Just one glimpse of His glory!
Posted by appolus on February 10, 2015
In a recent post, I spoke about the vital need to be found wearing the full armor of God if we are to stand in the evil day. I would like to speak about another aspect of our relationship with God that will be vital if we are to stand in that day.
The subject of passion can be so divisive because for the most part it is subjective. Yet , I will argue that Gods elect, His remnant, are a passionate group of believers. Passion; what is it and how do we measure it and how can it be obtained? A basic definition of passion is a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. Can you say that you are passionate for Jesus? What produces passion in anyone for anything? Well, if we are to be passionate about something there must first be an encounter. In the world men and woman will testify that they met someone and it was ” love at first sight.” Within a month they are married and they remain married for the next fifty years. They fell ” madly,” in love with one another and the thought of ever being apart was something they could not even consider. Are you madly in love with Jesus? Does He produce that kind of passion within you? Can you say that you have encountered Him in such a fashion?
One of the most passionate sermons in all of the New Testament was Peters sermon after he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. He has been penetrated to his very core, Christ Himself had taken up residency in his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit to such a degree that out of the abundance of this filling overflowed the sermon, the speech, the sharing with the crowd, call it what you like, but such was the passion and the power of his words that mens hard hearts were penetrated also. You see, out of the abundance of our hearts our mouths speak. It is a universal principle. If a man has a passion and you want to know what it is, just hang around him for a while and you will soon know. If it is politics, then he will speak of politics. He will know all about it and he will continually speak of it. If it is sports or music or hunting or history it will be just the same. If it is Jesus, it will be no different. Out of the passionate heart flows passionate words.
You can speak passionate words and have no power, but you cannot have the power of God and not be passionate about it. And so let me ask you brothers and sisters. When you share with others, if you do indeed share to any degree, do you share with the passion of one who has a “strong or extravagant fondness or enthusiasm?” Does the very passion of your sharing intrigue the listener?
Psalm 84 says My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God…….For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 24:6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
Psa 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
Psa 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Psa 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Psa 43:4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
Brothers and sisters. The man or the woman who encounters God, who has stood, if only for a mere moment, and glimpsed the glory of God is the man or the woman who is ruined for all of this life. He has glimpsed eternity, he has seen something of His majesty and His glory. He has wept over his sin, he has wept over the state of the Church and the world. He has wept with overwhelming joy. He has been taken up into the high heavens of Gods presence on the winds of a overflowingly thankful heart. When he was weary suddenly he has mounted up with wings as eagles. When he thought he could run no more suddenly he is overtaken by the Spirit of God and he no longer faints. The power of God demonstrated by His manifest presence in our lives. No mere theory nor philosophy but a God who speaks to His people, who comforts His people, who renews the minds of His people who encourages His people, who heals His people, who causes His people to stand when all of hell and its fury comes against them. This is the Living God of the Word who dwells within our hearts. Because of all of this Gods people have always been passionate people. Just one glimpse of His glory, just a quiet word spoken into our hearts, this is the strength of Gods passionate people. The Word of God and His living reality in our lives. In this love for our God we shall stand in that day.
As the deer panteth for the waterbrooks let your very essence long after Him today. Cry out to the Lord your God to reveal Himself in deeper ways to you that the world may see your passion and be drawn unto God. God certainly inhabits the praises of His people. That is always taken to mean when you are singing. Yet, do you praise God to men? Can men look at you as you speak the praises of God and wonder about the passion by which you speak? The depth of your passion will have a direct correlation to the depth of your relationship. Just as those who are forgiven much love much, so those who are found in His presence, at His feet, are those who display the passion they have for their God and men are intrigued by it. In His presence we will stand in that day. And so, with the full armor of God and in His love and in His presence we will certainly stand in that day and we could stand in no other way. His Love, His Word and His manifest presence.
A Call To The Remnant 
Seated At The Master's Feet said
Reblogged this on Seated At The Master's Feet.
Seated At The Master's Feet said
This was very stirring, Frank! You wrote, “God certainly inhabits the praises of His people. That is always taken to mean when you are singing. Yet, do you praise God to men?” I had never thought of it that way, but it’s true. He inhabits all of our praise of Him, no matter which form it takes. I’ve reblogged this, thank you ♥.
appolus said
Amen , yes we can sing His praises and we can speak His praises and God inhabits it all because the Holy Spirit of the Living God rests and abides on those who glorify Jesus. This brings down His presence in a manifest way when out of the abundance of our hearts we speak of Jesus ……………bro Frank
Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said
That was a really good article, Frank. God-breathed!! And I enjoyed reading it! 🙂
Indeed, who does not love God passionately won’t ever be able to love everyone passionately, either, and thus cannot “convince” anyone of God’s truth – i.e., the Gospel – because the power of God that springs from having received His unconditional love in our very hearts is missing. We cannot touch anyone without loving them first as God and Christ loved us first. There are many who know a lot about God, or rather, the Bible, yet it is merely left-brained and thus powerless head knowledge. And there are others who display a lot of “feelings” and think there is the power of God behind, however, they lack the discernment of the spirits and are neither sober-minded nor grounded on the rock who is Christ. A dangerous mixture, particularly the latter. Since such people are often charismatic personalities who can convince others with their soulish powers that are, alas, spring-fed by Satan.
Briefly, without knowing God – and having encountered Him as you said above, my brother – we are always in danger of being led astray. Or in other words,
“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thes 5:6-11 ESV)
Love,
Susanne
Michael said
Frank and Susanne, Great post and comment! Yes, may we always be stirred by His love welling up in our hearts and only then may we dare to speak of Him to others with great passion for Him and love for them. Amen!
Love you both,
Michael
appolus said
Amen sister. There is a saying that people do not care what you know until they know that you care. This love of God, so majestically spoken of in 1 Cor 13 is the abiding power of God in the lives of His people. We can have all other things, know all mysteries and prophesy and even give our bodies to be burned yet if we do not have the Love God in our hearts what would any of that achieve. It is the measuring rod of the Spiritual activity in our lives. And out of this deep and abiding loves comes the by-product of passion. ………………….bro Frank
Just one glimpse of His glory! « A Wilderness Voice said
[…] Just one glimpse of His glory!. I felt that this great article about our passion for Christ was very timely. So be it! mdc […]
amongtheforgotten said
A few friends and I were once asked after an evening of fellowship, “Are you all new Christians” due to the ever present joy unspeakable and full of glory that often if not always pervaded our times together. Of course the answer was no, we had been Christians for many, many years prior.
Of course we know now, that fleshly enthusiasm is often accompanied by the new believer and especially the false convert. Over time this excitement fades, for the passion is derived from the participation in religious things and not in the Master Himself. I would think that anyone who regularly abides in their relationship with Christ would be passionate about Him and the truth etc. Isn’t true passion just a byproduct of LIFE itself, the overflow of Christ in a person to others?
Obviously I’m just speaking what you already said herein. Loved Susanne’s comment as well. Needless to say, where this passion is absent something is amiss if not altogether absent.
appolus said
Amen ” Amongtheofrogotten.” Moses face glowed, This love, this joy, this passion should be seen in our ” countenance,” our faces. It is certainly the by-product. If Jesus is the primary object, then love and passion is the inevitable by-product. ……………bro Frank
Tim Shey said
Wow! Praise the Lord! This was very inspiring and well-written.
Anna Waldherr said
Beautiful!