On earth as it is in heaven

A. W. Tozer once wrote, “God has not finished with His saints till He has brought them to a place where they honor Him on earth as He is honored in heaven.”  What a high task that has been placed before us!  This statement begs the question, how is he honored in heaven?  Well, John gives us a quite vivid picture of what that looks like in Revelation 5:11-14.  There we read,

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

Can you even imagine?!  What a scene that John has painted for us!  To have gotten to glimpse that for even a second must have been altogether glorious and terrifying at the same moment.  Now, how do we bring that about here on earth?  We have to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to do so.  You see, Christ’s beauty was too much to simply stay with one ethnic people in Israel.  In Isaiah 49:5-6 we read, “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him – for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength – he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This is how we bring about God’s honor “on earth as it is in heaven.”  We are to be a light to the nations and spread the beautiful gospel to the people whom we come into contact with each day.  This is how we spread the glory of God throughout the world.  Tozer said, “He can honor us only when He knows that His glory is safe in our hands.”  Oh that He would deem my actions adequate for protecting His glory in my life as I share it with others.

I challenge you to live a life that is worthy of being honored by God as you honor Him by spreading His glory throughout the world as you share the gospel with others.

It’s Your story, I’m just a page…

There are a couple things that are dominating my thoughts this afternoon.  Number one is Psalm 139.  Verse 4 reads, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”  Verses 13-14 and 16 read, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well…Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were non of them.”  God knows me!  How amazing a thought!!  The Creator of the entire universe knows me, and He knows me intimately.  I find incredible comfort and reassurance in this knowledge.  Being that God knows everything about me and He knows what each of my days on earth hold, and He has known them since eternity past, I can rest in the knowledge that He will direct me into the path that He has planned for me.  Therefore, I can know when I read in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” God has His definition of good in mind when He planned my days out.  What I mean is that God has my best at heart for me.  However, my best in no way means my comfort, happiness, or ease.  I cannot wait to see what God has planned for our family in the days to come.

The other thing I’ve been dwelling on is a quote from Charles Spurgeon that is related to Psalm 139.  “If we go with Jesus we must be content to face what He faces, and when the waves are rough for Him they will be rough for us.”  I have found that when you walk with Jesus there are going to be very rough seas, but honestly there is no better place to be.  I would rather face the rough seas with Christ asleep in the stern than spend countless nights on a calm sea without Him.  I mean who am I to think that I can be a follower of Christ who will have a smooth ride through the entirety of my days on earth.  God has not called us to comfort and ease, but rather He has called us to holiness.  I am simply following along and plugging into His story that He is writing though history.  I am content to be a page in that story, and truly that is more than enough for me.