“Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5: 6-7

“UGHHHHHHHHH” The morning was NOT going as I had planned. A downspout had broken off my gutter and needed to be repaired. Since after High School I had gotten a job installing gutters, the repair was something I already knew how to do. I just needed to stop by the hardware store and pick up an elbow! ‘The job’ was going to be predictably quick and easy. Until it wasn’t!

I own over 1000 pop rivets. ‘Owning’ and ‘having possession of’ are not the same thing! Needing to buy an elbow anyway, I figured I’d cut short my 15 minute search and just buy a small box of rivets too… ‘save time,’ I thought! At the store, I asked the elderly store lady where the elbows were. She simply said. “Follow me!” Then proceeded to walk ALL THE WAY to the BACK of the store. SLOWLY!

Seeing the downspout elbow reminded me that I needed to get some pop rivets, assuming they would be near the elbows I asked, “can you tell me where the pop rivets are? “Sure,” she said. “Follow me.” She then turned and walked to the complete OPPOSITE end of the store… at the same speed! But a SMALL box of white pop rivets was nowhere to be found. I had to buy $10 worth!

Walking back to the middle of the store to the checkout gal, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just wanted to get out of there and get the job DONE! Picking up the elbow the cashier turned to the very nice lady and said, “there’s no price tag on this.” My nice lady guide responded with, “Oh, no problem… I’ll just go check.” Hanging my head in frustration, I started to pray!

Sometimes prayer can be easy. Other times I find it to be quite difficult. This was one of those times. But what was I supposed to pray FOR? Since my REAL attitude was whining, I took up the attitude of surrender, spiritually waving the white flag of defeat. Needing something, I gave up and deferred to the One who supplies EVERYTHING. He then reminded me of ‘THE ONE THING’ I ALWAYS forget!

Conversations with God are always verbal. I usually talk, whine, complain, rejoice, praise, yell and even whisper what I want Him to know – in WORDS! His answers are not with words. They’re more like an instantaneous revelation dropped into my spirit where they gently explode into non messy truth! His Truth to me was simply, “K.C., the job isn’t fixing a downspout elbow. It’s fixing YOU!”

In YOUR crazy, hectic, disrupted life, what is God trying to tell YOU?

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” James 1:14

I was HOOKED! And the horrible part was, I hadn’t even seen how I got that way! But ‘hooked’ was the proper word and, figuring out HOW I got that way was NOT going to help me in my predicament. Getting UN-hooked now became the priority. I’d have to take up the “How to NOT get hooked again” problem later! So there I was… wiggling while demons laughed!

All I did was go online, satan’s favorite tool this century. I was looking up the time the Football game started when, right there on the very same page, something caught my eye! Once I saw the time, I clicked on the words that had caught my attention, which became an image, and the hook was set! To make it worse, I turned to hook into a potential net by forwarding the ‘funny’ info on!

These modern times have made being ‘dragged away’ so easy, I don’t have to get up from my chair! And it doesn’t even have to include SIN! Each morning I set down with Jesus to work on improving my walk with Him, and each morning, searching for more information, attempts are made to get me ‘off’ track and ‘onto’ someone else’s! Even famous Bible teachers use the method.

In sales, the ‘Dale Carnegie’ method teaches that the very first thing needed before ANY sale is made, is to get a potential buyers ‘ATTENTION!’ After that comes gaining their “INTEREST.” Preachers, teachers, book distributors or ANYONE wanting to get something from me, must FIRST get my attention. So they ‘fish’ using varieties of bait. ‘Marketing is the not so coincidental term!

Jesus came along and literally placed an exclamation point on the question mark of sin. In doing so, he stated through His Word that to sin against God, I don’t even have to DO IT! All I have to do is THINK IT! This statement OBVIOUSLY makes EVERYONE a GUILTY SINNER! But it’s MY responsibility to identify MY OWN evil desires and take to Him for cleansing… PERSONALLY!

I know some might be disappointed that I didn’t include my bait and sin here. But knowing MY evil desire may also be YOURS, Jesus would rather I nip it in the bud right here and NOT spread the bait around to any other fishies. SO I apologized to the ones who got it, thanked Jesus for His forgiveness, and pledged myself to not take the bait again. Which means satan is now changing his!

