It's Not About Me - Max Lucado [6]
Christ will return enthroned in it.
Heaven will be illuminated by it.1
It gulfstreams the Atlantic of Scripture, touching every person with the potential of changing every life. Including yours. One glimpse, one taste, one sampling, and your faith will never be the same ...
Glory.
God’s glory.
To seek God’s glory is to pray,“Thicken the air with your presence; make it misty with your majesty. Part heaven’s drapes, and let your nature spill forth. God, show us God.”
TO SEEK GOD’S GLORY
IS TO PRAY, “LET YOUR
NATURE SPILL FORTH.
GOD, SHOW US GOD.”
What the word Alps does for the mountains of Europe, glory does for God’s nature. Alps encompasses a host of beauties: creeks, peaks, falling leaves, running elk. To ask to see the Alps is to ask to see it all. To ask to see God’s glory is to ask to see all of God. God’s glory carries the full weight of his attributes: his love, his character, his strength, and on and on.
David celebrated God’s glory.
Bravo, GOD, bravo!
Gods and all angels shout,“Encore!”
In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power.
Stand at attention!
Dress your best to honor him!
GOD thunders across the waters,
Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—
GOD, across the flood waters.
GOD’s thunder tympanic,
GOD’s thunder symphonic.
GOD’s thunder smashes cedars,
GOD topples the northern cedars.
The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,
The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
GOD’s thunder spits fire.
GOD thunders, the wilderness quakes;
He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.
GOD’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing
A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.
We fall to our knees—we call out,“Glory!”
(Psalm 29:1-9 MSG)
The word signals high honor.The Hebrew term for glory descends from a root word meaning heavy, weighty, or important. God’s glory, then, celebrates his significance, his uniqueness, his one-of-a-kindness. As Moses prayed,“Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11 NIV).
When you think “God’s glory,” think “preeminence.” And, when you think “preeminence,” think “priority.” For God’s glory is God’s priority.
God’s staff meetings, if he had them, would revolve around one question:“How can we reveal my glory today?” God’s to-do list consists of one item: “Reveal my glory.” Heaven’s framed and mounted purpose statement hangs in the angels’ break room just above the angel food cake. It reads:“Declare God’s glory.”
God exists to showcase God.
He told Moses: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3 NKJV).
Why did he harden Pharaoh’s heart? “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them [the Israelites]. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 14:4 NIV).
Why do the heavens exist? The heavens exist to “declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1 NIV).
Why did God choose the Israelites? Through Isaiah he called out to “everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7 NKJV).
Why do people struggle? God answers, “I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act” (Isaiah 48:10-11). “Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory” (Psalm 50:15 NLT).
He spoke of “this people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise” (Isaiah 43:21 NKJV).
EVERY ACT OF HEAVEN
REVEALS GOD’S GLORY.
EVERY ACT OF JESUS
DID THE SAME.
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “You lead Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name” (Isaiah 63:14 NKJV).
Christ taught us to make God’s reputation our priority in prayer: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9).
Every act of heaven reveals God’s glory. Every act of Jesus did the same. Indeed, “The Son reflects the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3 NCV). The night