The Joy of Glory

Press On Toward Joy
Philippians 3:12-16 (click here to read the entire passage)
On Sundays during Lent, there will not be an email devotional because a sermon will actually be preached on the passage for that day. Today’s sermon will be posted soon, and you will be able to find it on iTunes by searching for “Shades Valley Community Church” or simply click here.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Nehemiah 1:5-11 (click here to read the entire passage)
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king. (Nehemiah 1:11)

Reflection
Who rules the world?

It is so easy to have our vision filled by the actions of world powers and leaders, headlines and newsfeeds, etc. It is so easy to become convinced that our world is ruled by anyone but God.

Why?

I mean, we do believe that the triune God sovereignly rules over all. Scripture testifies to this reality from cover to cover. So why in our day to day do we struggle to see and believe that his sovereign hand is at work?

By all accounts, the prophet Nehemiah should have had the same struggle that our hearts experience.

Nehemiah was cupbearer to king Artaxerxes… ruler of the Persian empire… which at that time basically meant ruler of the world.

Nehemiah’s vision was filled by the actions of the world power and the world leader every moment of every day. He practically lived the headlines. His life was the news feed. And yet, when he hears the news the Jerusalem’s walls are broken down, he does not first run to his master the king… or does he?

Nehemiah turns to his true, sovereign King in prayer!

All you have to do is look at what Nehemiah calls himself in relation to the Lord… he constantly calls himself God’s servant! He may have been king Artaxerxes servant, but in a truer, deeper way he was a servant of the true sovereign king of the universe!

Given his day to day reality, how in the world was Nehemiah about to see and believe that the sovereign hand of God was at work?

Part of the answer has to be prayer!

Nehemiah’s knee jerk reaction was not to kneel before king Artaxerxes but to first kneel before the Lord as his true King. Where your knees get used to kneeling is where your heart will find its king!

If we daily “kneel” before our newsfeeds, setting our eyes solely on the actions of world leaders, then our hearts will absolutely struggle to believe that our sovereign God is the one who actually rules the world.

But, if we bring everything we see in our newsfeeds before our God in prayer… if we kneel before him day after day… then we will be training our hearts on where to find the true King over all! We will be training our hearts in who to trust! We will be teaching our hearts to see true reality!

Who rules the world?

How you answer that depends on where you kneel.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

2 Chronicles 6:18
But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!

Reflection
I love looking at pictures of my kids.

Seeing how they have grown and changed over the years stirs up so many emotions. However, how foolish would it be to love pictures themselves in place of my children?! We all laugh at such an insane notion.

Pictures are not the point! No. They are meant to point beyond themselves to the reality, to the person we actually love.

In 2 Chronicles 6:18, King Solomon has finally completed the construction of Israel’s first temple, and in his prayer of dedication he recognizes the truth about pictures… “…heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!”

The temple could not contain God any more than a picture can contain my children. The temple was not the point… it was a pointer, not just to God, but the reality that God wants to dwell among his people!

Even though the temple could never contain God, his presence was revealed there in a special way (yes, the photograph analogy eventually breaks down), and the temple further revealed that sinful people could only approach God’s presence on the basis of sacrifice to atone for their sin.

All of this was pointing towards a larger coming reality that could never be “contained” in the temple.

It was all pointing to Jesus!

Jesus was and is God in the flesh… the living temple (John 2:18-22)! And he came to fulfill the heart of God to dwell amongst his people. He died as the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sin so that we might enjoy being with him forever!

And that is the ultimate reality to which the temple pointed! It was a picture that one day, the God who no house and not even the heavens can contain will be in our midst… fully and finally! We won’t need a temple, a pointer, because we will have the one to whom it pointed! We won’t need “pictures” anymore, for we will see his face!

Revelation 21:22, “…I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” Revelation 22:4, “They will see his face…”

I love looking at pictures of my kids, but nothing beats being with them.

I love that God has given us pictures of what our future with him looks like, but…

…nothing will beat finally being with him!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.