Proof of identity

Supernova explosion

Glory. Interesting word. What does it mean?

“Christ in you, the hope of glory,” the apostle Paul said. (Col. 1:27) That’s how he described God’s great mystery, the hope (confident expectation of future success) of glory – Christ in you.

We know that when someone accepts Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, Christ actually begins to live inside that person. He is in Christ and Christ is in him.

But what is glory?

To me, the simplest explanation of glory is “proof of identity.” God’s glory is an attribute only God has. When you see it, you know that’s God.

In the original Bible languages, glory means brilliance, splendor, radiance, magnificence, such as we see in stars shining.  It also means honor, majesty, a good reputation, even fine clothing and jewelry.

There are a number of Old Testament Hebrew words translated glory:

H3519 = kabowd (ka – vode); noun; honour, splendor, reverence, abundance, riches, reputation. From primary root for heaviness, always used figuratively. It occurs 200 times in 189 verses in the O.T., the most used. The idea of brilliance, splendor and radiance is primary in many verses, such as:

2 Chr. 5:14: “So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”

2 Chr. 7:1: “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.”

Kepler supernova remnant

H1926 = hadar (ha-dar); noun; ornament, adorning, goodliness, decoration; splendor, excellency, comeliness, beauty, honor, majesty.

H8597 = tipharah (tif-a-ra); noun; beauty, splendor, finery of garments or jewels, renown, fair, bravery, comely, excellent. It is used to describe the Ark of the Covenant in Ps. 78:61.

H1939 = howd (hode); noun; splendor, majesty, vigor; to  become lofty, as in Ps. 3:3: “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head.”

H3513 – kavad (ka-vad); verb form of kabowd; to be heavy, weighty, grievous, burdensome, to be hard (able to bear up under anything); rich, honourable, glorious, to be honored.

H6286 = paar (pa-ar); verb; to glorify, beautify, adorn. To be proud, vaunt yourself, boast.

H7623 = shabach (sha-vakh); verb; to soothe, still, stroke (as water in swimming); to laud, praise, commend, congratulate, boast, triumph.

New Testament Greek words translated glory are very similar in meaning. The primary one is doxa.

G1391 = doxa (do’-ksä); noun; honor, praise, dignity, worship; a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory; splendor, brightness of the moon, sun, stars; magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace; majesty; a most glorious condition, most exalted state.

Here are several examples where glory means brilliance, radiance or splendor:

Luke 2:9: “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

Luke 9:32: “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.” Matt. 17:2 says that Jesus “was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”

Here’s an example with a different meaning:

John 2:11: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

Jesus’ face didn’t shine brilliantly in Cana as on the Mount of Transfiguration; he demonstrated his identity by the miracle of turning water into wine for a wedding feast. The result? The disciples believed on him.

Whenever Jesus traveled back and forth across Galillee, Judea, Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan, this is what he did. He demonstrated his identity as God. Creator of the universe, he easily created some things that had not been there and changed the nature of other things.

He appeared and disappeared at will, easily escaping from the hands of the Pharisees when he wanted to. He commanded and changed the weather. He suspended the laws of physics to allow Peter to join Jesus in a walk across the waters of Galilee.

Whatever he did, where and when he did it, was to glorify his father God. (John 17:4) It was to prove his own identity, and the identity of the one who had commissioned him. That was one of his critical assignments.

And then he stated, “The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them…” (John 17:22) What glory had he given them? A brilliant appearance? No.

He gave them the assignment and the ability to carry it out, to do the same things he had been doing, healing, miracles, thereby proving the identity of Jesus as the son of God, as God himself.

He was getting reading to leave them. But he would send the Holy Spirit to the believers to continue that activity – “He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:14)

That is what it means, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Future glory in heaven, certainly, but present glory also. The guarantee, the confident expectation that God’s glory will be demonstrated by believers. Proof of Jesus’ identity, demonstrated by the actions of those the Holy Spirit indwells.

Doing things any ordinary human can do will not prove the identity of Jesus.

Still “Tinkering around the edges”

Once again I asked the Lord “What are you doing?” this morning. I had been reading online news from around the world, focusing on Israel, Iran and the Middle East.

“I’m still tinkering around the edges,” he answered. “But now I’m sealing them.”

“Not with tape, glue, or needle and thread,” he continued. “With fire. With the fire of my Spirit. When I stop this fraying, the edges won’t ravel so easily in the days ahead.”