What catches YOU? DO you spread it around or share your sin with others? Does that make you feel better? What does JESUS want you to do before, or after you get hooked? Are you doing it?

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:5, 8

It’s happened before… many times! My neighbor will, or I will see and ask him, “is today Trash Day?” The reason for the question is not really as mysterious as it may sound. Over the years the dates and actual pickups have been moved around so often that it’s hard to really know. Usually looking out at the road to see if everyone else on the street has set out their garbage will suffice. But not always!

Thursday is ‘Official’ trash, recycling and yard waste day. Three separate trucks run around to pick up those items. And while it would be inconceivable for our ancestors to imagine, ‘when’ and ‘how’ are critical criteria when it comes to collecting and hauling away my trash and garbage. Confusion arises when a ‘Holy-Day’ appears since, sometimes, that shifts ‘Trash Day’ to a Friday. But not always!

I have a ‘trash can’ and a separate ‘recycling can’ to dispose of my garbage. The regular ‘garbage can’ must be set separate from the ‘recycling can’ and the two must never mix! When a renter decided to throw it all together in 1 can, the trucks simply drove by… picking up neither! But when I separately set out recycled oil in a proper container, they decided not to take that either! Trash is confusing!

I could go on about the rules for ‘how’ and ‘when’ to take out my trash, but I would need a LOT more space than I have and it would still be confusing. I’ll admit to cheating! Once, when a 4’ florescent light bulb crashed to my floor, I swept it up, threw it into a separate bag and then hid that bag in with the regular garbage. ‘They’ don’t take fluorescent light bulbs! Go ahead… call me an Earth polluter!

According to the Word of God, as confirmed by my conscience, my life contains a LOT of garbage! It is no surprise that Jesus provides ‘CANS’ for that Trash. In many ways the God of the Universe is even more accommodating and kind than my County! Jesus doesn’t care about the HOW I package it, He simply cares about the WHEN and today’s verse makes it clear. So when is Jesus Trash day? NOW!

I have found that, unlike my garbage picker-uppers, God has an assistant to help with ridding me of my unwelcome, stinky garbage. When I am in step with Him, The Holy Spirit points out where garbage resides in my life. As I walk with Him, He will continue to urge me to get rid of the stuff that makes me stink. If I don’t get rid of it, He’ll step away for a while until I get with His Trash program!

Where do YOU stink and what does God want YOU to get rid of? What garbage are you holding onto and what is holding you back from putting it into His Can?

“As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life.” 1 John 2:24-25

DING, DING, DING! As many times as I have heard it, you’d think I’d not be surprised! But I was. Having started the car, backed out of the driveway and moving down the road, the seat-belt alarm went off at the same point it always does… because it’s supposed to! Someone, somewhere, wrote a program for our car computer to do just what it was doing…  WARN me! I buckled my seat belt.

Being a male human comes with some predictable consistency. Men typically focus on 1 thing at a time and have a knack for disliking rules. Driving 25 mph in my subdivision posed no threat to me. When I get in the car I just want to GO! Someone, somewhere decided that my penchant for focus and disobedience needed a reminder before the OTHER man thing kicked in… stupid forgetfulness!

Henry Ford didn’t invent the seat belt. His goal was to make money. Somewhere down the line in some room somewhere, an accountant started crunching numbers concerning the cost of car wrecks on society. He came up with an idea to SAVE money and lives if he could ‘pass a law!’ The DING in my car, looking out more for an insurance company’s wallet, reminded me too, life is important!

In looking for a picture for this thought I discovered this handy little device that costs only $3! It is a seat-belt alarm silencer. That it is shaped like a skull is actually ironic. Anyone who spends $3 to silence an alarm meant to save their lives in a potentially fatal car crash SHOULD have 1 more final reminder. The skull is appropriate! 1 John is loaded OFTEN with a similar warning… the word ‘IF!’

