January 27

3 gifts that might never have been

#58  staying an extra semester at college because I had to have brain surgery… and at the end of that extra semester, starting dating the man I married.

#59  laughing so hard with a friend until our stomachs hurt

#60   making the time to study the Word…where I was given the gift of a little revelation of what GLORIFIED means:

²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30

Studying Timothy Keller’s study of Romans, he asks the question why are those verbs in past tense? Because they are certain. Foreknew-called-justified-glorified are linked together and cannot be broken. Invited-found blameless-all sin eradicated and made perfect in body and soul.

And what is the ultimate purpose of those verses Paul wrote…those words…those promises to hold onto? To be conformed to the likeness of God’s Son, Jesus. To give us the opportunity to desire and work at being more like Him. To believe. So we can see our final glorification…eradication from all sin.

John Eldredge wrote, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” In the past (and even sometimes now and I’m sure will be in the future being made of flesh that I am) there’s been times when my heart has not felt fully alive…even barely alive. It’s as if I’ve put a veil over it to hide or avoid being conformed. But God is remaking us from the inside out. When we allow, ¹⁶ …whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I had never before seen myself as being glorious to God in His eyes. Eldredge wrote, “God endowed you with glory when He created you, a glory so deep that all creation pales in comparison. A glory unique to you like the way you laugh is unique to you. Somewhere down deep inside we’ve been looking for that glory ever since.” (Waking the Dead p.78). When I first read that, I had never thought that He created me to have glory on earth by living in joy as His child. In order to live in His glory, He created in us spiritual gifts, dreams and passions that we can use to glorify Him as it glorifies us also. A reflection. Justification. A deep joy. Perfected. Glorified.

In Romans 8:30, “the past tense in the last word, ‘glorified’…is the most daring anticipation of faith.” - Denney