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December
2, 2006
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Paulette
Reed: "THE ROAD TO GLORY--THE WORK OF CHRIST'S NATURE WITHIN US"
"God uses the
afflictions of life to train His holy army."
 The Road to Maturity
Using a familiar analogy for the Bride of Christ, when a bride is young, she
anticipates her groom will tell her exactly what he's doing in their lives as
they walk hand-in-hand into their promised land. She has a vision all drawn out
in her mind, not yet realizing her dreams need to be sacrificed upon God's
altar in order to carry the sweet aroma of Christ. She's learning what she gives over
to God He will take over, and then her dreams are restored to her.
When born from above, the bride is unaware it will take years for her First Love
to make His way her way, His will her will, and His warfare her warfare, as the
two become one (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Through the years of our experience with Christ, we can learn to cherish the
mysterious, adventurous concept of Acts 1:1, "...Jesus
began to do and (then) to teach..." Often, the intellect wrestles with this method of training, thinking
Jesus and His followers should teach and "then" do. However, in the dichotomy of
the Kingdom, where the first shall be last, the Master Teacher places His
Glorious Church in Abrahamic training to produce greater faith within her.
Is
she willing to aspire to be an obedient bondslave, not knowing where she'll be
going? (Hebrews 11:8). Let's remain grateful for the journey. For if
the Groom reveals exactly where we're going, we may miss His intent to reveal
Himself--the King of Glory.
As we walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7), it pleases the
Father. Our trust in Him eventually makes the invisible, visible. It draws upon
His grace and pulls His stolen glory back into our temples. Now, beloved, Jesus
is about to reveal more and more of what it is He was doing and teaching as His
glory begins to appear over you (Isaiah 60:2).
Embracing the Trainer
"The long preparation for
a wedding is always worth it."
Psalm 119:67-68, is a profound 20/20 hindsight teaching tool,
"Before I was
afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your word. You are good, and what You do
is good; teach me Your decrees." Further,
verse 71 proclaims, "It was good for
me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees."
When the Church experiences affliction, she learns to run to the shelter of the
Lover of her soul. He is always there, never forsaking or abandoning, never
early, and never late. He is her Protector, Provider, and Healer. Each time there is
a crisis--whoosh...off she goes into His arms!
God uses the afflictions of life to train His holy army, His bride. She learns
of glorious shelter in the cleft of the Rock. Interaction with her Divine
Husband (Isaiah 54:5) takes the place of always phoning a friend, prayer group,
or consulting the pastor. Her Savior is standing right there to save her. After
all, redemption is what Jesus does best. How long must He wait for the
interference from other suitors to be silenced?
Our brother Moses knew to run
into the arms of the Father in crisis. He expressed his desperation for God to
show His glory. As God was faithful to reveal Himself, Moses also learned to
remain in that glory. He knew it wasn't for him to bask in; its purpose was to
enable him to lead the others to the Promised Land.
As the Word guides us through glory training, He keeps the manual available. It
is alive and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. Open the Book and there
stands Truth. However, reading any manual won't immediately transform us. The
characteristics of this Author can be developed only through experience, as we
learn to trust and obey.
Friends, afflicted, stay in the Word! God is not a man that He should lie
(Numbers 23:19). He has promised a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, and
it shall be so. Remember, it takes heat to iron out those wrinkles and the
Refiner's soap to remove the spots. Fortunately, the long preparation for a
wedding is always worth it. We march through glory training in our wedding gowns
and combat boots, staying alert of the warfare all around us. But, we always
carry a shield--the bouquet of victory won for us at Calvary by the King of
glory.
Attentive and Harmonious
Is it possible for us to focus so much on asking the Lord to show us His glory,
that we miss the Lord showing us His glory?
