Glory

You ever thought about the moment when you pass from this life and instantly you are in the presence of God.  Looking at examples of people who have seen a glimpse of Him: Isaiah falls to his face and says to God "I am undone" in other words I am not worthy.  He can't even lift his eyes.  Or what about Peter, John, and James when they follow Jesus up the mountain right before His transfiguration.  They respond in the same way....in fear.

Its a frightening thought think that these men who were devoted following God were not worthy of standing in the presence of God.  How would I be any more worthy than them?  I wouldn't.  I am often times reminded of an experience I had out in Seattle.  I being from Iowa have never seen anything close to a mountain until I went their.  Mount Rainier sits as the second highest peak in the continental U.S.  I didn't know this at the time.  I decided one afternoon that I would climb to the top.  Those who know of this mountain are probably laughing right now.  Some friends and I are climbing real fast as we only have like 5 hours.  So we are sprinting up this thing.  Eventually we get to snow and ice, and we start to notice that the people around us are no longer wearing tennis shoes like us, they are wearing spikes and have poles.  We are slipping every which way.  By the way, this whole time we can't see the peak because it covered by a cloud.  We keep saying, "we have to be getting close".  Suddenly, the clouds part for just a second to show a glimpse of the peak.  We weren't even close to the top.  At that point I never felt so small.  I had no idea how big this mountain was.  Looking back I think about that experience, and I think I bet this is what heaven will be like when we stand before God.  I can imagine my words now, "I never knew...."

So what to do with these thoughts and feelings? It reminds me that my God is more than an old bearded man in the clouds.  It reminds that my God is to be feared.  It reminds me that I am not worthy to be His follower. At the same time I know my God loves me.  Weighty stuff.....A.W. Tozer says, "What I believe about God is the most important thing about me"

I'm Alive

So I figured I would start this blog off with where the title of this blog came from.  I was reading Romans 6, and more specifically verses 4 & 5.

"Therefore we have been buried with him though baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection."

Wow these such familiar truths began to have new meaning as I meditated on that all day.  I was driving and thought to myself who I once was, all the regrets, and everything that despised is dead.  Who I once was is dead.  That is not me anymore.  That man was buried with Christ.  Jesus took all the regrets, guilt, shame, and everything that was hideous in my life and bore that in His body as He hung a bloody mess....murdered for me.  Now I am alive.  In the car, I kept saying to myself, "I am alive...I am alive...because Jesus I am alive!"  I am a new person.  I have a fresh new start at life, and on top of that I have been freed from sin.  I bursted into tears, "I am alive!"

These have been sobering thoughts, and much needed in the drought that sometimes takes place in my heart.  I love it when God brings the rain.  God is so good.