Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
Experience The Goodness Of God
His manifest presence and goodness—can radically transform a person’s life. Drawing from Psalm 63 and John 17:22, it emphasizes that God’s glory is not abstract but a tangible, spiritual reality believers already possess. Rather than striving for growth, Christians are encouraged to realize and release what God has already placed within them. The message urges a shift from religious routine to deep, daily connection with God, resulting in lasting joy, purpose, and spiritual precision.
I just wanted to preach a simple message entitled experiencing the goodness of God, and so let's go ahead and lift up our Bible. I don't want to. I don't want to forget that we all usually make a confession of faith. So let's just, you don't have to stand up, you can just lift up your Bible with me and let's make this confession together. Say Heavenly, I'm grateful to be here tonight to have my faith stirred. I'm a man of faith. You can put woman in there. If you're a woman. I'm full of your word, I'm full of your compassion and I desire to see your glory. I'm a carrier of your glory and I take that responsibility seriously and I check in with all that I have and all that. I am all for your kingdom to do your kingdom business, to learn everything that I need to learn from you, to go to the next level in you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Well, if you'll open with me to Psalm 63, this was one of, yeah, one of yesterday's Psalms and starting in verse one, let's just go through some of the Old Testament examples of the glory of God, because that's what the goodness of God is. It is His glory, and so you know, some people take this subject as really deep, and it is, but it's also really simple, and so I'm just going to stick with the simplicity of the glory of God. Let's talk about it. It says in verse 1, I'm sorry, lee, I'm reading out of the Amplified Classic, I forgot to tell you that, just for I believe this one scripture, psalm 63, amplified Classic. And it says oh God, you are my God. Earnestly will I seek you. My inner self thirsts for you, my flesh longs and is faint for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory Because of your loving. Kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you, so will I bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name in my whole being, that my whole being shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips when I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the night watches. And so back in verse two it talks about his glory. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. His glory was manifested in his power and his glory. And that word looked in the Hebrew obviously it means to look and to see, but it also means to regard, to look after, to see after, to learn about, to observe, to watch, to look upon, to look out for, to find out, to consider, to give attention to, to discern, to, to discern and to distinguish. And so David, he was a man after God's own heart. I kind of talked about that.
Speaker 1:The Sunday night before last I preached a message entitled Be of Good Cheer and I talked a lot about David. We kind of went through some of his mindset and how he approached battles. There were several different times he went against the Philistines and he always stopped to get a new, fresh strategy from the Lord. He didn't just launch out and do the same thing over and over and over again, what he did last time, and he always got that fresh strategy and we talked a lot about that. But here he's observing, but he's looking out for, he's considering, he's discerning and distinguishing. That requires a little bit of knowledge, right, the Lord's power and his glory. And so you know this is the Old Testament.
Speaker 1:Old Testament, you know, david was satisfied with nothing except the glory of God and he was known, like I said, to be a man after God's own heart. So the glory of God is the simplest form. In its simplest form is the goodness of God, his manifest presence, and it's the one thing that satisfies the human soul. It's something that everybody is longing for, that they don't know is the glory of God, and so it's the one thing that one experience with it changes everything, it changes someone's total being for eternity, and so experiencing the glory of God changes all of your desires. It turns a person totally around. And so here in the last days, you know, god's calling us, god's calling this church, he's calling every Christian to be full of His glory and to be carriers of his glory, and so we carry his spirit everywhere we go. So let's just to know what we're carrying around. Let's have a definition of the glory, and so it means wealth, it means numbers, it means commerce, it means power, wisdom, promotion, superiority, dignity, authority, nobility, splendor, valoror, valor, magnificence, extraordinary privileges and advantages. Amen, isn't that a good one? That's what we carry on the inside of us extraordinary privileges and advantages, and because it contains all of the goodness of god.
