Why Holiness Reveals the King of Glory: Week 2

Who is this King of glory? 

We already discovered how creation reveals the King of glory in Psalm 24:1-2.

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” (ESV)

And how this particular Psalm is the only place in the Bible that mentions the phrase, The King of glory. 

Yet, not only does creation reveal the Lord’s glory, but also holiness as in our next two verses.

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” Psalm 24:3-4 (ESV, emphasis added)

The King of Glory Came for Our Holiness

Jesus Christ came as the King of glory, arrayed in holiness. But He also came to make a people holy and whole.

The “hill of the Lord’ and “his holy place” reveal the Lord’s holiness and why the King of glory came for our holiness, too.

Revealing the King of Glory: Week 1

Who is this King of glory?

In three weeks, we celebrate Christmas and the King of Glory.

While I find it unbelievable, more troubling is the unbelief I see behind the holiday—Holy-day. 

But, the birth of Jesus was revealing the Savior to the world.

The One promised to rescue us from sin, other gods, the enemy and even ourselves.

And as always, the heavenly Father kept His promise. 

God’s Son came to bring the light of heaven to earth. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, born to die.

Denied earthly glory and fame, Jesus bears a name above every name. He is the King of glory.

The King of Glory

Yet the phrase, “The King of glory” is only found once in the Bible, in Psalm 24. It’s one of my favorite passages. 

So, over the coming weeks until Christmas, the ten verses of Psalm 24 will guide us in revealing the King of Glory.

And we are not only revealing Christ in a more meaningful way in our own heart, but also to those around us and to the world.

A Great Recipe for a Thankful Heart

Who loves a great recipe? My hand’s raised.

Whether it’s our favorite foods or trying something new, recipes assist in the desired result. Even online dish-and-recipe photos pull us in with the promise of achieving success as the cook.

Every Thanksgiving, I follow a special recipe to make my Grandmother Clarkston’s lemon pie. Yum! It’s my favorite dessert of all time!

Then, as soon as I post pie photos on social media, family and friends, far and wide, ask for the recipe. 

Recipe Measures

Recipes always call for measurements—a cup of this or a tablespoon of that. Likewise, we often make other measures in life. 

Sadly, with Covid-19 numbers rising, some cities and states are limiting Thanksgiving gatherings to no more than ten.

Since it’s one of my favorite holidays, I intend to put several measures in place to ensure a wonderful holiday. 

For instance, I still plan to make mouth-watering dishes for a smaller group of loved ones. And if the day proves beautiful and warm, we’re eating outdoors.

Stirring up a Thankful Heart

But where do we find the recipe for a thankful heart? What ingredients work together to make a heart full of thanksgiving? 

A real thankful heart never comes easy, much less during the difficult year experienced around the world—including my world and perhaps yours.

Because we don’t have to look far to see devastation, need, loss, hurt, lack and hopelessness. 

You see, these factors only affect our heart if we allow it. We decide whether our hearts turn hard toward God or thankful. 

Our circumstances never dictate true thankfulness in our heart.

So here are eight ingredients to stir up a T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L heart.

Look Up When the World Distracts You

I know you’ll enjoy this guest post on how and why to look up by my blogger and author friend, Kelly Balarie. And read to the end to see how to enter a giveway for her latest book.

By Kelly Balarie

I had no idea what was above me.

Because I was focused on the stop sign to the right of me, or the people crossing the street, or changing the radio station in the car that day…I was not caught up in what was above me.

But, suddenly—and I can’t say why—I looked up.

Look Up

There I saw a brilliant display of nature. The sky was gorgeous. It was radiant, blue, red and purple hues strewn all over the sky.

It seemed to convey the brilliance, the majesty and the beauty of God all at once.

Yet, I would have missed it if I had kept my eyes on the million little things happening in front of me. And I would have missed it if distraction had a greater hold on me than my desire to look up.

I would have missed it if I wasn’t aware that there is usually more than meets the eye.

Yet, I looked up. Scripture tells us to look up.

Earthly Focused

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2)

Lately, my focus looks earthly focused. I see politics. I see news articles. And I see what is not happening in my world. Also, I see issues with people. I see problems.

Yet, essentially, God tells me—Kelly, do not set your mind on all that—look up!

Who God is Equals What God Does: Part 2

Chaos. Uncertainty. Fear. There’s not a better time to really know who God is and what God does than right now in our nation and world.

Because no matter what happens, God wants us to trust that He IS God. 

In part 1, we covered how God is a multi-faceted God and who He is and what He does are one and the same: God is good, kind, loving and merciful.

Although present-day culture zeroes in on these four characteristics of the Lord and ignores others, this limited perspective’s also found among Christians.

But we do ourselves a disservice when we fail to understand the other important aspects of the heavenly Father.

Because a god who’s not equally holy and just, doesn’t meet the requirements for a higher power.

Instead, this god falls on the same level with false gods and mere humans.

So let’s look at four additional attributes.

God is light.

Perhaps you’ve stumbled in the darkness in the middle of the night. This is how I broke my little toe in high school. And there’s the time I ran into the corner of a wall in a hotel room. I sustained a cut right below my eyebrow and still bear the scar. 

Who God is and What He Does

God is….

During college, I worked at a jewelry store in a local mall. So I learned the cuts and fascinating facets of diamonds and other gems. The multi-faceted parts of these stones make each one brilliant and stunning.