God commands that I study His Word. His reasons have NOTHING to do with Him and EVERYTHING to do for MY benefit. Being a male Christian can bring a lack of focus and dislike for rules into my walk with Christ. Often, when searching the Scriptures, I look for loopholes. The statement, “once saved always saved,” is merely an attempt to eternally secure someone who isn’t ‘buckled in!’

Today I am going to buckle up BEFORE I get started because I have had some close calls in my travels. I know God enough to know that His rules are for MY benefit, not for my harm. So when I read in His Word, things like “go, show, do, remain, love, and don’t,” it REALLY IS in MY best interest to not be a bonehead and ignore His dinging! Walking WITH Him is the fun part!

Are you?

“Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” 1 John 1:4

“UGHHHHHH” was the sound I tried to quietly make as the Doctor skillfully shoved a very long tube up my nose and into my brain! At least it FELT like it. He said, “I need to get past the old and go for the fresh, gooey stuff.” “Stuff” I figured, was his code word for ‘snot.’ I didn’t have to have a PhD to know that for what’s been hiding up there to come OUT, Doc had to first go IN!

The subject is gross. But after living with an unnamed infection for almost a year, it’s way past time to get specific! A ‘culture’ is supposed to take a snotty sample and grow it up big enough to actually see and know what’s ‘in me.’ Randomly shooting at the target with guesses, various antibiotics and hope have just not gotten what’s in… out! I’ve been ‘snot me’ for far too long!

For the record, lying around feeling awful is neither ideal nor fun. For some fun Katie turned on the National Championship College football game. A ‘Christian’ college was the underdog for whom we were rooting. Katie then said, “I know, I’ll start taking down the Christmas decorations while the game is on.” Whoda thunk that snot, football and Christmas would lead to Jesus thinking!

Feeling, wanting and stuff have a way of affecting how I look at things… AND how I am seen. Not feeling well makes me grumpy. NOBODY likes grumpy. When the team we WANTED to win was getting destroyed, letdown crept in and left its impression, even though we don’t really have any investment in that team! And putting away Christmas stuff isn’t fun or encouraging either.

The simple truth is that what is IN me, eventually finds its way OUT of me. And how I look on the outside matters to God. A Christian is someone who identifies with Jesus Christ, which I do! That means I have ‘consecrated’ my life to Him and have pledged to, like His disciples before me, DO what HE commands. Today’s verse says that NOT DOING what He commands makes me a LIAR!

Jesus Christ has made many serious promises to me. If I exchange lives with Him He promises Joy, Peace, Love, Hope and Abundance! And THAT is just for starters! But to GET all that stuff IN I have to get snotty me OUT! Getting what He says ONLY comes after DOING what He says. So this new year I’m looking AGAIN, to get more JESUS CULTURE. Cuz life is SNOT supposed to be about me!

How snotty are you and are you following His orders?  

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Yeah… those are mine! Had it been just my shoes, it probably would not have been so tragic. But the shape of the shoes had somehow morphed into an image of my body, soul and spirit. Weeks later, I found I have been fighting a war that I didn’t know was already long in process, and one I have been losing. Having been led by the Spirit to this verse, I realize I had failed to follow the first part!

It was a miracle of sorts. I don’t make it a habit to climb up on my roof and check it out. But after a small leak in the ceiling had been pointed out, I begrudgingly got a ladder, climbed up and found… you guessed it… MORE work to do! The flat part, made up of rolled roofing material, had degraded to the point where it was a miracle it hadn’t failed. And the only one to do the work was ME!

The Elastomeric roofing material was about $100 for a 5 gallon bucket. I bought 2. My neighbor graciously offered to help, since he was retired and wanted something to do. I was just tired! By the time we rolled about 10 feet, he pointed to our feet where the splatter had made an impression! It was a good thing I had worn old shoes! Bad, cuz I had to wear them to the store to buy more material!

Sometime early in the Merry Christmas Holy-days I subconsciously realized I have not really been very merry! And not that I don’t have good reasons! Having never been this old or in this physical condition, I am still tackling everything that comes out of a sense of duty. Sooner or later, with burning the candle at both ends, SOMETHING had to give! So Merry just sort of moved out!