Speaker 1:In the Hebrew, in the Old Testament, the word glory is kabod, and it meant weight or heaviness. So God's glory carries significance and authority. And in the Greek in the New Testament, it's doxa, which means honor or splendor. And so Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God. So it's seen in multiple places, right. It's seen in God's creation, right, the whole universe reflects God's glory and God's majesty the stars, the oceans, the mountains, and so I know that's a big part of my dad's testimony, right, mountains. And so I know that's a big part of my dad's testimony, right, that y'all have heard many times, as he was a deer hunter and he would go out to the Texas hill country and just look at the stars and just realize how small. You know how large the universe is and how small he is and how. You know how did he get here? He was started questioning his existence and that began to open up his heart, uh, for the gospel. And so we see god's glory in his creation. We obviously see god's glory and and uh in in jesus christ, which we will get to in just a second. I, I, uh.
Speaker 1:I left out of scripture. Let's go to, uh john, verse 14, and you can do everything in the New King James now, lee, if you don't mind. It says and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. And so that's talking about Jesus. When Jesus came to the earth, he became flesh and dwelt among us and he carried the glory of God everywhere he went. He manifested the glory of God in the miracles that he did, that were performed through him, that God did, and he allowed God to use him. And so we see God's glory in Jesus and then we obviously we see it in God's presence. All in the Old Testament God's glory appeared as a cloud and as a fire for the children of Israel in the book of Exodus. But today God's glory lives in us because it comes in the title deed that we have, that we're filled with the Holy Spirit, and if we're filled with the Holy Spirit, we're filled with the glory of God. We contain all of the goodness of God right here, if you've received the power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:And so later on we'll talk about some purposes and our response, but I just want to get to my points. Number one is to believe and know you are a carrier of his glory. And so I want you to turn to John, chapter 17 and verse 20. So, john, chapter 17, this is Jesus talking. This is all in red.
Speaker 1:And so the title above this section in your Bible probably says most Bibles says Jesus prays for all believers, and so he's not talking to just his disciples, he's talking to all of us, amen. And it says in verse 20, I do not pray for these things, these alone, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, father, are in me and I in you, and they also may be one as you, father, are in me and I in you, and they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that you sent me and the glory which you gave me I have given them. That they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you and me. That they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that you have sent me and I have loved them as you have loved me, father. I desire that they also, whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me, for you love me before the foundations of the world, oh righteous father.
Speaker 1:Verse 25,. The world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me, and I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with with which you love me may be in them and I in them. And so everything that we have, jesus gave his glory, god's glory, to us. First of all, god gave it to Jesus and Jesus gave it to us, and so now we have it in the form of the Holy Spirit, and so we've received his glory, and so everything that we do reflects back on to God. Right, and so you know, I just wanted to bring in Hebrews 11, 6 into the mix. You know we can all quote it.
Speaker 1:It says but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that is, that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And so it's so important to believe and know that you are a carrier of God and that God is. He's a rewarder for those who diligently seek him. He's not standing there with a baseball bat trying to knock you in the head every time you do something wrong, but instead he's a reward. He rewards you when you diligently seek him, when you follow him, when you obey him, and. But you have to come. When you come to him in faith, you come to him in faith and you believe that he is, that he is, that he is I am, that I am that he's a rewarder, and so you know. That leads me to number two that we recognize and honor God's glory. You know, when we come to church again, if you believe that you're a carrier of God's glory, that means when you get here you're still a carrier of God's glory. You should be looking forward to being with other people.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes we get so lost. Sometimes I'm preaching to myself, and so if you can't preach yourself happy, then something's wrong with the preacher, right. I'm preaching to myself, and, and so if you can't preach yourself happy, then something's wrong with the preacher, right. So I'm going to preach myself happy, some, some of these things I'm preaching to myself. But sometimes we get so caught up in the circumstances that we're going through and then we get a little selfish and we just start thinking about. Oh well, you know, during worship service God is gonna to heal me or I've got this ailment or I've got this going on, and we come to church to get something. But, man, we ought to be able, we ought to know that we're full of his glory and we know that we're going to be poor, we're going to be a supply when we get here to other people that are hurting, that we've already prayed up, we've already been reading our Bible, we already have something to pour onto others, and it's the love of God and it's pouring out literally every pore of our body, and everything that we say and everything that we do brings God glory, and so we're going to get to that here in another scripture.
