God’s glory is all around us and will be for as long as we are. We have the opportunity to experience it each day and as we have experienced, we also have the duty to bring His glory to the rest of the world we inhabit. But, we also have the opportunity to reject His glory and take up the things of the world.

“²¹For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” – Romans 1:21-23 (ESV)

We are free to choose the path we take. Yes, God knows the path we will take and whereas He could take us to the path of righteousness, He allows us to choose and then guides us to the next phase of His plan based on our choice. That said, as you see in the above verses, there are those that will continue to choose the path of unrighteous behavior. For those, God also has a plan.

“²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” – Romans 1:24-25 (ESV)

God gives them up to their desires and worldly passions. As they choose to turn from God, He allowed them to and turns away from them. Notice the words and tense that I am using. God is currently active in society today. His actions described in the verses above are not just a story that is in the past and not relevant today. He is active in taking the same actions with those that give up His glory today. Those that turn away from God are allowed to by Him and then they are subject to the consequences of their actions. Those consequences may not manifest until the return of Christ, but they will come to pass.

God’s glory is given to us freely and it is our duty to accept and spread His glory to the world. When we do, we are blessed beyond belief. When we choose to give up His glory, we are subject to the consequences of those actions as well. I choose to bring His glory forward and spread it to those around me. I accept the duty I am called to and will not give up the glory God has for us all.

Are you accepting God’s glory or rejecting it in pursuit of worldly things? Are you aware that as you turn away from the glory of God, He will turn away from you? What if you were to bring His glory forward to all that you interact with?

This morning I read the speech of Stephen prior to his stoning in Acts chapter seven. He was so outspoken with regard to God and His glory. He was not shy in telling the full story of history from the Old Testament and how that leads up to the coming of Jesus and how those who “announced” His coming were rejected and persecuted even before the same was done to Jesus.

God’s glory was visible on all of the men of God in the Old Testament. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon all received God’s glory and displayed it for all to see. These men were the leaders of the past and when I look at their lives, by and large, they carried the glory of God with them everywhere they went.

As these men progressed forward in the name of God and covered in His glory, they gave way to the next generation. Men like Peter, James, John, Paul, Timothy, and Titus carried the glory of God forward after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. These men continued to bring the word of God to the people and continued to foretell of what would be next in our lives as followers of Christ.

Which leads to the now. There are great men of Christ that brought or bring the glory of God forward even today. Graham, Spurgeon, and Stanley are just a few men who are the carriers of God’s glory in this time. Each of them has or brings Christ to everyday living and we should be looking to them as those that share God’s glory.

I am a child of God, and that means that I have begun on the path of growing in His example. I have every opportunity to bring forth the glory of God in all that I do. Just as Abraham, Moses, Paul, Timothy, and Graham, I have the chance to let God’s glory shine for all to see. I have only to embrace my role in the presentation of His glory and take action. This does not mean that I will be elevated to the level of notoriety of those that came before me, and frankly that is not what I or anyone should be looking for, but it does not mean we won’t be a tremendous influence to those around us. It is up to each of us to let God’s glory shine and allow Him to work through us.

Where are you in relation to your letting God’s glory shine? Are you waiting for someone else to take the lead in bringing God’s glory forward? What if you were to be the one to take the lead and be then next generation to shine bright with God’s glory?

“⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” – John 17:5 (ESV)

Jesus is praying prior to His crucifixion and as He does, He is asking God to return Him to the place of glory that He had prior to the creation of the world. Jesus is looking to return home after doing the work He was assigned here in this world, and in that return, He as asking to be elevated to the place He was prior to doing the work.

Jesus was not just here in this world, no. He was here even before the world was. If you look back to John 1:1-3 you see this spelled out.

“¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:1-3 (ESV)

You see there in verse two that Jesus, He, was there with God at the creation of all things. In fact, as you look at verse three, all things were created through Jesus. Jesus was there with God at the creation, meaning He was there with God even before the creation of the world and was full of glory.

And then He came to this world to demonstrate God’s love for us through His death and resurrection. Jesus came to this world and suffered. And now, He was asking God to return Him to the place of glory that He left.

