What is Born Again

How does someone "get saved"?

How do I know if I'm saved?

What does it mean to be "born again"?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
~ John 3:16 (NKJV)

The Christian life involves many steps of believing—of faith. Exactly which step assures that a person has been eternally saved from sin's death penalty and been born again as a child of God, becoming an heir to everlasting life and all of God's spiritual gifts?

Consider skydiving, which requires faith in a parachute.

A first step of faith is skydiving lessons. Other necessary steps are putting on the parachute and getting in the airplane. Depending on the skydiving school and rules involved, a person may take other steps of faith such as being harnessed to an instructor (for a beginner's tandem jump), attaching a line to the airplane (for a static line jump), or walking out onto the wing.

None of these steps proves faith in the parachute. When the moment of truth arrives, a few people decide to make the trip back down in the plane rather than release the plane. A person may have claimed to believe in the parachute, and may have even taken some steps to demonstrate it, but they never actually put faith in the parachute.

The person who does jump out of the plane has no recourse in the airplane, nor in an ability to sprout wings and fly, nor in forgiveness from gravity. For better or for worse, for life or for death, all reliance—all faith—has been placed in the parachute.

Sometimes "rely" is a more active word than "believe" and a more tangible word than "faith."

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
~ 2 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)

Believing in Jesus involves a number of steps of faith. Various denominations emphasize different steps. The Bible (God's Word) describes two defining steps of faith:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
~ Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

God accepts neither "claim" or false confession. To confess "Jesus is Lord" is to truthfully testify that Jesus is Lord and God of my life. To believe Jesus is raised from the dead is to transfer my reliance upon things which are seen but dying and put my reliance upon the unseen yet living Jesus.

“The cross isn’t just something God did. The cross is the very essence of who God is.”
~ Robert Mulholland

Being born again acclaims not merely me and what I get, but most especially Jesus and what He gives.

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
~ Romans 14:8-9 (NKJV)

When Jesus is Lord of my life, I receive His resurrection life. And I have assurance that I have been saved from sin and sin's penalty of Hell because I have the heart of a new creature.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

~ ~ ~

This is the first in a series on Christianity Basics, to include topics such as
"What is the Holy Spirit?"
"Why are Christians Hypocrites?"
"What is Holiness?"
"What Should a Christian Look Like?"
"Why Hasn't Christianity Worked for Me?"

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Playing for Points

My ten-year-old daughter loves to play Rummy, and often shows up at my elbow with a deck of cards. She's good enough to beat adults, and looks for any opportunity to do so.

I play for points—and take big risks for those points. I do crazy stuff like get a card that could be played different ways with other cards I'm holding, and discard that double-play card. That way, I've got more cards in my hand to score with, and a better chance of picking up the whole pile for even more scoring. I can rack up some huge points on a single hand.

The risk, of course, is that I get caught at the end with too many points in my hand. I watch carefully for game's end and try to meet it, while my daughter delights in catching me unprepared. If I lose a hand, I'm likely to lose big. But since we play for fun instead of for money or competitively, we're both happy no matter how the hand comes out, win or lose.

And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
~ 1 Timothy 1:14-15 (NKJV)

My most consistent source of failure (after my pride) is my tendency to go too far. "Yield + Zeal" is a guaranteed combination for success. But when zeal breaks out of a strong stride and breaks into a headlong sprint—without watching for the Holy Spirit's signals—and then fails to yield, watch for a colossal crash.

I really do try to watch carefully and avoid falling. I kick myself when I discover, too late, that I've gone too far because I forgot to listen to the Lord's cues. I nurse my pride and resolve I'm never going to run with such zeal again, but will use a little more restraint next time.

And then, inevitably, I remember:
Oh to Grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.

I know I can't possibly pay my debt to Grace. I'm nonetheless determined to make as big a dent in it as possible. While I learn new ways to rely on the Holy Spirit, I'm still willing to take big risks, always hoping for a big win—hoping for great glory to God.

I can afford to do so, because I'm not playing for a personal win, I'm playing for His points. I'll be happy at the end, whatever my hand, securely in my Lord's hand.

Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

My Eyes Have Seen the King

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart ...
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
~ Psalms 138:1-2 (NIV)

I write this as the clock approaches 2 a.m., exhausted yet exhilarated. After some two decades of my study on the names of God, a small business which produces Christian artwork has asked me to write the text for a Names of God project. I just completed and submitted the requested work.

