01/23/2025
Today I read Oswald Chambers' devotional message titled "Transformed by Insight" and in it 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 amazing feeling we have within us when He is near.
“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
Pastor Chambers paraphrased this idea when he wrote:
"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 wonderful feeling that accompanies the holiness we radiate when we are in God’s presence; we do more than 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 a puncturing of the film between heaven and earth by the Holy Spirit allows it to occur.
“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 we have experienced this amazing joy, peace, and rush of life, 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 allow the Holy Spirit to transport us into the presence of God often… if not always.
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 what had occurred it remained in me. I recall standing on the pedals of my bike, letting go of the handlebars and raising my arms towards heaven as I prayed and thanked Jesus. I later described this to others as feeling as though I were flying through the air and that my bicycle had 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 subsided and I was left in a spiritual afterglow that lasted for days and weeks on end. This visitation of the Spirit and its afterglow had polished the mirror within me that reflected outwardly, but it also fed my spirit within. It strengthened my faith and gave me the power to do God's will. This is what occurs with, and in, each of us when we open our hearts, and encounter God. In those moments we receive a powerful inoculation of spiritual bliss, and awe, and it creates a glow that radiates from us. We might not be able to see it in ourselves without a mirror, but we certainly feel it inside. The next time you witness a person who has just accepted Jesus as their savior look at their faces and join them in that moment you see there.
“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
This verse contains 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 who brings us into the presence of God and allows us to experience a very real encounter with the divine. We have the same Spirit today that Jesus spoke of in this verse and the same power that was promised accompanies it. Join me and let’s pray for His filling, and a return to this holy spiritual well to refresh ourselves. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to join us when we pray, and every time we long to feel God’s presence.
Prayer:
Father, I pray that you fill me with your Holy Spirit each time I pray and every time I need your strength, or to feel your love. Let your presence leave its trace as my face reflects your character and love to those around me. I thank you Lord for dwelling within me so that I can feel your joy and peace always. Father, my God, 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 your Son Jesus was for the Samarian woman at the well in Sychar. Then speak with me Abba, and Let others see the evidence of you radiating from me. Inasmuch as Moses could not see the radiance of his own face, let someone encourage me by revealing mine to me, and let me feel it warming my soul. I thank you for the quickening within that provides me with this 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 that once separated me from heaven. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who loves me so much that you sent your Son Jesus to save and redeem me from sin and death… and your Holy Spirit to walk with me through the temple veil into your presence in heaven. Holy are you the God of love, and the purveyor of all joy, peace, and the power of everything you are to those who believe... you are He who pours out your goodness, mercy, and grace over us and causes us to radiate your eternal glow that lights both heaven and earth. Hear this our prayer and let your Holy Spirit be breathed onto us. Let your awesome glory fill us, and your light shine through us unto into all the world as we feel the joy and peace of this moment with you… our God and the glorious Creator of all that is… He who abides in us always.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Amen!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
“Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.”
Luke 9:28-29 ESV
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV
“A golden glow is seen in the north, and the glory of God fills us with awe.”
Job 37:22 GNT
Rich Forbes