“²⁴Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” – John 17:24 (ESV)

Along with Jesus asking for glory to be restored to Him in heaven, He was also asking for us to be able to experience that glory with Him. Jesus did not and was not ever thinking of just himself. Even as He was about to be crucified, He was still doing it all for you and me. He knew that we would not make it on our own. He knew that we needed help, and even in the face of death, He was providing that help to me. Jesus wants and wanted nothing but the best for us. Jesus wanted to share His glory with us.

I am not worthy of the glory of God. I am a sinner and should be punished to the full extent of God’s wrath. Jesus does not think so. Jesus has given me a path to share in the glory that is afforded Him from God. The glory He was a part of even before I or anything was in existence at all. I am, in the eyes of Jesus, worthy of it all.

What are your thoughts on the idea that Jesus shares His glory with you? Have you even thought that Jesus asked for His glory to be returned to Him and then that He asked to share it with you? What if we believed in the greatness of Jesus and that He had glory before we existed and that He wants to share that with us?

“¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

I wrote about this verse over 3 years ago and the focus at the time was that Jesus walked this world as man. He experienced all that is and was man at the time. Since He was man, when He speaks of the struggles and things to avoid, He knows first hand.

Now I am studying the word “glory” and was brought back to this verse. I see here that yes, Jesus walked with man as man. He was subject to all that man was and still remained perfect. His glory shone for all to see. Man was drawn to Him and His glory. He was the embodiment of God and all of the glory that was God was Jesus.

I would be remiss if I did not reference the last 5 words in the verse above, “full of grace and truth”. With all of the glory that Jesus brought with Him and shone on all of the world, He did it with grace and truth. Came with glory, but was not wrought with power. He was caring and loving and served all with grace and only spoke of truth.

In our world today, “leaders” are characterized as those with all of the power. They have strength and authority and we are to listen to them and accept all that they say. Until, the time when they are found to be less than what we expected of them. They find themselves brewing in controversy and adversity, and in the state they suddenly are “truthful” with us all in order to in some way save face and appear human.

Jesus never did any of those things to characterize power. He was the most powerful man on in the world and yet He did not use that power. He provided truth for us all and did so while also providing grace and the way for us to experience eternity with Him. He was and is glory at all times. He shines brightly as the example for us all.

What is your vision of a leader? Are you enamored by the visuals of power that are displayed in the world today? What if we chose to shine the Glory of Jesus with His grace and truth, what would we realize in the world?

“⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ¹⁵Whne the angels when away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” – Luke 2:9 & 15 (ESV)

No hesitation at what to do. There was no 6 months of discussion. There was no sending it to committee. There was no testing to see if indeed it would be the right thing. Even as they were afraid of what was immediately before them, they went. They took immediate action to witness “this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known”.

I have hesitated. I have waited for more information. I have been the one to confirm what I have see prior to acting. I have not been the one to take the immediate action at the witnessing of God’s Glory.

God presents His Glory to us all the time. We get the distinct opportunity to witness His blessings and His great power and glory. And how do we react, but to wait for a sign of what to do. How should I proceed? What does God really want from me? We tend to ask more questions as opposed to just taking immediate action.

I have a saying that I use all the time “focus on getting it right, not just getting it done”. And that is to say that we should be focusing our attention on doing thing the right way to minimize the number and gravity of the mistakes we make. This does not hold true in this instance. When we are witness to God’s Glory, it is our duty to take immediate action and make His Glory known to all that we come in contact with.

Our immediate action does not mean that we will be changing the world as God already has that under control. What it means is that we are required to move and bring the Glory of God forward for all to see. We are tasked with taking action to live out the purpose that God has in place for us.

I was just having having a discussion with Lori about purpose and mine to be specific. And my purpose fits right with my mission to “Improve lives through growth and learning as an example of Christ’s love.” How this fits into taking immediate action is that I am to make my way into the public and bring growth and learning opportunities to all as I exclaim the Glory of God that has been revealed to me. When I see God’s Glory, I bring that to the people that they may grow and learn from Him how they can serve Him.