My exhilaration is not due to the prospect of publication, but from the work itself. No matter how many hours I've spent on this study, I never fail to uncover new details or gain new understanding about the Lord through His name.

I once was blind. But now my eyes have seen the King.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple... So I said:
"Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts."
~ Isaiah 6:1,5 (NKJV)

I have yet to see the Lord in the same manner that Isaiah did. But through His exalted word and name, I have most certainly witnessed His splendor with the eyes of my heart.

My Lord and my God, Your majesty defies our comprehension and is not exhausted by words. Thank You for all the mercy and truth You have shown me, of which I am not worthy. Please use this labor of love to make Yourself better known—and more deeply loved—by all whom it touches.

Q4U: What is your favorite name of our Lord? Why is it special to you?

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: What is Glory?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put "glory," "joy," "Messiah / Christ," etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word "peace" for "etc.," and spread the answers out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

: : :

Photo courtesy of Sandra Heska King

Glory

The Bible uses no fewer than nine Hebrew and four Greek words which are translated "glory" in English. Both noun and verb forms of those words include familiar concepts such as splendor, majesty, grandeur, and especially dazzling light. But they also take in much more than the inherent beauty we commonly associate with glory.

The Bible's words for glory include praise, or boasting, as in the phrase "give glory." Some of the original language words' literal meanings include "ample" or "swell up"—because glory is always something huge. When we give glory, we are boasting in a showy way; we are magnifying God, or making Him bigger in the eyes of others.

Yet glory is even more than size. We think of it as abstract, but it has substance. The most common word for glory (Hebrew kâbôd) literally means "weight." However else we think of dazzling light and glory, we do not think of it as heavy. On the contrary, we attribute heaviness to the burden of suffering and affliction.

But the two usually go together. The greater the weight of affliction borne with faith, the greater the glory we give to God—and the greater the glory we lay up for ourselves. This is the concept described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Jesus exemplified this principle on behalf of us all. Yet He sought glory for only His Father, rather than for Himself, trusting that the Father would one day share that glory with His Son. It is this weight of glory—bound up in the weight of suffering—which we shall one day share with God.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
~ Hebrews 2:9-10 (NKJV)

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was occasionally visible in His shekinah glory, or His visible glory. At Jesus birth, the glory of the Lord again became visible: God became man to manifest the dazzling light of His love; His shekinah glory shone around the angels who heralded His presence; and their message carried the weight of the cross and all its suffering, bound up in the name "Savior."

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11 (NKJV)

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Created for Glory

"The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible,
and only possible by the work of Christ,
that some of us, that any of us who really chooses ...
shall find approval, shall please God."
~ C.S. Lewis

Created for Glory

"Who are these arrayed in white robes ...? These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
~ Revelation 7:13-14 (NKJV)

A great deal is said in Bible dictionaries about the Greek word doxa, translated "glory." Zodhiates* includes this striking description:

... The true glory of man ... is the ideal condition in which God created man. This condition was lost in the fall and is recovered through Christ and exists as a real fact in the divine mind. The believer waits for this complete restoration. The glory of God is what He is essentially; the glory of created things including man is what they are meant by God to be, though not yet perfectly attained ...

We bear the image of God. We were created for glory.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
~ Romans 8:18 (NKJV)

The Hebrew netsach has multiple nuances and translations. It is used once as a name of God. It sometimes refers to "glory." It also refers to strength and vitality, and to the glorious, vibrant red color of wine—or of blood.

Revelation depicts the saints—created in the image of divinity—clothed in robes which are made glorious white by the blood of the Lamb.

Whatever else we think we might do to attain "glory"—of appearance, of reputation, of renown—the glory of the saint is revealed through the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, we cannot begin to comprehend all You have done for us. Please let us glimpse Your glory and long to manifest it, both now and in eternity.

: : :

* From The Complete Word Study Dictionary, © 1992 By AMG International, Inc., General Editor: Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D.

