“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

You are being transformed into the likeness of Christ, from glory to glory. What is glory? Glory is honor, renown, and splendor in abundant, copious amounts. It’s heavy and thick and all consuming. That’s still hard to grasp, and even harder to apply to our lives, but let’s try and break it down.

Examples are always good when defining difficult words. So what is glory?

- Glory is what filled the temple – there was no more room in it (2 Chronicles 7).
- Glory is what will fill the earth, like water fills a sea (Habakkuk 2:14).
- Glory is the light that shone off of Moses’ face after he spoke with God (Exodus 34:35).

So how do we practically move from one degree of glory to the next? Here are some ways:

1.    There is glory in seeking God (Prov. 25:2)
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, not to frustrate us, but to spur us on to investigate him. When we dive into a matter that God has hidden Himself in, glory waits. Think about the potential for finding God in our everyday lives! Desiring glory is not vanity, nor is it selfishness, it is simply seeking God’s presence. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6) Find a hidden glory today.

2.    There is glory in humility before God (Prov. 18:12)
Humility comes before glory. As we draw closer to God, the dark corners of our life that house pride and selfishness are exposed. We were created to experience the glory of God, but we need the humility to carry it. Case in point? The Israelites, after they had left Egypt and had been given parting gifts from the Egyptians, used their gold to fashion an idol, which they worshiped instead of the glory of God. We need humility to rightly receive the glory.

3.    There is glory in tribulation (2 Cor. 4:17)
One of the ways God teaches humility is through tribulation. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” We experience painful trials in this fallen world, but tribulation does something unique: it eliminates plan B. Oh, yes, we can choose to turn away from God, but pain often creates a watershed moment –we turn to God or we turn away. So what can we do in the face of tribulation? Experience the glory of saying “Yes and Amen” to God (for an example of this unconditional praise, see Habakkuk 3).

4.    There is glory in God’s presence
Hopefully this is painfully obvious by now, but God’s presence is glorious. He will one day fill the earth with His glory, and in the meantime, He is doing it through us. Seek to bring God’s kingdom to earth. May we invite the thickness of glory to reside in our homes and work places.

And we, with unveiled faces, are being transformed into the image of God, from glory to glory.

Glory in the search.

Glory in humility.

Glory in trials.

Glory in His presence.

God, I want to see your glory. Reveal yourself to me.  Amen.

Question: Where do you most often find the glory of God?

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)

Sometimes I picture God creating the world by throwing stars into the night sky like pixie dust. Except, that’s not how it went down. God pre-existed the beginning of time. He’s always been and always will be. The word for that is eternal. But lots of religions and gods claim the same everlasting qualities.

So how is Elohim any different? The great and mighty God would reveal Himself to humanity, not yet created, in the following millennia. But during creation, before man’s existence, God was. And in this moment, He is known by one very human attribute.

If we were to witness creation, we would only hear Him. That’s right. We would hear His voice. The whisper would reverberate through the void as creation became itself at His command.

God spoke. Everything else followed.

God is not a busy sprite or super-Santa. He is not a Greek myth that needs to throw lightning bolts in order to have any effect on the world. He simply speaks and reality changes. C. S. Lewis was once compelled to conclude, “Christianity is the one, true, factual myth”.   It’s places like creation where I can see this the clearest.

God: the true myth. He is the power and the person, the reality, and the mystery.

How does speech create anything? I’m not sure, but I love that His power is revealed through speech because it makes Him somewhat accessible. After all, we speak too. Communication is one of the most human characteristics. God is both powerful and personal and we are created in His image.

God created. That’s too much for me to understand! But God spoke? That’s something I can digest. The myth and the truth are one.

He is the master… and yet His commandments are not burdensome.

He is so high above… and yet He has come that we may have life to the fullest.

He is eternal and outside of time… yet He relates to us in time.

He is the Lord… of love.

He is the God… of grace.

He is the Big… of all that are small.

Let’s make our hearts small before Him. Let’s humble ourselves to His lordship. Let’s embrace the reality that He controls everything, by merely speaking. It’s a great comfort to rest under the shadow of that wing.

Father, Help me to understand the vastness of Your power and love.  Amen.

Question: How does God’s powerful nature affect your day?

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” (Luke 12:37)

Masters don’t serve slaves their dinner. Who ever heard of such a thing? CEOs don’t pour coffee for their secretaries. But as radical as it sounds, Jesus demonstrated that very thing.

“After that, [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.” (John 13:5)

Nothing humbles me more than realizing that God is humble. The God of the universe humbled Himself to become a man – Jesus. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an act of service and as an example to us all. His death on the cross – the ultimate act of service –provides the way for us to experience eternal life.

