Filled with God's Glory

God not only filled the tabernacle and temple of old with his glory, but he longs to fill you. Can you imagine being filled with the same God of glory that the Israelites only admired at a distance? Keep Reading…

READ
Exodus 40:34 - Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

1 Kings 8:10 - When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.

John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

REFLECT
You will notice a theme throughout Scripture regarding God’s glory. Wherever God goes on earth, he looks for structures to inhabit. He fills the tabernacle, then the temple. God fills Jesus, then his disciples with glory. Ultimately, God’s goal is revealed in Habbakuk 2:14 - “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” He will fill the whole earth with his glory. In the end, the new heavens and earth will be full of his manifest presence. Revelation 21:23

God always looks for a structure that has been prepared for his arrival. ”Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 He longs to fill your body, to inhabit you with his Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:18 Will he find a space prepared within you?

Consider the immense privilege of containing the glory of God. The very thing that the Israelites saw at a distance as the cloud of glory enveloped the tabernacle, you have within you. Will you determine to keep your structure (body, eyes, ears, spirit) pure? God wants his beauty to be seen through you. Although he could fill the earth right now with his glory, he has chosen to fill you with himself.

RESPOND
God wants the unbelieving world to take notice of glory - his manifest presence - within you. Would people notice glory on or in you? This doesn’t mean that your appearance or abilities have to be glorious. But the ongoing movement or filling of the Holy Spirit in your life is the hallmark of God’s glory. The more you surrender to the Holy Spirit and keep in step with him (Galatians 5:25), the more you will reveal God’s glory to a world who desperately needs to see him.