Man has a perception of what glory should look like
The Pharisees were good examples of that
They thought they had it all figured out
They esteemed the law
Many pastors now have various ways of projecting God’s glory
some adorn their church buildings in lavish gold and silver
and art and other costly, worldly beautifications
Some pastors profess to prophesy so as to keep people following them
Some have massive wealth, even private jets, large houses
Some travel the world with gifts of healing, praying for others
Sometimes it’s hard to know what is pleasing to God and what is not
There are those who use Gods glory for their own gain
For money
For influence
To boast about how close they are to the lord
How you should follow them
How you should listen to their teaching for they know all the answers
Jesus was not an attractive man
God did that on purpose
God could have made Jesus the most beautiful human being,
which truly was the case since He is God,
but God decided that Jesus would have no form
nor comeliness that we should be attracted to Him
No worldly attraction
Nothing else to draw people to Him
but His glory should be exalted
He Himself without worldly treasures or position
His glory, which was not manifest the same way we think of it,
His purpose was solely to draw persons to the Father
In righteousness
In holiness
In purity
by the glory of our Creator
The true glory comes from those who are used as vessels,
who show us glory that leads to God,
those who point the direction, then step out of the way
So that Jesus may be glorified
and reach each individual
so that each person may gain his or her own relationship with the Lord,
that is where we will find His true Glory
Where is His glory?
Each one of us must find it for ourselves
Nobody truly can reveal it to you
It is by His Holy Spirit that we can see and understand
When miracles occur,
some will still not believe
some will not be drawn to Jesus,
even if they witness something with their own eyes
It is because the spiritual cannot be seen with the natural eyes
Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not,
neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand;
and seeing ye shall see,
and shall not perceive:
For this people’s heart is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted,
and I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes,
for they see: and your ears, for they hear. Matthew 13:13-16
We can wonder why Jesus chooses to open some eyes and not others
We can guess
We can search His word
The only thing that makes sense to me is that He looks on the heart
We cannot see others’ hearts,
unless for some reason God Himself shows us the hearts of man
He did this for the prophets in the Old Testament
to let the people know
God was speaking to them through the prophet
Such as when God sent Nathan to rebuke David
after he had killed Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-13)
Paul could read hearts as Jesus gave him insight,
but not on his own
One such example was when Ananias and Sapphira
lied to the Holy Ghost (and Paul)
We can’t fully understand why,
but Jesus chooses us
Do not ever take that for granted
If you see, you are blessed
and with that, search for His true glory
Not what we think of as glory here on earth
but for that beauty that we see
and can share with others to glorify Him
and help lead them to the narrow path
where they can find Jesus for themselves
Blessed are those who believe and have not seen (John 20:29)
Scriptural References:
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness;
and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2
But a certain man named Ananias,
with Sapphira his wife,
sold a possession,
And kept back part of the price,
his wife also being privy to it,
and brought a certain part,
and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
But Peter said, Ananias,
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?
and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power?
why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias hearing these words fell down,
and gave up the ghost:
and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
And the young men arose,
wound him up,
and carried him out, and buried him.
And it was about the space of three hours after,
when his wife,
not knowing what was done, came in.
And Peter answered unto her,
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much?
And she said, Yea, for so much.
Then Peter said unto her,
How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband
are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Then fell she down straightway at his feet,
and yielded up the ghost:
and the young men came in, and found her dead,
and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
And great fear came upon all the church,
and upon as many as heard these things. Acts 5:1-11