Are You Guided By Glory or By the World?

Good morning. I'm live with you today, Tammy Toney-Butler, with Reflective Spaces Ministry. And I wanted to come today to give you a message, a word that the Holy Spirit has placed on my heart to deliver.

It's a message about whether you are guided by glory or are you guided by the world.  And I will tell you, whenever I go live, I am always quite uncomfortable.

But that is my walk with the Lord a lot: you don't always know where you're going or what you're doing. You can't always have the destination laid out before you or the plan. Many times you just have to walk by faith and not by sight. And it is in that uncomfortableness, that vulnerability where I truly surrender to His will and His ways for my life.

And that was difficult for me as a survivor of child sex trafficking and you know, complex trauma and all that in the aftermath of childhood adversity; it was hard for me to be led by the Holy Spirit and let Christ, you know, be that guide for me by way of His Holy Spirit and that the Bible is my map. And it was difficult.

But the more you walk with Him and draw from His wellspring of living water that never runs dry, the more you know that in times like this, He's always with you.

Oh, Holy Spirit, come. Help me this day, oh God. For it is Your words that I want to give to them. Speak through me, oh God. For never do they see me. I want them to see you, Father.

And be a reflection. Of Your glory. Oh, God.

Holy Spirit, come and have Your way in this time that we have together. Watch over them as they travel. As they're going to work or going about their day. Lord Jesus, watch over them. For you are our refuge. Psalm 91. The Lord is our Refuge. And you keep us from the storms of life. You watch over us. You protect us. Strengthen them, oh God, this day, as they labor for You. As they parent for You. As they follow You.

Even if they don't know the complete destination of where they're headed. That plan is often hidden. And You reveal it step by step. As we step out like the man with the withered hand. And stretch it out. Help them this day. Follow them this day. Strengthen them. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Father, put on me today to read a few scriptures. So we're going to be reading quite a bit. So, if you have your Bibles, I want you to go ahead and open them.

Those of you who are tuning in, go ahead and share on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and like and follow us, follow our channels, follow me on Reflective Spaces Ministry, and follow us on Reflective Hour when we do those. And know that... I don't want you to look at me. I want you to look to the Word, and I want you to look to Christ because He set me free, and He can set you free.

So, let's dive in and see what message He has for you today.

Psalm 48, and I'm reading out of the New International Version, the Life Application Study Bible.


Psalm 48
New International Version

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

2 Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.

3 God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress.

4 When the kings joined forces,
    when they advanced together,

5 they saw her and were astounded;
    they fled in terror.

6 Trembling seized them there,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.

7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
    shattered by an east wind.

8 As we have heard,
    so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
    in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
    forever.

9 Within your temple, O God,
    we meditate on your unfailing love.

10 Like your name, O God,
    your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
    your right hand is filled with righteousness.

11 Mount Zion rejoices,
    the villages of Judah are glad
    because of your judgments.

12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
    count her towers,

13 consider well her ramparts,
    view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
    to the next generation.

14 For this God is our God for ever and ever;
    he will be our guide even to the end.

He will be our God. And how does He do that? Through the Word of God, which is the map. And that is a map that we should follow. He should guide our steps.

That is how we know that we are walking in line with the Word, with Christ, with the qualities that He Himself exhibited when He walked on this earth. And we know that by looking at the New Testament. We know that by even looking back at the Old Testament of following His Word. Following His Word.

Now, let's go next to Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2. And I'm doing these in the order that He gave them to me.

Ephesians 2. It's talking about being made alive in Christ. Boy, I'm I'm walking proof of that. I was spiritually dead before He gave me life. I was walking around like a zombie. I was. I was in the world, but I wasn't enjoying it. I wasn't seeing it. And even though I had a successful career by society's standards in the world, I was so covered in mirk and mire and dirt and shame and guilt and the dirtiness that comes with being sexually assaulted as a child by more than one individual and not being in charge, not having control and losing your innocence.

And after that act, I saw myself as dirty and unclean. But we know that the blood of Jesus on the Cross washed us clean.

From the moment I truly accepted the Lord in my heart, Lord Jesus, and surrendered to His will for my life, He washed me clean and took away the dirt, shame, guilt, fear, and regret—all that was nailed to the Cross. And I was a new creature, reborn. So I am living this Word. It is true.

So I want you to follow it, listen to it, and see Jesus in all of them, not me but Him.

Ephesians 2. Again, reading out of the New International Version of the Life Application Study Bible. I also like the King James Version and the Tree of Life Version.

Ephesians 2
New International Version
Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—

12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.


A spiritual Jerusalem. A spiritual Jerusalem.

Such good Word. Such good Word.

Now, I want to skip over to 2 Corinthians 4.

2 Corinthians 4.

And it's labeled treasures in jars of clay. And jars of clay are frail, infallible human beings. Paul focused on the inner self and what's on the inside of people, not on the jars of clay or our flesh, our bodies, because they're passing away. But the inner man lives and breathes and has life. Often, we look at others and judge them based on their outward appearance. Never looking at their inside.

Christ saw us with His heart. Look through that lens of mercy and grace and love. I see you that way. I love you that way. You're fearfully, beautifully, and wonderfully made daughters and sons of the King. Let your own individual light shine. Let them shine bright in a dark, decaying world. Christ is with you. He's in you, and by His Holy Spirit, He will lead you and guide you along paths of righteousness for His name's sake. The glory of the Lord be upon you, and His strength and power endure and give you strength to weather the storms of life, the uncertainty of poverty, the uncertainty of natural disasters, and the things that are coming in this world. Draw from the Wellspring of Living Water, the Bread of life. Seek a firm foundation and build on the cornerstone of Christ. Let Him guide you. Let His love strengthen you as it does me every day.

