How Can You See the Glory of God?
Without Faith, It’s Impossible!
By Riqui Ricón*
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that
if you believe, you will see
the glory of God?” (John 11:40 NIV)
This is the answer
Jesus gave to Martha when she protested: “But Lord, by this
time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days!”
Martha was shocked at Jesus’ command
to remove the stone from the tomb where her brother Lazarus’ body lay,
for after all, he had been dead for four days, and as she herself had said, if
Jesus had been there in time, Lazarus would not have died. And now Jesus was up
to something. Now? After four days in the tomb?
How often do God’s Born Again
Children find themselves in the same position
as Martha! Faced with the overwhelming evidence that reality presents, they simply forget Jesus’ words: “Did I not
tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
Why does this happen? Because human beings are absolutely immersed in
the system that governs this world, and even though the patterns and values of
this world are completely illusory, humans CANNOT detach themselves from that system.
To explain this satisfactorily, it is necessary
to analyze the origin of the problem.
The way most people
face reality is based, first of all, on Satan’s
lies:
But the serpent
said to the woman, “You will not surely die! For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis
3:4-5 NIV)
It is also founded
on the impressible senses of human beings,
When
the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6 NIV)
And finally, it is rooted in the fear that doubt produces,
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he
was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and
they hid from the Lord God among
the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden,
and I was afraid because
I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis
3:8-10 NIV)
The good news
about all this is that, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, and because you have accepted
Him as Lord and Savior
of your life, you are now a new creation. You are a Born Again
Child of God and you are NO LONGER subject to the system of this world.
I
have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My
prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect
them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John
17:14-16 NIV)
In fact,
in Christ Jesus,
you have overcome
the world,
But
you belong to God,
my dear children. You have already won a victory
over those people, because
the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit
who lives in the world. (1 John 4:4 NLT)
The best news is that the sacrifice of Jesus was complete, perfect,
and finished!
When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head, and
gave up the ghost. (John 19:30 KJV)
No matter what
your senses or emotions want to tell you, your New Nature, your New Birth, is a finished,
perfect, and accomplished fact. It was established
by the Word of God and accomplished
by the only begotten Son of God, Christ Jesus Himself.
And
every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From
henceforth expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool. For by one offering
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews
10:11–14 KJV)
There’s
nothing more to add! There’s nothing else you can or should do! Now it’s just
your turn to believe, to believe God, to believe His Word, and to receive with gratitude and joy what He bought with His Blood by dying on that
cross and rising again, conquering death for you.
For you have been born again, not to a life that will quickly
end. Your new life will last forever
because it comes from the eternal, living
word of God. (1 Peter 1:23 NLT)
Today you
know, because of the great Love God has for you, that you have been Born Again not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible seed which is the Word of God that lives and abides
forever.
Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. (1 John 5:1a NIV)
Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Savior of humanity? If so, then you are a Born Again Child of God!
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is
the victory that has overcome the
world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4 NIV)
As a Born
Again Child of God, you have the faith
of Jesus Christ. It is this faith (which is nothing other than believing God by believing His Word) that allows
you to overcome the overwhelming evidence
that your problems, afflictions, or illnesses
present to you. These are not definitive. The only thing that is definitive is
the Truth, and the Truth is the Word of God.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From
childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill
him.
But
if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said
Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s
father exclaimed, “I do believe;
help me overcome
my unbelief!” (Mark 9:21-24 NIV)
Everything is possible for one who believes! It doesn’t matter
if your situation is so
difficult that it seems there’s nothing left to do: “But Lord, by this time
there is a bad odor, for he has been dead four days!”
Everything is
possible for one who believes! And when your reality seems so overwhelming that it’s hard for you to believe,
even then, you can go to Him to
help you believe. What amazing Love!
‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘I brought you my son, for he has a spirit
that makes him unable to speak. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him violently
to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I
asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.’ ‘O
unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay
with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’ So they
brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into
a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked
the evil spirit, healed the
boy, and gave him back to his
father. Then the disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’
Jesus replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’ (Mark
9:21–24 NLT)
So, you can trust in God, your
Father. In the midst of any problem, anguish, or illness, you can receive
the joy of trusting in Him, because
you know that if God gives you a promise in His Word
regarding your need, then He will fulfill it; if God spoke it, then He will do
it.
