01/23/2023
This morning I read Oswald Chambers' devotional message titled "Transformed by Insight". He wrote of our becoming a reflection of the Lord when we have been in His presence. This is a discussion that thrills me, and reminds me of not only the outward reflection, but the feeling within.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV
Chambers paraphrases this idea as he writes:
"By being filled with the Spirit we are transformed, and by beholding we become mirrors. You always know when a man has been beholding the glory of the Lord; you feel in your inner spirit that he is the mirror of the Lord's own character." - Oswald Chambers
Many times I have heard the faithful speak of following God closely so that those around you can see Him when they look at you. I have seen Him in others that I have known, but just as we can't see ourselves (without a mirror) we might have trouble seeing what others see when they look at us.
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
Exodus 34:29 ESV
There is a feeling that accompanies the holiness we radiate; we do more that reflect God to those around us; we also feel his peace and joy within us. No words can properly describe this filling of ourselves with glory, but the puncture of the film between heaven and earth by the Holy Spirit allows for it.
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Romans 15:13 KJV
Once experienced we want to feel God's presence always. Chambers warns us not to allow anything to cloud our ability to mirror the Lord. Truly, Satan detests the glory and face of God, and does everything in his power to erase it from us. It is our goal to make certain that this does not happen. We need to come into the presence of the Spirit often.
We know the intensity of the feeling when the Holy Spirit comes over us. Those who witnessed it among the apostles referred to it as tongues of fire, and when I first received Jesus as my savior and rode my bicycle home to tell my parents, I recounted to others that I felt as though I were flying on wings.
“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
Acts 2:2-3 KJV
But, eventually the experience subsides and we are left in a spiritual afterglow that lasts for days and weeks on end. This visitation of the Spirit and its afterglow has polished the mirror within us that reflects outwardly, but it also feeds our spirit within. It strengthens faith and gives us the power to do God's will.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."”
Acts 1:8 ESV
These were the last words Jesus spoke to the apostles before He ascended into heaven, but by His ascension, He made possible the coming of the Holy Spirit. We have this Spirit today and the power that was promised accompanies it. Pray for His filling, and return to this well to refresh yourself often.
Prayer:
Father, I pray that you fill me with your Holy Spirit each time I need your strength. Let my face reflect your character and love to those around me, and I thank you Lord for dwelling within me where I feel your joy and peace always. Father, let nothing keep me from the well of your Spirit, and if I should visit without the means of drawing from it, let there be someone there to help me; as there was for your Son Jesus. Let others see you in me Father, and inasmuch as Moses could not see the radiance of his own face, I thank you for the quickening within that provides me with evidence of your presence and that outward radiance. Stay with me always, and allow me to serve you from both within, and without, the veil.
Rich Forbes