V. Peace – The Glory which Embraces Me

(This is part 5 of our new series “Peace”. Here is part 4.)

Hello everyone,
Jesus is stirring my heart today to write about the character of God. How have you been? War after war breaks out, but we know what Jesus told us in Matthew 24 to recognize the signs. When you are scared of persecution because you belong to God, remember the words of Jesus in John 16 (only those who know the signs in Matthew 24 will understand)! Feel the warmth of his heart as He speaks. God is always so kind to warn us ahead of time, if we need. Ask Him for dreams and visions concerning His kingdom, and bring them to the Holy Spirit for interpretation. Be patient in endurance; rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances, and pray without ceasing – for there is peace in obedience.

I want to point you to the glory of God today, which embraces those who fear Him. Before that, however, we need to get into position. See, oftentimes, we try to push God into a certain direction. Jesus warns us of such behavior from pagan worship (Matthew 6:7-15); people always try to “satisfy” God in the best way possible so that He might fulfill their wishes. People can get extreme when doing that! Here is an instance of what we as humans are capable of:

“About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.” (1. Kings 18:27-28 NLT)

It is like playing tricks on our parents to get what we want. We got the attention and protection we wanted as a child when we pretended to be sicker than we were, for example. So we throw a pity-party before the Heavenly Father and deceive ourselves into thinking that we are that sick. Some threaten their parents with hints of suicide. They keep telling God that it is good when He just takes them. Does this not remind you of some prophets (Jonah, Elijah, etc.)? Oh, how it grieves His heart! There is a fine line between God understanding and having compassion with us, and God resisting our pride. There is a fine line between being understood by God and partnering with a manipulative spirit. We must hate sin as God does, and resist evil spirits as God does. Here we go: we admit that we might have worshipped a false image of the Heavenly Father based on what we chose to believe. I know I am speaking to some today; you must be ready to face the truth if you want to be set free.

I read something very beautiful this year from one of Ole Hallesby’s books on prayer* (I had the Korean version, so this is translated by me into English and not the original): “A servant fears punishment. This fear views God as a stern, merciless monarch, a tyrant who will do nothing more than inflict punishment. But a child does not fear such a thing. The child’s fear is rather the very thought of sin itself, of sinning against God; going against God’s will and damaging one’s relationship with Him. It is the very thought of making Him worry.” Do you see the difference? The very heart of prayer? It is relationship! Our very purpose as His children is relationship. We want to comfort our Father instead of burdening Him! Imagine a little girl going up to her daddy when she sees he is sad. She hugs him and he adores her. This is the fear of God in Jesus Christ! We see our sins sadden our Daddy’s heart, so we stop sinning. His heart matters to us, so we let go of everything else to pursue Him.

“For since the world began,
no ear has heard
and no eye has seen a God like you,
who works for those who wait for him!
You welcome those who gladly do good,
who follow godly ways.
But you have been very angry with us,
for we are not godly.
We are constant sinners;
how can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Yet no one calls on your name
or pleads with you for mercy.
Therefore, you have turned away from us
and turned us over to our sins.
And yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We are all formed by your hand.
Don’t be so angry with us, LORD.
Please don’t remember our sins forever.
Look at us, we pray,
and see that we are all your people.”
(Isaiah 64:4-8 NLT)

I find it incredible how we miss the simplicity of what God ever requires of us for healing. There has never been a God like our God who works for those who wait for Him! How do you do that? You stop displaying your righteous deeds before Him as if they were going to rescue you and turn His heart to help you better! We wither away because of our sins, and He turns us over to them when we do not call on His name and plead with Him for mercy. What does God say about Himself? “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6 ESV)! When you fear God and take Him for who He is, then you trust His goodness and come to Him for mercy! You acknowledge your utter vulnerability because you know that even the sum of all your righteous acts could not make you right with Him – only His Son’s righteousness does! Compared to the shining, white covering Jesus gives you, your righteous acts are like filthy rags! Repent and plead for His mercy, therefore, wait for His rescue instead of trying to prove yourself before Him. He does what He promises to do, and we do not fear punishment. We choose instead to be expectant, thankful and in awe of how gloriously patient and kind He will be towards us, as He always is. We ask for the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, acknowledging the corruptedness of our hearts as Scripture says. We need His help everyday! Jesus did not leave us alone but gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could receive forgiveness and forgive.

The Glory which embraces us is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Because of His righteousness, we no longer fear punishment. We fear hurting our Father with continuous sin. We know His character, that He is merciful and gracious; He forgives instantly when we confess and remembers our sins no more. He forgives us of sins unknown, when we believe and ask Him to. Yet we fear Him, so we ask Him to expose gently to us the sins we are unaware of. God is always the same. Hence, He always loves us the same. He loved me when I was much worse, thinking I do not need God. He loved me when I became His child and still despised what He had for me. He loves me at my best, and He loves me at my worst. He loves me, He just does!

Shalom, my precious siblings in Christ. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is His glory all around you. It protects you and heals you. I have much to share, but let us stop here for now.

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*Ole Hallesby, “Under His Wings”