Lord Almighty, blessed
is the one who trusts
in you. (Psalm 84:12 NIV)
This joy and
peace that surpasses all understanding can only come from knowing and believing that God keeps His Word of Honor
and that, therefore, heaven and earth would cease to
exist before He fails to fulfill what He has said.
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you
that if you believe, you will see the
glory of God?” (John
11:40 NIV)
This is the only way to live
seeing the glory of God.
Let us pray aloud:
Beloved
Heavenly Father, thank You for such great Love with which You have loved me,
that while I was a sinner You gave Your Son, Jesus Christ, to pay all my debts
and thus make me Your Child, just like Jesus. Oh God, it is so
amazing to know I am loved in such a way. Jesus, by Your sacrifice on the cross, by Your precious Blood, Your death
and resurrection, I have been justified, forgiven, sanctified, and glorified!
Yes! Glorified! Because those whom You foreknew, You also predestined to be
conformed to the image of Your Son, so that Jesus might be the firstborn among
many brothers and sisters. And those You predestined, You also called; those
You called, You also justified; those You justified, You also glorified. Thank
You for having prepared for me a way of salvation, a living and perfect way
through the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Jesus Christ, You are my
King, Lord, and Savior. You have transferred me from darkness to Your marvelous
light, granting me Your own Life. Thank You Lord Jesus, because of You I am
Eternal. Together with You, I will live forever! I will never die! Heavenly
Father, I believe and receive this Eternal identity as Your Child. I accept the
price that was paid for it! So, if You are for me, who can be against me? If You did not spare Your own Son, but gave Him
up for me out of love, how will You not also, along with Him, graciously give
me all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
God, You Yourself are the one who justifies me. Who then is the one who
condemns? Christ Jesus, You died for me; more than that, You, Lord, are the one
who was raised to life, who is also at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for me. Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
To all these evils Scripture refers, saying: “For your sake we face death all
day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” For Your sake we are
killed all day long; Yet, in all these things I, (your name
here), am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me. For I am convinced
that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able
to separate me from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus my Lord. So,
Abba! Father! I am Yours, and in Christ Jesus I have already
overcome, for
greater are You, Holy Spirit, who lives in me and with me, than he who is in
the world. Father, all and every one of Your Promises are in me, yes and amen!
I submit to You, my God and Father, I submit to Your Word, I resist Satan and
he has to flee from my life. I do not receive doubt, nor fear, nor sickness, nor poverty, nor anguish, nor depression. I am healed!
I am free! I am
prosperous! I am blessed! I am a Born Again Child of God! In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Important Note:
How do I become
a Child of God? How do I establish a relationship with the
Almighty?
Just say the following prayer aloud, putting
all your attention
and heart into what you are saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I
believe that You are the Son of God. That You came into this world, born of the virgin
Mary, to pay for all my
sins, and I have been a sinner.
Therefore, today I say that I accept. I accept Your sacrifice on the cross! I
accept Your precious Blood shed to the last drop out of love for me! I open my
heart to You and invite You in because I want, Lord Jesus, that from today
and forever You be my only and sufficient Savior, my God, my King, and
my Lord.
Thank You, Almighty God, because with this
simple prayer and profession of faith I have passed from death to Life, I have been transferred from darkness
to Your marvelous Light. Today I have been Born Again! God, now I am Your
Child! Now You are my Father! I will never be alone again! I will never live
defeated again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Three Recommendations:
What just happened by you
recognizing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life, according to God's Word, is that you have been Born Again. No longer
as an ordinary human being, subject to the law of sin and death, but now as a
legitimate and authentic Child of God, Born Again, exactly like Jesus Christ, who is now your Older Brother. Therefore,
I give you these three, very important, recommendations:
1.
Pray. Praying is talking with God. So, find a quiet
place where you can begin talking to Him about everything. Do it out loud, and you will notice
how God always responds to your heart.
2.
Read and meditate
on the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God, so get a Bible
and start reading
and meditating on it. How do you begin? It’s very simple. Depending on the day,
look up the reading program “The Bible in
One Year” and do the corresponding readings. You can get this program at: Through The Bible In One Year
(palabradehonor.org). You will notice that the program is set up so you can
print it as a booklet.
3.
In prayer with God, your Father, look for and join a
Christian church or congregation where the Word of God is taught based on the Good News, which are the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2020
Reading and Meditation on the Word of God
Do these daily readings, and by the end of one year you will have
read the entire Bible.