I vividly recall discovering the glory of the Lord as I experienced extremely
trying times years ago. I was commuting 100 miles daily to my place of ministry,
traveling through sunrises and sunsets. Just when I began to feel too weary to
continue, Jesus showed me His glory. There it was, right on the road I was
traveling. It was something to focus on and relish, the glory and splendor of
the skies. It had been before me all along. I just hadn't seen it. Dear ones,
"The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of
His hands"
(Psalm 19:1). If we don't see the glory in the skies, I wonder if we could miss
it elsewhere as well?
While recently flying in a plane, I traveled through many layers of
magnificently created clouds. None of us on board were in a position to abort the
mission, even if we didn't like the looks of the journey. We were a captive
audience, traveling together. Later (because first Jesus does and then He
teaches), the Holy Spirit used this earthly experience to show me the different
levels of Heavenly glory accessible to us. We can stay under one glory cloud
that's fluffy and feels good, even choosing to set-up camp and missing the next move.
Or, we can soar through layers of glory clouds pressing though when dark,
turbulent ones appear, lifting our heads so the King of glory may come in
(Psalm
24:7).
Most importantly, the Lord spoke of how crucial it is to recognize the glory as
He reveals it, moving with the cloud and fire in unity--daily, like the
people in the plane and the tribes of Israel. Beloved, we must be moving in
harmony under the cloud during the day, so the pillar of fire will show Himself
at night.
Sharing the Glory
Yes, there's more glory coming to the Church in this generation. As Moses used
what he had to lead people out of bondage, may we do the same. We would do well
to ask ourselves if we live in the glory throughout the week. Do we esteem our
family and co-workers, preferring them above ourselves? Did our correspondence
glorify the Lord? How about that conversation with the over-worked, underpaid,
lonesome and angry clerk at the mall? Have our words been laced with compassion
and wisdom? Did we represent Jesus well as vessels filling the earth with the
knowledge of the glory? (Habakkuk 2:14)
Friends, Jesus says in John 17:22, that the same glory the Father gave Him, He gives
to us, "I have given them the glory that you gave
Me, that they may be one as We
are One." He's exhorting us to be one with Him, which is also one with each
other. As my brother Elliot says, "Staying under the glory cloud has as much to
do with our relationships with each other in the Body, as it does to our personal
relationship with Jesus." Beloved, the glory will not fall until our temples are
complete (see I Kings 8).
If we're truly traveling on the road to glory, those we encounter will be drawn
under the glory cloud as well. People in our city, our homes, and our marketplaces
should be able to sense the glory of God as they approach, unknowingly joining
us under the cloud. Can you get the visual on this? Imagine yourself under a
huge cloud of God--because we should be.
Now, if someone walks up to speak with
you, to wait on you, or even to yell at you, they are immediately under that
cloud, the umbrella of God's presence. Alleluia! God's presence always makes a
difference in the lives of others, friends. If it doesn't, God isn't the One who
missed it. If we truly move with the cloud, the "Son" should breakthrough and
our shadows should heal the sick. When God showed parts of His glory, it
revealed His history, His goodness, and His character. How is our history as it
passes by the people?
Habitations for Glory
"God won't display all of
His glory in us until He has worked the nature of Christ within us."
Living in the glory is comparable to living in a perpetual state of worship. We
are created to worship. Having been formed in the image of God, we are also
intended to reveal His glory. "For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the
glory." We must reflect God's glory back to Him like the "Son" reflects in a
mirror. And not just when we "feel" like it, but moment-by-moment, as Jesus did.
He was a carpenter, but He certainly never left the glory. He couldn't, He is the
glory. He worked, walked, talked, ate, and slept in the glory all the time
knowing that His road was the Via Delarosa.
Living stones have an indwelling glory, and it must be imparted to others. This
is similar to understanding the difference between a worship leader and a lead
worshiper. Granted, a worship leader can lead a congregation in praise and
worship. In contrast, a lead worshiper has been glorifying God throughout the
week, singing at home, in the car, workplace, worshiping with the tithe,
and worshiping with their lives.