I had to think about that for a while. I remembered writing a post in 2017 about God’s “tinkering around the edges.” A great deal has changed around the world since then, especially right now in the Middle East. Obviously the Lord’s actions have also changed.

Here’s what he’d told me back then when I asked that question:

I was just wondering what the Lord was up to this evening, wondering if maybe he’d like for me to do something different from what I was doing (reading stuff online), like pray, study, or what… when he said, “I’m tinkering around the edges.” Huh?

“When I see a loose thread, I’m pulling it.” Loose thread? What does that mean? I asked.

Some loose threads lead to knots, he said. Knotty problems. Knotty emotions. Knotty headaches and heartaches. So, I’m carefully pulling the loose threads, untangling the knots.

I suddenly visualized knotted muscles, knotted nerves, knotted relationships, and now a gentle scarred hand, painstakingly and patiently untangling those knots, soothing as he goes.

Talk With Bette Radio

Talk With Bette Radio

Rebellion has consequences

This post was originally published in 2015 and was re-published once some time later. Today I am going to share it again — so many still need to heed the warning! Rebellion Has Consequences! And that goes for governments as well as individuals.

Why can’t I share something really uplifting, encouraging, hilarious, sweet, pleasant, funny, not more-bad-stuff-on-the-way gloominess? I asked the Lord one night.

Of course, I thought in the back of my mind, I don’t HAVE to post what he tells me, I don’t have to share it with anybody. And, some of what he says is uplifting. Sometimes.

There are many times when I’d just rather keep these things to myself, because after all, few people are paying attention, that’s obvious. Just read the newspapers, listen to the TV nightly news, surf the web.

Then Jeremiah 20:9 will pop into my mind: “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

Here’s what the Lord showed me that night:

Remember when your children were young? You’d give them some instructions, something you wanted them to do, or not do. But they’d ignore you. Remember those times? What did you do?

You would devise consequences. Perhaps take away a toy for a while, or revoke freedom to do something they wanted like watch television, or go to a friend’s house. Nothing too drastic, but made to fit the situation. I’m not talking about simple mistakes or forgetfulness, I’m talking about rebellion. Determined disobedience requiring action.

Later on, as they were older, consequences for disobedience had to increase in severity, and if that still didn’t work, more severity. From withholding privileges, loss of allowance, to various kinds of restrictions, whatever had the best chance of success.

The laws of sowing and reaping were working then, as they always do. They are working now.

As I meditated on what he had said, I realized some things.

All of that necessary training, physical and spiritual discipline for my children, was to prepare their growing souls to function with self-control as adults. It was quite unpleasant occasionally… but it worked.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:11)

And the Lord showed me, that is what’s happening in America. Warning after warning has been given. Disobedience and rebellion have been met with consequences, and the consequences have been increasing in severity. Unpleasant. Painful. Dire.

Fires. Floods. Famine. Disease. Lawlessness. The laws of sowing and reaping are still at work.

Consequences of rebellion cause anxiety, frustration and anger – even at God – for some who simply don’t or won’t believe His word (yet). But those same consequences result in repentance, prayer, intercession and pleas for mercy for those who do believe, some of whom had not been taking God’s word very seriously.

Is it time to quit warning people? That time will come one day, I know. It’s not time yet, but how much more severe do the consequences of sin and rebellion have to get, before people listen?

“If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

“And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”   (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

Pray for the details (again): 2024 election

August 27, 2020 March 19, 2024

(As you can tell, this article was originally posted about the 2020 US Presidential Election. Here we are in 2024, having just as much cause to pray for this year’s election; even more. We now have nearly four years of experience living under the authority of an administration that seems determined to wreck this nation inside and out. Is that God’s will, his idea, his intention, his goals and purposes for America? I don’t believe that. And so, I’m reposting this prayer and inviting you to join in. Adopt it, amend it or add to it, as you are led by the Holy Spirit.)   

Father, I believe you are calling your intercessors worldwide to pray about the 2020 2024 United States Presidential election.

I believe that you give those believers who will pray insight and revelation knowledge of what You desire that we pray, declare and decree before, during, and after the election.

“In addition to praying for the candidates, pray about
the daily details faced by those in charge of the entire voting process.”

