THE GLORY BEYOND THE SUFFERING

THE GLORY BEYOND THE SUFFERING
Acts 7:54-60

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. ⁵⁸ Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

Speaking hand's free in my car with my Christian sister about some hardships she is currently experiencing, as we prayed and I hung up the phone my radio came back on just in time for me to hear:  "God wants you to get a glimpse of the glory beyond the suffering."  Glimpse of the Glory!  What a remarkable statement.  Beyond the suffering!   YES, cried my heart.  The preacher on the radio continued to share the story of Stephen, the first known martyr of the early Church.  Stephen was drug out of town and stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus Christ and his testimony to the religious leaders about the Messiah.   It is interesting to me that while he was in the synagogue speaking to the Sanhedrin the scriptures say: 

Then all those who were sitting in the Council, stared [intently] at him, and they saw that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15) 

They clearly got a glimpse of the Glory (shining, radiance of God) in/upon Stephen, but it simply angered them when he continued to speak, finally accusing them of being stiff-necked, stubborn people who resist the Holy Spirit, refusing to see the Righteous One for who He is according to the teaching they all had handed down to them and which they had taught themselves!   Now it was personal and they who had beheld the Glory were now enraged rather than redeemed by it.

God wants us to get a glimpse of The Glory beyond the suffering.  In the midst of Stephen's suffering he looked up and when he did he saw heaven open up, and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.   God wants us to do the same in the midst of our suffering - LOOK UP.   As we do we will see the Father and the Son as the Holy Spirit rests upon and in us; we will get a glimpse of The Glory and it will make all the difference in this world.  It will make a difference in how we walk through the suffering, the challenges, the difficulties of life.  

Later in the day I shared this with a co-worker who also endured much suffering the week before, she commented that words people speak are like those stones being hurled at Stephen.  Yes!  And at such times God wants to give us a glimpse of The Glory which we will behold as we LOOK UP. 

I called back and shared this message with the friend I had been talking to just before I heard this radio pastor speak, and we agreed it was a timely message for her, as the situation she is in will not change quickly.  So in the meantime, when weariness and anger and frustration could be our response, we were encouraged to LOOK UP and see the One who redeems every situation we encounter as we look up and glimpse The Glory in the midst of our suffering.   I am weighed down at work right now, to such a degree I feel often I am drowning.  I am reminded that often throughout each day I need to LOOK UP and glimpse The Glory.   Jesus is waiting to escort us through every trial, every trauma, every suffering, every persecution, every unknown.   We just need to look up to see this reality.  

The world we live in is great cause for consternation. There are wars and rumors of wars.  There are earthquakes and hurricanes and storms raging all around.   People are being persecuted all over our world just because they believe in Christ.   Chaldean refugees in California who are believers are being threatened with deportation from what was once a safe-haven for the persecuted - our own USA.  Jesus told the people before His own crucifixion that there would come such a time in our world, and He finished His dissertation in Luke 21 with this:

Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near (verse 28)

Straighten up, look up! For your redemption draws near!

At this point I am not one of the persecuted believers around the world, and a point could be made that such are the only valid grounds for invoking Luke 21:28, or dissecting and identifying with Stephen's experience.  But with all my heart I believe God sees every trial, every suffering, every challenge we face and at every turn in the road we are all advised to LOOK UP because our redemption from anything that comes at us in this world is and will only ever be Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.   Romans 8:34 reminds us: Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

So once again today I am reminded that God wants me to get a glimpse of His Glory beyond the suffering, beyond any situation I know I cannot handle.   In Him is life.  In Him is joy.   In Him is peace.   In Him is found the grace necessary to walk through, and that is best done with an upward-looking stance as I choose to look up and see The Glory beyond.

Amen and amen.
suemccarysargis
9/29/2015

^{DIG DOWN DEEP
Luke 6:46-49}

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Dig a little deeper in God's Love. O, dig a little deeper in God's Love

It's a song I remember from my youth.  I looked it up and found that Kenneth Morris composed it around 1948 and Mahalia Jackson recorded it.  Mr. Morris lived from 1917 to 1988 and his music company was the longest surviving publisher of black gospel sheet music.   When I think of the world he was born into and the struggles of African American people all these years, I think he must have been a person who understood the need to dig down deep and lay a firm foundation.

I remember that phrase from  monetary term when one had to dig down deep in our pockets to find the reserves to pay for something we really wanted.   It is also an idiom meaning to dig way down deep in our own souls to uncover who we really are.  We can scratch the surface, or dig down deep and the way we live life will be reflective of our choice.   The other visual I've read is of a soldier in a war zone who could dig a hole three feet deep or a deeper trench.  You would hide your profile in a fox hole, but if you really wanted to be sure, to be safe you had to dig down deeper.  It's not easy and it takes longer, but it is a much better place to be with enemy fire coming from all directions.

How do I dig down deep?  It's not rocket science.   I spend time digging into the Words of our God so I get a clearer picture of His will, His ways, His desires for me.   It's like that deep trench instead of a fox hole experience - I find the weapons necessary for spiritual warfare only in the deep trenches of God's Word.  Then I am able to battle the onslaught of enemy fire with weapons that will destroy him.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
(2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

I spend time listening to God more than bombarding Him with my words.  As Matt Redman put it in his song - "let my words be few."  This comes from Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 . . .

Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.

Only as I choose to invest my heart, mind, soul and time in the process of digging down deep do I experience unshakable support and strength, wisdom and the knowledge needed for when the winds of adversity, the attacks of the evil one, the ways of this world slam me.  Floods and storms will come; torrents will strike but I will not be shaken, my God's promised reward for digging down deep and laying a strong foundation is as true today as the day it was penned over 2000 years ago . . .

For everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. (Luke 5:47-48)

Not rocket science, true - but it is not always easy to make the choices necessary.  In my world today everyone, including me, wants the easy way out, the quick fix.  We want someone to tell us a good story each Sunday or stuff us full of spiritual insights for a weekend but then we walk away into real life that can so easily shatter our resolve.   I love the mountain top experiences, but when it is time to be back in the real world, the only place safe and secure is in the One who tells us to dig down deep and lay a strong foundation; to hear His words and put them into practice.  Not rocket science, but it does take the same kind of determination and resolve.  

smcs //  September 24-25, 2015