“Facets, those ‘geometrically arranged, flat surfaces’ that cover faceted gemstones, all play specific roles in a gem’s optical performance. When expertly cut, facets not only create beautiful patterns on the gem, they also help it shine. Sometimes, literally. Different types of gemstone facets have specific names, too.” (International Gem Society)

In the same way, God bears various characteristics as God. But we often only focus on the feel-good parts of God’s character. Like how God is good and loving, but not how He is also holy and just.

Yet, all the attributes of God working together are what make Him God. Each fascinating facet of the Almighty makes His glory brilliant and stunning.

Because when we separate His goodness from His holiness or His love from His justice, we lose the full nature God. 

In essence, we detach who He is from what He does. But the two are one and the same. 

Good and loving and merciful and just are not only who the Lord is, but also what He does! 

So in this two-part series, we take a look at eight characteristics of God, four this week and four next week. Still, my list’s non-exhaustive—God’s character bears a multitude of wondrous facets.

Believers really celebrate these first four attributes by marking them with a neon highlighter.

God is good. 

Since the beginning of time, God’s goodness is weaved throughout the chapters of His-story. It started with creation when He saw everything He made was good. 

Goodness is seen when God rescued His people. It’s revealed in Bethlehem’s stable and narrated in Jesus’ ministry. It’s told at the foot of a bloody cross and reported as a victor in an empty tomb.

15 Incredible Trades We Make with God

Have you made trades when you received the best end of the deal?

In elementary school, I traded notebooks with a girl in my class. The pink and glitter cover dazzled and captured my attention. But my notebook paled in comparison. So I wondered why she ever agreed to such an uneven trade…to my trading up.

One of Google’s definitions for trade (verb) includes: “exchange (something) for something else.”

A few years ago, I realized I was asking God to make trades with me when I began praying prayers of exchange.

Lord, please exchange my infirmity with Your wholeness; and trade my empty for Your completeness. Amen.

I asked the Lord to exhange my something for His something else.

And our relationship with the heavenly Father is always about trading up. Because what we trade pales in comparison to what He gives us in return.

Our _______ for His ________.

So here are 15 of those uneven trades with God straight from the Bible.

Trading Up

1.) Our lack for His bounty.

“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance” Psalm 65:11, NIV.

2.) Our shame for God’s mercy.

Don’t Miss 6 Compelling Benefits of Prayer

“Prayer works.” Perhaps, we hear it. Maybe, we say it. Because prayer achieves many benefits in our lives. And it performs a mighty work in the heavenly realm. 

Still, believing prayer works doesn’t equal practicing it. So we struggle in this area of the Christian walk.

God created us to engage with Him in conversation. But most of us have only learned the benefits of conversing on a regular basis with people. And we miss the compelling things prayer achieves.

In these current unprecedented days, I desire to spend more time with God in prayer—to anchor myself to Him. A desire I need every day.

So let’s unpack six compelling ways P-R-A-Y-E-R works as it achieves benefits for this life and the next.

Compelling Benefits to Prayer

P – Proclaims the Lord’s glory and praise.

Proclaiming the Lord’s glory and praise is not just for times of corporate worship. In fact, prayer is a form of individual worship. And it’s never all about us like a kid with a wish-list of wants and give-me’s. 

Praising the Lord and glorifying His holy name is a great way to start prayer, to pray in-between petitions and intercessions, and to finish prayer.

“My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.” Psalm 71:8 (ESV)

R – Renews a right spirit in us.

In Psalm 51, David prayed to confess his sin with Bathsheba and ask the Lord for a clean heart, to restore the joy of his salvation, and to renew a right spirit in him. 

Once Upon a Time: Redeeming Stories of Rescue

It’s high time we celebrated stories of rescue and redemption.

Stories of when loss turned to gain; when darkness turned to light; when true hope won over hopeless, and when over-comers sung a victory song. 

In the past, my story stayed secret in a young girl’s heart, not wanting to share it. But it’s when we share our stories that they help others, have the ability to heal us, and make us brave souls armed with courage. 

A release my soul has always needed. Perhaps, you too.

Still, I used to struggle telling the world Once upon a time lived a girl. So I avoided recounting my story—reminiscent of my rough start to life. 

My untidy announcement to the world fell short of a glorious celebration. Baby twin girls made their grand entrance early. 

But the early bird doesn’t always get the worm. About to give birth, my mother took a taxi to the hospital alone, not knowing the whereabouts of her husband, my dad. 

Two babies shocked everyone including the doctor. For several days my father remained unaware he had twins—before he saw me and held me.

All 3 pounds and 9 ounces of me laid in a neonatal incubator. Innocence wrapped in a hospital blanket with no clue of the other brokenness lurking nearby. 

Transformation Stories

3 Reasons God’s Strong in Our Weakness

“How strong are you?”

I used to ask my children this when they were young. Both my son and daughter answered by striking a pose to show their biceps.

But on my own journey from child to adult, I learned culture’s definition of what makes a person strong. 

And I learned how weakness comes in many shapes and sizes. 

Like how weight lifting proves my arms lack physical strength. Or, how low self-esteem, anxiety or discouragement labels me a weak soul. 

Also, how failure to excel in a class, understand a concept at work, or carry strong opinions defines me as weak-minded.

Culture teaches us to stay strong and overcome weakness because it just isn’t pretty.

Yet, in my heavenly Father’s Kingdom weakness takes on a whole new meaning.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10b, emphasis added)

Paul’s visions and thorn in the flesh described in this chapter kept him from boasting in himself. He had endured many hardships and persecutions. Still, he discovered his strength was found in his weakness.

While people often look down on weakness, God’s children look up to Him to make us strong.

What Culture Says…What God Says

Culture tells us to strive for independence. God says, Depend on Me.