I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: iamthewordthecomforter.blogspot.com

The Day of the Lord

"Spiritual warriors fight for love, fight for light,
and believe in what others say is impossible."
~ Maura Casey

The Day of the Lord
#biblestudy


Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power,
in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning:
thou hast the dew of thy youth.
~ Psalms 110:3 (KJV)

Your troops will be willing on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning's womb.
~ Psalms 110:3 (TNIV)

... when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe ...
~ 2 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV)

While the Psalms are all poetical, Psalm 110:3 is more so. The Lord has allowed to King David the prophet that his eyes should see the glory of the coming of the Lord. The majestic vision has evidently compelled David to use language even more evocative and figurative than usual. Of roughly 30 Bible versions I consulted, the translations for this particular verse were highly varied. As is often the case with poetry, no one understands it quite the same.

Here's what I see in today's passage from Psalms, translated to prose:

During the long dry months from perhaps April thru October, Israel's ground receives no life-sustaining moisture except the dew. For someone like David, in exile from Saul for many long years, and often in the desert wilderness, the dew was indeed a glorious display of life from the womb of the morning. His glimpse of the Day of the Lord was more glorious yet, for it was a day long awaited, accompanied by the Lord's bride in all of her own glory, willingly at her King's side as He faces His enemies.

Our adornment shall be the splendor of holiness. Holiness gets a bad name, because artificial holiness is a source of pride. True holiness is being like Christ, in all the beauty of His goodness and love, with all the strength of youth in its prime.

The Day of the Lord is awaited by Him with even more zeal than by us. When the hour finally arrives for the Lord Jesus to display His might, it will be as lovely as the early dawn—the best part of the day—and it will be only the first light of our Lord's reign.

Lord Jesus, we see the signs You said would tell us it is near—right at the door! How happy we are that we shall see you soon. How beautiful shall be the King and His bride. Prepare us, Lord. Make us beautiful in Your eyes.

Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Photo from flickr.com

Paliy / Wonderful

For July, each post examines an Old Testament name of God.

Paliy / Wonderful
(pronounced: "pah-LEE")


And the Angel of YHWH said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is Wonderful?" ... And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"
~ Judges 13:18,22 (author)

But [the LORD] said, “… no man shall see Me, and live… you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Exodus 33:20,23

And His name will be called Wonderful ...
~ Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

The Hebrew paliy might best be translated “full of wonder.” Paliy means something too extraordinary to be comprehended, or even known. The King James Version translates paliy as “secret,” and the full wonder of Who God is will indeed remain a secret to us in this place and time

Sometimes God offers words. Sometimes He offers only wonder.

This particular name of God says simply that no matter how much we learn or see or know of God, for now, the mystery remains.

For now.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV)

Feedback appreciated! Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Netsach Yisrael / Eminence of Israel

For July, each post examines an Old Testament name of God.

Friday Freelance: FACETS

I recently suffered a minor crisis typical of writers, summed up in Does what I write matter to anyone? The only One of Whom I really need to ask that question whispered write about first love stuff.

It was indeed love at first sight when I met the Word of God on an autumn day in 1985. I'd read the Bible for years, but never before come to know the Word made flesh. The love affair has only intensified with time.

Different names for God particularly fascinate me. Each name from Scripture reveals something more about Him, providing an ever larger picture of a very big God.

I've become obsessive about the study. I once spent over a year picking through the Hebrew text starting at Genesis, examining every reference to the Lord for any difference from all the other ways He's named. When I reached the end of Deuteronomy with 94 names cataloged, I moved on. (If the Lord tarries long enough, I'd love to complete the other 64 books of the Bible someday, to methodically locate whichever names I may have missed through random study.)

When I started this blog series July 1, I anticipated an easy task of copying and pasting notes. But each post has been a brand new study in the review of a different facet of God's personality.

Reminiscing with my Flame has made me fall all the more deeply in love with Him.

"The Eminence of Israel will neither lie nor relent.

For He is not a man, that He should relent."
1 Samuel 15:29

Netsach Yisrael / Eminence of Israel

One of the most fascinating names of God is used only once in Scripture, yet the word itself has multiple facets. Various Bible translations use six different words to express the word netsach of 1 Samuel 15:29 in English. To capture all the nuances of netsach requires even more synonyms.

Here are some of the facets of God's personality expressed in defining the single Hebrew name Netsach.

Eternal / Perpetual – The Everlasting God (El Olam) is perpetual. He exists beyond mortal comprehension of space and distance. He will exist in eternity future after all culmination. He existed in eternity past before mankind’s creation.