September 6 John 11:28–57 / 2 Chronicles 12–13 / Psalm 76
28 After she had
said this, she went back and called
her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for
you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she
got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now
Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha
had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been
with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how
quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to
the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus
was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said,
“Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have
died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping,
and the Jews who had come
along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit
and troubled. 34 “Where have you
laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,”
they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened
the eyes of the blind
man have kept this man from
dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across
the entrance. 39 “Take away the
stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha,
the sister of the
dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he
has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell
you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father,
I thank you that you have heard
me. 42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I said this for the benefit
of the people standing here,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come
out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped
with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had
come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
46 But some of them went to the
Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the
Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man
performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone
will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our
nation.”
49 Then one of them, named
Caiaphas, who was high priest
that year, spoke up, “You know
nothing at all! 50 You do not realize
that it is better for you
that one man die for the
people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he
prophesied that Jesus would die for the
Jewish nation, 52 and
not only for that nation but also for the scattered
children of God, to bring them together
and make them one. 53 So
from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of
Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village
called Ephraim, where he stayed with
his disciples.
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.
56 They kept looking for
Jesus, and as they stood in the temple
courts they asked one another,
“What do you think?
Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57
But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given
orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should
report it so that they might
arrest him.
Shishak Attacks Jerusalem
12 After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all
Israel[a] with him abandoned the law of the LORD. 2 Because they had been unfaithful to
the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King
Rehoboam. 3 With twelve
hundred chariots and sixty thousand
horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites[b] that came with him from
Egypt, 4 he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as
far as Jerusalem.
5 Then the prophet Shemaiah
came to Rehoboam
and to the leaders of Judah who had
assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says,
‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon
you to Shishak.’”
6 The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is just.”
7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, this word
of the LORD
came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled
themselves, I will not destroy
them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not
be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. 8 They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn
the difference between
serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”
9 When Shishak king of Egypt
attacked Jerusalem, he carried
off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and
the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold
shields Solomon had made. 10 So King Rehoboam
made bronze shields to replace
them and assigned these
to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance
to the royal palace.
11 Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the
shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself,
the LORD’s anger turned from him, and he was not
totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.
13 King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued
as king. He was forty-one years old when he
became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s
name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. 14
He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.
15 As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning
to end, are they not written in the
records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare
between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16 Rehoboam
rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his
son succeeded him as king.
Abijah King of Judah
13 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah
became king of Judah,
2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three
years. His mother’s name was Maakah,[c] a daughter[d] of Uriel of Gibeah.
There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred
thousand able fighting
men, and Jeroboam
drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able
troops.
4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim,
in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 Don’t you know that the LORD,
the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his
descendants forever by a covenant of salt? 6
Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled
against his master. 7 Some worthless
scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was
young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.
8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a
vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your
gods. 9 But didn’t you drive
out the priests
of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make
priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do?
Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven
rams may become
a priest of what are not gods.
10 “As for us, the LORD is our God, and we
have not forsaken
him. The priests
who serve the LORD are
sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and
fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread
on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every
evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken
him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests
with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you.
People of Israel,
do not fight against the LORD, the God of your ancestors, for you will not
succeed.”
13 Now
Jeroboam had sent troops around
to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah
the ambush was behind them. 14 Judah
turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the
LORD. The priests
blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah
raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam
and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16
The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 17 Abijah and his troops inflicted
heavy losses on
them, so that there were five hundred thousand
casualties among Israel’s
able men. 18 The Israelites were
subdued on that occasion, and the
people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the
LORD, the God of their ancestors.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel,
Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. 20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah.
And the LORD struck him down and he died.
21 But Abijah grew in strength.
He married fourteen
wives and had twenty-two sons and
sixteen daughters.
22 The other events of Abijah’s reign,
what he did and what he said, are written
in the
annotations of the prophet
Iddo.
Psalm 76
For the director of music. With stringed
instruments. A psalm of Asaph.
A song.
1
God is renowned in Judah; in Israel his name is great.
2
His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling
place in Zion.
3
There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields
and the swords, the weapons
of war.[b]
4
You are radiant with light,
more majestic
than mountains rich with game.
5
The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift
his hands.
6
At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both
horse and chariot
lie still.
7
It is you alone who are to
be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
8
From heaven
you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was
quiet—
9
when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.
10
Surely
your wrath against
mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.[c]
11
Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands
bring gifts to the One to be feared.
12
He breaks
the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.
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