God's glorious

by Nicole Cifuentes

John 1:14

And 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.

Indescribable

God’s glory is amazing, all enveloping, and frankly difficult to explain. I have seen it defined as his eternal splendor, the goodness of his spirit, his worth, his loveliness, his visible power. It’s so many things in one. It’s what makes God indescribable and marvelous.

When you talk about earthly glory you could be talking about something someone has accomplished, created, or purchased. When a sports player retires, he thinks about his “glory days” (something he accomplished). A painting might be described as glorious (something created). When a man buys a sports car, he definitely believes that it’s his glory (something purchased).

The same applies for God. His glory is in everything he does, he has made, and the decision to purchase us humans and redeem us back from death.

Seeing His glory

Isaiah 6:3

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.

I had read the stories of moments when humans were in the presence of God, and hoped one day to experience it. When you are in the presence and glory of God, it shows. Moses came off of the mountain glowing. Jesus’ face was transfigured to show his heavenly glory. God has come in quiet wind and burning fire. All these things are drops of his glory.

In college I was able to seek God more fervently than any other time in my life so far. The fullness of working part time in ministry, being surrounded by like-minded people, and having the least number of responsibilities in my adult life was a perfect mix for seeking him.

One summer I decided to stay in Florida and intern at the church I worked for. I was able to stay in their intern housing which was a 3-bedroom house on some land. Usually they housed multiple people, but that summer I was alone. I had the whole run the house and at times it was amazing!

One night I spent time alone with God. I can recall this night is when I felt the power of God’s glory in full. The middle of the front room had the best acoustics I had ever heard so I decided to utilize it for my benefit and have my own private time of worship with our creator. At one moment amongst the songs I felt the heavens open and God speak over me. I don’t think I can fully describe every feeling I experienced that day. The fear of an all powerful God who could wipe us off the earth in a second. The love that he chooses not to. The joy of a job well done. I knew and felt his glory in that night in a way I had never known before or experienced since. He is everything all at once. Every emotion. Every creation. Every breathe.

God desires to meet us here on earth. He made creation for us to see his glory, to see how big and mighty he is.

Psalm 97:1-6

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightning light's up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

How great is our God that his glory melts mountains and fire goes before him!

When Jesus died he allowed for the veil to be torn and God to flood the earth again with his presence. His presence allows for his glory to be made known and experienced on this earth.

Giving God glory

1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

After knowing and seeing how mighty our God truly is, we are called to worship God for his glory. We should be standing in awe of who he is and bowing to the one true King. Just as we love to wear sports gear and love on our favorite sports player, we should in turn give God tenfold the amount of adoration we have for these earthly beings.

This worship does not have to be complicated. Daily declaring the truth of the gospel to both God and others brings glory to God.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As you go about your day, turn to God and tell him all the wonderful things he did. Think of it as congratulating another person. Tell him how much you loved his sunrise or how much Jesus’ death means for you. Tell others about how God is working in your life and how he is faithful to your circumstances.

1 Chronicles 16:28-29

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Conclusion:

The wholeness of God is pure glory and deserves to be worshiped just because of who he is. Our hearts need to pour out gratitude and love for him. We should be telling others about how amazing we believe him to be because he is great! He made the earth, he made you and me, he died to save us, and seeks to love us. He is so cool! His whole story are his glory days and lucky for us he is still living and forever will live in his glory days! Why not be a part of it?

Prayer:

Heavenly father,

I know your goodness. I see your goodness each day when you bring a beautiful sunrise, take care of my needs, and give me peace in the chaos. I see your glory in the nature all around me. I see your majesty in each human you made. I worship you for making the plan to save us through your son. You are a righteous and almighty God. King and ruler or all. I praise you!

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Hey sweet lady, we want to take a quick minute to guide your next steps with the scripture and application portion. We believe that in order to truly grow closer to God, we need to spend time dwelling on what he’s trying to teach us and not rush through it. We encourage you to spend a full week dwelling on this devotional and all it has to offer you. That means you can save some of the scripture passages for another day or re-read them in the week. We also encourage you to take your time with the application portion. You can sit in each prompt until you feel God revealing his truths to you. Don’t rush, take time to truly get to know him better by sitting in what he’s trying to teach you this week. That's where your faith will grow.

Scripture for Deeper Study:

• Psalm 29

• 2 peter 1:3-9

• Revelations 5:11-13

Application:

• Journal about how you have seen God’s glory at play in your life.

• Make a list of the reasons why God deserves the glory in your life. Place that list in a place you will see a lot (ie bathroom mirror, kitchen sink, car dash) When you see the list take a moment to give God some glory.

• Tell at least one person this week something amazing God is doing in your life right now