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| | THE SHELTER OF GLORY
by Francis Frangipane
What we define doctrinally as "salvation" is, in truth, the entrance, and then expansion, of Christ's Presence throughout our person.
What we call salvation is, in truth, the beginning of God's glory in man.
If you are a Christian, then Christ is in you; you are already
in glory. You have been clothed with Christ, who is Himself the
"radiance of [the Father's] glory" (Heb 1:3). The fact is, Satan
knows you are a Christian, not simply because he heard you repeat a prayer at a
church altar; the Devil sees what happened when you prayed: The glory of Christ entered your spirit!
There, within you right now, abides the substance, the radiance,
of Christ. Your prayer to receive Jesus into your heart was eternally effective.
The Divine Refuge
To attain the manifest glory of God is the reason for our existence. Consequently, the Lord is more concerned with our full conversion
than our fleshly comfort; He seeks to establish in us true holiness rather than false happiness. He will even bring us through floods
and fires, if necessary, to scourge away our addiction to the goals of men.
The outcome of what seems like harsh or severe dealings is that, having been delivered from the frail defenses of man, the glory
of God becomes our shelter.
"When the Lord has washed away the filth of the
daughters of Zion . . . by the spirit of judgment and
the
spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over
the whole area of Mount Zion and over her
assemblies a cloud by
day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by
night; for
over all the glory will be a canopy." Isaiah
4:4-5
The glory of His Presence "will be a canopy." Isaiah continues, "And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day,
and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain" (Isa 4:6).
Think of it! In the last days the glory of God shall increasingly become so tangible, so substantial, that it will become a "shelter,"
a "refuge," and a "protection" to those who have learned to
live in the Presence of God.
For all the compelling reasons to serve God, His highest calling to our hearts is nothing less than the attainment of Christ's
glory: "It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess 2:14).
Yes, Christ will part the skies and be manifest in finality,
but first He comes to be manifest in our humanity! Paul tells us that Christ is coming specifically "to be glorified in His
saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed" (2 Thess 1:10).
As the return of Christ approaches, entrance into the glory of God shall not only become more attainable; it shall
become ever more necessary. For as the battle at the end of the age intensifies,
only the shelter of God's glory shall preserve us.
Francis Frangipane
http://www.InChristsImage.org |
