Rob Still : Worship World

Resources, Day 4, 21 Days of Glory

Exploring the glory of God, here are some resources that might be helpful.

From MikeBickle.org , I really like this video teaching  Beholding God's Glory by Encountering His Emotions (with downloadable notes). In depth and inspiring.

Also, John Piper has a whole section of his website on the topic of "The Glory of God". Here, he  answers the question "What is God's Glory?" by referring to Isaiah 6:7 " Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory" 

Piper and DesiringGod.org also has a free down-loadable e-book featuring one of my heroes, Jonathan Edwards, "God's Passion for His Glory" . It's not an easy read, but I love Jonathan Edwards' thinking.

I've also found BlueLetterBible.Org to be really helpful with multiple translations of the bible , commentaries and Hebrew/ Greek lexicon.

Shekinah Glory - Day 3, 21 Days of Glory

Exploring the question - "what is the glory of God? Lets consider the Shekinah glory of God.  Specifically the “glory cloud” appearances. God shows up and it’s quite obvious. This manifestation is a type of theophany, “the appearance of God in a visible form to a human being”. 

Interestingly, the word Shekinah is not in the bible. It’s a Jewish rabbinical word and biblical concept, but not directly translated from the scriptural text. It’s an extra-biblical expression that literally means "to dwell, inhabit, or settle".  It implies the presence of the Lord resting in a place.

 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord (YWHW). Exodus 34:5

The word translated as “cloud” is  `anan’ , it appears 34 times in the account of Moses’ generation (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The cloud manifestation is prominent in this era of God’s story, either leading His people on their journey or abiding at the Tabernacle. He is visibly living with his people. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. Num 9:17

God is all about relationships, closeness. He wants us to know Him. He reveals Himself – that’s revelation. We respond – that’s worship. It’s a pattern of revelation and response. How did Moses respond to the presence of God?

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. Ex 34:8  

Here the Hebrew word translated as worship is ‘shachah’, it’s appears 172 times in the scriptures and means to bow low, lie face down, prostrate. It is an outward expression of submission to a superior authority. The whole community responded to the presence of God with this attitude of humility.

 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped (shachah) , each at the entrance to his tent. Ex 33:10

These texts demonstrate that the right response to an authentic God encounter is to go low.  Worship is all about responding to God with a right heart, on His terms. But hey, they're pretty good terms.

That’s all I have time to write today,  more on Shekinah glory in the next posts. May you experience His presence today.

Prayer:

Lord, continue to teach us Your ways through Your word. Give me a humble heart, give your people a humble spirit.  For your glory.  In Jesus name, Amen.

"21 Days of Glory" is an exploration of the glory of God - March 1 - March 21. I’m sharing what I learn along the way. 

"All my goodness" Day 2, 21 Days of Glory

What is “the glory of God?” Earlier we summarized the glory of God is a revelation of His essence. Today I want to consider the power behind “all the goodness “ of God.

Lets reflect on this:

 “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you” Exodus 33:19

Yahweh (YHWH), also translated Jehovah, is the same "I AM" God of the burning bush when Moses was called to deliver Israel (Exodus 3:14). Throughout the Bible there are multiple names for God, all describing different attributes of his nature, character, personality, and redemptive purpose for creation. Here, God intends for His name YHWH to be associated with the clearest revelation of His essence.

“All my goodness” refers to the indescribable power of God Almighty (El Elyon) who creates ex nihilo, something from nothing. By His sheer will, He speaks and the entire created cosmos are fashioned. The God of the biblical narrative is not wimpy or weak, although contemporary culture shows very little respect for the Creator of the universe.

There is a sense of weight or authority that accompanies the glory of God. The Hebrew word translated as “glory”, Kabhodh or kabowd,   means “weight or heaviness.” It expresses the idea of a noticeable perception of dignity, preeminence, majesty, splendor or honor.

God’s majesty is self evident in nature, a truth some theologians would call general revelation. (BTW - The word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures we can refer to as divine revelation.)

“the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands”. Psalm 19:1

A visible, reoccurring aspect of God’s power, majesty and splendor is revealed through the beauty of nature and creation. This is the handiwork of God. 