Speaker 1:But I just wanted to get lost in my notes for a second Ephesians. You know, just pointing out the Ephesians three prayer. You know, let's just look at it. Just kind of open up your Bible to Ephesians three. It starts in verse 14, kind of open up your Bible to Ephesians 3. It starts in verse 14, and I have my Bible, and so I just wanted to point out a few things. We've read it so many times.
Speaker 1:My dad preaches on it quite often, but it says in verse 14, for this reason, I bow my knees to the father of the Lord, jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant unto you according to the riches of his glory. God is rich in his glory, in his goodness, of his manifested presence, of everything, of all of the things that we read earlier. I mean, if I can find it back, let's see where did it go? Um, let's see I think I thought it was after that scripture anyways of all of valor, of all of the wonderful things that you know. Extraordinary privileges, you know, remember that one.
Speaker 1:And so he is rich, to to that we're strengthened with might or with power through his spirit in the inner man, and that strength and his power, it comes from his glory, right? You see that that it's all connected to the glory of God, and so we really we don't want to move outside of anything that's not connected to his glory. In other words, we need to be addicted to and know that. That is ingredient number one in our lives. In order to change any circumstance requires his glory. So it's that if I'm operating in the power of God, I'm operating out of a supply of his glory that's already on the inside and so, and so we need to hit the mark. In order to hit the mark, in order to be accurate for God, it's going to require you tapping into the glory of God, recognizing it, honoring it. God recognizing it, honoring it.
Speaker 1:And you know, we have Mr Tom and Teresa here this evening, and brother Tom, he's a retired Houston police officer and he he taught at the firing, at the firing range, for decades at the police academy and that's what he did. So he knows, if you were to talk to him about guns, about ammunition, about anything, he's going to know all about accuracy and being accurate and teaching people how to shoot, how to draw their weapon under fire, under stress, all the different situations that an officer could be in, and and uh, he knows all about it. And so, just like he knows how to teach somebody how to be accurate with a gun, uh, the Holy spirit teaches us how to be accurate with the gift of God that's on the inside of us. We don't want to be just going shooting from the hip and just uh, with, with a little bit of a supply. We want to honor and recognize that we carry every spiritual blessing. Ephesians 2, it's already been given unto us, and so we don't want to step outside of that and do something on our own strength and our own ability.
Speaker 1:No, I'm going to grab a hold of the glory of God. I'm going to do. The grace of God is his ability. I'm going to grab a hold of his ability before I try to do anything. I can't cross the street without the glory of God. You know what I'm saying. I can't go check the mail without the. I can't walk outside and check the mail without the glory of God, you know. And so that's how much honor and how much recognition should be. So that's the expectation we should have when we're walking into this building. Hey, I'm going to be changed today, but not just me, all those around me, every person that walks through this door. That's why we're so excited that you walked through the door tonight.
Speaker 1:Amen, because this is a supply, and I can feel it as a minister of the gospel. I can feel your spirit pulling on my spirit. You're pulling things out of me, amen. And so that's the way it works. Amen, that's what it's all about. And so you know to be strengthened on the inner man.
Speaker 1:If you walked in tonight, I don't know what you walked in here facing, what circumstance you have, but there's strength supernaturally being imparted to you right now on and in your inner man. That's where we get strength from. I know that sometimes we have crazy thoughts and I know our body can feel tired and wore out and you know, sometimes I get like like I just feel a little bit dizzy or like I've been running a marathon but I hadn't. You know what I mean. You, you get to where you're just so wore out. But you need strength more in your inner man. That's where your inner strength comes from.