Distant Glory / Majesty (as of a star) – The distant stars are not minute, but immense in size and great in splendor. The glory of YHWH was made visible in the pillar of cloud to the people when they were delivered from bondage. The people heard the voice of YHWH and feared, begging that only Moses draw close. Even as the mighty stars are placed far away lest they consume the earth, so must God in His glory stand apart lest man be consumed for his sin.

Strength / Blood (as the glory of brilliant, vital, blood) – The atonement for sin is the life of a perfect sacrifice. The life, the strength, the glory is in the blood. The animal skin which covered Adam’s nakedness and sin required the blood of an animal. The blood of the perfect sacrifice is glorious—as is the blood of the crushed grape which becomes the wine shared in fellowship and rejoicing and covenant. Both cups contain sweetness mingled with bitterness.

Director / Chief – There is but one Chief to direct the people; but one Sovereign above all visible rulers.

Truth / Confidence / Firmness – The truth of God's Word is a firm Rock on which to build with confidence. What the Lord says He will do.

Eminence – Superior, distinguished, respected, outstanding, and conspicuous are words all used to define eminence.

The epitome of eminence is named YHWH, the LORD.

Feedback appreciated! Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Melech Kabod / King of Glory

For July, each post examines an Old Testament name of God.

Melech Kabod / King of Glory
(pronounced: "MEH-lek kaw-BODE")

Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
Selah
~ Psalms 24:8-10 (NKJV)

Our nation's founders deliberately established a government which snubbed the rule of monarchy practiced in Europe, because the absolute sovereignty of a single despot had become so repugnant to them.

A king indisputably controls everything—the land, the people, and all the riches. He distributes them or appropriates them for himself as he sees fit. One may petition favor of him, but only with utmost deference. You can attempt to usurp his sovereignty, but only at the risk of death for high treason.

The king is also responsible to defend against attack. He is to be the champion warrior who does not simply command the might of his army but leads it into battle. He is its most valuable member, whose life is defended at the risk of every other life—yet he willingly puts himself in peril to fully engage the enemy, so that he and his people might emerge victorious.

A king's throne his country's highest seat of justice. His court is the place of last judgment, from which there will be no appeal. Whatever a lower authority may stipulate, every injury, every grievance, and every form of oppression is subjected to the king's definition of right and wrong. And regardless of the judgment he renders, it is within his power to show mercy.

To address a monarch as "your majesty" is only the beginning of tribute he is due. No one may flatter him too much. Let that homage be sincere, lest it prove the one who offers it unworthy to stand in the king's presence.

Our divine Sovereign is the King of all kings. No other is called "Majesty on High" (Hebrews 1:3) and "King of Glory," for no other sovereign carries the weight of glory itself. The Hebrew word for glory, kabod, denotes weight, as in the weight of copious glory—glory so great that it prevented the priests from carrying on their duties when it came upon Solomon's temple.

The weight of our King's glory is eminent above all glory as the weight of His suffering is eminent above all suffering. The weight of our own suffering here and now is as nothing in light of the glory we shall share with Him (Romans 8:16-18).

Feedback appreciated! Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Foolish

Thus says the LORD:
"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me."
~ Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV)

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NKJV)

I was vexed in my mind.
I was so foolish and ignorant ...
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
~ Psalm 73:21-22,25 (NKJV)

Some people see me as on fire for the Lord. Some people see me as simply exuberant. Not a few call me foolish. I honestly don’t mind being seen as foolish for the way I love the Lord.

I have a confession. Lately I really have been foolish. I’ve allowed distractions to draw my attention from the glory of the Lord enough to become "vexed in my mind." It honestly doesn’t take much “cares of this world” to steal from a relationship with the Lord.

I’ve been blessed by the prayers of those who love me, and by one friend in particular offering just the right words. How deep is my gratitude for such people. Yet I wouldn’t have been vexed in the first place if I’d kept my heart where it should be.

What can this world offer to best the ability to glory in knowledge and understanding of the LORD? A sermon I heard this weekend suggested that human glory is the opposite of shame. Such glory I’ll gladly accept.

