On the Edge of Glory

Have you heard the song, by Lady GaGa?

I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hanging on a moment of truth
Out on the edge of glory
And I'm hanging on a moment with you
I'm on the edge

The song has been stuck in my head all day, since last night really. It got me to thinking.

"Glory" is one of the most common words in scripture. It is used to express importance, honor and majesty. We read of the “glory of the Lord.”

In the countryside close by there were shepherds out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, 'Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people.

In the gospel of John, Jesus addresses a long prayer to God in which he says:

I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed.

The glory of God is the express greatness of his splendor, beauty, excellence, majesty, magnificence and honor. Therefore glorifying God means to acknowledge His greatness, and give Him honor by praising and worshiping Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honored and worshipped. God’s glory is the essence of His nature, and we give glory to Him by recognizing that essence.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 4:17

So while the Lord is glorified, the growth and development of a Christian has been described as a process – culminating in Glorification. Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, the full realization of salvation. This includes developing to that point where we glorify God through our life on earth, to decrease so that He may increase so that as others encounter a living breathing Christian who is walking in Glorification, they encounter Christ and perceive His Glory and His presence.

But it also speaks of afterlife. After the final judgment, all the righteous dead shall arise and their bodies will be perfected and will become a glorified body. Only then can they enter Heaven. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis’s Weight of Glory: "If we were to see them in their glorified forms we would be tempted to bow down and worship them." Many people believe that this body will be very similar to the one Christ had after He rose from the dead, or likened to an angel. That is, a perfect body fit for the needs of eternal life in a new Heaven and new Earth.

What kind of body will it be? All I know is it will not be the kind of body we are familiar with.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, raised in incorruption, sown in dishonor, raised in glory. Sown in weakness, raised in power. Sown a natural body, raised a Spiritual Body.” 1 Corthinians 15:42

He contrasts the body we now have with what we will have. All I know is that it will be a body on a higher level, and of a higher quality than the one we have now. It will be glorious. It will be strong and spiritual. It will never wear out or corrupt. And it is the kind of body you could enjoy being in paradise in. Isn’t it?

Glory – Sometimes the word is used as a place. The Bible says about Jesus,

“God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1Timothy 3:16

The Apostle Peter identified himself not only as an elder, not only as a witness of the sufferings of Christ, but also a

“partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” 1 Peter 5:1

All of which is to say, that when I hear the song they play a lot today, “on the edge of glory” I can’t help but think of how I am on that edge spiritually. I am almost there. I could be a day away, or a year, or many years, but nevertheless on that edge of glory. I can see the end. I just need to be strong, and stay strong, and don’t let anything or anyone get in my way of my goal. I must resist the temptations of the world and remain spiritual and focused on glory. I must keep this glory in my mind and on my heart. I want this desire for glory to direct my life, my decisions and my choices.

“He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” Revelations 21:10

“partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” 1 Peter 5:1

I am on the edge of glory, and I can’t wait. On the edge of knowing and seeing the Lord’s glory, having that new glorious body, and going home – received up into glory.

The things of this world, the hard times we have and face, the suffering, poverty, crime, wars etc., impact Christians and non-Christians alike. By remembering that we are “not of this world,” remembering that these things are just for a little while, we can see them in a different light. We are still surrounded by all the horrors and tragedy of this life, but this is not our life. The knowledge that we are not of this world gives us Christians hope even in the darkest times. This messed up world is not where we belong, and it is not where we will stay.

We are here for a while. Meanwhile we wait. I am waiting, knowing I am on the edge of glory.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Cor4:16-18

GREATNESS

Watching the Olympics started me to thinking about Greatness, but in a different way than thought about in sports. I know many Great people. They are prepared, situated, and ready for their call to Greatness. Whether that call comes or when it will come I don’t know, but I know they are ready.

You see, Greatness comes only to those who have spent a lifetime preparing for it.

The qualities of a great man are integrity, vision, courage, understanding, the skill of articulation and the depth of Character. Mostly Character. Character motivates. In its noblest embodiments, it exemplifies human nature in its highest forms, for it exhibits man at his best.

Men of genuine excellence in every station of life—men of industry, of integrity, of high principle, of sterling honesty of purpose—command the spontaneous homage of mankind. It is natural to believe in such men, to have confidence in them, and to imitate them. All that is good in the world is upheld by them, and without their presence in it the world would not be worth living in.