We have a duty to take immediate action at the witness of God’s Glory. Just as the shepherds witnessed the Glory of the Lord and went out to find Jesus and “see this thing that has happened” we are to go and see how we can bring God’s Glory to all.

What action have you taken when witnessing God’s Glory? Are you waiting for the right time to take action? What if you just went and exclaimed His Glory to all?

I had a realization this morning as I study God’s Word. He tells us everything, multiple times and gives us every opportunity to “get it”. As I have been studying the word “glory” again, I have been studying the same events from multiple books. Now it is known that the gospels contain the same events as told from the perspective of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but until you dig in, the realization of that is not there.

The passage this morning is titled in my ESV Bible, “The Coming of the Son of Man”, and the past few days the passages have been titled something similar. This morning, I “got” the seeing of the great power and glory of Jesus.

“²⁶And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” – Mark 13:26 (ESV)

This morning as I woke up to go and get some exercise by taking a walk, I looked out the window only to “see” the wind blowing a bit harder than I expected. I made the decision not to go and low and behold the weather changed from a simple blowing wind to a flash storm. There was more blowing wind, then the thunder and lightning and then rain. It was quite the event for about an hour this. I cannot help but think if that was impressive to see, IMAGINE SEEING JESUS COME BACK!

And who will see? We all will see. We will all witness the great event of Jesus’ return. I think of the “Left Behind” movies that show the rapture and everyone experiencing it in some form or fashion. Those Christians are taken home to be with Christ and all others are left to witness the devastation of the return of Christ, but all will witness and see.

“²⁷And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” – Mark 13:27 (ESV)

Those of us that are followers of Christ will be swept up and witness it all from the side of Jesus and those that are not will see it all from the other side. Regardless of side, you will see the great power and glory of Jesus and His return.

Now it is time to ask yourself, what side will you be seeing the great power and glory of Christ’s return. It is a simple question and one that is left up to you as to which side you will be witness from.

I have chosen to see things from the side of Jesus and for that I am comforted each day. You can to and the way is simple. Read and study God’s word and repent of your sin and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I do not hold all of the answers for you, but God does. You can start with what is known as the Roman Road to salvation. This is a set of verses from God’s Word, written by Paul and it outlines what it takes to be a child of God. I would love to see you standing next to me when Christ comes again and “see” it all from the side of Christ.

What side will you see the return of Christ from? Are you aware that everyone will see the great power and glory of Jesus? What if you were to “see” it all from the side of Christ?

“³⁸For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” – Mark 8:38 (ESV)

Jesus is very clear here. We have a choice to accept Him or not. As noted in this verse, if we choose not, then He chooses us not in His return. This is very plain language from Jesus and words that we should take seriously.

I continue to study and learn and one of those things learned is that of choice. We have the opportunity to choose at every turn. God has given us that and we should be using it. But when we do not choose, we have made a choice, and that choice is not in the interest of moving forward with God.

When we choose not God, we are turning our backs on him and therefor express nothing for Him. At His return, Jesus will express nothing for us and will turn His back on us. It is up to me to make the choice to be with Him or against Him and if not with Him then we are against Him.

What choice are you making? Are you simply not choosing? What if you were to choose to follow Jesus, what impact would that have on you?

This morning I am reading and studying in Matthew Chapter 25. Jesus is teaching of His return and the final judgment at that time. He is going through the process of separating the righteous from the unrighteous. He is explaining that He knows who did what to whom and when.

“⁴⁰And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me.’” – Matthew 25:40 & 45 (ESV)

Jesus has told them that they are divided into two groups, those that do for Him and those that do not. It is so black and white with Jesus. There is no opportunity to do things part of the way. Our actions are either for Him in all that we do, or they are not. We are held to our actions to demonstrate His love.

Now as we demonstrate His love, He demonstrates His love and glory right back with us. We give of ourselves 100% to Him and Jesus gives 100% of Himself. Or really, that should be reversed as Jesus gave 100% of Himself to us through His death for our sins. It is only right that we give 100% of ourselves to Him in return. Can I repay the debt I owe? NO, but I am not exempt from continuing to pay back through my actions.

