what is God's glory?

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What is the glory of God? Question: "What is the glory of God?" Answer: The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is. James 1:10 calls on a rich man to “glory in his humiliation,” indicating a glory that does not mean riches or power or material beauty. This glory can crown man or fill the earth. It is seen within man and in the earth, but it is not of them; it is of God. The glory of man is the beauty of man’s spirit, which is fallible and eventually passes away, and is therefore humiliating—as the verse tells us. But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away. It is eternal. Isaiah 43:7 says that God created us for His glory. In context with the other verses, it can be said that man “glorifies” God because through man, God’s glory can be seen in things such as love, music, heroism and so forth—things belonging to God that we are carrying “in jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7). We are the vessels which “contain” His glory. All the things we are able to do and to be find their source in Him. God interacts with nature in the same way. Nature exhibits His glory. His glory is revealed to man’s mind through the material world in many ways, and often in different ways to different people. One person may be thrilled by the sight of the mountains, and another person may love the beauty of the sea. But that which is behind them both (God’s glory) speaks to both people and connects them to God. In this way, God is able to reveal Himself to all men, no matter their race, heritage or location. As Psalm 19:1-4 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands; day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world.” Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” It used to be common to hear Christians talk of death as being “received unto glory,” which is a phrase borrowed from this Psalm. When the Christian dies, he will be taken into God’s presence, and in His presence will be naturally surrounded by God’s glory. We will be taken to the place where God’s beauty literally resides—the beauty of His Spirit will be there, because He will be there. Again, the beauty of His Spirit (or the essence of Who He Is) is His “glory.” In that place, His glory will not need to come through man or nature, rather it will be seen clearly, just as 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.” In the human/earthly sense, glory is a beauty or vibrancy that rests upon the material of the earth (Psalm 37:20, Psalm 49:17), and in that sense, it fades. But the reason it fades is that material things do not last. They die and wither, but the glory that is in them belongs to God, and returns to Him when death or decay takes the material. Think of the rich man mentioned earlier. The verse says, “The rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.” What does this mean? The verse is admonishing the rich man to realize that his wealth and power and beauty come from God, and to be humbled by the realization that it is God who makes him what he is, and gives him all he has. And the knowledge that he will pass away like the grass is what will bring him to the realization that God is the one from whom glory comes. God’s glory is the source, the wellspring from which all smaller glories run. Since God is the one from whom glory comes, He will not let stand the assertion that glory comes from man or from the idols of man or from nature. In Isaiah 42:8, we see an example of God’s jealousy over His glory. This jealousy for His own glory is what Paul is talking about in Romans 1:21-25 when he speaks of the ways people worship the creature rather than the Creator. In other words, they looked at the object through which God’s glory was coming, and, instead of giving God the credit for it, they worshiped that animal or tree or man as if the beauty it possessed originated from within itself. This is the very heart of idolatry and is a very common occurrence. Everyone who has ever lived has committed this error at one time or another. We have all “exchanged” the glory of God in favor of the “glory of man.” This is the mistake many people continue to make: trusting in earthly things, earthly relationships, their own powers or talents or beauty, or the goodness they see in others. But when these things fade and fail as they will inevitably do (being only temporary carriers of the greater glory), these people despair. What we all need to realize is that God’s glory is constant, and as we journey through life we will see it manifest here and there, in this person or that forest, or in a story of love or heroism, fiction or non-fiction, or our own personal lives. But it all goes back to God in the end. And the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will find the very source of all beauty in Him, in heaven, if we are in Christ. Nothing will be lost to us. All those things that faded in life we will find again in Him.

Here is the promise


1.REFINING
Isaiah 48:10
The Lord promises to refine us and purify us by allowing us to go through the furnace of affliction.This process prepares us to inherit the blessings God has in store for us.The furnace of affliction can be painful but the reward will be very pleasant.
2.REJOICING
Isaiah 51:3,12,13 Isaiah 54:13 Isaiah 57:15 Isaiah 66:13,14
The Lord promises to bring rejoicing in our lives. He will comfort us and heal our broken hearts and fill us with joy and gladness.
3.REBUILDING
Isaiah 49:8 Isaiah 58:12 Isaiah 61:4
The Lord promises to rebuild our lives. Wherever there is decay and desolation He will help us to rebuild everything and restore it. Even in areas where there has been desolation for generations He will help us to raise it up once again.
4.REPULSING
Isaiah 59:19 Isaiah 54:17
The Lord promises to repulse every attack of the enemy in our lives. The Spirit of God will lift a standard against every attack of the enemy and none of the weapons formed against us will prosper.
5.REPUTATION
Isaiah 62:4 Isaiah 48:15,17 Isaiah 49:2 Isaiah 55:8,9 Isaiah 60:22
The Lord promises to restore our reputation. Wherever We have been mocked and despised He will cause us to be honoured.He will prosper us and increase us.This will happen when we follow His ways and His thoughts which are higher than our ways and our thoughts.
6.REMOVING
Isaiah 49:17
The Lord promises to remove the hindrances that caused our lives to be desolate and decayed. All the negative factors that were causing wastage and destruction in our lives will be be removed and once again God will give us the freedom to grow and prosper.
7.RECOVERING
Isaiah 49:24,25
The Lord promises to help us recover everything that belongs to us. He will contend with those who contend with us and will restore all that was taken captive from us. Even mighty and terrible foes will have to release the captives when the almighty God contends with them.

Opinionated or Convicted?