Father, I ask that you supply everything needed by every voter registration office in the United States in order to plan, prepare for and conduct an efficient, orderly, honest and accurate election.

Give the people in charge of those critical offices all the assistance, information, knowledge and wisdom they need in order to plan and prepare well.

Keep them and those who assist them safe and healthy during this process.

Assign angel warriors around every area involved, keeping peace between persons concerned and involved in the work, so that no intentions for trouble-making can be carried out.

Provide the essential know-how, manpower, materials and equipment at all voting places, as well as all locations where ballots will be counted.

Assure that the voting and the counting is done in the most timely and orderly manner possible, without problems or delays caused by people or equipment whether deliberate or accidental, so that the results in every precinct will be accurate.

Importantly, assure that the official reporting — and the media reporting — of the results will be timely, orderly, and accurate also.

Thank you, Father. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

---

Intercessors, can you agree with this prayer? Is there anything that you feel needs to be added? Your prayerful comments are appreciated.

Additional prayers may be posted between now and election day. Thank you for reading and for praying.

 

What are You Hearing?

I’m hearing a sound in my spirit these days. Are you hearing it too?

More than a voice, more than a noise — it’s the sound of warfare, the sound of a great army. God’s army.

The enemy of Israel heard a sound that wasn’t really there. It was the sound of a great army, coming to attack them. The sound of defeat! They fled in terror, abandoning tents, horses, food, everything.

“For the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians against us, to attack us!”

“So they got up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys — indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives.” (2 Kings 7:6-7 NASB20; begin reading in Chapter 6.)

Israel heard a sound that wasn’t really there too. It was also the sound of a great army, marching toward them. The sound of deliverance! They advanced in faith.

“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

“And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.” (2 Samuel 5:24-25 NKJV)

Sonic warfare, the use of sound waves as a weapon, has been around since World War II; perhaps even before then. But the Lord of Hosts has used a form of it far longer than that.

Do you want to get well?

I watched an Evangelist Nathan Morris (https://shakethenations.com/about/nathan-morris/) revival service on my computer one spring day in 2011, one of many such services, live and recorded, that I watched that year.

I was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, a total of five months’ worth.*

And as is common, chemotherapy had lowered my immune system and thus I’d been told to not go out in public (except for the doctor’s office and hospital, of course). That meant no shopping in stores, no attending church, no going any place where some sick person might cough or sneeze on me, until my immune system recovered from chemotherapy. That could take a while, my doctors informed me. And so, a lot of television, a lot of internet programs, and a lot of reading occupied my day.

In the middle of Nathan’s message, he walked down the steps from the platform into the crowd. He approached a section off to the side where a number of people sat in wheelchairs.

The television cameraman followed him as he approached one lady and asked her an odd question: “Do you want to get well?”

I wondered why he asked such a question. She was there, wasn’t she? At a healing service? Conducted by this evangelist well known for the many miracle healings that took place in his services?

I wondered if he anticipated her answer… Because she said, No.

He gently asked her, Why not? And through some tears she told him it was because she was afraid she’d lose her disability benefits, her only income. Fear. Fear of being unable to support herself if she was well again kept her from truly wanting or seeking to be made well.

Nathan did pray for her, but he prayed that the Lord would minister faith to her, faith that he could not only make her well, he could also provide all her needs, body, soul and spirit. After a hug and a smile, he moved on to pray for several other people in the crowd. There was no follow-up information about that lady, whether she ever got out of her wheelchair or not. I hope she did.

Jesus also asked that odd question.

Most of the time when Jesus healed somebody, he just did it. Different ways, of course. One time he spit on the ground, made mud and slathered a blind man’s eyes with it. Not exactly polite. Another time he just told a crippled man to do something he couldn’t do, like get up off your mat, pick it up and go home… on another occasion he wasn’t even in the same town with the sick person he healed, he just said a few words and it was done.

One thing he usually didn’t do was ask – what do you want? Only on two occasions did he ask such a strange question.

John 5 tells about the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Do you want to get well? Jesus asked him.

What an odd thing to ask. The crowd around the pool was there for one thing only, to get healed. Occasionally an angel would come and “trouble” the water, whatever that means, and whoever got into the pool first would get well. (Seems cruel to me. Only occasionally? And only one?)

The crippled man explained his situation to Jesus, as though this was an obscure, out of the way location and only a few lucky people knew about it.