Over these weeks I have read the Word and the locations and subjects have pointed more to a Jackson Pollock painting than a Leonid Afremov. Making no sense, it was easier to simply close the Bible and move on. And somewhere in a silent light, with my spirit down… I called and He answered. One of those verses pointed to this one where I COMPLETELY missed the main point!

Having been involved in Church all my life, I have seen tough times, desert times, hard, sad, difficult and seemingly empty times. If my calling were to make everyone’s day, including my own, miserable… I could close here, having done a wonderful job! But it is not. The Spirit wants love, Joy and Peace to abound from my heart and Spirit. That means NOT LOSING HEART! I missed that!

So on this official ‘everybody back to work and school day,’ it is a Joy to be reminded and remember that I am supposed to operate in HIS Spirit and strength! Not my own. And to remember that, as an old preacher said, “Friday may be here… but Sunday’s a comin!” Jesus never called me to be a Superman. He called me to be HIS man and to look forward to a Merry Merry New Year in HIM!

Have YOU forgotten, or been beaten or worn down? Maybe, like me, you might consider changing places with Jesus and let Him live THROUGH you! I’m going to give it a go!

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:7-9

“God, the perfect Son – Jesus – didn’t start out perfect!” It came as a shock to me as I read Hebrews chapters 2-5! But there it was! And it didn’t surprise me that God was showing me this at Christmas time! The verses go on to say that Jesus BECAME perfect through OBEDIENCE! Which implies that he WASN’T before He was! Even for me, that was a very big pill to swallow!

Obviously Jesus, being begotten of the same substance as God, WAS perfect in Heaven. No sin, no temptation, no bent toward imperfection! He was one WITH His Father because He WAS, by nature, His Father! They had created angels then men. Then fallen angels had deceived and led disobedient man, to death! Man needed a SAVIOR from their divorce from God. Death came because MAN chose it!

It doesn’t take intelligence to know that imperfect and perfect cannot coexist. A perfect hog cannot act as a heart transplant donor to a needy man! They are not made from the same STUFF! If death was the penalty for Man’s choosing to disobey God, then their Savior, a substitute, must first become a man. THEN… He must be tested and tried as a man to ensure that he WAS perfect. That meant this substitute had to be tempted and tried, and LEARN to be obedient under the same rules the first Adam faced. And THAT, God was showing me, was the Boot Camp drill for Jesus!

Hebrews says Jesus offered up cries and petitions while learning obedience to become the perfect man! Cries and petitions implies that Jesus didn’t like the process! The difference was, THIS man was born to LEARN to be the perfect man, die, then serve as the perfect Priest to administer the sacrifice on behalf of the people He died for!! A TALL order indeed! But one He completed!

So this Christmas, as I think about the gifts, joy and wonder of the Holy-day… I think I’m going to focus on the reality of what Jesus REALLY came here to do and become. May God show me that MY obedience to Him is truly important… if I want to serve Him well!

DO YOU see what I see?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

“Go back!” That is what ‘The Voice’ said! ‘It’ has a tendency to show up more frequently the older I get. Which is a good thing, though sometimes… annoying. ‘It,’ ‘The Voice,’ is God. The person I refer to as My Heavenly Father… or “DAD.” The pet name is NOT disrespectful, as seen by the capital letters! Driving by a situation, I heard Him, disregarded in angst, then heard “DAD” again. I turned around!

Born 67 years ago, my life really never started counting until my early teens. It was then that I met DAD under EXTREME circumstances. Being me, I was looking for mischief, and looking back, DAD had had about enough to work with. So He called, I heard, and ‘The Voice’ has never left me alone. He is Faithful to a fault! I wish I could say the same about me… but I’ve ignored Him far too MANY times!

“Go back and pick up that piece of paper. Take the further parking space so someone else can have the closer one. Get there early. Volunteer for the messiest job! Wake up and spend time with me!” They are only some of the things DAD like to say. And though He never shouts, I KNOW it’s Him. Because of the Authority in that still small voice I hear, I NEVER have an excuse to ignore Him.

