How you doin? Ever since last May when Stacey and I attended the Power & Love Conference, I've been very interested in glory. Particularly God's glory. In my Bible's dictionary glory is defined, "great honor, praise, and thanksgiving offered in worship; splendor and majestic beauty". Webster's has several definitions, " praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent, worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving<giving glory to God>; a distinguished quality or asset, great beauty and splendor, the splendor and beatific happiness of heaven; a state of great gratification or exaltation". That's some of the definition. I like my Bible's definition. To me it defines glory to God (honor, praise, and thanksgiving offered in worship) and the glory of God (splendor and majestic beauty). I feel as though I need a solid working knowledge of the word glory.
Exodus 33:12-23 is just AWESOME!!!!!!! You will need to read it on your own today. Here are some highlights. Verse 14, "The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” WOW!!!!!!! Verse 18, "Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” I love that song as well. It's one of my common prayers. Verses 19-20, "And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” WOW!!!!!!! This Scripture is incredible I hope you read all of it.
Exodus 34 goes on to tell what happens next. Again incredible Scripture. I want to look at the verses that speak about Moses radiant face. Verse 29, "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord." SO GOOD!!!!!!! Can you imagine having that kind of interaction with God. Interaction that makes your face radiant. COME ON!!!!!!! Now here's the interesting part. Moses veiled his face so that the Israelites didn't see God's glory fade away. Verses 33-35, "When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with theLord." AWESOME!!!!!!! Moses let the Israelites see his radiant face, then would cover his face with a veil. This is verified in 2 Corinthians 3.
The heading for 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 is "The Greater Glory of the New Covenant". Verses 7-11 explains why Moses veiled his face. Verse 11, "And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!" Now comes the good part. Verses12-13, "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away." WOW!!!!!!! My hair just blew. I'm getting filled up over here. Verses 14-15 explain why Jews are still veiled, "But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts." This is hard to understand without some serious study. I'm praying that God shows you that I'm right. Just kidding. There is redemption. Verse 16, "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." Shoo! That was close. PRAISE JESUS!!!!!!! Verses 17-18 could be my favorite verses in the Bible. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." HOLY-MAC-A-LOLY!!!!!!! That's Greek for COME ON!!!!!!! We don't have veiled faces because, through Jesus, God's glory doesn't fade. The Holy Ghost dwells in us not on us. God's glory (splendor and majestic beauty) is in us. AWESOME!!!!!!! The Spirit offers us freedom from dulled minds. WOW!!!!!!! We do need to contemplate or reflect the glory of the Lord to be transformed. Bearing in mind that it "comes from the Lord, who is Spirit". That's a good word!
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or reflect
I'll try to land this thing. This has been going on with me since May. Since Sept., I've really been looking at old covenant vs. new covenant. During the summer the Holy Ghost showed me why Jesus turned water into wine (a long pondered question of mine). It was a prophetic act of the new covenant. It was to demonstrate His glory (splendor and majestic beauty... as a man). John 2:11, "
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
" Jesus revealed His glory so His disciples would believe in Him. Not everyone at the wedding knew what Jesus had done. Oops! I'm trying to land this thing. Ask God to show you His glory, so you can believe what dwells in you today.
PS Jesus did everything He did for His Father's glory (great honor, praise, and thanksgiving offered in worship) because He accepted, understood, and saw (as a man) all of His Father's glory (splendor and majestic beauty). I will show God glory (great honor, praise, and thanksgiving offered in worship), because Jesus is revealing His glory (splendor and majestic beauty) to me more and more each day.
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