Speaker 1:And I'm not really talking about right now, I'm not talking about being motivated or inspired, but I will tell you this that real quick your motivation comes from the inside, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, before you do something to you know, you know you watch TV or you watch something on your phone, some reel or something, or you know some wild, crazy preacher or something, and you, you think that you got something. No, your, your inspiration comes directly spirit to spirit. And so, uh, I was talking about accuracy a second ago. I'm getting totally off my notes now, but the Holy spirit has kind of been dealing with me recently about that.
Speaker 1:Uh, if I'm going to get up here, I want to be able to be accurate to to meet your needs. I want to be good at this. In other words, and I'm not trying to be good for my name and my fame, no, I want to please the Father who sent me, who called me to stand right here in this podium. I don't want to tell a story I shouldn't tell. I don't want any detail to come out of my mouth that's not anointed by the Father. So I believe that he gives me utterance.
Speaker 1:But you know 1 Corinthians 2, you know just that whole thing about we really truly can think the thoughts of God and have the mind of Christ, and it comes not brain to brain but spirit to spirit. And then so if you're not looking at your spirit, you know inside, if you're not, again, with the Ephesians three prayer, connecting it to first Corinthians two, about having the mind of Christ, if you're allowing your brain to just have all these wild, crazy thoughts that get off track so quick, you're going to miss it, you're not going to be accurate, you can't hit the target. You need to hear from him and he reveals your future, he reveals the plan that he has for your life. Go back and read that in 1 Corinthians 2. I encourage you Again. It's not in my notes, but just about having the mind of Christ. He reveals that to a spirit to spirit. He reveals that to a spirit to spirit. And so and the importance of that, amen.
Speaker 1:So you know I have this in my notes of Acts 13, 36, that David served his generation well. I want to serve my generation well. How many of you want to serve your generation well? And so you know, if Jesus tarries, and you know, I get put in the ground, my body rather, and I'm in heaven, but my body's down here and it's in some grave, somewhere on the gravestone. I don't want anything else, but he served his generation well, amen. And so number three believe to see and experience his glory. You know, john 15, seven and eight, verse seven says if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so you will be my disciples. And so I'm talking about believing to see and experiencing his glory. You know, when we bear fruit, it makes, it brings him glory. And so that's what I was talking about earlier.
Speaker 1:When you're, when you're in obedience to his will, when you've spent time in his word, when you have allowed your spirit to come in contact with his spirit through studying, through prayer, through again, you've sought him out. You haven't just ignored him. You didn't just wake up and start your day and start planning all the things that we have to do and start engineering all the answers to whatever you're going through. No, you've put him first. You put him first in your prayer time. You put him first by seeking his face and therefore you're able, when you ask him for anything, he can do it. But what you're asking him for already lines up with what his will is, because you've spent time, again, spirit to spirit, getting his plan, getting his thoughts, thinking like he thinks, getting his perspective. You know, my perspective really doesn't matter. I want his perspective, amen. And so when we do that, we bear fruit, and that bearing of fruit gives him glory, um, and then. So then you'll be my disciples. And so that's Jesus speaking again.
Speaker 1:And so notice that if you abide in me, that abiding, uh, that just means spending time with right, making sure that you stay connected, and so and it's not hard People make it hard it's not hard. If you'll draw near to him, he draws near to you, and so that's a real simple thing. You don't need a Bible theologian to pour into you, you just need I mean, you do need church, you need your pastor to pour into you. But again, it's not hard, it's really simple. Hey, I'm glad y'all are here, more people coming, hallelujah and so. But notice, there's an if there. So the if is on our side. And so abide means to remain, to not depart or to leave, but to be kept In reference. It's in reference to condition, to remain as one, not to become another or different. So I'm not trying. You know, the world will jade you, it will try to change you.