But this was just outside the Sheep Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem, a prominent building surrounding an upper and lower pool with five colonnaded porches, quite well known to the city. (See http://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/51-bethesda-pool.html)

The man had been crippled for 38 years, a long, long time. And for a long, long time he had been brought to the pool, hoping today would be his day. But for whatever reason, no-one there would help him get to the pool in time, so day after day he just watched as somebody else got healed.

How discouraging. How depressing. Why bother coming to the pool?

Then Jesus paid a visit to the pool, and asked one particular man a peculiar question. Do you want to get well? From his response, the answer was obviously YES.

So Jesus told the poor man to do something he couldn’t do. Get up, pick up your bed and walk. And he did. He didn’t lay there and wonder — Who is this crazy fellow, doesn’t he know I can’t walk? He just did it. Jesus really didn’t need to ask, he knew the man’s heart. He healed him even before he attempted to rise to his feet.

Jesus didn’t stick around and so the man couldn’t follow him, but his miraculous recovery caused quite a commotion around the Temple. It was the sabbath, after all!

It’s a wonderful story, but I’m curious. Why did Jesus ask him that question?

Here’s the only other person Jesus asked such a strange question… blind Bartimaeus, the beggar. All four gospels recount this event; Mark 10 gives us his name.

Jesus, the disciples and a large number of other people were coming through Jericho. Now, obviously with this crowd there was a lot of commotion. What’s going on? Who is it? Bartimaeus no doubt asked somebody. When he heard it was Jesus, he knew who that was. He knew what that meant. Here’s my chance!

He yelled, Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me! He soon got the attention of the crowd, who tried to shut him up. He kept right on yelling until he got the attention of Jesus, who called for him to come. And he did.

I wonder how long it took him to get through that mass of people… When he finally got there, Jesus asked him that peculiar question:

What do you want me to do for you?

Now, I can think of many things Bartimaeus might have said. A big house, a lot of money, a beautiful wife, nice clothes, lots of things. What he did request was simple — to see again.

Jesus didn’t speak a command, didn’t touch him, didn’t make mud, didn’t tell him to do something impossible. He just said, Go your way, your faith has made you whole. Suddenly Bartimaeus could see again, and he did indeed go his way – Jesus’ way! Joining the noisy crowd, he became a follower of Jesus.

Think what having his vision restored meant to this man. Now he could work for a living. Now he could go to the Temple in Jerusalem and worship! He could do all the usual things men did, meet with friends, help out a neighbor, perhaps have a family. But first he followed Jesus. He could see in more ways than one, now. He did want to get well!

(This article is adapted and enlarged from the original.)

* (Yes, the breast cancer “shrank, shriveled, died and disappeared from my body,” as I prayed, praised God, took authority over my body and commanded the cancer cells attacking it, and followed my doctor’s instructions. There have been no recurrences. By the way – I also prayed for my doctors, privately and in person. I still do. They seem to really appreciate it!)

How high a mountain?

How high a mountain would you climb, carrying a sick friend?

Everywhere Jesus went, people followed him. Lots of people. Even up a mountain.

In this case, over four thousand, and that was just the men! (There were women and children in that crowd, too.)

And they weren’t just casually strolling along. No doubt some of them were really struggling, carrying friends or relatives who were sick, injured and disabled, including some who were blind — physically carrying them up that mountain, to Jesus.

How much planning, how much effort did that take? And on the part of the healthy and the sick, how much faith?

Jesus and the disciples had been visiting the area of Tyre and Sidon where they’d had an encounter with the Syrophoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28).

Leaving there they headed east, skirting the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee before stopping at an unnamed mountain, probably in the Decapolis region across the Jordan River.

Matthew 15:29-38 describes those events:

After going up on the mountain, He was sitting there.  Large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.

The crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

(Can you imagine the joy-filled praise and worship that was going on? The excitement? Do you suppose anybody in that crowd wanted to go home? I don’t. And eventually they got hungry.)

Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  [Matthew 15:29-38 NASB20]

I can’t help but wonder — how much longer did they all stay there, up on that mountain with Jesus?

Now that they were all healed, healthy, whole and well fed, spiritually and physically, nobody needed to be carried back down, unless maybe some sleepy, tired children.

So — how high a mountain would you climb, carrying a sick friend to Jesus?

Why bother?

Why bother

Posting angels

Posting angels