My Great Land of God’S Glory: Glory in Your Home and Nation

By Thomas P Thomas

'This powerful book portrays God's intense desire to restore glory on earth. Man lost God's glory, walking away from the Creator. God, having perfected atonement, goes after man, viewing mankind like they had never sinned. He equips man to regain lost glory by His Spirit and Word, through Christ-like living.

A stirring sense of purpose runs right through all twenty two chapters, although a wide spectrum of practical issues are addressed. Fresh revelation on timeless truths, deeply probed and delightfully portrayed, inspire families to realign and nations to reform.

This sensational book makes a clarion call on all citizens everywhere to fulfill their mandate to flood their nation with the Creator's glory. The final pages are a saga of love for homeland, kindling a passion deep inside, to exalt its honour by a life of righteousness. A refreshing revelation of true patriotism, this timely book is a road map for all patriots, toward building a society and nation in oneness, without ripping it apart in religious fanaticism.

"The truth herein is a fresh breath to timeless revelation from the heart of the Father. It is a must have for every marriage and home, in these days of hectic activities and heavy commitments".
Rev. Sam T Varghese, General Overseer, Apostolic Churches Alliance

"Rev. Thomas and Rachel have taken the high road, living out what they believe, modelling their lives to a generation looking for the real deal. He is a father for fathers and pastor for pastors and has mended many broken lives and ministries. His understanding on God's gift of righteousness is clear, powerful, grace-filled and balanced with the holiness of God. While many talk about grace, Rev. Thomas is one of the few who has preached grace with his life. This is a long-awaited book toward true understanding of God's heart and the power of His righteousness".
Dr. John Joseph, MBBS, E.MBA, Founding Minister, World Impact Community Church, Trivandrum, India

"I am very impressed with the insights in this book, especially distinction between love and lust, the need for godly role models in fathers and the challenge to "dare to father", the "Jacob Generation", and teachings on being "raised up and sent, not rose up and went."
Barbara M. Kohl, Barbara Kohl Ministries, Canada

"God wants us to experience His Glory now on earth. We may seek it within the four walls of churches. This book inspires us to seek its expression everywhere. With great wisdom and insight, Rev. Thomas P Thomas reveals how Godly order in homes and personal lives, and little acts of honour and love for others become the pathway to the Church exploding in glory. This book is a catalyst for transformation."
Diane Carroll, Freedom Encounters, NJ, USA

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493136155

Thomas P Thomas

Thomas P Thomas and Rachel, known to many as Kabod and Gloria, are Founding Ministers of Faith Family Centres, mainly ministering to family relationships. They also serve numerous teenagers and young adults through CYAPaR, Centre for Youth affairs and Parent Relationships. Thomas P Thomas is also Managing Director for Great Indian Sports Foundation (Pvt. Ltd.), a unique company promoting Sports and Physical Exercise among Youth. The focus is on investing values toward Total Personality Development and Character Formation, equipping them for Life and Marriage toward their Godly destiny.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Thomas P Thomas.

Library of Congress Control Number:          2014904499

ISBN:          Hardcover          978-1-4931-3613-1

                   Softcover            978-1-4931-3614-8

                   eBook                  978-1-4931-3615-5

Sources of Bible Verses:

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

‘Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.’

‘Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible,

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.’ (www.Lockman.org)

Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 07/08/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

