Glory

Romans 3:23-24

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift"

God's purpose is his glory; that means everything he does is to that end. We and all creation with us are created for purpose. That is why God reveals himself to us. He has revealed his love through the cross, his creativity and genius in creation, his mercy in Jesus's healing the sick, his compassion when he rescued the Israelite nation from Egypt, his faithfulness to the Jewish nation although they constantly turned away from him, his kindness in clothing Adam and Eve when they were in shame, his gentleness when Jesus asked John to look after Mary, his power in raising Jesus from the dead. Throughout history God has revealed more and more of himself to us and for us.

Yet sin makes us fall short of being swept up in the praise and dance that is the glory of God. For although "what can be known about God is plain to" us because God constant reveals himself to us, sin causes us to ignore it and reject him. Sin deprives us of purpose, it takes God's blessings and turns them to curses, it takes knowledge of God and turns it into ignorance. Yet even in this God's glory increases, just as light is brighter if all you have seen is darkness. God's love, faithfulness, gentleness and power because of sin is now in contrast to our hate, faithlessness, ruthlessness and weakness. The cross; it symbolizes two things. It symbolizes the epitome of mankind's sinful corruption and God's supreme glory. By the cross Christ was broken culturally, physically, spiritually, in every way possible; yet doesn't the depth the shame of the cross just accentuate the supremacy of God at his resurrection?

Through the cross we see the true perfection of God, the sinful corruption of man and the colossal gap in between. Yet the cross not only makes God an object to be glorified but it also creates glorifiers who "are justified by his grace as a gift" and so bridge that colossal gap. Our meaninglessness, our ignorance, our rebellion, the curse that we lived under has now been nailed to the cross along with all our sin. It is now that we are truly free, free to live out our purpose, free to glorify God all the more now that he has revealed so much of himself to us throughout history and on the cross. 

The Fruits of Encouragement

2 Thessalonians 1:3
"We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing."

In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians he encourages them to live life for God and to increase their love for their brothers. This letter shows how God uses encouragement to grow fruit in everyone's lives. From this passage we can see the varied fruit resulting from encouragement.

First of all it bore fruit in Paul's life. Paul's encouragement springs from his love for the Thessalonians and the fruit of that encouragement has further increased his love and joy.  It resulted in his continual prayer and thanks giving to God for the Thessalonians. When we become encouragers we also become encouraged and our lives overflow more and more with love, joy and thankfulness. 

The encouragement also produced fruit among the Thessalonians. It helped them overcome the power of sin in their lives. Paul spoke to them about sexual immorality in the first letter and now in his second letter he doesn't make the smallest mention of it. Encouragement is self replicating, Paul initially encouraged the Thessalonians and now they are an example in which Paul boasts "among God's churches" 2 Thessalonians 1:4. One of the biggest ways in which we can impact this world is by encouraging the lives of those around us. This is because God will use that to unlock hidden potential in people's lives which will enable them to encourage others also, starting the cycle again.

So how are you going to encourage someone today?

Praise God's Deliverance

Psalm 40:1-4
"I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord."

When God delivers us from our pits of destruction and empowers us to make our steps secure with a hopeful future then our correct response is to praise God. This new experience is the new song God gives us to praise him by. Repeating our praise reminds us of when we trusted him in the past and he heard and blessed us. This leads us to rightfully trust in God in the future but it also brings us joy in the present by reminding us that God loves us. This song is meant to be heard by others just like David does here in this Psalm. When others hear our testimony of what God has done for us they will be challenged which drives them to "put their trust in the Lord". So our transformation through God's deliverance leads to his glory, our remembrance, our joy, our witness to others, others being challenged and likewise putting their trust in the Lord.

 

Love

Colossians 3:14
"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Love is the virtue that is always most emphasized and valued. God himself stated that he saved all mankind from sin because he "so loved the world" John 3:16. Corinthians states that love is "the most excellent way" 12:30 and that love is greater than both faith and hope which are the core of our salvation. When Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment he answered that it was love (Matthew 22:37-40). John in fact goes further and states that "God is love" 1 John 4:8.

But why is love so important and so much better then the other virtues. What sets it apart as something more valued among the virtues? This passage from Colossians gives us a clue, it describes love unifying the other virtues, Paul elsewhere uses virtues to describe what love is (Corinthians 13). That is, each virtue partially describes love. Humility is a part, love is the whole. Generosity is a part, love is the whole. All these things make up love but love is so much more than the sum of its parts. Without love's guiding hand we lose perspective in our other virtues, we become generous without humility, patient without perseverance, have faith without hope. When love is our motive it becomes clear how to act, its easy to keep the balance because all we have to do is do what we were made to do. That is to love.

In other words love is any and every act of some good virtue. When we are generous we are loving through that act. When we are humble we are loving through that act. And whenever we love, we are reflecting God's image and are being transformed into his likeness because as John said God is love.

Scattered

1 Peter 1:1-2
"To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance."

Christians are transformed, recreated and as such we do not belong to this world. We look forward to, invest in , hope for, and long  to reach our true home in Heaven which Jesus is preparing for us (John 14:2). And this salvation is through the sanctifying work of the Spirit which is how God chooses us by his foreknowledge yet God's elect also submit to obedience to Jesus Christ. God chooses us and we choose him. God then uses his elect by scattering them throughout the world and they bring with them the word, the gospel message. Some to hard and rocky places full of persecution and trial. Others are lead to thorny lands where plenty and worry possesses the hearts of men (Matthew 13:20-22). But in some lands at some times God works in amazing ways choosing thousands to follow him to the ends of the Earth to be scattered again, until the end of time when God will gather up his Christians in a Heavenly reunion.

The Sword of the Spirit

Ephesians 6:13-17
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand … take … the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit."

Finally something offensive, something which can do some real damage to our spiritual enemies. But it's not supercharging our mental abilities, or giving us supernatural spiritual abilities; in fact this weapon has nothing to do with us at all. Because what God has given to us is himself, his Spirit and his word, the word that became flesh and dwelt among us in the form of Jesus (John 1:14). Here God is promising to fight all our battles for us. Now prayer and Bible reading take on a new meaning. Instead of being trivial and mundane they are our crucial communication link with the most powerful force in the universe who is waging war "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

The Helmet of Salvation

Ephesians 6:13-17
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand ... take the helmet of salvation."

Our salvation which is God's crowning achievement is worn by us and placed on the head as an unbreakable helm just as it is an unbreakable promise from God. Salvation for those that chose God and believe in his promise protects the source of our freewill and decision making, our mind. It directs the eyes to look always onto our future glory in Heaven. It strengthens our will to continue in our choice to follow God. It protects our mind from temptation and despair by reminding us of the great hope of salvation. This helm of glory will adorn us in Heaven, forever being a reminder to us and a testament to its maker.