Tag: abhorred

17.t. “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

John 12:27   “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

 Isaiah 49:3-7   And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”  But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.”  And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—  he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

I was a little perplexed by “ Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  Specifically “I have and I will”.  Jesus was troubled by what He knew was coming and the suffering He would endure.  He does not ask that this pending suffering be removed but rather God be glorified.  And then we hear “I have and I will”.  Does this mean I have glorified it by the virgin birth, sending My Son, miracles, signs, wonders, and proclaiming the coming Good News of grace, mercy, and love?   Does it mean I will continue to glorify it by what is coming, death, resurrection, ascension, redemption, salvation, and infilling of the Holy Spirit?  How is God glorified in this?  Imagine a perfect creation given free will to choose to follow and obey the Creator.  They are deceived by the Father of all lies, Satan.  Creation chooses to disobey (sin) and is separated from their Holy God and receives a death sentence from God as it were.  The All-Knowing God has established His perfect purpose and will in redeeming lost mankind. God is glorified when His creation believes in, clings to, and relies on Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” God is glorified when we freely choose to believe in Jesus Christ’s redemption.  He is glorified when we seek and desire to do His will in our lives.  He is glorified when we surrender fleshly self-centered wants to doing that which honors and glorifies Him.  Nothing honors and glorifies Him more than complete surrender to Jesus Christ and fully trusting in His perfect will, plans, and purposes no matter the circumstances.  Jesus Christ surrendered fully to the will of God for our redemption and salvation.  He alone is worthy of all honor and glory.  How will you live today so that He is honored and glorified?

11.z. “He has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.”

Habakkuk 1:2  O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

Psalms 13:1-2    How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Revelation 6:10     They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Psalms 94:3    O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?

Psalms 74:10     How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

Psa 22:24  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Habakkuk prophesied and cried out “how long shall I cry for Help?”  He saw iniquity and asked, “why do you make me see this and then sit idly by?”  David cried out “how long?”, “Will you forget me forever? Those who were martyred for faith in Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period cried out “how long before you judge and avenge our blood?”  David cried out “how long will the wicked be exalted?”  If you are a believer and God has opened your eyes and ears to the wicked things of our society that are called and believed to be alright to do, Pornography – (which the thesaurus uses words like improper, indelicate, crude, vulgar, dirty, filthy, corrupting and immoral) for which our society calls “Adult Entertainment”, Abortion – (which is child murder, assassination, homicide, depraved execution, fetal homicide) for which society calls “Women Rights”, Petaphilia – which is called alternative sexual preference, LGBTQ – which is called progressive lifestyle.  These are just a tip of the iceberg of what lost souls are being temped with and are buying into it.  How long oh Lord?  We can see it and be appalled by it but we seem powerless in of ourselves to do anything about it.  Remember this “Jesus Christ died for sinners!!!!”  He died for each of these with the same amount of grace, mercy, and love He has given to us.  Were it not for the Holy Spirit softening our hardened hearts with the Good News of Jesus Christ, we too would be as guilty as any of these.  Are they so far lost that they cannot be saved – No they are not.   I think we would do much better praying for them and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ rather than calling on God to judge and avenge.  That time will certainly come but for now let us remember “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” and keep our focus on advancing the body of Christ by living and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Who knows what the Holy Spirit will do.  A heart and soul may be softened and the person repents, seeks forgiveness, and trusts in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

He lifted them up and carried them

Exodus 3:7Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey

1 Samuel 9:16  “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

Psalms 22:24  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Psalms 34:4  I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Psalms 106:44  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry.

Psalms 142:3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!

Hebrews 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Psalms 145:19  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

When we face trials we never know when they will end or how hard they will become, or when God will lead us out of this dreaded darkness.  How many times do we wish the trial never happened to us?  How many times do we question why me, why now?  What did I do wrong?

Certainly there are some trials that are the consequence of our own doing.  We know it or we come to that understanding after trying to blame everyone else.    Other times it is because of things out of our control and when this happens so come the questions?

Is God there?

Does He hear me?

Will He do something?

When will He act on my behalf?

Does He care?

We must remember that we live in a sinful world and trouble happens.  We live in a world where satan and demons  are real and able to influence bad things from people.  We live in a fallen world with sinful people who will sin and do us harm.  Does this in anyway mean that God is not sovereign, powerful, loving, steadfast, merciful, full of grace, and all knowing? No it does not.

We are told this is not our home for God has made us a home in eternity.  Things that happen here are temporary and happen for a reason that fits into God’s plans and purposes even if we don’t understanding and knowledge of the details.  God loves us.  He gave His Son as a ransom for us.  He prepared us a place in eternity.  He sent the Holy spirit to comfort us, lead us, teach us, and help grow our faith in God through these trials.

Does placing our troubles in God’s powerful and loving hands mean they are going away in what timing we think they should.  No  it does not.  It does though transfer the full weight of the burden on Him and gives us hope for today and joy for tomorrow.

Everyone of us can attest to the troubles that have come our way.  Some heavier that others.  Some we can say we that we gave them into God’s hands during our darkest time and the burden was lifted but the trial was still present.  There was a peace that came over us that allowed us to face the day and then next.  We found strength and hope.  We knew in our heart, mind and soul no matter what happens we are confident in God’s plan and purpose.  We came out the other side of the trial with greater faith, being more humble, better able to empathize with others, willing to help others, and a greater reliance and comfort in God.