My actions are for the Glory of God and not myself. Everyone can and will give when it is easy to do so. When everyone is watching and it makes a big splash bringing visibility for their actions. It is the ones that give to those that are lowly that make the biggest impression on Jesus. It is not that we should not make the grand gesture, it is that generally the reasons for those grand gestures is to show the world and not just to show God. When we are dedicated to the Glory of God, we are willing to give the gestures to all, even those no one sees or knows that make the biggest impression with Him.

Actions speak louder than words. This where Jesus sees our demonstration of Glory to Him. And in return, He turns that Glory on us. As we reap, so shall we sow.

“³¹When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” – Matthew 25:31 (ESV)

Jesus returns in Glory and will give out His glory to those of us that are demonstrating glory for Him through our actions.

What are you sowing out there in the world? Are you demonstrating for the world to see? What if you were to demonstrate the Glory of God to all, even the lowly?

Have you ever wanted to experience something only to be disappointed when you finally do? I had the opportunity to experience the “Cadillac Ranch”. I admit that seeing the depictions of it and hearing accounts of others experience generated some excitement when I had the chance to experience it for myself. I was underwhelmed to say the least. I guess I expected more and maybe I am just numb to the artistic genre, but what I saw was ten cars buried half in the ground, spray painted randomly by tourists. There was no awe for me, there was nothing that spoke to me, and frankly that is time that I will never get back in my life.

What about the opposite of the underwhelming event. We went to a college tour with my son and went to the university I went to. I did not know what to expect as I was not impressed 30 years ago when I attended. But when we arrived on campus there were students all over that were engaging and helpful. There was music playing, dancing, and energy that made me think about what I missed when I attended. What a great experience we had and I left thoroughly impressed.

“²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” – Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)

Now this is what I call a spectacular event that is going to happen. Imagine looking up and seeing the heavens open and there is Christ riding on a cloud with trumpets sounding and a host of angels and those that went to heaven before us coming with Him as He returns to this world. I am getting chills just thinking about it.

Now, I think back to my expectations and then reality and realize that I may not have prepared properly for the two events I mentioned earlier. Had I done more research, I may have been better prepared for what I was going to see at the Cadillac Ranch and been a bit more receptive of the visit. Maybe if I had called around to some people I knew that more recently attended the university, I would have had a better picture of what campus was like today as opposed to 30 years ago.

With the return of Christ, I have done lots of research and homework. I have read and studied God’s word (although I have only really scratched the surface admittedly), and know what others have seen and the grandeur of those events. I can, with reason, expect that His return will be an even bigger event and much more awe inspiring than those.

God’s Glory is real and I am looking forward to the chance to experience it each day. Even more so, I am ready for His return and being a part of that glory. I KNOW I will not be disappointed or underwhelmed. I will be in awe of His “power and great glory”.

At what events have you been under or overwhelmed? Were you going into those with full accurate knowledge of what to expect? What if you were to dive into God’s Word and build your knowledge of the real glory of Christ?

In society today it is not uncommon for the elite to receive prior to everyone else. I know that I have grown to know this, even though it does not sit well with me at all.

“And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.” – Zechariah 12:7 (ESV)

And I read the above verse and see that with God, the elite are no better and in fact, God provides for everyone else first. See the way that God gives salvation to those living outside the city in tents before giving to those inside the city and the lineage of David specifically. And why, to be sure that those in the city do not hold themselves above the rest of the kingdom in the eyes of God.

Oh how it were in society. Wouldn’t it be great if we treated everyone equal to the tune that everyone received from one line and not those from the ivory towers first. God’s glory is for everyone and not in any specific order of importance or status. I am the same as the pastor of the church who is the same as the CEO of the local company who is the same as the President of the United States. We all have the same God and receive the same salvation through His glory.

Where do you see yourself on the spectrum of status in society? Are you any different than those around you or those you know? What if we were to treat all the same knowing that God’s glory is for all at all times?