I read something this morning that really woke me up. It was a post in Urgent Prayer Requests by a woman who has belonged to a coven for many years and is planning to leave it. She is afraid for her life and the life of her son as she attempts to leave. In her post, she mentioned that she sees us as being caught up in, and worrying about trivial things. The fact that she would come to a Christian web site and ask for prayers is amazing and says a lot.
It was particularly interesting to me, because when I was 18, I was into witchcraft and looking for a coven to join. I never found the coven, but I did find the Lord, yet I know that but for the grace of God, I could easily have been where she is.
As I was praying and meditating on what she posted, I felt impressed to pick up a book by Max Lucado, "It's Not About Me," which I had started a couple of months ago, but never got very far into. In the book, Max talks about a man, G.R. Tweed, who was rescued from the island of Guam during WWII by using a small pocket mirror to flash SOS and flag down a passing Alllied ship.. He then muses about what would have happened if the mirror had been like us, and become insecure, afraid that it would make a mistake, or that it's blemishes would be seen. Or even if it had been riddled with self-pity and decided that since it had been stowed away in the bottom of Tweed's pack and therefore gone unnoticed and felt unloved, that it wasn't going to cooperate and allow itself to be used. What if it had decided to flash LAM (look at me) instead of SOS?
Max then goes on to mention 2 Corinthians 3:18, which many of us learned as "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." yet can be also correctly translated as, "And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect. This is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit." (emphasis mine)
The Greek word "katoptrizo" can be translated either as "beholding" or "reflecting." When Moses beheld God, he had no choice but to reflect Him. As Max says, "The brightness he saw was the brightness he became."
We are God's mirrors. Our sole job description is to be a tool of Heaven's heliography," to reflect God's glory in whatever capacity He chooses. In order to reflect, we must behold, which implies a long, deliberate study, not a cursory peek.
How does this tie in with the story of the woman I began this post with? She, and millions others like her, whether trapped in witchcraft or as even many Christians and non-Christians alike are, enslaved to their past, are desperately looking for the glory of God. They may not even know it, but that is what they are desperately seeking. The god she serves, who is also the same adversary that holds so many of us captive, is powerful. Yes, he is a defeated foe, but that does not lessen his power.
It is in seeing God's glory alone that captives will be set free. God and His glory alone, are more powerful than the enemy.
I love the Southern Gospel song written by the Gaithers called. We Shall Behold Him, yet, let us not wait until the future to behold Him, let's do it now, so we can reflect His glory and rescue many souls who are otherwise destined for the pit. Let us set aside the things that so easily entangle us, and get our priorities aligned with His. Doing so will bring persicution, but so be it.
It was particularly interesting to me, because when I was 18, I was into witchcraft and looking for a coven to join. I never found the coven, but I did find the Lord, yet I know that but for the grace of God, I could easily have been where she is.
As I was praying and meditating on what she posted, I felt impressed to pick up a book by Max Lucado, "It's Not About Me," which I had started a couple of months ago, but never got very far into. In the book, Max talks about a man, G.R. Tweed, who was rescued from the island of Guam during WWII by using a small pocket mirror to flash SOS and flag down a passing Alllied ship.. He then muses about what would have happened if the mirror had been like us, and become insecure, afraid that it would make a mistake, or that it's blemishes would be seen. Or even if it had been riddled with self-pity and decided that since it had been stowed away in the bottom of Tweed's pack and therefore gone unnoticed and felt unloved, that it wasn't going to cooperate and allow itself to be used. What if it had decided to flash LAM (look at me) instead of SOS?
Max then goes on to mention 2 Corinthians 3:18, which many of us learned as "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." yet can be also correctly translated as, "And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect. This is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit." (emphasis mine)
The Greek word "katoptrizo" can be translated either as "beholding" or "reflecting." When Moses beheld God, he had no choice but to reflect Him. As Max says, "The brightness he saw was the brightness he became."
We are God's mirrors. Our sole job description is to be a tool of Heaven's heliography," to reflect God's glory in whatever capacity He chooses. In order to reflect, we must behold, which implies a long, deliberate study, not a cursory peek.
How does this tie in with the story of the woman I began this post with? She, and millions others like her, whether trapped in witchcraft or as even many Christians and non-Christians alike are, enslaved to their past, are desperately looking for the glory of God. They may not even know it, but that is what they are desperately seeking. The god she serves, who is also the same adversary that holds so many of us captive, is powerful. Yes, he is a defeated foe, but that does not lessen his power.
It is in seeing God's glory alone that captives will be set free. God and His glory alone, are more powerful than the enemy.
I love the Southern Gospel song written by the Gaithers called. We Shall Behold Him, yet, let us not wait until the future to behold Him, let's do it now, so we can reflect His glory and rescue many souls who are otherwise destined for the pit. Let us set aside the things that so easily entangle us, and get our priorities aligned with His. Doing so will bring persicution, but so be it.
posted by Keemah's corner at 1:28 PM
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