520729

Contents

Chapter 1 Crowned With Glory

Chapter 2 Righteousness: Solution To The Sin Problem

Chapter 3 Enter Righteousness, Exit Sin’s Power

Chapter 4 Righteousness Paves Way For Glory

Chapter 5 Christ In Us, The Hope Of Glory

Chapter 6 Glory Follows Righteousness

Chapter 7 All Earth Filled With The Glory Of God

Chapter 8 All Earth Filled With Knowledge Of Glory

Chapter 9 Receive Salvation But Obtain Glory

Chapter 10 God’s Glory Calls For Godly Order

Chapter 11 Godly Order In Me

Chapter 12 Godly Order In My Home: Right Values

Chapter 13 Godly Order In My Home: Right Positioning

Chapter 14 Godly Order In My Home: Righteous Leadership

Chapter 15 Godly Order In The Church

Chapter 16 Godly Order In The End-Time Church

Chapter 17 Hindrances To Glory In The End-Time Church

Chapter 18 Godly Order In All Our Relationships

Chapter 19 Guarding The Middle Places Of Our Relationships

Chapter 20 An Angelic Pattern For A Human Reality

Chapter 21 Suffering And Glory

Chapter 22 My Great Land Of God’s Glory

Conclusion

Dedication

Almighty God and Father who loved me so to give me Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, that I could have life and light, deserves all glory. I place this book and all its impact at the feet of my Master and Saviour.

I really need to dedicate this book to my bride of twenty-two years and mother of our awesome foursome. Sons and daughters in Christ, who stood with us in faithfulness and commitment, also deserve my deepest appreciation and honour.

However, it is my intention to dedicate this book to the honour of someone very significant to our lives. Spiritual father and mentor to my wife and me, this servant of God holds a place of great esteem in our hearts. We can never fully express our appreciation for the way the Lord used him and his wife to build our lives, laying deep foundations for what was to follow. We honour them deeply. The example they showed us and the things they taught us will remain with us forever.

They truly marked our lives, marriage, and ministry…

Foreword by Rev. Colin Miller

I am an avid reader myself, and with a new book, one question I always want an answer to is this: Is the writer authentic?

By that I mean, ‘Does he/she/they live themselves, what they have written? Is it theory, or is it practice? Is it just more head knowledge, or is it revelation knowledge?’

Having known Ps. Thomas and Rachel for more than two decades, I can attest to their authenticity. In today’s world, this truly is a big thing. This alone makes this book worth reading!

In Habakkuk 2, the Prophet is asked to write down God’s vision. Many have taken this Scripture to mean they are to write down their own personal vision, the vision for their life, their church etc. That will have to be the secondary application of this Scripture. The primary application will always be as given above, which is God’s vision.

As we keep reading in Chapter 2, we come to verse 14. Here in brief is God’s heartbeat; here in brief is God’s vision:

‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’ (NKJV)

This is the direction in which God is heading, and this is where He wants the Church to head also.

This book expresses one couple’s fervent desire to come into agreement with God’s vision and direction, as spelt out in this Scripture, both in their own lives personally, and also for their own nation.

I commend this work to you.

Rev. Colin Miller, B.Th., Senior Pastor, Rhema International Church, Auckland, New Zealand

Introduction

I remember my pastor thundering as he preached, ‘The Bible is the story of His glory’. Yes, it is, and this book that you hold now is focused on the ‘Return of the Glory’. The Bible says, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. When sin entered, glory left! But God is a Restorer. He made a way for glory to come back. The Holy Spirit says, ‘. . . He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ’. He wants to teach us how to obtain His glory. Let’s explore together now; let’s see our Father’s plans…

Thomas and Rachel (Kabod and Gloria),

For all the earth to be filled with the Glory of the Lord

CHAPTER 1

Crowned with Glory

Golden splendour burst through dark clouds in the far horizon. Red glowing sun kept disappearing beyond. Harp and hands blended in captivating music as David sensed majesty unfolding all over the hillside. Trembling voice echoed the passion of an untiring soul, lingering in the air, refusing to cease.

Oh, that these moments of bliss will soon give way to shadows of dusk, but not before the valley below resounded the cry of his heart, in praise of this awesome Creator: ‘O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!’ (Ps. 8: 1).

David stood still, arms outstretched towards heaven, lost in devotion to this Master Creator. The rumble of his voice rolled over the valley, merging into the feeble sounds of the oncoming night.

‘Be still and know that I am God’.

‘Is that you, Lord?’ David looked around, but of course, he was all alone! He felt like he was again a little lad and not the king of Israel that he really was. He remembered his own little boys reaching up to him that he might lift them up. He pictured them, perched upon his shoulders, shouting out the songs of YHWH God, which he himself had sung to them.

