6-28-10,
Dear TC-HOP Family,
As Moses asked the Lord, “Please, show me Your glory,” the Lord responded in saying He would make His goodness pass before him and He proclaimed His name to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…” (Ex. 34:6) It seems so often we are looking for the glory of the Lord to be revealed to us in ways that are great and powerful, and yet the Lord, as in this passage, shows us His glory by Who He is, and revealing His character to us. We look for the awesome manifestations and fail to hear the “gentle whisper.”
(I Kings 19-12)
Over the past few days I was blessed to see the glory of God move, not only in my heart, but in the hearts of four young people who went with me to the Fascinate Conference in K.C. As they came into the presence of the Lord they began to receive some inner healing and experience the love of Jesus. They became strengthened in their inner man and became aware of who they are in Christ, and by the end of the time there, they were then able to pray for others. The great manifestations of God’s glory to them was the still small voice speaking into their hearts and making Himself known by His mercy and grace.
Last week I wrote about God’s glory being revealed through His mercy, and now I would like to look at His grace.
First, the Lord is so gracious in how He relates to us in our labors in that He rewards us so well for our efforts to serve and obey Him. The smallest and seemingly insignificant acts of obedience and service are remembered and rewarded by God forever. This dignifies and sanctifies every hour of our day. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints…” (Heb. 6:10)
The Lord is also gracious to us in that He evaluates us differently than anyone else does. He is not like a harsh leader or angry coach who rejects all weakness. Many think of God as being mostly mad or mostly sad when He relates to us. We need the revelation of a God with a smiling heart which can release security in us with a free spirit instead of being dominated by condemnation. The Lord is a just judge who is slow to anger and abounding in love and He will rescue us, restore us, and bring us into spacious places because He delights in us and wants to give us good things. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph. 1:8)
Finally, “In your presence is fullness of joy.” God’s presence is full of joy because God’s heart or personality is full of joy. By His grace the Holy Spirit imparts Jesus’ joy to us through revealing the knowledge of God to us as we feed on God’s word.
Come into the glory of His presence as we seek Him together this week at
Traverse City House of Prayer.
Blessings,
Gary