I’m often mystified about my “Gloryteller” situation:
Why me?
Do I deserve the name?
Am I smart enough, or more to the point, wise enough?
Who am I to write of God’s glory?
Moses asked “Who am I that I should go . . .?” when being sent to the Pharaoh,
and God told him He would be with him.
Jeremiah said “I don’t know how . . .“
and God told him He would be with him as well.
King David also asked “Who am I, that You would . . .?”
I am extremely less than those pillars of men . . .
Sure, sometimes I feel unworthy,
under-qualified,
ineligible,
over-extended,
in-over-my-head,
like I bit-off-more-than-I-can-chew,
like a fish out of water,
unfit for the task.
Nevertheless,
Here I am.
He gave me the name Gloryteller and no one else I know of.
He gave me a commission, a purpose, a message, a personal story to tell, and a way to tell it.
I do feel all of it was imparted to me so that I could give my own testimony,
my perception of His glory
in my rebirth, transformation, and salvation.
“What ‘other’ god can even come close to unfastening His sandals?” I ask.
So I will continue for Him; with Him.
I will do my best.
What about His glory? :
It has always existed, as has He, the Godhead,
the Trinity,
– HE,
I AM,
has always existed.
It is said that His glory is fundamentally intrinsic and not external.
Yet, to me, it does seem external in a sense – in Jesus!
Heb 1:3 – “the Son is the radiance of God’s glory”!
In John 17, Jesus refers to the glory He shared with The Father before Creation.
The word “glory”, (or derivations thereof) appears more than 500 times in The Bible.
How can God’s glory be described but by our inadequate words?
Also, does he impart a finite, minor amount of His glory to us?
I think so, in a sense.
He gave us words to explore the above two questions:
There is a certain majesty and magnificence to mankind.
There is certainly an elegant splendor entwined in our souls,
although, in some, it is hidden, latent, or unfulfilled.
Humanity is capable of honor.
We are designed for distinction – raised to eminence at the very peak of creation.
We glimpse glorious greatness and grandeur in our own creations, our activities, our accomplishments.
We, as a people, respect those who earn renown, recognition, and good repute.
We are capable of love, in fact, I believe we are designed to love and be loved.
Regarding the “Human Condition”, all the above attributes are but analogies,
mere metaphors, and meager reminders of the true, absolute, and unfathomable glory of God.
Yet, we fall so far and fail so hard as a people and as individuals to live up to the demands of the concept of His glory.
As a people, we too often forget our citizenship in Heaven. As a group we love our world-born selves more than higher things unseen. We often make an eyesore of our gifts of whatever majesty, magnificence, elegance, and splendor that we have. Mankind, too often, makes a mockery of whatever eminence, greatness, and grandeur we have been given. We are prone to give our respect to people who hardly earn their renown, recognition, and reputation.
In God, there is only brightness and light. In us – humanity – there may be some light, but there is also darkness.
We are capable of being beautiful in the highest sense of the word, but, more often than not, we end up enacting the most terrible and ugly destruction. As humans, we are poor models of His glory, it seems to me, except for the one human who was also God.
And love.
Love!
In my mind, love is the easiest of all the attributes of His glory to understand even though we may not fully understand His perfect love. We want love – desire it – to a person.
But do we love?
Not always.
Not often.
Too often, not well.
We glimpse His glory, but fail to strive toward the God kind of glory.
(Not you and me, of course, but the majority of humanity.
Insert uncomfortable chuckle here . . .)
Can we see His glory?
I think each individual who is curious about God’s glory gets ‘close to it’ in a slightly different way.
Again only in glimpses. Most people probably connect to it in nature. For me, a high mountain scene takes me there – or a flower, any plant, or animal, or bug, showcases His genius creative nature – seeing a baby, a child, a birth, the sky, the stars, life in its diversity, people in theirs.
To be high-up in the mountains reminds me of His high holiness.
His transcendence.
His set-apart-ness.
His mystery.
The lightness of the air takes me close to the heaviness of His glory.
How mysterious, His ability to know what is in our hearts;
to transform our hearts into new ones at the perfect time.
He is the pinnacle.
The Highest Being imaginable.
The Most High Lord.
His glory is elusive, yet we sense it because we are His. If the Holy Spirit is in us, it follows that at least some of His glory is too!
Unimaginable, but isn’t it true?
We may have a smattering, or more, of His glory in us.
We may have glimpses of His glory when observing His creation and when reading His Word.
We may even have personal revelation that points to His glory.
But, I don’t pretend to understand the fullness of His glory.
If we were suddenly exposed to the reality of it, I think our minds would short circuit and shut down, but I do have faith that when He gives us our resurrected bodies and minds in Heaven, they will be able to contain the entirety of the knowledge of all His glory. We will be able to bear the ponderous weight of it and we will be in perfect, resplendent, glorious relationship with Him!
~ ~ ~
To conclude:
I am but a lowly one of a multitude of writers and authors (scribes) for Him –
just a scribe in His service –
a scribe to the Lord –
Psalm 96:8 : “ASCRIBE to the Lord the glory due unto His name.”
Is that not a Godincidental twist of wordplay?
Is that not a remarkable confirmation?!
So, despite my questioning and self doubt, it turns out that I’m intensely thankful for my Gloryteller situation.
It means:
I am loved, and revered, and thought of, by my FatherSonSpirit in Heaven.
I have a special purpose in life.
I have faith in His plan.
I have a story to tell and a way to tell it.
I have (and I am) a mind, body, soul, and heart on loan from Him.
He trusts me to use the above for His benefit and glory,
and for the benefit of others.
After all, when I first said,
“Who am I to write for You, I don’t even know how?!”
He did say “It is alright, I will be with you.”
And He has been, is now, and always will be.
(What did I expect, anyhow?)
I may feel unworthy, sometimes, but I am honored all the time!
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Apr 27, 2016 @ 09:44:06
I really liked this Len, these are the words of someone who is in love with Jesus enough to search the depths of that love. I read once that the knowledge in the Bible is 10,000 fathoms deep. It is so sad that many Christians are content to sit on the dock and just dangle their feet in the water. Brother keep up your search and contemplation of our dear Lord. I study Him now so we will not be strangers when I meet Him at last……ron long
May 16, 2016 @ 15:28:10
Thanks, Ron! Your words are always so very concise. You smack the nail on the head. Thanks for the wisdom and encouragement. See you soon! Len