"We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." II Corinthians 3:18
Moses had to veil his face because he saw just a glimpse of the Lord's glory. But we who have seen the God's glory in His Son's face reflect that glory without a veil. Probably some more brightly than others, but we all do reflect Him to some degree. Even if it is very poorly. We sure can be a poor reflection of Him. In this verse we can see three reasons why this is not easy,
1. Spiritual maturation is a process, hence why the words 'being transformed' are used. We are in the process of reflecting His glory better and better as we mature in Him.
2. Spiritual maturation is progressive, hence why the words 'ever-increasing' are used. We are day by day, week to week and month to month and year to year, measurably progressing toward maturity. Obviously we don't arrive, but we should make progress. Maturation takes time, but it also should move forward towards the goal. Growing up in the Lord is a life-long quest and adventure. A progressive process. Gotta be in the process, gotta progress.
3. Maturation comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. We don't mature naturally, it must be spiritual. Without God, we can do nothing. Through Christ, we can do all things. We can do anything that we and God can agree on. This progressive process is a transformation that comes from surrender and obedience and happens from the inside out.
The transformation that the Spirit accomplishes is not an outward appearance of maturity; it is an inward reflection of maturity that then shows outwardly. The goal of that progressive process and inside to outside transformation is to be like Jesus. That's right we are seeking to be more and more like Jesus. An overwhelming goal, but a worthy one nonetheless. Let us all get in the process, and make more progress with His help and for His glory.
By His Grace,
Pastor Fred
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It seems I was presented with a maturation opportunity just this morning. After a sleepless night of hourly interruptions I woke first to the gentle shaking of my hand. "Mommy, I'm wet and need a bath," Ashton whispered in my ear. As I managed to groggily open one eye to look at the clock, I was flooded with feelings of dismay as my blurred vision suddenly became clear. In bright green, my phone silently shouted the numbers "4:30" to my still unconscious brain. I could feel my designated "cranky" nerves already starting to twitch.
ReplyDeleteLong story short, the remainder of the morning’s early wee hours consisted of the new kitten missing his litter box (lucky for him, he’s cute), a constant flow of human and feline interruptions to my “God time,” and an overall indwelling sense of frustration. My short fuse sent sparks flying at the heads of everyone living with me until I came across James 1:2-4. As I let out a long sigh, I knew God was confronting my bad behavior while reminding me that in my pool of exasperation sat a well inflated raft of opportunity. “Sorry, God,” I quietly mumbled, but that wasn’t entirely what He wanted from me. No, He wanted me to apologize to both Sam and Ashton for my sharp tone and angry presence. Well, I had no problem calling Ashton into the room to apologize. In fact, I wanted to, but for some reason I find it far more difficult to apologize to Sam. Why? I don’t know, but I suspect it relates to a problem of pride (I’m working on that). However, within a matter of minutes I called him into the room as well and made my apologies. It felt good.
Though my ultimate goal is to meet mornings of frustration head on with a smile and good cheer, I’m not yet there. However, a year ago I wouldn’t have even considered apologizing, but would have instead continued for hours to make those around me pay with my bad mood. Thank God for His patience and persistence in changing us, developing us, and maturing us. I have so very far to go, but thank You, Father, for how far I’ve come. Thank you, Pastor Fred, for the devotional that helped me pull the morning’s happenings all together.