As servants of the serving God we need to heed His instruction: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35)

The story in Luke includes a stern warning. “But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and women servants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” (Luke 12:46)

Jesus tells us to continue to serve Him and be ready for His return, no matter how long it takes.

Holy God, it boggles my mind to know that you are both Almighty and humble. Show me how to live for You, always ready for service. Amen.

Questions: How does knowing that God is humble impact you? Why do we forget the need to always be ready of Jesus’ return?

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)

Humility isn’t always giving up and backing down. Humility involves using power and position to serve others. Look at what Jesus says:

1) There is solidarity of purpose in the life of Jesus.  He never backed down from his original calling. He stayed the course and completed the task in spite of being despised and rejected by men. Rock solid!

2) He used his power and position to die a death on the cross, doing what no one else could do while making the greatest sacrifice possible. Complete authority!

3) He confronted demons with extreme power and banished them with a word. Humility utilizes power for the good of others. Compassion in power!

So, when Ephesians 4:2 urges you to be humble, don’t think “cower and crawl into the corner.” Instead, seek to serve others with the gifts you have been given. You’re a man. You’re a leader. In your leading, serve others.

Humility seen the right way is common sense. Competence extrapolation says, “I’m good at one thing which means I know everything about everything.” Humility says, “I’m really good at this but I don’t know much about this other thing so I’m going to let someone else lead me, and teach me.”

You can’t bring humility into your life without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life. True humility is a byproduct of God living in your heart. Acknowledge His presence and ask Him to move mightily in you today.

God, thank You for promising that if I love and obey You, You will come and make Your home in me. I am amazed that You do this. Holy Spirit, help me move from a selfish and proud mindset to a selfless one. Help me use my power and position to lead others in righteousness by serving them. Make me a spokesperson and a laborer for the Kingdom. Give me simple and creative ideas of how to do this, in Jesus’ powerful name I pray, Amen.

Question: Where and how can you give up your power and position or use it to serve others?

 “The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name.” (Exodus 15:3)

Do a Google image search on the name Jesus. What do you see? I see dozens of pictures of a white guy who looks like he might be good at crocheting or reading nursery rhymes.

Who was Jesus? Well, he is alive, so the proper question is, “Who is Jesus?” What is he actually like? If you hung out with him for a day, what kind of person would you see.

He is God’s son and the image of the invisible God. Of the many indescribable characteristics he possesses, one of the strongest would undoubtedly be his humility. Philippians 2, among many other passages, confirms this.

But another facet in the diamond that is Jesus’ personality comes in the form of his warrior persona.

The Jews were expecting a liberating Savior that would free them from their physical oppression, restoring the nation of Israel geographically and politically. Jesus was concerned with much different things. He was in the business of spiritual liberation, spiritual freedom. He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and remained faithful, using the word of God as his defense. He cast out evil spirits and demons from people, restoring them to spiritual health. He was aware of the spiritual realms and engaged in spiritual warfare on many occasions.

May we do the same, by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, to the glory of His name. As Christ fought the darkness, so must we.

LORD, you are a warrior. May we be aware, as your son was when He came to earth, of the spiritual battle that rages around us. Holy Spirit, help us believe and overcome our unbelief. Keep us strong by the truth during temptation. Keep us faithful by prayer and fasting during spiritual warfare. Amen.  

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”" Matthew 26:36-38

Transparency is an oft – overlooked element in our growing closer to Jesus Christ. Intimacy with the Lord requires our full, humble, and honest openness before Him.

Jesus Himself was a wonderful model of openness as He dealt with His disciples. For instance, we read in today’s Bible verse that, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shared with the disciples His anguish over His upcoming crucifixion and brief separation from God the Father.

Knowing that the sins of the entire world were about to be cast upon Him, Jesus grieved, even to point of near death. Here was God, clothed in human flesh, being completely honest, open, and forthright about His emotions. This is how Christ would have us react to Him.

A proud, arrogant, egotistical, self – sufficient Christianity bristles at the thought of such transparency. Why should I burden God with this when I can handle it myself? I’m just not going to deal with God about this. Such thinking and behavior goes against everything for which God created us.

However, God cherishes and honors a humble, contrite spirit from someone trying to be himself or herself before the Lord. Confess sin, worry, doubt, and fear. He already knows all, but your willingness to intimately share with Him all the details speaks volumes about the bent of your heart.

Question: Where do you find it easiest to have “intimacy” (quiet time) with God?

“Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” 2 Corinthians 6:17,18, KJV

Near the Church of St. Mark’s in Venice are three 17th century churches often admired for their highly ornate sculpture. On closer inspection, Ruskin points out, they are found to be “entirely destitute of every religious symbol, sculpture or inscription.”

They are really monuments to the glory of three Venetian families who provided the funds for their construction. “Impious buildings, manifestations of insolent atheism,” they were called by John Ruskin, English writer, art critic and sociologist.

