The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory.
I love the lights. The Christmas lights that are put up during
this season and glow during the evening and night hours. I guess you
could say that what Clark Griswold put up in the movie Christmas Vacation
is something that I would like to see. There are places I remember from
my childhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma that I drive back to when I am home during this
time of the year.
Rhema is a Bible College in my hometown with amazing lights. There
are some neighborhoods that are spectacular. Near Julie’s hometown there
is place called Guido Gardens, built by a friend and evangelist Michael Guido
that died a few years ago. That place is amazing with thousands of
lights.
During my childhood our church put on a living nativity that recounted
the life of Jesus from the announcement of His birth to the resurrection.
A few thousand people would come see it every Christmas. It was
incredible and could take my breathe away as I experienced over and over.
The beauty of God’s creation as well as what God does in the lives of
people also takes my breathe away. Seeing God’s glory is something that
no one can turn away from when it’s almost too much to handle.
It may not be the same, but when you watch a child take in all the
Christmas lights for the first time, you see some of the same expressions and
feel some of the same emotions as when you see God’s glory. It really is
amazing.
Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in
his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when
it is revealed to all the world.
The tough situations in our lives cause us to look again. We might
look again at why we are struggling. We may even ask if God is punishing
us. Yet God desires for His glory to be seen. God will show up when
we are looking for Him. And His glory is overwhelming.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the
glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more
like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
The reason we see God and His glory is because He wants us to see and
chose for us to see it, His glory and greatness. On top of that we begin
to see His work and His glory in our lives. Don’t let this go to your
head or make you think that you are as great as God.
God loves people. He loves you and me, and the biggest parts of
His glory are seen in the lives of the people He loves. Yes, the
mountains and the ocean as well as the sky declare and even scream His
glory. But people are His glory on a daily basis.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full
of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory
of the Father’s one and only Son.
Praise God for His
glory. I long to see it. Christmas reminds me that we can see His
glory every day. Let’s look for it even more. His glory, like the
lights of Christmas, are amazing!
NOTE: this post first
appeared in December of 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment