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So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
Reflection: the act of reflecting an image; representation; counterpart; the production of an image by or as if by a mirror.
Who is Jesus? What is He like? Why should I put my trust in Him? If He was alive 2000 years ago why should I pay any attention to Him now? What good would that do?
These are questions our world is asking during a time when there are many questions about religion, many other ‘choices’ offered to bring meaning and truth to life.
Each of us, as Christ-followers, are given the privilege of showing the world who Jesus is. The Apostle Paul tells us that we reflect the glory of the Lord to those who don’t know who Jesus is. That means that if your neighbor were asked what Jesus was like, they would say something like, “I’m not sure. But I think Jesus is probably like my neighbor.”
There are many people that have rejected Christ because they haven’t seen Him in the lives of His followers. Rather than seeing a reflection of Jesus when they look at us they see a reflection of something else, a human just as they are.
The bad news is that we are humans. We fail. We get angry. We hurt people physically, emotionally and mentally. In and of ourselves we can never reflect anything other than failure. It seems we are constantly reminded of that. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy by remembering our past and beating ourselves up for not being strong, not being holy, not following God the way we should. Other times people around us hold up our past mistakes like banners to remind us that we’ve failed.
The good news is that as reflections of Jesus we are not the source of the light. We simply reflect it. God is the one who ‘cleans the glass’ through the forgiveness offered through Jesus. God is the one that provides the light that shines though us.
The cleaning of our ‘mirrors’ takes time. We shouldn’t expect to reach perfection overnight. Don’t be discouraged by past mistakes and present struggles. That’s all part of the process God uses to prepare us for greater things.
Remember that God loves you dearly. He loves you enough to cleanse you through His Son, Jesus. He loves you enough to let His glory shine through you. ‘God’s glory’ refers to His Holy Spirit. When the Spirit is shining through you other people will notice because of the spiritual fruit of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23-NLT)
PRAYER: Dear Father. Thank you for Jesus and the love and forgiveness I have received through Him. I confess to you that I am often not a very good ‘mirror for Jesus’. Forgive me for the times I’ve been a poor reflection of Your glory. I ask that You would continue to clean and polish me so that others would see Jesus when they look at me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Ephesians 6:14
The Roman soldiers were in constant danger and the threat of attack. This was especially so in Israel since the Jews hated the Roman occupation. The Roman soldier wore a girdle, breast-plate, shoes with iron nails, a helmet to protect his head, and carried a great shield on his left arm which was thrown in front of his body. His weapon was the sword. It was with the sword, not the spear as other nations, that the Romans conquered the world.
But holding it all together was the girdle, or belt. Without the belt, the soldier’s armor was dangerously flawed at best and completely useless at the worst.
As Christ followers we are given a belt as well. It is the belt of Truth and its purpose is to be the basis for all we do and all we are. It is Truth that guides our actions, filters our thoughts and attitudes and inspires us to press on. The Truth we function on is absolute Truth, Truth with a capital T. Truth that cannot be changed, altered or destroyed.
Here are some of the components of the Truth we as Christ-followers stand on:
- There is one God who is creator and sustainer of the Universe and who by His own design has made man and woman so that He can be in a perfect, eternal relationship with us.
- Jesus Christ is the only way to find God. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He died as an innocent man for those of us who could never hope to be innocent and rose from the dead so that we could have life eternal.
- Because I have asked forgiveness of my sins and have asked Jesus to take permanent residence in my life I can approach the very throne of God and address Him as my daddy.
- I know that I am a child of the living God, with special talents and abilities and personality traits that are special to me and make me His unique creation. I am His masterpiece, His Plan A, His most cherished of all possessions.
- I am forgiven, not perfect. My daddy has never expected me to be perfect. He is not surprised by my failures and rejoices in my victories. He’s been at every ball game I’ve played in, every performance I’ve been a part of and every test I’ve taken.
- He is the first one to rise and applaud for me. Whenever He sees me He gives me a standing ovation. He loves me.
- He is my constant source of support, encouragement, protection and understanding.
- Some day whether at death or at His promised return He will greet me face to face with open arms and welcome me home as a long, lost son and say “Nice Job! You were everything I hoped you would be.” Those words will not be due to my performance and ability to ‘live right’ but because of my reliance on Him.
It is on these truths that I stand. I am not perfect. I am weak and stubborn and selfish and sometimes just plain ornery. He knows that and loves me anyway. And THAT is why I love Jesus.
PRAYER: Daddy. I love you. Thank you for always being there for me. Thanks for hanging my picture on your refrigerator and keeping all those silly trophies I worked so hard to win. I know realize that the real trophy in my life is and always will be you. Forgive me for being distracted and rebellious. Help me to follow your Truth and not the fickle truth of the world. In the name of your Son Jesus I pray. Amen.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
All the farm animals were sitting around one day deciding how they could honor the farmer who took such good care of them. The Cow gladly offered some milk. The chicken jumped in to offer the eggs. All eyes turned to the pig sitting quietly in the corner. “You know, said the cow, some ham would go mighty nice with those eggs and milk.” The pig thought a moment and then said, “Yes, but you don’t realize that each of your gifts are but a part of you. For me to give, I would have to give my entire life.”
The old story reminds us that we are more likely to take an interest in things when they cost us. It’s easy to say we believe in God and Jesus when we are in a safe crowd. It’s easy to look godly on Sunday morning and angelic when we sing praise and worship songs.
It’s difficult to make the right choices when the pressure is on to have to sacrifice everything to go along with the crowd. It’s almost impossible to be willing to risk your own life or the life of your children for someone else or a cause.
The Bible is the story of God’s desire to show love to mankind. His desire is and always has been to give life to His most cherished creation. That’s why He gave all He could possibly give to provide you with a relationship of love with Him now and a promise of eternal life after we leave this world.
Because He loves you so much, He watched His innocent son die among thieves for the sin of guilty criminals. Because He loves you so much, He allows you to refer to Him as ‘Daddy’ He welcomes you into His arms as though you (a mere mortal) were His very own son. Because He loves you so much He is honored to accept you into His very presence, into the throne room of Heaven. Because He loves you so much, He is willing to give you His own power through His Holy Spirit.
Is it any wonder then, that we can rest in His protection. If we draw near to Him and trust us with our lives we don’t need to worry about the enemies that surround us. Nothing can separate us from Him. Nothing can attack us without His permission. Even when we rebel against Him, He beckons us to come to Him for healing.
If God is for me, then no seen or unseen enemy will win over me! I am His and He is mine. Forever.
PRAYER: Father, I confess to you that most times the struggles I endure and the fears I face are consequences of my own poor decisions and my stubborn rebellion to follow your ways. Thank you for giving up so much of yourself for me when you knew I would fail you and others around me. Forgive me for my rebellious spirit. Help me to learn to walk with you through the struggles of life whether they are my own creation or the work of the enemy. Empower me now to live with the resolve to follow your ways and be guided by Your Holy Spirit. Give me courage to do what is right regardless of the fall out. Amen.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 2 Corinthians 2:14
The Fall season is by far my favorite time of year. While I love the beauty of the colorful leaves, the best part is the smells of the fall season. The musty-ness of the leaves, the crispness of the air around me and the aroma of a distant campfire. Nothing is better!
There are several places in the Bible where we, as Christ-followers, are referred to as a fragrant aroma to our Heavenly Father. I think of that often as I sit by a campfire and smell the sweet aroma of burning wood, or when I smell the air after a spring rain. Fresh. Alive. Soothing. And to think that God feels that way about me!
Because of Jesus, God looks upon us a trophy. Like a victorious warrior He holds us high as a prized possession. We are His and victory smells sweet! Ever notice how the aroma flowers permeates the whole house? The Apostle Paul alludes to that idea in 2 Corinthians 2:14. The aroma of our lives spreads out to those around us.
Don’t allow the things you are going through keep you from remembering how God sees you. He looks at you and smiles. He takes a deep breath and savors the aroma of your life. He watches you with admiration. He longs to draw you closer to Him. The closer we walk with God the stronger we will become and the more others will see the love of Jesus in us. We not only become a fragrant aroma to God, we become a fragrant aroma to those around us as well.
PRAYER: Father God. I’m in awe as I think that I am a fragrant aroma to you. I thank you for the victory I can have through Jesus. Help me to see myself as you see me. Empower me to turn over the areas of my life that keep me from being a fragrant aroma to those around me. May the aroma of Jesus’ love permeate me and spread out to those around me. Amen.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Bad habits. It only takes a few days to learn them and sometimes a lifetime to break them. They hound us day and night. They lurk in the shadows waiting for a moment of weakness on our part so they can pounce on us and cause us to fall…once again.
Sometimes the habits are relatively harmless, like chewing your fingernails or leaving the toilet seat up! Sometimes those habits are life crippling addictions that destroy our reputation, steal our character or obliterate our relationships with people we love dearly.
In order to learn to cope with bad habits we label them and categorize them according to our opinion of their severity. Pornography, anger and drug addiction are bad habits. They hurt people, even kill people. Gossip? Worry? Sarcastic, hurtful comments? Now those aren’t so bad. In fact those can even be funny (we think). In reality, in God’s eyes, they are all the same. They are all sin.
The Apostle Paul was struggling with something. We don’t know what it was. Some think it was a physical ailment, an eye problem left over from the Damascus road perhaps. Others think it could have been something else, a spiritual issue. The Bible doesn’t tell us what it was for good reason.
The problem in Paul’s life wasn’t the issue. The issue was how he handled it. God doesn’t want us to know what Paul’s struggle was. He wants us to realize that all of us struggle. Not only do we all struggle, but the struggle we have isn’t as important as what we do with it!
Every day we need to remind ourselves that failure is inevitable in the human life. God knew that when He first created us. That’s what Grace is all about. Grace reminds us that even though we are weak, in God’s eyes we can be strong. Through Grace God can use our weaknesses for His Glory. Every day He uses ordinary, sinful people for great and mighty things.
You may be ready to give up. You may be tired of falling, getting back up and falling again. You may be thinking “I’ll never be able to conquer this”. That’s good! Once we realize we can’t fight the battle on our own God has us right where He wants us. When we feel our weakest He is ready to jump in and use that weakness as strength.
Once we accept the fact that we are weak the power of Jesus Christ will be able to work through us to tackle life’s struggles and to show others the way to Jesus. Let God’s grace turn your weaknesses into powerful weapons for good!
PRAYER; Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I’m often discouraged by my inability to live the way I want to. Like the Apostle Paul I find myself doing the things I don’t want to do and not doing the things I want to do! I hereby confess my weaknesses to you and ask that You use those weaknesses for Your glory. Work through me to rely on you daily. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 