Character mostly secures respect. Character is the product of heart-power and in the long run it is the heart that rules in life. Men of Character are held up by society in relation to their conscience.

To that list of qualities of greatness, I would add decisiveness. That is, the ability to take command, decide and act. There arrives a moment when soft speaking should be abandoned and a fight to the end undertaken. Any man who hopes to exercise leadership must be ready to meet the requirements face to face when it happens; unless he is ready to fight when necessary, people will begin to ignore him.

The qualities of goodness in a man, I believe include a genuine sympathy for the human condition, that is, and awareness of human weakness and shortcomings and a willingness to be forgiving of them, a sense of responsibility toward others, a genuine modesty combines with a justified self-confidence, a sense of humor, and most of all, a love of life and of people.

Every man can strive to develop the qualities of a good and great man; he needn’t wait for an emergency to spur him into action. For some men, their lives will intersect with a crisis that calls upon the talents and skills they have spent years cultivating, presenting them with an opportunity to serve and lead and become a Great man. No man knows if and when such a chance will arrive.

Whether the chance for a man to lead in a dramatic way ever comes or not, doesn’t matter. The man who spends a life-time cultivating the traits of goodness and greatness enjoys the confidence of being ready for whatever comes and the competence to handle the small emergencies in his day-to-day life. He will be revered for generations by family and loved ones, and if fate requires him to exercise the traits of greatness, will be remembered by history books as well. Either way, he will be able to look back at the end of his life with a satisfaction of knowing it was well-lived.

Personally, I always try to give my best. Whatever the day calls for, I try to give it my best. If I am working for someone, I want them to miss me when I am gone. You may not get the promotion, or even the job, but the true satisfaction is in knowing you did the best you could. If the road traveled seems to be leading to a dead end, if the less than exciting duties seem pointless, put it aside and focus on the work at hand, focus on helping others, and make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in on any given day. It is this attitude, this daily attitude, that prepares you for Greatness.

Thus of all the lessons I have gleaned from life, this has been the most memorable: to work and train hard every day and every year, even when it seems your efforts are fruitless, because you never know when you will be called upon to lead others through a crisis, and when your goodness will get the opportunity to become Greatness.

Tootsie is our two year old miniature dachshund. This week she was our hero.

First some background. Michelle (my wife) has been dealing with diabetes for over a year now.  She constantly monitors her blood sugar (blood glucose) level due to how it sometimes gets too low and other times rises too high. 

Michelle takes diabetes pills. These medicines help 1) the blood sugar from getting too high, and 2) take the sugar out of the blood and get it into the body's cells, which makes the level of sugar in the blood go down. But sometimes it's a tricky balancing act and blood sugar levels can get too low.

One danger is that the blood sugar can fall fast enough and low enough to cause unconsciousness. It can get severe enough to cause unconsciousness during sleep. If you lapse into a diabetic coma, you’re alive – but can’t awaken or respond to sights, sounds or other types on stimulation. Left untreated, a diabetic coma can be fatal.

Ok, so Michelle was sleeping.  Suddenly, Tootsie starts licking her face, something she has never done before. Michelle wakes up with Tootsie all in her face, licking her, and trying to wake her up.  As soon as she was awake she realized she was in distress. She knew from past experiences her blood sugar was low.  She got up and pricked her finger to find it was so low it didn’t even register.  She ate some candy and ate an orange. The blood sugar slowly was raised to 51 and then to 57 and finally up to an acceptable level.

We have Tootsie to thank for recognizing the danger Michelle was in and waking her up. Tootise saved her life.

And then, later this week, it happened again.  This time Michelle woke up with Tootsie clawing and scratching her face, again something she never does. Tootsie was determined to get her awake. And she did, in time for Michelle to correct the problem again.

There is an organization called Dogs for Diabetics, in which dogs are trained to alert diabetics of just such. They are trained to identify and act upon subtle scent changes that low blood sugar creates in body chemistry, changes undetectable to humans. 

But our Tootsie wasn’t trained.  She just came by it naturally I guess.  Thank you Lord for sending us Tootsie.  And thank you Tootsie for keeping my baby safe. Tootsie was a hero.