EXALTED
I Get to Go Home
In the month of December, we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus. He is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. Fast forward 33 years. Can you imagine His anticipation when, after pouring His teachings into people, and completing His mission to conquer death and sin, it was finally time for Him to get to go home – to return to His glory and heaven? He must have been giddy…about to explode in joyous anticipation. Hebrews 7:26 zeros in on the great divide between Jesus and us. “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens…” High. Priest. Holy. Innocent. Undefiled. Birthed into a mess of sinners. What must His child’s holy heart have felt? What teenage temptations did Satan pile on Him? What spiritual battles did He fight alone, with no one in whom He could confide? We will never know the extent Christ suffered for us even before His scourging death. Then, He awoke from the grave. Alive. But still here. Until finally, Acts 1:9. It was time to go home! Can you imagine what the disciples experienced when Jesus was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received Him out of their sight? I can’t imagine it. I’ve tried. Put yourself in the scene. There you are. Jesus is telling you that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be His witness. Mind-boggling. The Holy Spirit who was upon the “greats” like Moses and Elijah, is going to come upon you! Before you can get your mind around that, Jesus starts ascending, lifted up before your eyes. You’re in shock. His feet are literally off the ground. Your head is titled back. You look up and watch until you can no longer see Jesus who is gone…exalted above the heavens…home.
Heavenly Father, we can’t get our minds around Your majesty, throne, and what heaven is like. But, we’re so glad Jesus is with You, exalted above the heavens. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all You have done for us – incredible!
© Debbie Taylor Williams. Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to forward or share this material provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee for it. Any exception to the above must be approved by Debbie Taylor Williams. Please include on any web posting or printed distribution: © Debbie Taylor Williams, www.debbietaylorwilliams.com. Thank you.
A Time. A Place. A Person.
Does it seem surreal to think about being in heaven and seeing Jesus? For most of us, it probably does. The fact is, Jesus is a real person and at a real time in a real place we will see Him. In Isaiah 6:1-5, Isaiah describes his experience of seeing Jesus in heaven. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and EXALTED, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
“I saw the Lord.” Let those words sink in.
There was a time – the year of King Uzziah’s death.
There was a place – sitting on a throne in a temple.
There was a description – lofty…exalted…the train of His robe FILLING the temple. How does that even happen?
There were others – Seraphim stood above Him. There was talking. The seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
There was more talking – “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”
Isaiah’s response was, “‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’”
What will our response be in that time and place when we see the EXALTED LORD JESUS?
EXALTED Lord, we can’t imagine what it will be like when we see YOU. Our hearts tremble at the thought of Your majesty and glory. May our awe and reverence for You be lived out in our daily decisions and behavior… in anticipation of the day, time, and place we meet You.
A Time. A Place. A Person.
Does it seem surreal to think about being in heaven and seeing Jesus? For most of us, it probably does. The fact is, Jesus is a real person and at a real time in a real place we will see Him. In Isaiah 6:1-5, Isaiah describes his experience of seeing Jesus in heaven. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and EXALTED, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
“I saw the Lord.” Let those words sink in.
There was a time – the year of King Uzziah’s death.
There was a place – sitting on a throne in a temple.
There was a description – lofty…exalted…the train of His robe FILLING the temple. How does that even happen?
There were others – Seraphim stood above Him. There was talking. The seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
There was more talking – “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”
Isaiah’s response was, “‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’”
What will our response be in that time and place when we see the EXALTED LORD JESUS?
EXALTED Lord, we can’t imagine what it will be like when we see YOU. Our hearts tremble at the thought of Your majesty and glory. May our awe and reverence for You be lived out in our daily decisions and behavior… in anticipation of the day, time, and place we meet You.
I Get to Go Home
In the month of December, we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus. He is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. Fast forward 33 years. Can you imagine His anticipation when, after pouring His teachings into people, completing His mission to conquer death and sin, it was finally time for Him to get to go home – to return to His glory and heaven? He must have been giddy…if gods get giddy. Certainly about to explode in joyous anticipation. Hebrews 7:26 zeros in on the great divide between Jesus and us. “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens…” High. Priest. Holy. Innocent. Undefiled. Birthed into a mess of sinners. What must His child’s holy heart felt? What thoughts did He have to keep to Himself when growing up? What teenage temptations did Satan pile on Him? What spiritual battles did He fight alone, with no one with whom He could share? We will never know the extent Christ suffered for us long before His scourging death. Then, He awoke from the grave. Alive. But still here. Until finally, Acts 1:9. It was time to go home! Can you imagine what the disciples experienced when Jesus was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight? I can’t imagine it. I’ve tried. Put yourself in the scene. There you are. Jesus is telling you that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be His witness. Mind boggling. The Holy Spirit, who was upon the “greats” like Moses and Elijah, is going to come upon you! Before you can get your mind around that, Jesus starts ascending, being lifted up. You’re in shock. His feet are literally off the ground. Your head is titled back. You look up and watch until you can no longer see Jesus who is gone…exalted above the heavens…home.
Heavenly Father, we can’t get our minds around Your majesty, throne, and what heaven is like. But, we’re so glad Jesus is with You, exalted above the heavens. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all You have done for us – incredible!
© Debbie Taylor Williams. Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to forward or share this material provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee for it. Any exception to the above must be approved by Debbie Taylor Williams. Please include on any web posting or printed distribution: © Debbie Taylor Williams, www.debbietaylorwilliams.com. Thank you.
A Time. A Place. A Person.
Does it seem surreal to think about being in heaven and seeing Jesus? For most of us, it probably does. The fact is, Jesus is a real person and at a real time in a real place we will see Him. In Isaiah 6:1-5, he describes his experience. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and EXALTED, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
“I saw the Lord.” Let those words sink in.
There was a time – the year of King Uzziah’s death.
There was a place – sitting on a throne in a temple.
There was a description – lofty…exalted…the train of His robe FILLING the temple. How does that even happen?
There were others – Seraphim stood above Him. There was talking. The seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
There was more talking – “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”
Isaiah’s response was, “‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’”
What will our response be in that time and place when we see the EXALTED LORD JESUS?
EXALTED Lord, we can’t imagine what it will be like when we see YOU. Our hearts tremble at the thought of Your majesty and glory. May our awe and reverence for You be lived out in our daily decisions and behavior… in anticipation of the day, time, and place we meet You.
Praise the eXALTED CHRIST
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and EXALTED, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
“I saw the Lord.” Let those words sink in.
There was a time – the year of King Uzziah’s death.
There was a place – sitting on a throne in a temple.
There was a description – lofty…exalted…the train of His robe FILLING the temple. How does that even happen?
There were others – Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (verse 2)
There was talking. The seraphim called out to one another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” (verse 3)
Someone called out and this happened – “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.” (verse 4)
This was Isaiah’s response – “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’” (verse 5)
What will be your response when you see the EXALTED LORD JESUS?
EXALTED Lord, we can’t imagine what it will be like when we see YOU. Our hearts tremble at the thought of Your majesty and glory. May our awe and reverence for You be lived out in our daily decisions and behavior… in anticipation of the day, time, and place we see You.
eXALTED
“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,”
2 Samuel 22:47
The Lord lives! Can I get a hallelujah from anyone? AND, He is the EXALTED rock of our salvation. He is above ALL. Knowing that, the question for me is: how can I exalt Him in my life? Might it be through my actions? My speech? The way I spend my time? I pray it is all of those.
I praise You, EXALTED LORD! There is none like You. I worship and bow before You.
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