David was amazed

at God’s ways with Man

David mused to himself, fingers tickling his harp as it chimed up in harmonious melody.

‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength . . .’ (Ps. 8: 2).

The crescent moon was up now, and the sky was beginning to light up in patches as stars popped up in trail. Swinging around, gazing at the expanse above, he cried out, ‘When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him?’ (Ps. 8:3-4).

An epic Psalm dedicated to an awesome God was born that night, even as a man broke out in absolute adoration and worship of God: ‘Oh LORD our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth’! The Psalm begins and ends on the same note of adoration.

Prompted to exult in such worship of God, where did that journey finally take him that night? Where was his focus when he ended the day? Yes, his heart was throbbing with gratitude, but what was he so stirred about? Was he thinking of the battles he had won or even his incomparable wealth and fame that God had granted him? Or did he thus worship God for the way he was lifted up to be made a king out of a shepherd?

Not at all!

He was simply amazed at God’s ways with man! ‘What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him?’ God’s incredible attitude towards Man was his focus. Succeeding lines bring out God’s methods as well: ‘For You have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor! You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet’. God gave man a unique status: first, through his creation in God’s likeness and image, then through delegation of immense authority to him.

This, truly, is what got David’s attention. David was of the Old Covenant, yet his prophetic spirit gave him access to the true revelation of his unique creation and his position on earth. This is one of the reasons, apart from his covenant relationship with God Almighty, why he was so successful despite all his shortcomings.

Sin was never the original

We are in the New Covenant which is a better and a greater covenant than the Old. One of the greatest drawbacks of the Body of Christ in the New Covenant is the lack of revelation regarding their creation and position of authority on earth. Our thought patterns have been moulded more by the current realities than by our status originally, or by what we are destined to be eternally. Some of the most-voiced current realities are sin, sickness, disease, and destruction, even within the church. We seem to be on familiar grounds when we talk of ‘our original sin.’ And yet sin was never the original. Something else was more original than sin!

Chapter_01_pg15.jpg

Something More Original than Sin

We need not make a formula for our lives out of reactive statements made by some servants of God, who were going through their share of tests and trials. Job, in his agony, said, ‘Naked have I come into this world and naked shall I go from it.’ Adam also confessed that he was afraid because he was naked. The truth is that he felt naked only after he fell in to sin. At creation, the glory of the LORD was a garment covering Adam. He was literally dressed in God’s glory.

Glory on man was more original than sin in him. Yes, that’s true! But sin entered, and glory left. This is why the Bible says, ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God’. Sin caused shortage of what was previously in abundance; sin made man come short of the glory of God!

Glory on man was more original than sin in him!

God did not create us naked or sinful. He wired us with a free will of our own to choose to trust and obey His leading. He then dressed us in His own glory. This is one of the keys to understanding God’s statement: ‘Let us make man in our image’.

Free-Willed and Covered with Glory

‘Free-willed and covered with glory’ is some of what God is like; it is part of His image! He made you and me in that very image, free-willed and covered with glory! Bless His glorious Name!

We need to quit living our lives focused on what we look like now. The Lord our God is calling us to ‘look to the Rock from which we were hewn’ (Isa. 51: 1). We would resemble that Rock, for we have been cut out of that Rock. And who is the Rock but the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory? Isn’t that a good place to begin our journey and the right spot to keep our eyes on, through our way back to the original?

Remembering the Originals

God made us free-willed and covered with glory

The younger son in Luke 15 said, ‘I will arise and go to my father’. The reason why he eventually went back to his own father and subsequently into his original inheritance is that he remembered what was before. He also kept speaking it to himself, even when his immediate realities were far from those. Why should we be any different?

