“The Glory Of God” by Nancy Dufresne

Kenneth E. Hagin said, “When reverence and honor is restored, then there will be a restoration and multiplication of the miraculous power of God.” The way we will move into God’s greater glory is through reverencing and honoring the Lord. Reverence and honor for God is part of the flow of the miraculous.

That reverence must be restored and seen in:

1) the Body of Christ
2) the local church
3) the life of every believer

The Glory Upon Jesus

Jesus is the supreme revelation of God’s glory. Hebrews 1:3 reads, “Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person….” This verse describes Jesus as being the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.

When the people saw Jesus at work, they were seeing God at work. When they heard Jesus teach, they were hearing God. When they saw healings and miracles at Jesus’ hands, they were seeing God healing and working.

Jesus never did anything apart from the Father. He didn’t put Himself on display – He put God on display! The glory of God was manifested through Jesus’ life and ministry – miracles, healings, and demonstrations were the result of that glory.

Romans 6:4 tells us that, “Christ was raised up from the dead by THE GLORY of the FATHER.” It was the glory of God in manifestation that raised Christ from the dead! Another translation says that Jesus was raised up “…by a manifestation of the glory of God.”

The Glory Upon the Body of Christ

First Corinthians 3:16 reads, “Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God’s temple (His sanctuary), and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively AS A CHURCH and also individually]?” (AMPC)

We talk about individuals being filled with the Holy Spirit – but a whole body of believers can be filled with the glory of God!

Brother Hagin stated, “Do know what God’s putting His emphasis on right now? Number one – the local church. He wants to build strong local churches! There’s been so much that went away from the church and led people away from the church, but I want to tell you a little secret I know. You say, ‘How do you know?’ I’ll tell you how I know – because Jesus told me! I had a divine visitation from Heaven. Jesus said this: ‘The Holy Ghost will never, can never, manifest Himself in an auditorium meeting like He wants to and will manifest Himself in the local church. And He’ll never manifest Himself on television like He will manifest Himself in the local church.’ So, if we don’t have strong local churches, we’re going to miss the real manifestations of the Holy Ghost. That’s the reason He wants to build strong local churches. Auditorium meetings – don’t misunderstand me, they have their place – but they’re primarily based on whatever manifestation of the Spirit that minister has.

“Someone may ask, ‘Don’t we have church when all of us come together in a great meeting?’ Yes, but it’s not the same. We’re coming from different groups, we’re coming from different levels. It’s impossible to get in one accord and one spirit like we should. But you see, all you’ve got there is the manifestation or the anointing of the Holy Ghost singularly – usually the anointing that’s upon the one ministering. But when that Body of believers come together, there’s a corporate anointing, and that anointing is much stronger than the individual anointing.”

We talk about what the Holy Spirit will do in you individually, and that’s important – but we need to know what the Holy Spirit will do IN THE BODY OF BELIEVERS as a whole because of His indwelling Presence. The Holy Spirit dwells in us collectively – and He wants to come into manifestation!

If we are to have the glory of God come into manifestation, we must set the atmosphere for it, and reverence and honor set the atmosphere for God to move. The way we will move into God’s greater glory is through reverencing the Lord.

Praising God creates an atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to work in. We miss out on many of God’s blessings because we don’t take the time to get in the attitude of worship. There is a close relationship between ministering to the Lord and receiving from Him. Praising God creates an atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to work in, and when we praise the Lord, His supernatural power will begin to manifest in our life! Praise brings the anointing, and the anointing destroys the yoke. As we set this kind of atmosphere of praise, we will see more manifestations of His glory.

The Glory Upon the Believer

As believers, we need to live a life of reverence and honor for God. When we do, that’s going to affect what we allow in our thought life, the words we speak, the actions we take, the places we go, and the way we treat others. All of this is involved in a life of reverence and honor for God, and it’s going to affect the manifestation of God’s glory in and through our life.

Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

The Amplified Classic translation reads, “And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.” This shows us that there are measures and degrees of the glory of God that we can advance in.

The Living Bible translation reads, “But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” We can be so changed by the doing of His Word that when others see us, they see HIM!

Isaiah 60:1 & 2 instructs us, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

As God’s children, we are carriers of the glory of God. So we need to live and respond in a way that allows that glory to flow unhindered.

“Arise” means to get yourself to a higher level. “Arise” by going to a place in fellowship with God. That’s where the “arising” happens.

When we “arise” – going to a higher level – we are to SHINE with the glory of God, and the glory will manifest through us in producing miracles and demonstrations of power in our life and in the lives of those we minister to. We “shine” by walking in the revelation of the Word – being doers of the Word!

God is bringing us into a place where our lives are producing the exact same fruit that Jesus’ life produced, because we are carriers of the glory of God, just as Jesus carried and manifested the glory of God during His earthly life and ministry.

As we reverence and honor God and His Word in our life, it will produce and manifest through us!