Speaker 1:The news media itself is trying to feed you so much fake news Every day. They're trying to affect your opinion, they're trying to affect your perspective, but we forget all that and we abide in him and we, therefore, we have his thoughts, we know our purpose, we know his plan for our life. And does he reveal to us all 50 years at one time? No, but it's day by day, from faith to faith and glory to glory. We're, we're, uh, we're, you know, uh, uh.
Speaker 1:Mark 11, 22 says have the, have the God kind of faith, have faith in God. That means grab a hold of it. So we're grabbing a hold of his faith and our faith is our grip on him and his grace or his ability is, is his grip on us, and his grip is always greater than our grip. And so we have him, he has us by the hand and I'm telling you, we're not letting go and he's not letting go. We're connected directly to what he has, we're tied directly to him and we're giving him glory in obedience to him. Right.
Speaker 1:Another scripture is 1 Peter, 1, 8 and 9, but I'm going to read it out of the Passion Translation. It says you love him passionately, although you have not seen him, but through believing in him you are saturated with a static joy, indescribable, sublime and immersed in glory. In other words, joy unspeakable and full of glory. But the next verse says for you are reaping the harvest of your faith, the full salvation promised to you, your soul's victory. And so we have joy unspeakable, full of glory. I'm telling you we're saturated with joy because we know passionately, know our purpose and we're connected with him. Amen.
Speaker 1:And so that is, um, believing to see the inexperience is glory. So so, uh, no matter what you're standing for, uh, no, no situation or circumstance hinders your trust in God, amen. And so I was reading a little bit today about the glory and I got to this quote in Pastor Mark's book on the glory. It says a man with an argument will always be at mercy to a man with an experience. So I've experienced the glory of God, I've experienced the goodness of God, and so no devil in hell can talk me out of that experience. You know you're not. You're not going to go back and talk me out of my salvation. You're not going to. You know he's blessed me too much.
Speaker 1:I've come way too far to think that God doesn't exist or that whatever happened bad thing happened is God's fault. We dealt with that a couple of weeks ago when I was preaching and I just had that come over me about. You know, there's someone here blaming God and uh, and thank God we had a lady with enough humility to respond to that. But it opened up something and some more people came forward and God really moved and touched some people. And I'm telling you, it's just so easy to let go of that.
Speaker 1:You just know that that's a hindrance that's hindering when you blame God for whatever situation that you're facing or circumstance that is dogging your track. When you do that, that you're facing a circumstance that is dogging your track, when you do that, you're hindering your faith, you're hindering your prayers, because it's like an immediate trust issue and you're not you're saying like, well, there's this one area over here I don't trust God in. I trust him over here. Trust me, jay, it's only like 10%. No, that 10% is blocking everything. And so let it go. Know that it's not God's fault.
Speaker 1:Right, god didn't send it, but he's sure going to use it. He's going to turn it around for his glory, amen. What the devil meant for evil, god is turning it around for God's glory, his own glory, his glory, not your glory, his glory. And so and I'm telling you so that, whatever you've experienced God's goodness, you've experienced his faithfulness, you've experienced he's held your hand through the darkest of night, don't ever give up. Don't ever allow the devil to talk you out of God's blessing. You're obtaining everything that God has for you, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Well, let's just lift our hands and receive the word of God. Father, we just thank you for your word. We thank you for your glory, lord. We're hungry and thirsty for your manifested presence to happen, and we're carriers of your glory and we know that people's lives, not just our own lives, but other people's lives, can be changed in you. And so, father, I just thank you that you're sending us, the hungry and the thirsty people, that there's a supply of your glory here in this house, there's a supply of your presence that touches people. One encounter with your presence and your glory, five minutes with the Holy Spirit, can change 50 years of bad wrong, of abuse and all kind of nastiness and perversion that the devil has. No more will we be in awe of what the devil has done, but, lord, we're in awe of what you can do. And, lord, we're hungry and thirsty for the supernatural. And so, father, I'm grateful and thankful that you're operating in our midst even tonight. Lord, in Jesus' name,