It was a privilege to see the picture of Charlie Brown and his old bent Christmas Tree. I got to see that special when it first came out on TV and remember it well. Charlie’s eyes on that tree clearly show that he KNOWS that it is not up to par. He KNOWS that his attempt is not good enough in reflecting back the Glory and Honor due the birth of Christ. But KNOWING doesn’t help DOING!

There is an odd sensation that comes when I read this verse. Like looking into a mirror, I can clearly SEE what I look like. But seeing doesn’t bring Joy. I remember what I USED to look like. Time has changed my face and will eventually drop me into a grave. But knowing that SHOULD make me JoyFUL! Unless I’m looking at life through Charlie Brown’s eyes.

Being a new creature should be more intense, joy filled, louder, more insist and yes… even more patient. But not all of those character traits show up in me all the time. Thus ‘The Voice!’ He speaks when He has something to say. Usually when I have acted in the OLD way. Because, since I AM new… I should live and ACT new! “I didn’t know,” is not a valid excuse to DAD!

This verse reminded me that I was made to live and look FORWARD! Not back! So THIS Christmas I think I’m going to try to work a little harder on giving DAD the Gift He’s always wanted. More of the NEW me! And less of the old! After all, we BOTH already know… I KNOW better!

How about YOU?  

This article is FAR too wonderful and awesome to not share. It was sent to me by Randy after I wrote the Words of the Day yesterday, and shares the common theme.. “WHY?”  In the days where things happen, only to leave us questioning WHY?” and hearing no answer, it is WELL worth the reading.  enjoy!  I apologize in advance for the formatting.  spacing and paragraphs did not like my editor!

The Starving Eyes of Man – Why We Ache to See Glory

An article by Greg Morse – Staff writer at desiringGod.org

The eyes of man were made for glory. His soul hungers for something worth seeing. This world is a war of spectacles.

Man is a watching creature, a born admirer, a natural worshiper. It is why he gazes at the stars, climbs to the top of mountains, explores underwater worlds, travels to new and untamed lands — he craves vistas. It explains why he pays good money to pack into sports arenas, stares for hours at television screens, pays homage to the flaming horizon, and sings with Adam at the naked frame of Eve — he was made to see wonders.

Human eyes have had an appetite from the beginning. Consider Eve’s fall: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes . . . she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6). Eyes delighted; sin committed. The pattern holds with her and Adam’s children. When man exchanges the glory of God, he does so for images (Romans 1:23) — for that which intrigues the eye, something seen, a glory exchanged.

Ravenous, then, are the eyes of man. Like the belly, they hunger. Like the throat, they thirst. Like the feet, they wander, searching after something — anything — worth beholding. But in a world of images, he still hasn’t found what he is looking for. One wonder will be replaced by another and another. “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man” (Proverbs 27:20).

But oh, how often humanity conceives its happiness backward. We think to achieve, to be somebody celebrated and revered — this fills the golden chalice with lasting happiness. But man is no dog to live for pats on the head. Just the opposite. Man is a creature who looks out the window through the rain, searching for something to enthrall him. To first see, not be seen; to chiefly admire, not be admired; to fix one’s gaze beyond earth’s horizons — this is the happiness so few ever find.

Back of Glory

Scripture testifies that some famished eyes looked above and found the true object of their desire.

Such ones climbed mountains to exclaim at the heavens, “Please show me your glory!” (Exodus 33:18). Such souls, when surrounded by danger and violence, wrote, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after . . . to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). These eyes faced east and begged to see what would soothe their reason for being — in this world and the next. “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness,” sang David. “When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).

“Show me your glory! Satisfy me with your beauty! Show me your face — even beyond the grave — and it is well with me.”

But Old Testament saints, at best, viewed only the backside of divine glory. God tells Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). The only glory that can satisfy man’s insatiable craving is the glory that would kill him to behold. So Moses hid in the cleft, seeing his back and hearing his name, but God’s face he did not see.

Face of Glory

Yet the story was not done. The glory that Moses could not see the face of, the beauty too fatal for fallen eyes, was born at Christmas. Wonder of wonders.

