The last day of Yearbook with the seniors...T^T /le sob

I had so much fun at Sakura Steak and Japanese Seafood Grill Restaurant; the banquet was amazing! So much hugging and photo-taking and laughing and clapping and a bit of crying too. I sometimes felt a bit left out there, but it's only because I'm a first-year I guess; I didn't have much time to get close to them...Yet, all of this was due to God's grace, and I'm insanely glad for everyone and everything. I can't wait 'til they visit back, and we soon have a banquet with the new staff! People's new editor positions were surprising; everyone got unexpected ones o.o

And...I really don't want to study for chem finals. :/

Spanish 3-4 was so hard today T^T

And...

I need to finish everything I have to do with Peace and Serenity Fanfiction Reviews...3

[The old review shop of elisha960809, called Professional Review Shop.]

So much to do, but so little time...

Aigoo...

But anyway, God bless!

-Love, GinniePark

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Memory Verse of the Week:

"Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God." - Exodus 34:26a

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Witnessing God's Glory - Exodus 33:12-23

Heaven Without God

12: "Moses said to the LORD, 'You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'"

13: "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.'"

14: "The LORD replied, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"

15: "Then Moses said to him, 'If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."

16: "How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?'"

17: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.'"

 

Show Me Your Glory

18: "Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.'"

19: "And the LORD said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

20: "'But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see my face and live.'"

21: "Then the LORD said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock."

22: "When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by."

23: "Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.'"

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Reflection

Heaven Without God (33:12-17)

John Piper once asked the question, "Would you want to be in heaven if God wasn't there?" In other words, even if you could have a life with perfect relationships, no evil, perfect peace, etc. in heaven, is it worth going there without God? Moses intercedes on behalf of the Israelites because their rebellion has distanced them from the Lord. But Moses pleads with the Lord, saying that without God's presence, he does not want to enter the Promised Land. God accepts Moses' requests and allows Moses to witness His glory.

Moses is a prefiguration of Christ. Just like Moses meditated on behalf of God's people, Jesus intercedes on our behalf (1 Tim. 2:5). Both prophets were born under humble conditions, escaped death at an early age, and spent their youth in Egypt. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, and Moses spent forty years. They both freed their people from the of slavery and met with God on the mountain.

 

Show Me Your Glory (33:18-23)

Even though Moses had experienced the presence of God and was able to talk with Him face to face like a friend, he was not satisfied; he wnated even more. He wanted to see God's glory (v.18). What is God's glory? John Piper states that it is "the beauty and excellence of His manifold perfections" and "the perfect harmony of all his attributes into one infinitely beautiful and personal being." So what does it mean to glorify God? We cannot add to His glory for He is already perfectly and infintely glorious, but we can acknowledge it and ascribe the glory that is due His name in worship. It is simply seeing God for who He really is.

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Application

-How much do you desire God's presence? When we position ourselves in a place of worship, we make room for Him and increase our awareness of being in His presence.

-God's glory propels us to be changed into His character. When we understand God's awesome glory, we ought to be changed or desire to be changed to be more like Him. Do people around you recognize that you have been changed?

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A Letter to God

Lord, I long to be changed in the light of Your glory.

Let Your glory shine in the dark places of my life.

Draw me into deeper intimacy with You.

I want to see Your glory.

May my idols and earthly desires fade in the light of Your glory. Amen.