I’m a sky watcher. I like clouds and sunsets. I love to see the sun rise. It’s almost a spiritual experience for me.  A lot of times I’ll post a sunrise or sky pic on my Facebook page. If I choose, meditating on the sky will turn my attention to God. “You set Your glory above the heavens … When I consider the work of Your hands, the moon and stars You set in place ..”  Psalm 8

God wants to be considered. (so does my wife, but that’s another story …) Meditation on God. Contemplation of who He is. Interacting with His Word and Spirit in our lives. This is part of our love language with God. It’s way more than “quiet time “ or fulfilling a daily-bible-reading obligation. It’s the path to a renewed mind, a transformed personality – a bright spirit.

Earlier we discovered experiencing His glory begins with personal relationship. Question – Can building my history with God, working on this relationship, really make a difference in my life?

Well, duh, yea. I think that’s something I've learned today. The power of God, “all my goodness”, is more than enough. The same glory of God displayed in the heavens is the same glory He wants to display through you and me. He will do that by His power working within, changing us from the inside out.

"21 Days of Glory" is an exploration of the glory of God - March 1 - March 21. I’m sharing what I learn along the way. 

“Please, show me your glory” Day 1, "21 Days of Glory"

OK – so what is the glory of God? It’s a big idea. It’s multi-dimensional and there’s a bazillion aspects to explore. From what I’ve studied and experienced, I would summarize that God’s glory seems to be a revelation of His essence. But what does that mean? A helpful place to start might be the encounter Moses has with God in Exodus 33 & 34.  My first take away – God reveals His glory through relationship.

 “Please, show me your glory” Moses urgently asks in Exodus 33:18

God is into relationships. He IS a relationship – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And God continually invites us into this Triune relationship. One thing I’ve learned is that relationships take work. The more you put into one, the more you’ll get out of it. Moses seems to desire a deeper relationship.

He was bold. The King James translation is “I beseech thee, shew me see thy glory.” CH Spurgeon thinks this is the greatest request a man could make of God. Moses should have been filled with fear and trembling, and he probably was. Yet he was also full of courage because he had a history of being with God. Matthew Henry comments that “Moses had lately been in the mount with God … and had enjoyed as intimate a communion with God as ever any man had on this side heaven; and yet he is still desiring a further acquaintance.”

Moses had connection, he was in the flow, experiencing the presence and power of God in amazing ways. The Almighty was acting supernaturally with miraculous signs and wonders, yet He talked to Moses face to face, as a friend (Ex 33:11).  Still, Moses' heart desired more of God, he was not satisfied and he was not fearful. He was hungry for increase, for the fullness of God in everything.

 So God answers – “OK, but you can’t handle it.”

 19 The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. 20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” Ex 33:19-20 (NLT)

God declares His supernatural power through the proclamation of His name “Yahweh”, and it’s a mind blowing display (we’ll unpack more of that later). But to Moses He also emphasizes His mercy and compassion. It seems that God wants us to understand that although He lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16), and no one can see Him and live - nonetheless, He is approachable if we come to Him on His terms.  He is passionate for a love relationship.

God’s terms? Receive His mercy, believe He is gracious and compassionate. Demonstrate that by humble repentance and a life committed to walking with God through Jesus Christ. From the Garden of Eden until now, we have an adversary - the devil, who wants to distort our understanding of God. This enemy of all humanity wants to keep us running far away from the Lord.  But God’s character, his essence, his glory – is to show mercy. Like Moses we can boldly come close to Him,  so “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22).

Drawing close to God, being touched by Him – changes everything. Godfrey Birtill has a great song “Just one touch of the King, changes everything.”  The glory of God literally changed Moses’ face so that it glowed, it shined, it was radiant. This is a goal all believers can have, that the glory of God would reflect off our very beings.

This is one of my goals for the 21 days, to cultivate a bright spirit. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

What I've learned so far -  the starting place for experiencing God’s glory is through relationship, drawing close to God begins by receiving His mercy and compassion.

Prayer:

 Father, today, I long to experience your glory, your presence - by contemplating on your mercy, your generosity, your  disposition to forgive,  your longing to renew. Thank you that you desire intimacy and closeness. Like Moses, please show me your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

"21 Days of Glory" is an exploration of the glory of God - March 1 - March 21. I’m sharing what I learn along the way.