Embracing His Glory #4 (#749)

This is our continuing Tuesday series where Wayne explores the process of transformation of moving us from "glory to ever-increasing glory".  Drawn from the book of John, Wayne unveils how Jesus did this in a relational engagement with his followers, and how he wants to do that in us as well.  This week he talks about how the pursuit of false glory bears witness to the echo of Eden in our heart that glory is what we were destined to have. 

Podcast Notes:
Latest from Kenya - We Have Completed the Work

18 Comments

  1. Without a doubt one the very best series you have ever done Wayne, my wife and I thank you for doing what you excel in .
    I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in listening <3

    Richard& Margi

    • How very kind of you, Richard & Margi. We had such great days with you back in Stratford years ago. You guys were great hosts and every reminder of that makes me smile. (Wayne)

  2. The harder I tried to please God the further He seemed to be from me. The flesh profits us nothing.
    Heb 4:10-11 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
    The more I learn to rest in Jesus Christ’s finished work (by His blood I am forgiven and reconciled to Him, by His Cross I am crucified with Him and raised in newness of life in Him) the closer and dearer He is in my experience. Hallelujah!
    And the life I now live I live by the faith of Jesus Christ who loves me and gave Himself for me… as I apprehend these facts by faith as already true, not striving to implement them, I find such rest in my soul.
    Praise you Abba Father!

  3. Punctuation might be lacking today, but the comma is definitely in the correct place between John and Wayne.

  4. Heb. 4:10 For he that has entered into Gods rest , has also ceased from his own works.
    This is a wonderful place to be.
    Why do we strive for glory, for it is Christ in us the hope of Glory . This is something that Christ Prayed for, an God has given to us through His Spirit. Col.1:27.
    A very complex subject . We are branches in the vine and the Lords history is ours to enjoy and experienced, He went into death to reach us and raised us up together with Him in newness of life.

    Oh, that we may gain Christ and be found in Him! Being found in Christ is not a once for all matter. On the contrary, it is a daily matter, an hourly matter.

    When God looks at us may he see Christ.

  5. Oh my! I had to pause it at 3:40 spot and LET this soak in. Dang! This is nailing me…bombarding/slamming strongholds that I have struggled with incessantly. I recognize double mindedness and self hate. The letter of law truly does kill. I don’t think I really grasp the grace of God and what the gift of the New Covenant really is. I go through this EVERY DAY…wrestling to STOP the reasoning, arguments, and imaginations that whirl in me, attempting to drown me in the flesh. Oh God help me get this!! I want it uprooted and cast as far as east is from west.

    Now I am in tears.

    You might remember my sharing about my history in my old covenant legalism/law entrapment in the cult of law-based religion. It was Herbert W. Armstrong teachings. I was caught in it for 50 years.

    • Lindy, We were in WWCG as well and I can relate to every thing you are going through. It has taken me almost 10 years of listening to Wayne’s podcasts and reading his books to see our Father hand in rearranging my heart and mind to fully understand His love for me. Hang in there and let our Father envelop in His love as you press on.

      • Len, isn’t this just the coin in slot: “People but a lot of religious pressure on themselves to be further on the journey than they are. They constantly fight condemnation or the driving impulse to “do something” to make themselves see better. But I find it is in the quieting of my heart, and drawing into his reality that helps me see better and I love the process by which he takes shape in us, even over long years….” Thank you, Wayne.
        I have read old journals from years back, even 20 years, and said, in tears, “I **knew **these truths! But there is no fruit!!…then hanging my head with oozing shame circulating from my soul to heart, taking me down into hopelessness, saying aloud, ‘what does it take, Lindy, are you even saved!!??’ and then just wondering where I am and does God even hear me at all?”

        Len Platt, is that just all too familiar?

  6. Hi Lindy, really resonated with yor comments. I too with tears am enduring the struggle against the law of flesh and to be found in His grace. May He bless you. Sue

    • Sending a hug, Sue. I appreciate that you responded. Even cyber fellowship is valuable. 🙂

      Just now, it just occurred to me that perhaps…just maybe…this was also the struggle our brother, Apostle Paul referred to in his statements of “I have fought the good fight of faith…” as well as in Romans 7. I cannot fathom how deep in him was the wiring of Old Covenant law, as he wrote Romans 7 describing his battle with the flesh. I am supposing he had many tears in his journey to finally understand (verse 17) that there is nothing any good in our natural self (the flesh). Ouch!! That used to sting my soul!

      These verses still baffle me, because I fell into flesh after so much abandonment in childhood and rejection in my life from words spoken to me (my mother) that I was unacceptable: Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

      So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

      • Hi Lindy, I love what you are discovering on this journey. Isn’t it so sad how many of our childhoods were dominated by our focus on sin and failures and always felt like we were never good enough for God. When I look back at the hours of repentance, and trying harder to be better for God, my heart hurts. Talking about offending God’s little ones, religion does it to the max.

