{"id":129,"date":"2013-07-06T15:04:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T15:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=129"},"modified":"2013-07-06T15:04:30","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T15:04:30","slug":"radiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"Radiance"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look on him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.<\/p>\n

Psalm 34:1-5<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A characteristic I have noted among active Christians (these are people walking in relationship with Jesus Christ as opposed to those who follow some rules or rituals and use the label Christian and as opposed to those who at some point claimed Christ but are embracing the world instead, but I am jumping ahead) is that they look\u00a0different<\/em>. What I mean is those around them notice something positive. It is not that everything goes right for these people, though perhaps the very casual observer might think it so. No, these folks have difficulties yet they continue. They may stumble but they don’t quit. They may ache but still something shines through them. A calm. A peace. A something-I-can’t-quite-place-my-finger-on that others notice over time.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0winningness,\u00a0<\/em>perhaps you might call it, is the radiance described in Psalm 34. Instead of a mask of shame (or a mask of pride or a few others you might think of) these people wear radiance. It is not a mask. It shines through from their deepest parts. It comes from praise and glory to the LORD in good times and bad. It is a message to the afflicted (those other mask wearers–you know who you are). The message is “praise the LORD with me; He is my source of strength”. You see, you do not see much of the person who is wearing the radiance. The radiance that shines through is Jesus Christ. You are seeing him in the flesh, in a sense, taking over or standing in the place of the person you see there.<\/p>\n

This person no longer lives in fear. Each fear is given over to Jesus Christ. It takes time, no instant fix. The great teachers will tell you words like process and lifetime, unsatisfactory words for a\u00a0now<\/em> generation but I say to you that a lifetime of increasing radiance is well worth your attention. Seek Him while He may be found: repeatedly, continually. Do not be deterred by your flesh and those around you calling you down in this. Live in the radiance.<\/p>\n

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}