The Whole Earth is Full of His Glory

Isaiah 6.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

I watch national and local nightly news. I listen to the radio. I read many and varied Christian newsletters and blogs. I am understanding more and more what my dad meant as he got up from watching the news and said: “The whole world is going to hell on a toboggan.” We are a twisted and evil people, all over the world.

But God! God is all over the world! His Word says the whole earth is full of His glory!

Thanks be to God Who gives us eyes to see, and hearts to appreciate, the glory He infuses throughout us. Like Peter on the turbulent waters, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, and not focus on the chaos of the Earth. We must trust in our God, Who has the whole world in His hands – and, He is in control. He has perfect control over everything, all the time.

More than just God’s glory hovering over all the Earth, we must look at His people:

Ephesians 1.3, 6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: …To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

God chose to put His glory in us. We are the purveyors, the spreaders, the full water jugs of His glory. He chose each of us for just this purpose: Ephesians 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love  and Ephesians 2.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Do you cry and whine and wring your hands over what’s going on in the world? Over what’s going on in your life? It is right and just to cry aloud unto the Lord in your grief or anger. But God has given you a responsibility: we are to push up our sleeves and work to share and spread His glory, to bind up the brokenhearted, as He has promised (Psalms 147.3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.). God works through us:

Isaiah 61.1-3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Pray God to enlighten the eyes of your understanding, that you may know 1) that God is in you, 2) That He gives you wisdom and power to do His work on Earth, 3) that you have a solemn directive to walk in obedience to your God, and 4) He will give you eyes and hearts to receive His gifts from others, that you may know His comfort and peace.

When Moses was given a great responsibility, he asked, when he was alone with his Lord, “I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.” (Exodus 33.18)

We may ask the same thing.

God Always Listens and Answers

Psalms 28.6 -9 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

I can’t imagine how many gazillions of prayers are being sent heavenward every minute of every day. And God listens to them all; and He answers them all.

The thing is, sometimes we don’t or can’t see His answers.

Isaiah 55.8, 9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Most times, when we pray, we have expectations of what the answers ought to look like. We play God all the time, believing our answers – our solutions – are the best way, and that’s what God ought to do.

But, thank God, His ways are not our ways; and He is high and mighty and lifted up. He loves us best and most perfectly, and will answer accordingly.

However, no matter our situation, a Christian can always be comforted through prayer. The greatest of God’s answers to our prayers is peace with Him. David was in some pretty tough situations, but he knew without any doubt that God was his rock, his peace, his comfort.

We can know the same. Whatever our need, whether for ourselves, loved ones, our country, our world; we can be comforted in prayer, knowing that God is in control, He can quiet our anxious hearts (Psalms 139.23), He is trustworthy, and He is working in our lives and everyone’s lives to the benefit of those of us who love Him, and to His glory (Romans 8.28).

John 14.27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Let God be your guide in prayer (The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6, Luke 11; Matthew 21.22, 1 John 5.14, 15), even if you can’t find the words (Romans 8.26, 27).

And do not worry about how God is going to answer your prayer, just know that He listens and He answers. Be content in letting God handle it all.

Matthew 6.33, 34 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

And, as David did, end each prayer with praise and thanksgiving. God is worthy of that, in any situation, any time.

2 Samuel 22 – 24 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour; Thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Revelations 4.10, 11 The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.

Jesus with Skin On

*

Have you ever wished you could sit and talk directly with Jesus; look into His eyes, see His love, get a hug, hear His words to you personally, sit in His comfort?

Sometimes God sends us people to be Jesus with skin on. When we carry heavy burdens, when we can’t go it alone any more, God will send help. He will rescue you. He designed us this way. Don’t feel you can’t burden someone else with your cares. Really. God gives us commands, such as Galatians 6.2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Do you get that? …and so fulfill the law of Christ! This is God’s way of providing for us. Oftentimes it is a blessing for the friend to share a friend’s burden. Don’t think you can assume you know how someone else is thinking of you. Pray about it. Humble your heart before your Lord and Savior. See who God sends.

Are YOU someone who is Jesus with skin on? Again, God calls us to bear one another’s burdens. Who has God placed on your heart to cheer / support / pray for / encourage? It is so easy to edify someone: a kind word, a pat on the shoulder, a hug, a card in the mail, a smile, a few words together, listening.

One of the most sublime comforts is to read God’s Word. Psalms is very comforting. Here are a few for solace:

Psalm 17.1b-4 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

Psalm 39.12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

Psalm 28.2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

Psalm 102.1-7 {A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.} Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

And don’t forget the being grateful part. Thank God for His presence with you. Thank Him for people He sends. Thank the people He sends. Gratefulness has a way of turning a hurting or scared heart into a peaceful heart.

Colossians 2.6, 7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

1 Chronicles 16.4: And he (King David) appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel.

Psalm 50.14, 15 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Psalm 69.30 – 34 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

Psalm 95.1 – 3 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Psalm 100 {A Psalm of praise.} Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 147.5 – 7 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God

And praise Him.

Psalm 9.1, 2 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

Psalm 146: Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

Psalm 150: Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

* {photo from the Internet}