O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
    and the place where your glory dwells. – Psalm 26:8

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire (meditate) in his temple. – Psalm 27:4

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! – Psalm 30:11-12

5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. – 2 Corinthians 4:5-7

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light…a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” – Matthew 17:1-2,5

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. – Revelation 1:12-15

 The realities written about above, the desire to dwell in the presence of the Lord, to meditate on the beauty of the Lord, having my mourning turned to dancing, clothed with gladness began to happen to me when I was 19 years old. I had an encounter with the reality of the present power and love of the Lord like I had not experienced before. That changed my life forever.

These Psalms speak of a deep heart experience of the glory of God. It is an emotional response to the grace of God, also known as passion. No Christian need live without it. I don’t know how one survives the struggles of this life without this passion for Christ, the Son who loves us utterly.

The gospels allow us to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord as he teaches, heals the sick and delivers the demon oppressed. We see him emotionally tortured in the garden of Gethsemane as he contemplates the death he will endure for us all. We see him loving the little children who are so good at disturbing a nice orderly worship service. There is much glory to be observed in the face of Jesus Christ in the gospels.

However, there is an additional dimension that transcends the Spirit-empowered human activities if Jesus. See him on the Mount of Transfiguration. “…his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light…behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” This was God’s trailer for the feature to come, the full revelation of Jesus Christ when he comes again in glory.

“…one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

See the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That light shines from the Scriptures as we seek him day by day and enjoy his presence in our lives.

Even so come, Lord Jesus! I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.