots a tangle of worries, and the grasses surrender and bend in the wind so they don’t break, and ‘God is a sun that never sets… As the air surrounds you, even so does the mercy of your Lord,’ writes Charles Spurgeon, and there is time to look out, to look up, to breathe glory deep into the lungs, and to feel it happen: more healing written into our wounds and our losses. 

The way to navigate loss is to lose all that distracts from the glory of God.

Glory heals and beauty binds up and awe awakens us to God here, right here. 

#TheBrokenWay#TheWayOfAbundance#1000Gifts” (Ann Voskamp).

I think I’m just gonna leave this right here. I think it says it all.

Unique

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“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original” (Galatians 5:25-26, The Message).

Something came to mind that I heard a long time ago. It must have been good, because it has stuck with me all these years: never judge anyone else in comparison with yourself or other people. You never know where they started off or how far they’ve come to be where they are. They may not look as polished as some, but maybe they’ve gone through a lot more than most.

Each person’s story is unique. That’s why comparison is a thief of joy. Comparison robs us of the individual way God has shaped and molded us in our family, circumstances, and environment. We do best to live in the story God laid out for us, not trying to copy someone else’s story.

God is a master creator. He never makes two people the same, just as no two snowflakes are alike. The beauty of the body of Christ is how all the different people from different walks blend together and become one glorious representation of the hands and feet of Jesus. We’re like a mosaic of broken pieces that individually may not about to much but together form a priceless work of art.

No matter how insignificant you feel, the world isn’t the same without you in it. God’s Church isn’t the same without you in it. All of us have unique gifts and contributions that no one else can bring to the table of our Lord. All of us fit together into a picture of the glory of God that those outside can see and those inside can feel.

Glory in the Skies

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“God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
    Professor Night lectures each evening” (Psalm 19:1-2, The Message).

This afternoon, I drove down I-840 from Christiana to Brentwood to get to Room in the Inn at Brentwood Baptist Church. I was a little anxious about facing 4 pm traffic, but I shouldn’t have been worried in the least. It was such a peaceful drive.

As I drove toward the sunset, I could see the sun peaking out from behind the hills in the distance as it was sinking toward night. Everything around me took on a kind of golden glow as the daylight faded away.

I do think that dusk is my favorite part of the day. It almost always makes me feel relaxed and calm, reminding me that despite anything that I may be worried about, creation is a classroom where the glory of God is the subject and I am the student. I need to be reminded that just as God displays His majestic wonder every morning and every evening, so will He show Himself mighty in taking care of my needs.

Also, it’s a helpful lesson in humility to recall that in the grand scheme of things, I am very small and all my problems aren’t all that dire in the light of creation and the universe and the story that God is unfolding across time and history, yet He cares for me as one of the little sparrows.

I wonder if God orchestrates history for moments like these for me to be driving down the interstate and see a beautiful sunset. Not that I am super important or influential but just because maybe God knew I needed it.

A Puritan Prayer

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This is most likely a repeat, but it’s worth reading again. It’s from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers that is one of the best books I have ever read outside of the Bible:

“O God of Grace,
Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.
I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;
I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;
I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace” (The Valley of Vision – A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, Edited by Arthur Bennett).

Glory’s Just Around the Corner

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“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message).

Glory’s just around the corner. I love that.

All that you’re going through, all the heartache and pain, seems like it will never end. You feel like nothing will ever get better, that everything will go on just as it has been.

Remember that Paul calls it light and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory that’s coming. Whatever it is, it won’t last forever. But the glory will.

That’s a good reason to never give up. You don’t know how close you are to your breakthrough. It may be closer than you  think. It may even literally be around the next corner.

I might sound like a broken record, but I feel in my spirit that some of you out there are tempted to quit. Some of you are about to give up. Don’t.

Jesus didn’t quit. He more than anyone else had the best reason to give up. He knew what He was facing and what it would cost in blood, sweat, and tears. But He persevered. He kept going.

He knew that even death by torture was a light and momentary affliction compared to the joy and glory that would come after. Not just His joy and glory, but ours, too.

It’s all about taking it 24 hours at a time. Sometimes, it’s about one deep breath at a time, if that’s all you can do.

One day, you will look back and say that it was all worth it. Even the very worst parts were worth it to get to the glory.

 

 

Holding It All Together

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I had another epiphany of sorts as I was driving home from my life group tonight. It was one of those perfect Spring nights before the sticky humidity descends and decides to stay until October. I had Willie Nelson singing me home and I was meditating on what we had just talked about in our Bible study earlier. Then this thought hit me:

When you’re barely able to hold it together, remember Who is holding you together. Maybe it’s not so much about holding yourself together as it is holding on to God who can hold you together so much better than you ever could.

I thought back to what Mike Glenn said about the glory of God. Glory comes from a Hebrew word that carries the idea of gravity or weight. He said that in essence, God is the only One worthy of worship because He is the only One capable of keeping all the bits and pieces of your life from flying apart.

Idolatry is expecting anything or anyone to hold your world in orbit other than God. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner), you will find out the hard way that nothing and no one else can.

Some of you are finding out how true this is right now. It’s one thing to know about something intellectually and quite another to know from having lived through it. As much as I hate to say it, all of us will probably at some point find out in experience how true this is. Thankfully, God’s promises and words to us always hold up even under the most trying of times.

If you’re there, my advice is don’t try to be a Lone Ranger. Let other people in and then when your world gets better, look for people who might need your encouragement and support.

That’s all I have for tonight. As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.