Learning About the Glory of God

Exodus 33:18-19 (KJV)
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

One day Moses asked God to show him His glory. In reply to his request, God responded by mentioning one of His key character attributes: Goodness, Graciousness, and Mercifulness. As imitators of Christ, these attributes should be esteemed greatly because they unlock freedom and heavenly grace for us.

Goodness is not as simple as it seems to describe. People whom we respect might require our kindness, and by responding positively we might think we are good. But the real measure of goodness is observed in how gentle and humble we are when people whom we don’t give much account arouse our temper. Will you be hotheaded when your family member takes something valuable from you without your consent? Or will you curse your neighbor in your heart when he causes some minor problem unknowingly? Such points measure how gracious and merciful you are.

We can learn from His Word that if we want Him to bless us with His glory, we should start to acknowledge what is right and wrong in the eyes of God.

Goodness is the rock on which you can build a great spiritual life because God will approve and accept you to carry His glory. To build a relationship with God through tangible experience, we should start to exercise lovingkindness in faith. We will soon find out that Goodness and Mercifulness are indeed character traits that can be learned and acquired only through time.

Glory has two sides: one is a beautiful and attractively mysterious element that resides in the life of a glorious person through the spirit, and the second is a dreadful and heavy element that induces trembling in others through the spirit. When God reveals Himself to people, their reactions are mixed because they love to see and have Him more, but at the same time, they lose their strength to stand before His presence. Glory has both attracting and repelling elements to show men that they ought to love and imitate God.

When God talked with Moses, He linked His glory with the attributes of His Graciousness and Mercifulness. The grand commandment of love brings us back to the fruit of glory. People can cultivate glory through two ways:

• By imitating God through character: People can put on glory, thereby inspiring others to behave well. Such people can lead those around them to a path of righteousness through justice. According to Proverbs 20:28 and Isaiah 16:5, God's chosen kings had their kingdom established as they walked in lovingkindness. God has taught us in different ways that walking in compassion and Mercifulness is knowing Him (Jeremiah 22:16).
• By learning the arts of prayer from God: Our spirit, once it starts to gaze and call upon God, can learn different wisdoms on how to abide in God through praise and worship. Such devoted worshippers stretch their spirit and connect with God in a subtle and indescribable way, as Jesus also taught us in John 3. We can observe the wonders and beauty when God reveals His presence during our worship, but it requires well-trained men and women of prayer who devote themselves to pleasing God. Such glory, attained through connecting with the Spirit of God, is different from the previous one as it has the potential to bring authoritative influence globally.

We need both of these categories of glory. In fact, the scripture does not seem to give priority to one over the other. They appear to be like two sides of our body.

The good news about receiving healing and freedom from God is that we can begin to have them right today. Glory is important for receiving our prayer requests and for achieving our goals successfully. So decide today to use any challenging opportunity by behaving gently, humbly, kindly, and patiently. Then set aside an hour or more to spend before God in prayer or praise. You will see a transformative change growing in your life.

Of course, you will need to regularly read the Bible in order to learn how to hear the guidance of God's voice. The Word of God has the power to open your ears and eyes to His guidance. In fact, it might be impossible to go far without it. Therefore, it is imperative that you give the Word of God a great place in your life. You must read it all, whether you feel like it or not, because each part of the book has a specific work to do in your life.

Once you start synchronizing your life with God's will, you will receive very specific ordinances to lead your life with. Along with that, your power, glory, and authority will grow. On your way, you will also learn how risky it is to neglect His statutes in any way. The authoritative power you receive through God-given wisdom is a dominant one toward others, as it will subdue their ways to God's will. Missing out on your path from His ordinances, however, will make you vulnerable.

Your life must be led prudently in order to obey God in faith, as it is written: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

Once we decide to please God, hoping to receive His rewards, we will find out that it is difficult to subject ourselves to His orders. We will only empower our will as we learn from God how to abide in Christ. Without Him, we will keep doing what we don't want to do, and even more, we may start to justify wrong paths which will eventually lead us to our downfall.

Hence, the only way we can get the grace to do what is right is to put on Christ through the specific ways God orders us to walk. It is important to note that we should prioritize what God wants instead of what our emotions dictate us to do. Sometimes we may not feel like going to church, or we may not understand the part of the Bible we are reading; hence we may forgo them and do what we think is better. But that could be the point where we miss out on the way we encounter God and His grace.

We should attend the church not only to be a recipient but also a participant in making God come down to visit us. It is obvious that being together with the people of God by itself is a blessing, as it is a heavenly formula to receive God's goodness. But besides that, we should get ready beforehand with prayer and other God-pleasing acts in order to prepare a room for God's wonderful visitation in the midst of worship and preaching.

Don't expect the ministers in the church to do that for you, but be a servant of God yourself. You will observe how God faithfully responds to your endeavors by sending special prophetic promises for you. He will appear in His majestic glory during worship just because you prepared to meet Him.