I have felt the presence of the Lord in my life. I see it as a kind of foretaste of what heaven will be like. It may come as an overwhelming peace, overwhelming joy or an overwhelming reverence, but you do feel it. Maybe some of you have felt His presence, and maybe some of you never have. Some may question whether such an experience is real or imagined. Yet we do find verses in the Bible supporting such experiences. We see in Acts 3:19 that when we repent and turn to God, that He will “send times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord”. Also, Psalm 16:11 tells us “in your presence there is fullness of joy”. That is something tangible. Jesus also said that “whenever two or more of you are gathered in My name, there I am in your midst”. Matt 18:20
If we were to see His glory, that would be another level all together. There are many places in the Bible where people experienced or saw the “Glory of God”. Most of those times people fell on their faces in fear and trembling. There are some places where something else happened.
One such place is when Stephen was stoned. We read that in Acts 7. Verse 55 tells us, “Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit and the heavens opened and he saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”. When Stephen told the Jews this, that is what caused them to stone him. This is where something other worldly happened, he cried out to the Lord, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Verse 60). We also see that when Jesus was crucified in Luke 23:34, He says “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. What manner of God do we serve? It is almost too unbelievable to imagine that these words were spoken. It would do us well to meditate on the nature and character of the God we serve. Even in the time of death for Jesus and Stephen, they were offering forgiveness to the Jews by asking God to not hold it against them, if they would only accept it. Maybe some did.
Now we come to the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others”. It is instruction for us, that we might become more like Jesus and Stephen. We need to get a glimpse of God’s Glory that we might forgive those who have sinned against us. If we can get a glimpse of heaven, we will be forever changed. We will see our own sins and God’s love and forgiveness, and because of that, we can forgive others. Some have been severely abused and betrayed, but not nearly as much as Jesus Himself. Yet He asked the Father to “forgive them for they know not what they do”. It is a difficult thing! Can we also forgive people for their sins against us? Yes, we can, we can be like Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit and forgive those who have sinned against us. If we can get a glimpse of His Glory and a glimpse of Heaven.
In the book Azuza Street by Frank Bartleman, he talks about getting a glimpse of Heaven. “Could we but catch one strain of heaven’s pure melody, it would spoil us for earthly sounds forever. Could we but catch one glimpse of departed loved ones through the gates ajar, earth would no longer hold us here. We must see things from heaven’s side. Earth’s sounds and spirits are so crude and cruel. Heaven is all love, joy and peace and rest! Thank God!”
May we press in to God and ask Him to teach us His ways, for His ways are so much higher than ours.
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts”.
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