Yesterday I shared a chorus that John Beaumont heard in a vision of God’s glory. Also in that sharing he tried to describe the glory of God as he saw it and came to understand it:
Something else caught hold of me. I went back to the book to find out that it is wrong to think that glory primarily relates to heaven. We say someone has gone to glory. But God’s glory is not primarily that. Why did he create mankind? Why did he create the entire universe? His intention was that there might be a display of his splendor—an expression of all that is in his heart and all his abilities and capabilities and majesties and wonders and glories—all of that showing forth! The far-flung corners of the universe speak of the immensity of God. The sweetness of a little flower shows his wisdom and the tenderness of his spirit toward that which is fragile.
There is so much in all of it. I have cried a lot lately because I was made to be a reflection of his glory and I regret every past stumbling, failure and missing the mark so deeply because I deprived God of what God deserved in me. And I feel like that about the church of Jesus Christ. The grievous thing about it all is that God ought to be magnificently glorified in the church. His rainbow ought to shine out—the living God revealed in the people of God.
And that’s all that matters. We were made for that and for that to be taking place now. We don’t need more preaching. We don’t more of a lot of things that people think we need. But we need the shining forth of the divine, the radiance of Father’s glory by living as Jesus did—as God’s servant on the earth.
Listening to that touched a deep place in me. That’s what I want too! I want to be a reflection of his glory to people around me and I passionately pray that the Body of Christ in our day rise to become that reflection of his life in the world.
How can one be sure that what John describes as a vision is not just his imagination?
How can one be sure that what John describes as a vision is not just his imagination?
Tim,
Our imaginations are given by God as well, so it doesn’t bother me that he uses them to make his heart clear to us.
But I think you meant how do I know this is from God? Believe me I have lots of ‘visions’ cross my desk regularly. Most of them do not have the fragance of Father nor the authenticity of Scriptue in them. This one does, for me. Plus, I know the man behind it and he’s as genuine and unassuming a brother as I get to meet on this journey whose walk with God runs deep and true. That helps me sort out things like this, but if others don’t sense that same reality in his words, I certainly free them to disregard it.
Verifying the reality of things like this is all of our responsibility. I don’t claime to validate it for anyone else, just share it for what it meant to me.
Tim,
Our imaginations are given by God as well, so it doesn’t bother me that he uses them to make his heart clear to us.
But I think you meant how do I know this is from God? Believe me I have lots of ‘visions’ cross my desk regularly. Most of them do not have the fragance of Father nor the authenticity of Scriptue in them. This one does, for me. Plus, I know the man behind it and he’s as genuine and unassuming a brother as I get to meet on this journey whose walk with God runs deep and true. That helps me sort out things like this, but if others don’t sense that same reality in his words, I certainly free them to disregard it.
Verifying the reality of things like this is all of our responsibility. I don’t claime to validate it for anyone else, just share it for what it meant to me.