How do you experience God's glory wherever you are?
Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong in going to places where revival or a great awakening is happening, in order to 'catch the fire' or to 'jumpstart' your spiritual life. But you know what? You can't do that all the time! You can't be in a particular place all the time!
But I have a good news for you! You can experience God's glory wherever you are! Yes, even wherever you are right now!
In fact, when you experience God's glory from the 'inside out', from the inside of you, from within you, it is so real! Remember, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and He wants to fill you with His glory and light inside of you!
When we talk about God's glory and light, we can't help but also talk about cleansing from every form of impurities in our lives. Why? Because all these impurities in our lives can hinder us from receiving His glory and light!
In Matthew 5:8, Jesus Himself says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The word 'see' here is 'optanomai' in Greek. In the context of this verse, it can mean 'your spiritual eyes can be opened and enlightened to see the many things that you couldn't see (or experience) before'. When this happens, something changes in the inside of you, and you'll begin to see the way God sees, and not the way the world sees!
Indeed, this is the time He is touching many of His people to want to go deeper and deeper in His presence, His glory, His light, and His realm!
In Ezekiel 8:2, Ezekiel said: 'Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire - from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.'
Here, Ezekiel saw the appearance of the Lord God Himself - full of light, full of fire, full of brightness! And he even described Him as 'like the color of amber'. This word 'amber' is 'khahsmal' in Hebrew. It can literally mean 'polished, shining substance'. What does this show us? As we behold the Lord, we are being 'polished' till we become full of His light and shining again!
Let us therefore humble ourselves, and let Him cleanse us and 'polish' us till we reflect more and more of the Lord in our lives!
Do you want to be like Ezekiel (to whom the Lord showed so many things)? Here in Ezekiel chapter 8, the Lord actually showed Ezekiel the many idolatries that were happening within His temple. The Lord was very grieved at that time. You see, He yearned to dwell in His temple. But His people had turned their face away from Him, and turned to idols. In our context, 'idols' don't necessarily have to be idols per se (i.e. statues or images of idols). But an 'idol' can be anything in life that takes away our focus on the Lord. It can be a certain lust, greed, or pride in our lives. It can be anything that we hold on to, when we should be letting it go.
Right now, the Lord is calling us to let go of whatever that hinders His glory and light from shining in our lives. Why? Because there's so much more that He wants to show to us, and there's so much more that He wants us to see and experience in the spiritual realm!
For the record, when man was first created (i.e. when Adam was first created), he was full of God's glory and light too! That's why the Scripture says 'he had no sense of nakedness'. In other words, he didn't feel naked, even though he didn't have any physical clothing on! Why? Because he was clothed in God's glory and light! But after he disobeyed and sinned, this glory departed! It's the same in the time of Ezekiel when he saw the glory departed from the temple! (Ezekiel 10:18)
But I have a good news for you! In Christ, you can gain it back! You can receive the glory back! You can be clothed in His glory and light again! What Adam has lost, you can receive it back! How do you receive it back? By knowing that Christ lives in you! He is our glory and light! By opening your heart to receive Him into your life! And if you have received Him into your life, by worshiping Him and fellowshipping with Him! How do you fellowship with Him? You fellowship with Him by reading and receiving His Word! You also fellowship with Him by praying in the spirit! That's how you'll be so full of His Spirit - His glory and His light!
Another area is obedience to Him, i.e. obedience to whatever He has spoken to you (or instructed you to do). Yes, choose to obey what He says, even if some people on this earth may despise you or ridicule you for doing it! As you obey and heed what He says to you, you'll begin to reflect His glory and light more and more!
I have more good news for you! When you are so full of His glory and light, no enemy (or work of darkness) can 'touch' you! They cannot 'access' into your life! And if they try to 'touch' you, they are 'touching' the Lord, and it's very dangerous to them, not to you! Your part, beloved, is to continue to stay in His glory and light! (1 John 1:5-6)
In Colossians 1:27, Paul wrote: 'To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.'
Another good news is this: It is His will to make known the riches of His glory to you! In other words, it is His will that you should experience more and more of His glory and light!
So, never miss this time and season! The Lord wants to show you His glory and light in more and more ways! More and deeper than you've ever seen or experienced before! Hallelujah!
Prayer: "O Lord God, we thank You for Your glory and Your light. We want more and more of You. What we have experienced so far is just a mere drop in the ocean. There's so much more that You want to show us, that You want us to experience. As we behold You, let us also be changed from glory to glory, to be more and more like You, to reflect who You are from the inside out. We receive Your glory now. We receive Your light now. In the name of Jesus. Amen."
