Glimpse

What a great youth service we had Thursday night!  It was so encouraging to see everyone there; teens, young adults, and seasoned veterans of youth ministry alike. The fellowship was great, the music was just awesome (way to go, Sam!), the message was uplifting and full of hope (you rock, Chris Vincent!), but the greatest thing that happened tonight might have gone unnoticed by most. And it was everywhere you looked in the room.

In the Matt Redman song "Seeing You", there's a line that goes like this:

No one can sing of things they have not seen

God open our eyes towards a greater glimpse

The glory of You, the glory of You

God open our eyes toward a greater glimpse...

Do you ever feel like your eyes have been opened, when they were closed before, and you can see things you never saw before?  I'm starting to see - really for the first time - what the glory of God must look like.  To me, it looks like people.

The song goes on to a chorus that repeats:

Worship starts with seeing you

Worship starts with seeing You

Our hearts respond to Your revelation...

The Bible says that we are made in the image and likeness of the Father.  We are made to look like God.  So many times I sat in church and thought, or even prayed aloud, "God, just give us a glimpse of Your glory".  And all the time it was all around me; God's brilliant glory reflected in a creation of His that was so special, he designed it after Himself.  Oh the beauty of His glory that shines in each and every one of us!

My heart is responding to this revelation: Worship begins, where I see the glory of God reflected in the people that He loved so much, He put His life in them, and gave His life for them.

There's a scripture in Numbers 6:25, a benediction, that says, "The Lord make His face shine upon you".  That word "shine" literally means "to be illuminated".  God has made His face to be illuminated upon us. No wonder we can see the glory of the Father on the face of his beloved creation, you and me!