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

September 20

“Our work is to ‘behold the glory of the Lord,’ and, as we behold, the Lord effects the marvelous transformation, and we are changed into his likeness....The real glory of the Lord is the glory of what he is and what he does, the glory of character.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 9/16

We are to behold God’s character--that is His glory. God is love.  He is faithful.  He is everything that is good and lovely.  In addition to being powerful and just He is merciful.   It’s interesting to me that we humans already know that what we “behold” has a huge effect on us.  We are continually cautioning ourselves about the movies/TV we watch or the magazines we look at.  We are well aware of the effects of advertising on people.  Yet when it comes to God we feel it’s our works that make us more like Christ.  To simply “behold God’s glory” doesn’t seem enough for most Christians--we always feel as though we should be doing things.  That is partially correct.  The problem is the order.  We are to be doing things, but not in order to be more spiritual or to look like Christ.  When people finally wake up to the fact that all their “doing” is motivated by their desire to maintain control over their lives then they will be able to see what beholding God is all about. 

“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