This Glory Does More Than Shine

'If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!'

2 Corinthians 3:9

When Moses met with the Ancient of Days, he soaked in a presence that clung to his skin, yet passed no further in. Without the reconciliation of Christ, the glory of the Lord could do no more. As such, it brought condemnation - declaring to all that this glory all belonged to Yhwh and humanity could partake of none of it. Thus it both revealed and declared condemnation to all who beheld the face of Moses; God is glorious and mankind is not and never the two shall meet.

Yet through Christ’s salvation this glory can enter in beyond our skin. It abides within and brings His righteousness. And even though it doesn’t “glow in the dark” to the mortal eyes, it brings a glory of infinite more value. For this glory transforms the dead soul, and thus the veil is lifted from both our minds and our hearts.

God's Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

-- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Be Holy

“For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:45

For us as followers of Christ, holiness is the consecration of our lives in service to God. I would submit that consecration, or the state of being “set apart” to service Him is to be who he made you to be. And in being who he made you to be, we are charged to be pure and undefiled in living that calling. Are you an artist? Pursue it with passion. Are you a writer? Are you a pilot? A mother? A father? A caregiver?

Holiness is not an antiseptic thing. It’s not a blinding white beam that sears the skin of our soul. Holiness is being pure and unadulterated in giving glory to the Creator in the state of being who we are. And sin is manifested, then, if we live outside those boundaries.

We bear His image, and as believers in Christ we have been liberated to live that image. So know this as a declaration over you: be holy, for He is holy.

-- revel8r 8/20/17

NK III

like a brute beast
he wanders his lands
that he usurped from the King

the ghost of Nebuchadnezzar haunts his mind
and blindness guides his day

but the Ghost most holy
will lift the veil of his insanity
and reveal there is no king but Jesus

then remain, not simply alive
but whole, and testify
He is your King

choose now, or perish in the day

-- revel8r 8/13/17

NK II

hear then, the whirlwind approaches
with the sound of weeping
and wailing will win the day
the mourning will carry through the night

but then the dove
will land on your sill
at dawn's early light
that faithfulness will taste so sweet

this reign has fallen
on the just and the unjust
but Jesus comes in the darkest hour
and that iron yolk will shatter at last

- revel8r 8/11/17

NK I

He broods His wings
over lands of silent shadow, yet knows
with mourning, yearning soul
to set these captives free

then open these burdened gates
with light that overwhelms and overcomes
that the River will yet run through her
with echoes of laughter

- revel8r 4/29/17

Haunt Me Sweetly

You are majesty
You are compassion incarnate
You are Trinity
Father, Son and the Ghost that haunts my soul 

Haunt me sweetly, then
That i may imbibe Your holiness
for nothing, now, will remain as it was

- revel8r 6/5/17

Maiden Voyage

Over the years, I've learned to never say never.  There's a reason why it's a cliche.  I think a lot of other people have learned never to say never as well.  When we say we'll never do this thing or that thing, we often end up doing this or that.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why Jesus told us never to say never Himself.  (Matthew 5:34)  We end up exasperating ourselves by the oaths that we break as much as we exasperate others.

I've said I'd never attend a specific church,,, and ended up loving that very church for about 3 years.

I've said I'd never work at a specific job,,, and ended up working there.  It turned out to be the best job I'd ever had.

I've said I'd never blog,,, and here I am.

Funny how those things work.  One day I'm telling my wife I have no interest in blogging.  I have no interested in writing postings to something that I have little interest in following myself.  Quite frankly I have not followed a single blog in my quinquagenarian life. I love reading Mike Rowe's posts - once in a great while.  But I certainly wouldn't say I'm following his blog!

And then a few months later, I'm casting about for a good, deep, solid devotional.  Maybe I'm a bit jaded with my own self.  I don't know.  But it had been, it seemed, eons since I had had a good mind blowing revelation.  So I ask Father to show me a devotional to read.

And He responds, "Why don't you write your own devotional?"

Now, when the Wisest One asks you a question, it's not because He doesn't know the answer.

So here I am, writing my own devotional.  Depositing nuggets and dropping verses along the way.

And hoping that they will pay it forward into your own souls.

Bon Voyage to all of us!

Revel8R