There’s Glory Just Around the Corner

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“Everyone who does right will see His face.” (Psalm 11:7 Contemporary English)

For the past several days our attention has been fixed upon Psalm 11 – The Song of the Eleventh Hour. This wondrous and musical prophecy ends on a promising note: “Everyone who does right will see His face.”

The Good News Bible tells us that, in a day when evil runs rampant, those who nevertheless do good “shall live in God’s presence.” Certainly this is true in the final sense when we all get to Heaven; but it also has relevance for while we are yet in this world. We can live in God’s Presence now; we can experience the favor and power of His blessing upon our lives, even though things may be crumbling all around us.

The grand old blessing that has been handed down through the ages from priest to priest beginning with Aaron, who received this very blessing directly from the Lord Himself, says, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).

Yes, times may be tough, with even harder things yet to come; but this great promise holds true through it all -- “Everyone who does right will see His face.”

What this ultimately means is so staggering that we could never have imagined it on our own. But the Bible says it, and we know it is so. Here it is in a single, sublime sentence: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2)!

Here is what Simon Peter wrote to encourage and strengthen all who go though great challenges in this life. “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.” (1 Peter 4:12-13 The Message).

Did you know that God is using everything that is happening in our world to mold and shape us into men and women who become more and more like Jesus? And did you know that His face shines upon us in the midst of our darkest days, such that others actually see Jesus in us even when we don’t realize they do? And did you know that one day, sooner or later, we shall stand in His presence and see Him fully for ourselves -- and we shall be like Him!

Now that’s what I call “glory just around the corner!”
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