Oh God, You are my God. Whom have I in heaven or on earth but You? What shall I desire but You? Your glory is a consuming fire I cannot bear for long. Yet even as I back far enough away to recover, let me not become cold. Please show all of us how to draw near and endure Your glory.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Beauty of Holiness

Give to the LORD the glory due His name ...
Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
~ Psalms 96:8-9 (NKJV)

And one cried to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"
~ Isaiah 6:3 (NKJV)

And they do not rest day or night, saying:
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!"
~ Revelation 4:8 (NKJV)

When the Bible reveals His throne, God's glory is exalted in His beauty of holiness. Unlike the "holier than thou" human trait (which when visible is hideous), the true beauty of God's holiness is in His absolute love and goodness, utterly pure of malice and evil.

If we would become like Christ—asking "what would Jesus do?"—we will be holy like Him. May I suggest that the beauty of holiness is so inextricably tied to love that it looks like this?

Holiness is patiently longsuffering.
Holiness shows kindness.
Holiness does not envy.
Holiness does not parade itself.
Holiness is not proud.
Holiness does not behave rudely.
Holiness looks after others before itself.
Holiness is not readily irritated.
Holiness forgives offenses without keeping a record.
Holiness takes no pleasure in wrongdoing,
but delights in the truth.
Holiness puts up with all things,
keeps faith through all things,
maintains hope in all things,
endures all things.
Holiness never falls, fails, or ends.

Lord Jesus, Your beauty of holiness and goodness and love is glorious. We long to look upon it. Please draw our hearts to Your Word, that You would wash us with it, that we would be holy and beautiful and irresistible in Your eyes—that we would make following You inviting to others.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

How Long, Lord?

A Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever;
With my mouth will I make known
Your faithfulness to all generations....
How long, LORD?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
~ Psalms 89:1,46 (NKJV)

I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.
~ Psalms 143:6 (NKJV)

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
~ Reginald Heber, Holy, Holy, Holy traditional hymn

Ethan the Ezrahite once waited for the Lord to show Himself. He is now in the Lord's blessed presence, where he will continue to sing of the mercies of the Lord, a delight begun on earth. Like people who love the Lord, music is one of the few things to follow us from earth to heaven.

Surely Ethan knew the pain and the pleasure—the agony and the ecstasy—which praise may evoke. When one praises the Lord with abandon one thirsts for ever more of Him. No matter how close one comes to the throne, the eye of sinful man may not see the glory. In deepest passion of praise, passion's pain can overwhelm.

Jesus' love for us knew the depths of passion's pain. He did not draw back at the point where His love for us pierced Him. We can do no less in our praise for Him.

Lord God Almighty, You are the great and powerful King of the universe, and You are Ruler of our hearts. You command us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then leave us spent, thirsting desperately for all of You. How long, Lord, until we see Your glory?

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Speak Comfort

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God.
"Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her ...
That her iniquity is pardoned...
Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low ...
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed."
Isaiah 40:1-5 (NKJV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NKJV)

"But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." ~ Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)

There is no greater comfort than receiving forgiveness of sin and laying down guilt. One may believe in God, exalt Jesus as Lord, and value righteous living. But until one feels the burden of sin, confesses it, and receives God's forgiveness, genuine comfort is not known.

Through the Gospel message comes the comfort of being made right with our Creator, and with that: faith that sees God (Hebrews 11:1), reliable hope for the future (1 Thessalonians 4:13), joy amid sorrow (John 16:22), full peace passing understanding (Philippians 4:7), and true love from which nothing can separate us (Romans 8:39). In these is genuine comfort.

If we would speak comfort based on Christ's faith, hope, love, joy, and peace, then we must be credible messengers of the Gospel. We will behave as His humble servants, and not show ourselves as exalted—unless it is to glory in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord.

Lord, Your great love compels our compassion for all the hurting people around us, their faces dark with the burdens they carry. Please make us sensitive to the voice of Your Holy Spirit, that He would speak comfort to them through us. Please let us know and understand You—reveal Your glory to us!

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy

The Beauty of Holiness

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2 NKJV)

Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27 NKJV)

As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16 NKJV)

Holiness is often considered either burdensome or prideful. True holiness is a thing of great beauty. It is to take what is common and set it apart as sacred and special—now distinguished and separate from what it once was.

As our holy God is more glorious than the moon and more beautiful than the stars, He wishes His bride to likewise possess the pure beauty of holiness and to be glorious. Once we belong to Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be different, be beautiful, be holy.

Lord Jesus our glorious God, though we do not yet see You, You stir our hearts with Your beauty and holiness. Give us the power to be like You, and to reflect You to everyone around us.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. © 2008, Anne Lang Bundy