Glory Now In You

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Romans 8:18

When you receive Jesus, He brings all that He is—perfect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—not eventually, not occasionally, but at all times, at every moment, in every situation. Now. He is the Treasure you’ve been looking for, the Reward for which you long, the Performer you’d like to be. And He is in you. Jesus is the favor you want, the success you were made for, and the glory now in you.

If, just now, you’re suffering or enduring hardship, avoid the temptation to work up more fleshly strength (you’re already exhausted), and beware the thoughts that assign you to the failed scrapheap of humanity. That’s a lie. His glory, the incredible evidence that He lives within you, is best seen through suffering, most obvious in calamity, and most triumphant in hardship. Offer yourself to Jesus. And where is He? That’s where you make the offering—to the inside (Rom 6:12-13), to Jesus who has made you His home.

Listen for Him. This is worth quieting yourself. Pay attention to the thoughts and pictures that play in your mind. Talk aloud to Jesus—you may get reckless or even loud—as you give yourself to Him. You’ll find that He gives Himself to you, and that’s where the life is! Respond to what you feel and what He reveals, and trust that He loves you far more than He cares about mistakes you might make in the adventure of knowing Him. If He knows everything, even before it happens, then He knows and has planned for your supposed sloppiness. He doesn’t resent your neediness! That’s also where His glory is best seen.

Have a great weekend walking in the adventure.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-11