Yes, we have strayed and struggled, crawling far below God’s blueprint. But we need to know and focus on what we were originally in our Father’s heart. We must think like how He thought about us. We must plan to become just like He planned to make us. ‘Let us make man in our image’ was His statement. He planned that image and ‘the glory attire’ for us on this very earth! God has not changed His plans. Why should we postpone taking on that image and the attire until heaven?

Some folks might say, ‘But that is talking about our spirit man being in the image of God, not our bodies!’ Sure, it is talking about the spirit man, but God didn’t put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as spirits alone, did He? He put them there in their whole person: spirit living in a body and having a soul. They fell from that glorious state through sin, and we all fell along with them.

We must develop a hunger for the originals of God

From such a fallen state, it was right and proper for us to re-enter God’s original plan through the redemptive process in Christ that began with our spirits. That’s exactly what happened when we got born-again. But don’t we need to graduate from that level and move on now so that God’s original plan can affect our entire person, including the soul and body?

Any move from God will become a reality for us only when our minds are renewed to the relevant truth concerning that move. We must develop a hunger for the originals of God. Our hunger for these things must not be satisfied by temporal stomach-fillers.

Our Greater Focus

The Church, in these final crucial moments, ought to place the greater focus on things eternal rather than just on the daily needs of the flock.

The provision for all those daily needs will be added unto them as they seek after the greater things of the Kingdom of God. Our Lord Jesus guarantees this in His Word when He teaches us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6: 33). The Church and its ministers must refrain from the tendency to ‘commercialise’ divine provisions for the physical, material, and emotional needs of the people. It is true that some people may get to know Christ through one such need being met by His power and Name. But we have a responsibility to take them from that level of living to a higher level for Christ and His greater call. They need to quit looking to the fulfilment of their every need, day after day, if they are to go any distance in Christ and His calling for them.

We are a people crowned with glory and honour

A people crowned with glory and honour! That’s who we were meant to be. That is who we ought to be. That is how we will be, by the grace of Christ and the Spirit of glory working in us. Amen!

‘Oh LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all

the earth! How very excellent is Your Name in all the earth!

You have made us a little lower than Yourself and

crowned us with glory and honor! Oh LORD,

our Lord, how excellent is Your

Name in all the earth!’

CHAPTER 2

Righteousness: Solution to the Sin Problem

The way back to glory from sin’s level of life is through the path of righteousness! ‘He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake’. Before we even think about getting on to glory, let’s figure out the vital stepping stone of righteousness.

Sin became a problem right in the Garden of Eden. It robbed man of all good gifts that God had wanted him to enjoy. Sin brought death! ‘The wages of sin is death’, says the Giver of life. Where man was planted into a garden of life, sin entered, bringing in death. Man certainly had a craving for life. He geared himself up to defend life and fight death. The natural question within him became, ‘If sin brought me death, what would bring me life?’

As lovers of life rather than death, we ought to take up that question seriously here. Man’s sin earned the death of the man. What could procure life in the same man?

That verse above says (emphasis added), ‘The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness!’ Death and Life are surely opposites. If sin brought death and righteousness brought life, is not righteousness the opposite of sin?

The Need for Righteousness

Whatever sin did, righteousness must undo!

What then is righteousness? Theologians do help us with definitions like ‘having a right standing with God’, or ‘just as if one never sinned’ when talking of a ‘righteous person’.

Most often, we explain righteousness by our limited understanding of sin.

Sin is explained as lawlessness, wickedness, disobedience, transgression and the like. Each of these carries an idea of either the evil done or the good omitted by someone. On the same scale, but in the opposite sense, righteousness is often seen as deeds of goodness or even obedience to the law.

Whatever sin did, righteousness must undo!

Though not entirely wrong, there is more to sin and righteousness as is quite evident from the Bible, especially in the Epistle to the Romans. We see in Romans 6: 19 and 7: 14 that the word ‘sin’ can represent a nature within a person, urging the person to commit the act of sin. It is a nature of evil. So too ‘righteousness’ can represent the nature within a person that initiates righteous living. It is the nature of God. More than many acts of sin, it is