        And unfortunately, learning to live free is a steep curve that takes some time. Glad you’re on this journey and that God’s grace is untangling the bondage put on you by religious busybodies. Makes me hungry to see so many others find freedom from that as well. Jesus didn’t want us to grow up so conscious of our sins, but freely to behold his beauty and let that change us…

        • Wayne, I thank you for your encouraging response. You are a precious gift to all of us who are still trekking on that path. Sometimes I ache for the vision that while we are in that “coming out” place of pain and insecurity, to realize that God has a plan to place us into making a real difference, giving hope…as He does through you, Wayne….for our struggles to have meaning for being His vessel…and not just a bunch of bad memories.

          Is it true, Wayne, as so many have said, that “God waits on us.”? Honest question: Is it a fact that it is unnecessary for us to hurt so much due to our **own** unbelief in what the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you……” I have pondered that so many times in my pharisee mentality.

          I have found in the story of Joseph and his brothers a truth, that God still works the same way with us as He did then, day by day, as we “grind” along…if you will, in our own “dungeon”… to the outcome that God meant it all for good. But the key in Joseph’s journey was that he stayed focused on God’s faithfulness. I have not held that straight line, but the story of it reigns me back in quite often.

  7. Hi Wayne,
    I’m really enjoying this series, it’s given me much to ponder. I have some thoughts about what you said in regard to feeling lost to the experience and felt presence of God. I agree with what you said, but also perhaps sometimes we have faulty expectations of how God will show up in our lives. This silence may not necessarily be a consequence of seeking glory elsewhere, but in how we perceive the spiritual journey to be.
    I have been reading ‘Interior Castle’ by Theresa of Avila, and she gives these signposts of our journey within, comparing it to rooms in a castle with God being at the centre. In some of these ‘rooms’, or spiritual states of being, the soul can feel as if they cannot hear God, and may in fact feel completely abandoned by God, much like St John of the Cross’ idea of the dark night of the soul.
    In my own walk, I’m trying to accept that it’s completely ok and normal for God to be silent sometimes, and that I am where I am, I can’t force growth or awakening. I think God is trying to help us to have eyes of faith where we don’t necessarily rely on sight. It seems to me that often it is only when we look back or reflect (sometimes in a much later time frame) that we see the indelible print of the Spirit guiding us.
    Thanks again for sharing your heart and wisdom
    Blessings,
    Alyssa

    • Hi Alyssa. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I scream “Amen!” to the notion that we cannot force growth or awakening. God does want to open the eyes of our heart to behold his glory and revel in it. It has never been helpful to me to consider that God grows quiet or withdraws his presence from us for some higher purpose. I would rather see him always at work around me, even if I’m not seeing it, and continuing to lean into him as he lets my eyes open. I don’t mind the notion that my heart may be preoccupied, or as you say trying to force my expectations on him, that makes me dull to his moving. I have not condemnation with that, just the growing hunger to quiet my heart, ask him to draw me closer, and watch for the fingerprints that are always there.

      I know that isn’t comforting to everyone. People but a lot of religious pressure on themselves to be further on the journey than they are. They constantly fight condemnation or the driving impulse to “do something” to make themselves see better. But I find it is in the quieting of my heart, and drawing into his reality that helps me see better and I love the process by which he takes shape in us, even over long years….

  8. Hi Wayne,
    I agree, it’s the constant need for ‘doing’ rather than being than can totally unravel us. I guess in a way that is at the heart of what I’m trying to express, that in God nothing is wasted. For me, the process of God working in my heart is so subtle I don’t notice it until later. I like how these descriptions of spiritual experiences (or lack thereof) are normalised so in a weird way it causes me to relax a bit into where I am. Maybe a good analogy is when a doctor gives an anaesthetic….our bodies and minds do that naturally too in trauma, so perhaps sometimes God is wanting to do some very deep healing and we just need to hold onto the belief that he is good despite feeling dry or far away.
    I understand what you are saying about how God doesn’t purposefully withdraw, and that what I said can look like he is bringing hardship onto the soul…maybe in the context that all things work together for good both are true, or a different way of looking at the same thing. But this dichotomy has given me loads to ponder, especially in terms of how I see the nature of God. You wrote to me years ago just after my son died and said God doesn’t cause these things, but loves us in them. I agree that the heart of God is completely loving and in that way is always sustaining us.

    I came across the scripture from Romans ‘rejoice in hope, endure affliction, persevere in prayer’. It helps me to know that this hope is real, and to just keep showing up despite what I’m thinking or feeling.
    Looking forward to next Tuesday! Sending much love
    Alyssa

Comments are closed.