Dear Bog Family,
While the team and I are in Zimbabwe, I want to invite you to start asking the Lord about Glory. His glory. Your glory. The glory that we pray will break out in Zimbabwe and cover us at home.
We have a some fun postings set up for you and we’re inviting you to dialog with each other on the site while I’m away.
Wonder what the Lord will stir up….?
For His glory,
Jana
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36:25-28
Take this heart of stone and make it yours. It really was that simple. And that hard. To take something as hard as a stone, my heart, and turn it into a heart of flesh — beauty for ashes, as it were.
Dwell on that a minute. Ashes. Burned beyond recognition. Substance and form reduced to charred, grey dust. Now think of something beautiful coming out of an ash heap. Something wonderful, breath-taking, confounding— out of a pile of ashes.
Who can do that?
God can.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
Nothing thwarts the plans of God.
And what is His plan for us?
Beauty for ashes.
God uses many experiences, or tools, in life to persuade us to turn to Him. But often these “tools” look different from our expectations. We want blessing and favor. We want to be comfortable and safe. We want guarantees of success and privilege.
However. This God is not concerned about comfort zones. He is zealous for glory, for righteousness, for holiness, for His image to be seen in His creations. (Isaiah 9: 6-7)
In our weaknesses, the grace of God blazes and His glory shines the brightest. Why?
Because any measure of self-sufficiency, self-worth and self-esteem has been burned up. Ashes. It leaves only His beauty to be adored.
What we call hard times, God calls release. Release from all that hinders us from being what He has created us to be. Christ in you the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
It is the hope of God’s glory which fuels change. And this hope is based on the very great promises fulfilled in Christ. Christ is IN us. His glory IS IN us. Not by our doing but by God’s doing. There is an unveiling happening here. There is a transformation underway. There is an unleashing of glory on the horizon.
Unhindered.
Excerpts taken from Unhindered, Chapter 37
Let’s Get Real Here:
So as we explore glory, we look to the Creator to be our source, our motivation, our hope. And above all things, we look to Jesus to be the only one to define us. So who am I now and who are you? The Lord says we are beloved, crowned with glory and honor, sons and daughters of glory—His delight. Who do you say you are?
Great question and blog. I continually remind myself that I am His beauty and that He delights in me. I can’t tell you how many times I repeated this over the weekend while wearing a bathing suit! I definitely heard him confirm it for me though 🙂
“What we call hard times, God calls release. Release from all that hinders us from being what He has created us to be. Christ in you the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
“It is the hope of God’s glory which fuels change. And this hope is based on the very great promises fulfilled in Christ. Christ is IN us. His glory IS IN us. Not by our doing but by God’s doing. There is an unveiling happening here. There is a transformation underway. There is an unleashing of glory on the horizon.”
Loved this… Woah–amen and AMEN. Hope…hope does not disappoint. What Hope we have. The HOPE.
I have been thinking about how we are to reflect his glory. I was driving Sunday morning and was almost blinded by the blaze of the sun on the back of the highway signs. I thought, “What is it about those signs that reflect so brilliantly?” One thing is that they are a smooth, uninterrupted surface. “Undisturbed, ” I felt God whisper. Like a lake that’s still until we throw a stone in and break up the reflection. It goes back to Jana’s comment about striving instead of trusting or in my case, coping instead of trusting. When we are really trusting Him, we are undisturbed and we reflect His Glory.