 The dictionary defines opinion :In general, an opinion is a subjective belief, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented. However, it can be reasoned that one opinion is better supported by the facts than another by analysing the supporting arguments.^[1] In casual use, the term opinion may be the result of a person's perspective, understanding, particular feelings, beliefs, and desires. It may refer to unsubstantiated information, in contrast to knowledge and fact-based beliefs.
So if I say IMO it is not cast in stone. It is subject to change by argument or facts.
Convictions are defined as :

 /kənˈvɪkʃən/ Show Spelled

a: the act of convincing a person of error or of compelling the admission of a truth b: the state of being convinced of error or compelled to admit the truth

3

a: a strong persuasion or belief b: the state of being convinced
 Antonyms  to conviction are:. doubt, uncertainty.
John 16
But when he, the Spirit of truth,^(R) comes, he will guide you into all the truth.^(S) He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine.^(T) That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

When the Holy Spirit comes it is to convict us in threee areas:

1. He convicts us of the presence of sin in us and the world and the need for the redemptive power of Jesus. This is not an opinion, it is absolute.

2. He convicts us of our rightedousness whenwe are redeemed. Some think the Holy Spirit convists us of sin--this is not so. Our hearts convict us of sin. For it is there that the law of God has been written on felshly tablets.1 John 3:20-21: For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God
Then when sin assails the Holy Spirit convicts us of our righteousness in Christ. A person can offer us an opinion that we are sinners and lost and confused but only the Holy Spirit will rescue us--by conviction of righteousness.

3. The Holy Spirit convicts us of justice==a balance to it all. At some point there will be judgement--the whole world will be judged. This conviction directs us to walk rightly.


A missionary and his wife and children were captured and threatened with death. The children and wife were put in a big hole and the missionary told to recant his teaching about Christ. Dirt was being poured into the hole, the children cried, the wife took their hands and began to sing hymns. The missionary refused to deny Jesus.

Would they have behaved that way for an opinion.
Churches offer opinions. People offer opinions on the word of God. Opinions divide and cause dissention in the body of Christ. Opinions cause less than stellar results in Christian living.

Only the conviction of the Holy Spirit produces the true Christian walk. Walk this way @ Bible Study daily.

why suffering?

So the power of Christ may rest upon us. To strengthen us in our innerman. To produce endurance, character, hope etc.
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Romans 5:3-4 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that [b]suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [/b]
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
[b]For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory...[/b]
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Thanks Starr ==you are like God's mouth you surround me with His word! I greatly appreciate you!
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corruption

In a biblical context corruption has been endemic among humankind ever since the Fall (Gen 6:11-12; Ps 14:1-3). Our minds are prone to corrupt thoughts, ambition and greed (Titus 1:15-16); corrupt thoughts give rise to corrupt speech (Prov. 19:28; James 3:6) and corrupt actions.

Corruption is not just about specific acts such as bribery but about our very mindsets and deep-seated behaviours. Consider the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ that we cannot serve God and Mammon (Matt 6: 19-24). How do we cope with this injunction? It is very difficult in this materialistic world, not to try to settle for some sort of compromise with which we can make ourselves feel comfortable. Given our human nature we try to re-assure ourselves that we are leading the simple life and denying ourselves unnecessary things but as soon as we compare ourselves with the way many others live, in our own country let alone in poorer parts of the world, the discomfort crowds in; we try to justify ourselves but even on the briefest self-examination, we fail. In the way we delude ourselves about such things, we are corrupting godly values. As sinful people we are inherently corrupt

I believe God has everything set up on a “all or nothing” principle. There is only maximum life or maximum death. If you choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum life in the New Heaven and New Earth.
If you do not choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum death – which will be the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. There are no middle or neutral grounds! It’s all or nothing. It’s either God or the Devil, heaven or hell, or maximum life or maximum death. It’s really all black and white.
God the Father is a God of maximum intensity. He is not playing games. There is only one God and one Savior – Jesus Christ! There is only one way to live this life – and that is to choose Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and then follow all of God’s ways and commandments as best you can.
Here is the Scripture verse that perfectly spells all of this out for us:

“… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days …” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

I do not think God could make things any more clear than by the way He has worded this specific verse. This verse is about as black and white as you can possibly get.
You will notice that God says absolutely nothing about any type of middle or neutral areas. However, the actual choice is up to each person. God will not force Himself or His ways on anyone. Each person has to freely choose God and His ways with their own free wills. If they do not, for whatever reason, the final consequence will be maximum death in the most horrible place imaginable.
The other thing to try and understand why God would create such a horrible place of torment is to just look at some of the people who commit pure evil in this life – the serial killers, the rapists, the murderers, and the leaders of nations who enslave and torture their own people. Just look at the nature of Satan himself and all of the horrors and evil he has caused throughout the history of our world. Some of these fallen angels and evil human beings really deserve nothing less than maximum death, which really does line up with their evil natures and personalities.
The real sad part about all of this is why a certain percentage of the angelic and human race have chosen with their own free wills to live their lives on the dark side, and to allow themselves to deteriorate to the lower levels of the dark side where they themselves have now become nothing pure evil, giving God no other alternative but to throw them into this lake of fire for the rest of their eternal lives.
None of these angels and humans were born or created pure evil. They all became pure evil over the course of their lives and they freely chose to do so with their own free wills. To fully understand why these humans and fallen angels have chosen to live this life on the dark side, when they also had every chance to choose God and all of His righteous and holy ways will probably always remain a mystery.
But for those of you who have chosen Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and have chosen to follow God and all of His holy ways, you will not have to go through the Great White Throne Judgment. Your final reward is going to be maximum life – and this reward is going to be the New Heaven and the New Earth. I will discuss what the Bible has to say about this new paradise in the next article.

-Mike

Names of the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of Judgement, spirit of wisdom,helper, comforter,
Spirit of truth,