“The glory that Moses could not see the face of, the beauty too fatal for fallen eyes, was born at Christmas.”

To a little town named Bethlehem arrived the God no one had ever seen. The only God, who was eternally at the Father’s side — he has made him known (John 1:18). Christ — “the image of the invisible God,” the blinding light of God’s glory, “the exact imprint of his nature,” the very face of God’s beauty — became flesh and dwelt among us (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4–6). “And we have seen his glory,” the astonished apostle writes, “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Now, this all-Glorious One came down to us, as Moses came down from the mountain to Israel, veiled. His glory during his incarnation and humiliation was beheld not as much by sight as by faith. It stood as the marvel of angels that the thrice-holy one on the throne, possessor of all riches and glory, should grow up in the world of men “like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). The King veiled his majesty in human flesh, disguised his splendor, hid his name, and dwelled among the poor, diseased, and condemned.

But the eyes of faith came to see more than just a Jewish man. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!” Jesus exclaims after Peter identifies him as the Christ. “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Yet even his disciples were slow to see him. Philip requests of Jesus, “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” “Have I been with you so long,” Jesus replies, “and you still do not know me, Philip?” (John 14:8–9).   Then, with weight enough to break the world’s back, he utters, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” When Philip heard the words and saw the works and beheld the Person born in Bethlehem, he should have seen the face of the one who dwells in “unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).

Seeing Heaven Himself

The sight of Jesus in all his glory alone can satisfy the eyes of men. Overhear Jesus’s prayer hours before the cross. He bends to ask that his disciples be given heaven’s crown jewel. What is that?

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

“The sight of Jesus in all his glory alone can satisfy the eyes of men.”

Jesus wants his people to enjoy the sight their soul was made to see: the glory of God, shining forth in his glory, forever. He desires it — so much so that nails through the hands, the feet, the soul will not stop him from obtaining it. Here is the ultimate something worth seeing. Here is glory beyond hyperbole, said Thomas Watson.

Here is why redeemed beings have eyes: to see and savor Jesus Christ in his uncloaked glory. This is why we have mouths: to sing back to him praise unending. In his presence, faith will flee at that face whose intensity retires the sun: “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23).

Sight That Makes Us Happy

The ache of men’s eyes sends them many places. The eyes of man rove the beauties of this world, restless. Only here, beholding Jesus — now by faith, soon by sight — do we find the beatific vision, the sight that makes eternally happy. Where are you looking, this Christmas, to satisfy your soul?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8) — can you imagine anything better? In the closing chapter, we read, “They will see his face” (Revelation 22:4) — is there a better happily-ever-after? This is not the only joy heaven holds, but it is the best. His kingly countenance, concealed no longer, is heaven’s consummation for both unfallen angel and redeemed man.

“Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty” (Isaiah 33:17). We will not see him as he was in Bethlehem or in the streets of Jerusalem; we will see him as he is in royal beauty (1 John 3:2).

There is a great deal of difference, Jeremiah Burroughs comments, “between seeing the King at an ordinary time, and seeing of him when he is in his Robes, with his Crown upon his head, and his Scepter in his hand, and set upon his Throne, with all his Nobles about him in all his glory” (Moses His Choice, with His Eye Fixed upon Heaven, 537).

And this sight of him transfigured will not merely satisfy but transform. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2.) Burroughs again: “A deformed man may see a beautiful object, and that sight shall not make him like that beautiful object; but the sight of God shall make the soul glorious, as God is glorious” (581–82).

Seeing him as he is, we will join the seraphim in wonder, shouting holy! and worthy! until we threaten to burst with happiness. Available to us is the Face of glory, not the back; an eternal gaze at his beauty, not a passing glimpse. Now we may see in a mirror dimly, “but then face to face.” Now we know in part; then we shall know fully, even as we have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

This is the glory whispered at Christmas, sung at Easter, shouted in eternity — the glory profound enough to satiate our souls and make us happy forever.

Greg Morse is a staff writer for desiringGod.org and graduate of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Abigail, live in St. Paul with their son and daughter.