Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart being enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. There are three things that Paul wants us to see: 1. the hope of His calling 2. the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones 3. the surpassing greatness of His power towards those who believe To be honest, I’m not sure what any of these truly entail. The Greek word means vocation, but the Hebrew word means assemblies, readings, and convocations. A convocation is a group of people who are called together for a particular purpose. The root of the Greek word for hope means to anticipate. So it may mean closer to the anticipation of His calling of a group of people for a particular purpose (a vocation-like action). So, if my eyes of my heart are alive and aware, then I am anticipating my role as part of a group who have been called for a particular purpose. I am anticipating that time when we gather to act together. Ah, but what is that purpose? Perhaps to bring Him glory? To show His love? To worship Him? The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones is probably better translated: The abundance of the majesty and splendor of His kingdom with (or in) his holy ones. Perhaps this has to do with the awesomeness of who He is and the kingdom He brings and reigns over. Through His Holy Spirit in me, I have a share in this kingdom, as well as an obligation to live according to those kingdom rules. Perhaps it is by living according to His kingdom that I have the opportunity to actually see with my heart glimpses of His incredible splendor and majesty. The last part seems to be speaking of His power and how above and beyond imagination it is as it is directed towards those who believe. So, as one who believes, He directs His power, the greatness of His power, into and through me, as well as to me. That’s a lot to think about today!
Leviticus 9:24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, … The glory of the LORD appeared to all people…. after that a fire consumed all the offerings, the people cried out and then fell down. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I’ve been to services where it seemed like God’s hand was heavy upon the congregation and He seemed to really be speaking to peoples’ hearts. I’ve been hugged by my Abba. Even a small touch by His hand is overwhelming. I can’t begin to fathom how incredibly amazing seeing the glory of God must have been. I probably would have shouted and fallen on my face, too! But I wondered, the glory of the LORD appeared to the people after they had obeyed God’s words and offered the appropriate (lots) of sacrifices. How often do we miss seeing God’s glory because we don’t obey Him the way we need to? I was listening to a sermon about tithing (from a Hebrew perspective) and the rabbi teaching said something interesting. In the early days after the Messiah came Gentiles who believed converted to Judaism after giving up their idols. We don’t do that any more and have mostly lost our Jewish roots. I think that’s sad because there’s a great heritage there with so much symbolism and knowledge. In our ignorance, do we unintentionally limit how useful we are to God’s purposes? Do we limit the times when we could see His glory because we miss out on fully obeying Him?
Romans 6:11 So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus. Today’s my first day back at work/school after 2 beautiful and wonderful weeks of vacation. Man! I’m so not ready for this! And of course, my time this morning is all about sin and forgiveness and the role they play in our lives. Heavy stuff for my mind this early and this distractable. Romans 6 starts with that famous question, “should I keep sinning so that God can show his mercy and forgiveness through that? Should I sin more so I can be forgiven more?” That’s kind of like asking if you should cut yourself to get a bandaid (granted God’s forgiveness is more like a healing miracle than a bandaid, but hopefully that makes the point of how silly that question is). Paul goes on to talk about how Jesus conquered death and sin and since we believe in Him and have new life through Him we no longer are subjected to continually doing the wrong thing. Does that mean that we’ll be perfect? No. But since we are no longer required to do what sin tells us to, we can live in a way that brings glory to God through our love and kindness. And if you’re like me at all, you’re thinking “that’s a tall order! I make mistakes all the time!” Yup. You’re human, too (I hope, unless you’re a robot or strangely intelligent something else). But its okay, that’s why we have forgiveness. And, the more we get to know God, the more able we are to live like Him and act in a way that reflects His mercy, grace, and love. And I think that’s the point of it all.
Ezekiel 1: 26-28 26 Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue sapphire. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. 27 From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. 28 All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me. Ezekiel saw God. What else can I say? A long time ago, right before things in my life went crazy, I felt the presence of God next to me holding me and surrounding me. It was completely overwhelming. To this day, I still get choked up when I think about it. If I get that way over the mere presence of God, I can’t even imagine what it must be like to actually see God. It makes me wonder, would I be bold and courageous about delivering an unpopular message? Would I trust God because I’ve seen Him and know His awesomeness? Would it completely change my life or would it be something that would eventually just be another memory? I hope I would speak out obediently and trust His protection. I hope I would be changed so completely that my life would be a beacon of light to those around me. I can only imagine.