2 Corinthians 4
New International Version

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,

14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.

15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Our map, the Word of God. Christ is our guide by the way of His Holy Spirit.

Are you a reflection of Christ?

Are you a reflection of Christ?

Is your job, when you're on your job, when you're at work, are you reflecting Christ through your life? Are you going to church every day? I mean, every Sunday, but yet, leaving broken, unfulfilled, feeling like something's missing.

I want you to have peace, joy, and strength. I want the Word of God to become alive to you like it is me. And I want you to draw from its pages and drink, drink from it, and let it satisfy you. Hunger for it, thirst for it.

Go deeper into God's Word. and draw from His wellspring of living water that will never run dry. You will be satisfied even in a parched land, even in a time of famine and drought, whether it's in your finances, whatever it is, you fight; fight your way through what you're facing and you don't do it in your strength. You do it in the strength of Christ, and you draw from the Truth of the Cross, and You draw from the Truth of the Cross.

And I also wanted to read out of Kenneth E. Hagin's book, How You Can Be Led by the Spirit of God.

Just a couple of lines.

"Children of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God." And then there are scriptures.

Romans 8:14 states that as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

The spirit itself, himself, beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, Romans 8:16.

The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Proverbs 20:27. 

We exist. And get our being from Christ. He lives in us. And through us. And guides us. Our every step. Let Him guide you this day. Let Him guide you. 

And let the Bible be your map. That's the message that He had for you today. 

Let me close out in prayer. Holy Spirit. Father, the God of our precious Lord Jesus, may Your spirit rest upon them. May the unveiled Truth pierce their hearts. May they truly see the Gospel as it was intended. And may they truly become alive in Christ where they were once dead. 

May they seek You in and all Your ways, searching for You, find that purpose, and have it fulfilled. For You knew them before You formed them in the womb.
 
Strengthen them, O God. Guide them this day and keep them. As they dive into Your Word to explore Your Truth, individualized as You speak to them by way of Your Holy Spirit, and You guide them and keep them. 

Show them Your love; keep them strengthened in Your mighty name, Jesus. Amen.
 
And that's what I have for you today. And I thank you to all those who are watching us from Kenya. Let's see, from McGorry County in Kenya and from Uganda. Oh, wow. That's amazing. God's love knows no borders, no boundaries. 

We're all brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. We get to celebrate. Oh, let me just read one more comment before I close out. Evangelist Yiko Murgawa, I'm so sorry, I just probably didn't say your name correctly. His comment says, "as children of God, we can indeed expect to be led by the Holy Spirit, as Kenneth E. Hagin reminds us. And what a beautiful reminder that our lives should reflect Christ-like qualities, shining forth God's glory and character for all to see. The scriptural references you provided offer a rich foundation for exploring these things further. Psalm 48 reminds us of God's guidance and protection. Ephesians 2 highlights our spiritual rebirth and new life in Christ. And 2 Corinthians 4 encourages us." 

Wow. Wow. It's powerful. Where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is also. And look, he's with us from Kenya. Wow. Thank you so much, Evangelist Sheikha Mergawar. And I'm so sorry if I said that wrong. For you are my brother in Christ. And I just pray healing over your land and strength and strength. And for all those things that you're in need of, I call forth abundance for you. There will be no more periods of lack for your village, for that part where you are, that resolute place you found yourself in. But that His Light will shine and guide you and strengthen you in your ministry and your work. And you will have everything that you need. I call it forth today in the name of Jesus. The provision you need, the protection, and the laborers. We call forth laborers into the field. 

For some sow and some reap. Some plow the ground so others can plant those seeds. And others reap what others have sown. 

Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, from Evangelist Chico Murga, watching from Uganda, Jinja. Wow, that's amazing. To God be the glory. Go forth and prosper today, guys. 

Thank you all so much for watching us. All those who are watching us around the world, we are united as one body under the Head, which is Christ. Let's never forget that. You might be the arm, I might be the leg. But we're all together, brothers and sisters, regardless of color, regardless of anything. It doesn't matter. We're all one in Christ Jesus. 

God bless you. Let His presence. Oh, I just feel His Glory. His glory is glory. 

And what is His glory? His character. His character. It's God's character and nature shining forth or the public display of God's character and nature. That's what His glory is. And boy, it's present. 

Draw from that. Oh, get spiritually fed right now. I just want to stay in His presence for a few minutes. I don't want to break off just yet. All those of you who are being healed by His presence, who are being fed by His presence, who are drawing strength from His Wellspring of Living Water, let Him just fill you up. 

As faith leaders, we can get dry because we pour out to others. Let Him fill you up. Let His presence fill you and strengthen you. 

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. One moment in His presence changes everything. 

I know people are being healed. I know peace is in your villages, where you are in your homes. And you're drawing from Him right now. Thank you. 

Glory of the Lord. It sustains us. Thank you. 

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I never want to end anything when His presence is with us. I just want to sit in it for a few minutes.
 
I'm going to leave you now. I've gotten his permission to sign off. 

Draw from this. No matter when you listen to it, you'll still drink from that Living well of water. Eat from that Bread of Life. You'll never hunger or thirst again.