Beholding Him

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, 

with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 

are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

IICor. 3:17,18  NAS

The context is important and Paul is referring to previous verses where Moses had to veil his face

 when he left the Tabernacle. His face was transformed in the presence of the Lord, 

but as he went back among the Israelite, the glory faded. 

The Spirit indwells us and gives us liberty to go into His presence with an open face

 to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.  As we behold as in a mirror, His glory,

 we are being changed from one degree of glory to another.  What a verse!  

Behold means to “gaze upon, to look steadily at.”   

The mirror part of the verse became a huge puzzle to me. How in the world 

do I look in a mirror and see anything but myself?  I have pondered this verse for months. 

I am not nearly finished with it and as He reveals to me more of what it means, I will share it with you

.  

For now it says to me that Christ dwells in me and as I gaze upon Him in me, 

I am in the process of being transformed!  That is what the verse is saying. Amazing!  

The first time I sat down to gaze upon Him all I could see was light and fire.

Over the years I have read many books about being transformed in my behavior, thinking, feeling. 

Nothing has worked and that is what it has taken, much work! 

The scripture says that “I AM a new creation” but how does this play out in my life?

This verse indicates that transformation comes out of fellowship, relationship,  

in the presence of the Lord. This takes time. It is not a quick, “how are you?” 

and “See you later,” to the Lord.  

Romance

What if the Christian life is a relationship? God romancing me? 

He takes the lead, and I respond. It is a dance. 

I am cradled in his arms as we glide across the floor called life. 

He leads; I follow. In the movement of the dance I forget how I look, 

how I feel, how I move my feet, for I am caught up in Him as His eyes flash with joy. 

We move together in perfect harmony. I read His love letter to me (the Bible) 

and then I talk to Him about it (prayer). 

Conversation, courtship, relationship, overflow, all rolled into my life in Him. 

Obedience is not difficult when one is in love!

For Me to Live is Christ

 A Christian is one who has become spiritually alive from the dead. The presence of spiritual life within him

 is the one foundational thing that distinguishes him from the unregenerate world about him.

       

This spiritual life is not native to us, nor can it be developed out of anything we have or are by nature. 

It must be given to us. So God has given us eternal life, “and this life is in His Son,” 

through whose possession of us when we believed on him we were born from above; “not of blood, 

nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God;" by which we have become a “new creation” in Christ, 

being thereby made “partakers of the divine nature.”

The life of a Christian, therefore, is the life of Christ within us through the Holy Spirit. 

It is not a life similar to his, it is his life. This is shown by the fact that what we receive in the new birth 

is not only “everlasting life,” but also “eternal life,” which is far more than “everlasting life.” 

For while everlasting life has no end, yet it may have a beginning; but eternal life has neither beginning nor end.

Now the Triune God is the only one in the universe who has eternal life. The only way He can give us eternal life, 

therefore, is to possess us with his own life, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit. 

This is one thing Paul meant when he said, “For me to live is Christ.” This is a mystery that is too high for us. 

We can none of us understand it; but we can believe it.

J.E. Conant

Perfume

Touched by your wondrous love

Cradled in arms so strong

Before the world began

Before the stars were spun

Radiant beauty,

How you have stolen me.

Your love is a perfume I pour at your feet.

What love is this beckons me in

Drenches my heart in wine

I can but forsake all other loves

Now I am Yours and You are mine

Radiant beauty, 

How you have stolen me.

Your love is a perfume I pour at your feet.

By Michelle Wooderson

This Thing Called Piety

My husband is speaking on Piety and it has generated a lively conversation at the dinner table! I asked my daughter what she thought of as piety and she said, “the Pharisees.” When I think of piety, I think of “oughts.” I ought to pray more, read my Bible more, reach out to the poor, share the Gospel more.  Ought and More. Ug! I have spent most of my life trying to attain something in the eyes of God and others. The outside can look good while the inside is a perfect mess of self effort!

BUT, what if piety is a romance? God romancing me? He takes the lead, and I respond. It is a dance. I am cradled in his arms as we glide across the floor called life. He leads; I follow. In the movement of the dance I forget how I look, how I feel, how I move my feet, for I am caught up in Him as His eyes flash with joy. We move together in perfect harmony.  I read His love letter to me (the Bible) and then I talk to Him about it (prayer).  Conversation, courtship, relationship, overflow, all rolled into Piety. Obedience is not difficult when one is in love!

A Little Bird

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air;

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me here;

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because my God, it pleases Thee.

                                                                                                        Jeanne Guyon

Jeanne Guyon was imprisoned in the Bastille in the 1600s by the Church. Her walk with her Lord was considered radical.  Go to www.seedsowers.com to get a copy of her Autobiography. 

HOPE

The women came to the grave. They were empty; desolate. 

They came to the the tomb, to weep and mourn their great loss. 

Instead they found: 

an earthquake, 

the stone rolled away, 

guards frozen with fear, 

an Angel, 

and an empty tomb.  

WOW! 

The Angel said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I know 

that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 

HE IS NOT HERE, for He has risen as He said. 

Come see the place where He lay...”   (Matthew 28:1-8)

Papa, I came to You empty and expecting nothing. Instead

I found a risen Savior and HOPE.

Blessed be your Name!