December 5

“Have you been in a predicament from which you cried out with a ‘great shout’ to heaven for help, and even after your ‘great shout’ and declaration of faith, the enemy still ran you down?....Do we sometimes almost superstitiously cry to heaven instead of to God Himself?”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 11/12

This “crying to heaven” that Eugenia speaks of never puts us in touch with God, really.  We may believe it does and thereby we receive some comfort, but I can’t help but believe the only time we can actually receive anything from God in our time of need is when we actually make contact with Him.  There’s a verse in a song that always comes to my mind... “to come into His presence is to be changed.”  We can’t help but be changed when we stand before God.  His very nature requires it.  The key, then, is whether or not we are actually in His presence.  For me, those times have always been marked by a true humility--not a feigned humility.  We humans have gotten pretty clever at acting how we need to “be” in order to get what we want.  Unfortunately, we’re so good at it that we begin to believe we are that person.  I think that’s why eccentric people peak our interest.  Their honesty in being themselves despite criticism is refreshing even though we may not approve of their behavior.  I think most of us really want to be genuine, but are afraid to be.  God, on the other hand, has declared that we must be genuine in order to come into His presence.  It is there that He can change us to be good.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:18