GLORY

What does it look like to live for the GLORY of God?

“God of grace exalt your name; in this my joy shall sustain.

What you’ve done for your fame brings my heart to glorious praise!”

This is my first year here at Liberty University. We’re already into the 2^nd semester, and it feels like I’ve lived here for ages. So many days. So many people. So many doors open to spread the love of Christ. Small, contempt Lynchburg, Virginia is WAY different than the large, busy Atlanta, Georgia. Yet I am proud to call both of these places ‘home’. I’m here on a scholarship to lead worship on the Campus Praise Band with the role as the ‘keyboardist/vocals/loop’ man. This door that has been opened to lead the entire student body to the throne of God has and is changing me with every day being on this team. “To whom much is given, much is required.” There is something about being on a platform that creates this atmosphere of “Hey, I know that kid, he’s the spiky haired piano man on the band!” Being on the Campus Band is definitely a battle of pride, but the Lord has done some marvelous works in my life pertaining to this struggle: I’ve grown to see that I. Am. Nothing. But. An. Undeserved. Man. Fallen. Short. Of. The. GLORY. OF. GOD. Graced. With. A. Huge. Opportunity. To. Take. Part. In. The. MISSION. OF. GOD.

There have been times here that I’ve woken up with a hardened heart, a sour spirit, and an apathetic attitude, not willing to surrender to the work of God. In result, the Lord has had to REALLY wake me up from my spiritual sleep, humbling me in the greatest way. Even this past Monday, I lead a song that expressed the tune “I’m so unworthy, but still YOU love me. Forever my heart will sing of how great YOU are.” That’s what my lips sung. My heart sung otherwise: “I’m so worthy, and Lord, I love me. Forever my heart will sing of how great I am.” This automatically reminded me of when Isaiah says “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” How in the world could this happen? Well when we take our gaze off of Jesus for even a SECOND, we turn our gaze toward ourselves. If our eyes are not FIXED on the Lord, they are prone to wander. I love when in Hebrews 12 it says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I learned once that the Greek word for ‘FIX’ (I may be wrong) literally meant to fix, and to fix, and to fix, and to fix, and to fix, and to continue to fix our eyes on Jesus. So in other words, this is not a one time dealio. Fixing our eyes on Jesus is a DAILY task, and can only be accomplished by being completely selfless, and willing to surrender to the glory of God.

I’m not going to lie: being a Christian is NOT the easiest life to live. It is not meant to be. We’re going to be persecuted, we’re going to be encountered with trials of many kinds, we’re going to fail. The cool thing is: this is exactly where God wants us to be. Vulnerable to rely and trust in His grace, strength, spirit, and word. It’s in these times that I am completely satisfied. I’ve come to the realization that I was created for ONE purpuse: To live for the glory of God. Why? The glory is DUE His name. The CREATOR GOD, the VICTORIOUS SON, the SUSTAINING SPIRIT is completely worthy of ALL of the glory, not just PART of it. Every bit of my life belongs to Him alone. Every breath was given from Him. My life rests in the shadow of the Almighty, so why would I want to ever try to take this glory for myself?

Lord, you are GLORIOUS. Thank you God for gracing me to live in the freedom of Christ. Although I cannot and will not ever comprehend your love for me, I thank you for allowing me to see glimpses of your love. It is ‘deeper than any ocean, higher than the heavens, reaches beyond the stars in the sky; Jesus your love has NO bounds.’ You’ve made a way through the desert in this life of mine, which is quickly fading. You’ve brought me to a place where I am completely reliant on your presence. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I say it again: Lord, you are GLORIOUS. In response to who you are and what you’ve done, I worship you now. I want to live a life holy, pure, blameless, and pleasing to you. Open my eyes to your will as I continue to walk this narrowed path. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

My name is Brandon Michael Sharp, and I am a lover and follower of the Savior of the world. His name: JESUS CHRIST.

AWAKE

This idea of light dawning from the darkness is a beautiful picture.

Think about it. When you are walking in complete darkness, what do you hear? feel? see? These three senses are hindered when there is no light.

WHAT DO YOU HEAR?

Picture yourself walking through a wilderness in the dead of night. Each step is taken without confidence, uncertain of where you will land. There has got to be some noises that creep you out: the whispering wind, the crunch of tree limbs and leaves, unfamiliar howls from afar. What is the driving motivation to keep moving through these sounds of uncertainty? Is it fear? Is it confusion? Do you even move at ALL? This word comes out of your mouth in a dry, desperate cry… “HELP”

“You will be ever hearing, but never understanding”

This is us before we know Christ. This is us before we accept Jesus as Lord of everything. Lord of our lives. DEAF to what is eternal. DEAF to what is actually important in this short time we have here. DEAF to the voice calling out, “Return to ME my children!”

WHAT DO YOU FEEL?

With night comes the cold. With cold comes emptiness. With emptiness comes discontentment. The air is thin with a shrilling wind that brushes against your skin. There is no comfort, no rest, no warmth.

As a wanderer, wouldn’t you like to embrace the comfort from the hope of glory. Wouldn’t you like to find rest in the shadow of the almighty? Wouldn’t you like to feel the warmth of a savior? But you cannot, and will not, if you are still in the cold dead of night, in the middle of the wilderness.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Picture being completely without sight, lacking direction or purpose. BLIND. There are no guidelines, no road maps, no landmarks in this place of emptiness. NOTHING. All you can do is wander aimlessly, really with nowhere to go. You might as well be walking in circles. There. is. nowhere. to. go.

“They have eyes, but cannot see”

Walking in spiritual darkness can put a hindrance on understanding where to go, and where to move. If someone is without sight of the truth, there will not be any light in their life, which results in an outcome that is fleeting. Darkness, in other words is the very nature of death.

REDEMPTION

“For God who said, “let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

The dawn has come. The day has arrived. You look up to see the sun slowly rising over the soft horizon. You begin to hear the birds of the air sing a melodious tune of love. You begin to feel the warmth of light on your skin. You begin to see something vivid and glorious: a new hope, a new purpose, a new way, a new life.

“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

This light IS Christ. God sent him in human likeness, taking the nature of a servant, to serve his Father in heaven. In doing so, he took the weight OFF of our own shoulders, and put the weight of the world ON his. He bled and died on the cross on that day, performing the sacrifice that washed our sins WHITE. AS. SNOW. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Three days later, as prophesied, Jesus rose again, fulfilling his purpose here on earth. He left with us the Spirit of the Lord, which is here to lead, guide, teach, mold, and shape us into the likeness of Christ, until He returns. Jesus is coming back soon for His bride, and will carry us home.

AWAKE MY SOUL AND SING

This is only the beginning of the beginning. My goal in this blog page is to simply reflect what the Lord is doing in and through my life. I am SO excited to see what he does in this year of 2010, in this month of February, and even today. I can say that it is by the grace of God I am who I am, and I am where I am. He’s taken my broken life, and made it into something beautiful. He has done marvelous and unexplainable things in this short life of mine so far, and I am nothing but ready, open, and willing to follow his EVERY step. To take up my cross, and follow steadfast after the Lord. So here we go, blog number one: complete!