I came across an interesting quote today by Manley Beasley, “‘A glimpse of God will save you. To gaze at Him will sanctify you.” I think too often in the church and in our lives we grow satisfied with mere glimpses of God, but the biblical witness is that we have access by Jesus to come to the throne of grace and gaze upon the infintiely good and beautiful God. It is in the presence of the holy God that we are changed, refined, sanctified.
Listen to the words of King David in the Psalm 27,
One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon othe beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
Try spending some time this week gazing on the beauty of the Lord. This may sound strange to you. From my experience one of the best ways of doing this is by setting some time aside on your own and just wait on Him. Ask Him to show you His beauty. Ask Him to come and reveal himself to you. God will answer your prayer.
Also, let’s not be satisfied with mere glimpses of the Lord on Sunday mornings. Don’t just sing songs to a far-off God, but sing with your whole being to the close God who dwells with His people. Seek his face. Just like David, make this the ‘one thing’ that you seek. For to gaze at Him is to be sanctified. We cannot help but be changed when we gaze upon the Holy One. I think too often we try to sanctify ourselves by an act of our own will, but I believe true sanctification happens when we gaze upon the beauty of the Lord in His temple. His image becomes imprinted on ours. So come to Him. He will never turn You away. For He is the good and beautiful God.
A challenging word, Bry. My life is so eclectic/schizophrenic, it is difficult to imagine ‘one thing’.
What does it look like when you, “set some time aside on your own and just wait on Him”?
It was a challenging word for me as well as I was writing it. I think it is an important question to ask yourself – what is the one thing that I most seek after in my life? Where do I invest my most time, and energy? Where do I find my most enjoyment?
When I “set aside time and just wait on Him”, I usually try to find a silent place on my own. I think that we don’t have enough silence in our lives. We have become so busy that we can’t handle sitting still and being quiet. But I think that is where we hear the still small voice of God. The idea of gazing on the beauty of an invisible God seems impossible, but I think that we see Him with the sight of our heart, rather than our earthly eyes. Have you ever experienced inwardly seeing and knowing something to be true that you haven’t seen with your eyes? I know I have.
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:17-19
Bryan,
Thank you so much for writing this. I am thankful that of all days- “a snow day”…a beautiful snow day, I have been able to be a little more still and reflective on Jesus…and to just “be”.
I think we all can get caught up in the busyness of life and just do life sometimes without reflecting on the beauty of Christ. I know I am guilty of that.
For me, my time alone with God is often sitting at the piano and singing quietly or taking out my journal and writing. Sometimes I am too tired to do either…so today, a new day…and beautiful snowy day- I have been challenged by your encouragement- so thank you!
Praying that as I gaze upon Jesus today with my heart and not my earthly eyes, it will challenge me to see my precious little students in a different light for the days and weeks ahead.
Have a wonderful week,
:) Anthea
Thanks, Bry. Great word, Anth.