When Sunday comes, they merely step onto the
platform and continue that worship to an audience of One. They give adoration to
the King of glory, and others are supernaturally drawn under the cloud. The
anointing isn't for the leader, it's for the others in the plane--I mean the
sanctuary. "Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in
His
sanctuary" (Psalm 96:6).
Friends, the Lord has been training His Bride, both individually and corporately.
He's bringing us to a place of abiding in the glory. There's a type of
transfiguration which takes place on the mountaintop, but remember, we're actually
hidden there. No one can see us on the mountaintop. The transformation should be
continual, even when we descend the mountain. Grace should walk with us into our
daily lives as we carry the glory to others.
I'm convinced that the supernatural is actually easier for the Lord to
administer than the natural. After all, God is God. He can show up and do
anything, anytime, and perform the miraculous in an instant. We have a
supernatural Father, which makes us His supernatural children. We are spiritual
beings with a temporary human experience--simply a mist that appears for a
little while and then vanishes (James 4:14).
But, God won't display all of His
glory in us until He has worked the nature of Christ within us. That my friends,
takes years. He protects us as He prepares us. If God were to show us all of His
glory, would we be crushed by the weight of it?
I believe 2007 will be a year of tremendous, character-building reconciliation.
We are to be living sacraments of forgiveness and reconciliation to one another,
and to the world, as we see in II Corinthians 5:18, "All this is from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation."
The miracle of reconciliation will not be by our might, but by the power of God.
We've tried to make it happen on our own for too long, and our efforts have been
futile. The miracle of forgiveness will wipe away the pain of disunity, so the
glory fills the temple.
Waves of Glory
"When we learn to ride
the wave, He sends another."
As God trains and tests His Bride in the ordinary, natural assignments of life,
He's watching to see how we handle His glory. He allows increments, or waves of
glory, individually and corporately. As we yield to these waves, we become overcomers. When we learn to ride the wave, He sends another.
The Heavenly waves override the earthly ones. They are "breakers" that
annihilate
the enemy. When we're in harmony with the glory of God, the weight of it lifts
the weight of our burdens. There are times I can "feel" waves of glory going
though me. There's no other way to articulate it. When pain tries to enter my
temple, the King of glory overrides it. If jealously, pride, or rejection try to
enter, the King of glory surpasses them.
I'm not talking about anesthetizing pain or "numbing out." The human "feelings"
are still there because that's how we're created. But, when our focus becomes
the King of glory, darkness must flee, and we are victoriously swept upon wave,
and upon wave, of His provision. The undertow cannot pull us down, unless it takes
our focus away from our Bridegroom.
Stephen knew of the glory that we have yet to encounter. He faced the greatest
warfare of his life, being stoned to death by his accusers, yet he looked up to
Heaven and saw the glory of God (Acts 7:55). His road to glory was martyrdom.
With his last breath, he prayed for those who had not yet encountered the cross
in this way. This was a display of glory God could use--Stephen's asking
forgiveness for those who despitefully contradicted him. How will the world see
if we do not show them? How will they know, if our lives don't display it?
There's a place where we can live and be fully functional, walking by the
Spirit, beloved. It's really not our jobs, families, or stresses that pull us
down, it's our minds. It's time we obey the command to cast down every vain
imagination that exalts itself above the knowledge of God.
2 Corinthians 10:5,
clearly admonishes us to "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets
itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to
make it obedient to Christ."
The Bride has done well on her journey with the King. She loves the glory hidden
in the straw, revealed to wise men and women. She's learned to follow God's
decrees and not run to Jesus only when in crisis. She's realizing that the hope
of glory is abiding in her (Colossians 1:27).
May the glory reign on earth as it
is in Heaven for 2007.
Paulette Reed
Daughters of the Morning Ministries
www.dotmm.org
"The daily prophetic words that are sent to our nearly 132,000 subscribers are made possible by the purchase of products like those featured in this email. You may purchase them directly from this email, or visit our online store at www.elijahshopper.com."
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NEWSLETTER
