See him - see you

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)

Face-to-face conversation seems to be a thing we just don't engage in as much as we did in times long gone by. I come from the era when mom's stood at the back fence or mailbox, passing the time of day while watching wee ones engage in play. Today's electronic age has helped us to "connect" with each other via all kinds of social media. We text, IM, post, tweet, ZOOM, Skype, Drop-In, and video chat. We abbreviate, truncate, and mutilate the human language to the point of LOL while we are ROFL with our BFF. (For those not into this "truncated" IM language - we laugh out loud while we are rolling on the floor laughing with our best friend forever!) The thing we really miss is the "connection" which occurs when two people actually stop long enough to look at each other eye-to-eye and begin to notice the things those eyes tell us about the other person! How does God makes connection with his children? Could you imagine if he began sending us a "spiritual IM" reading: FOYF while CYOW - ILYA! (Fell on your face while choosing your own way - I love you anyway!) Now, I am being plain silly here - God is not going to start sending us spiritual IM messages with a totally new 'language' we'd have to learn, but we sometimes treat his Word as though it were just as confounding and confusing!

- WHEN we TURN to FACE God...
- God REMOVES the veil and there we ARE - face-to-face....
- They suddenly we RECOGNIZE that God is a living, PERSONAL PRESENCE...
- When God is PRESENT...
- We're FREE....
- Nothing BETWEEN us and God....
- Our lives gradually BECOMING brighter and more beautiful...
- As God ENTERS our lives and we BECOME like him...

It is in the making of this face-to-face contact with God that we finally see God as he is and he helps us see ourselves for who we really are in him! Don't miss the words I put into all caps. "When" we "turn" to "face" God. The sentence suggests a willingness to take the time - "when" - it is conditioned on our action. It also suggests another action - "turning" - from whatever we are doing to what he wants us to do at this very moment. "Facing" another individual allows us to see each other's body language. I don't have the advantage of this when I simply text you! I can "read" the undertones of your text, but seeing your body language and observing the emotion in your voice when we speak give me much more insight into the impact of your life's events! It is God who "removes" the veil which keeps us from seeing both him as he is and us as we truthfully are. Most of us are content with the veil because the veil covers a multitude of imperfections he might see in us! God knows until we see him as he is, we don't see ourselves as we are. It is in the "recognition" of his living, vital connection with us that we begin to understand the capabilities of living with God as a "personal presence" in our lives. The most important thing God wants us to see is not just his desire for us to be "real" with him, but the fact he will be at work setting us "free" by the continual renewing of our minds that comes when his presence is understood and embraced.

Nothing "between" us and God - now this is something most of us only hope for! There is security in the veil - but when it is stripped away - we stand "naked" before God. You know what? It says there is nothing between us and God! That means he is getting just as "intimate" with us as we are with him! He is not afraid to let us see him as he really is! So...why are we afraid to let him see us as we really are? It is in this "intimate" exchange where we "become" more beautiful than we already are. It is by God "entering" our lives that we become more like him. He could force his way in - but we'd be affronted by this and would not be inclined to pay attention to him if he did. He could just pop in and out of our lives here and there - but we'd be put off by his inconsistencies. The plan God for our time together is quite different. He "moves in" - entering our lives in such as way so as to take up residence in us! He begins to invade the dark spaces of our lives with the brightness of his glory - until what we behold is no longer the darkness, but only his light! Now, when we realize the significance of the face-to-face, doesn't it make us a little less inclined to minimize or avoid our connection with him? Just askin...

Not just a reflection

If you are not a friend to yourself, it shows in the little things you neglect and are quite critical of in yourself.  When you are not a "fan" of who or what you are, you have a tendency to be quite "down" on whatever character flaw it is that has caught your attention at that moment.  In fact, you see that flaw in yourself, and then the contradictory "perfection" in someone else.  You might even see that same "flaw" in another, but you are more likely to just look at how someone else "has it all together" in that area and then be even more "down" on yourself because of your perceived "flaw".  According to scripture, you can tell when you are a "friend to yourself" by how well you are pursuing the things in life which make you wise.  When you apply yourself to wisdom, there is little time to be "down" on the stuff which you get hung up on when all you are doing is looking at your reflection in a mirror!

Be a friend to yourself; do all you can to be wise. Try hard to understand, and you will be rewarded. (Proverbs 19:8 ERV)

Mirrors produce a "reflected" image which is bounced back to whoever is looking at the image.  The closer you get to the mirror, the closer the image appears and the more the "inspection" can get into the not otherwise noticeable nooks and crannies.  The mirror we choose to use to reflect back an image to us is important, though.  Try using one of those high-powered mirrors to get a perspective of how an outfit looks on you and you will get a pretty distorted image.  Try using a full-length mirror to determine which eyebrow needs to be plucked and you are just not going to narrow in on the culprit you can feel, but not see!  We need the right mirror for the job at hand, don't we?  So, why is it we use the "wrong mirror" to look at ourselves when it comes to considering the work of grace within us?  We choose to look at ourselves through a mirror of judgment and disgust - God is looking at us through a mirror of grace and acceptance.

When we are looking in the right mirror, what we see reflected back at us is a more accurate representation of the true character of what is beheld.  This is why it so important to pursue wisdom - to pursue the things which are truth rather than fiction in our lives.  Sometimes the greatest understanding comes in the times we are reflective - when we are "at the right mirror", looking intently into the right image of how God sees us.  In science, we have microscopes. They often have a couple of high powered lenses.  If you have ever used one, you know you spin the right lens into place and "poof" - what was hidden is revealed!  Things appearing one way on the surface come to light in a totally different way under the magnification of that lens.  Why?  The "power" of sight is increased because we are seeing the object through a very focused lens.  

When we allow God's Spirit to be the lens by which we focus on ourselves (and others for that matter), we often begin to see things which were once hidden from our view - things which appear one way on the surface, but which have a totally different view when scrutinized through the right lens.  Notice I used this word "scrutinized".  I think we need to do a little scrutinizing in our lives from time to time, but when we do, we need to be conscientious about using the right lens by which the hidden is revealed!  We can use the lens of popular opinion, but trust me on this one - it is flawed!  We can use the lens of misguided beliefs, but we will just see what we want to see when we do.  We need the lens of truth if we are to ever uncover the hidden.

We do well to learn - but we do best when we apprehend our learning and use it in everyday life.  We do well to look at our reflection - but we see most accurately when we use the scripture, God's Word, to allow the most accurate reflection of how God sees us to come back at us.  Just sayin!