Many Christians are like these buildings. Their association with God is more of a facade, formal and ritualistic. They do not know God as a caring Father with whom they experience a delightful, loving relationship.

As we meet God’s conditions, He becomes our Father, and we become His sons and daughters. His gift of Himself is illustrated in the life of a successful young attorney.

“The greatest gift I ever received,” he said, “was a Christmas gift from my dad. Inside a small box was a note saying, ‘Son, I will give you an hour every day after dinner – 365 days. It’s all yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about, we’ll go where you want to go, we’ll play what you want to play. It will be your hour.’

“He not only kept his promise, but every year he renewed it – and it was the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I had so much of his time.”

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:11-16

Today’s Action Point: I will count myself richly blessed for having so much of my Father’s time and will seek diligently to be worthy of His love and availability to me.

Please open your Bible and read Psalm 131.

My older sister, Lori Hensley, a very serious prayer warrior, once taught me to meditate on Psalm 131 to help me move toward God’s peace that passes all understanding:

We keep our hearts humble. This doesn’t mean we have a low opinion of ourselves. A humble heart means we know our position in Christ, and so we stop being responsible for the things of which we were never responsible. This frees us to live like God intended and allows us to make uncluttered choices that will move us closer to God.

We show the maturity of a weaned child. The nursing child demands attention now, but the weaned child trusts and is content to wait. We quietly center ourselves on God, peacefully, without agitation and anxiety, and trust God is actively supporting us.

We hope in the Lord with confident expectation. Truth says God will answer our prayers; he will respond to our needs; he will pave the path before us now and forever (Psalm 18:36).

Question: What does it mean to have a “humble heart”?

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7, NLT

When Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian novelist, was a boy, he reportedly started the “White Polar Bear Club” with two of his friends. In order to become a member, you had to stand in the corner and for 30 consecutive minutes not think of a white polar bear.

Have you ever tried to intentionally not think about something? It’s almost impossible to keep it out of your mind!

We often handle temptation in a similar fashion, thinking we can stand near it, but if we just don’t think about it, then we’ll have victory over it.

The problem is, the more we try not to concentrate on temptation, the more it becomes the center of our focus – even if it’s a “not gonna do it” focus. And the longer we think about not submitting to the temptation, the more likely it is that we will.

James says we should focus on God instead of the temptation. We tend to quote the latter half of this verse: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7, NLT) But the full context brings us back to the “I can’t; God can” understanding necessary to live as God intended us to live.

If all we do is focus on the devil, then we’re still focusing on the temptation. I’m not suggesting that, in standing firm on our decisions, we can’t say “No, I’m not going to do that” to the enemy just as Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan!”

What I am saying is that we don’t do this in our own strength; we do it humbly submitted to God, knowing that he is our strength and that he is the source of our authority to push back on the Devil.

What now?

Focus on God – Instead of focusing on sin, temptation, or the Devil, keep your focus on God. When tempted, get your eyes back on God; tell him you’re tempted; and the Devil will flee because you are resisting him by embracing God.

Be humble enough to seek help – A sure sign that you’re about to fall past temptation into sin is when you think, “I can handle this temptation.” You should see that as an urgent alarm to humbly submit to God, confessing, “I can’t handle this, Lord. I need your strength and wisdom. Lead me not into temptation.” Then walk away from the temptation and call a friend for prayer and accountability.

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for January 4th, AM.

Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

“Grow in grace”, not in only one type of grace, but in all forms of gracious response. Grow first in faith, which is the root of all grace. Let your faith increase in fullness, consistency, and simplicity. This will enable you to grasp God’s promises even more firmly than before.

Grow in love. Ask God to extend your love to make it more intense, more practical, and influencing your every thought, word, and deed.

Grow also in humility. Seek lowly places and realize your own smallness so that God will be magnified. As you grow downward in humility, seek to grow upward towards God, approaching Him closer in prayer and seeking ever more intimate fellowship with Jesus.

I pray that God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” Anyone who doesn’t seek to grow in knowledge of Jesus has passed up their blessing, because to know Him deeply is the blessing of eternally fulfilled life. If you know the love of Jesus, you will long for greater outpourings of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you don’t love Him at all, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ does satisfy, it is such a wonderful satisfaction, that the a person’s thirst will be whetted.

Absence from Christ is hell, but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Don’t rest merely being content without seeking a closer relationship with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, and in His finished work of the cross: His death, resurrection, ascension, and glorious intercession on our behalf.

Grow in grace. Increase in love to Jesus, and you will appreciate even more His love to you. Knowing His love, and His love outworking in every aspect of your daily life, are the best tests of growth in grace.

Question: In this new year, how do you plan and expect to grow in grace?