August 29 - The Key to Transformation
One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian circles has been this: “How come Christians are not growing in the Lord?” Have you wonder on this very important issue for your own life? What is the reason for so many believers who are living life in the flesh, unproductive and unfruitful in what they do? It seems that the new life of Jesus Christ has not come into their lives even after conversion.
The psalmist encourages God’s people to go before the Lord’s presence, to bow down, to kneel before the Lord our Maker in worship. The simple reason for this is that He is our God and we are His people of His pasture. As sheep we must follow the shepherd and hear His voice. A sheep cannot survive apart from the Shepherd. If we harden our hearts and do not listen to Him, we will never enter into the rest that He has promised us.
Job knew about being in the presence of God, he knew that God saw his ways and numbered his steps. He knew about his integrity or the lack of it. Every move that Job made was under the watchful eye of God who saw everything. This is in such a relationship that Job could go before the Lord. It is also through such an understanding that Job maintained his innocence and kept his faith even in the midst of severe trials. God’s presence is the key for Job’s spiritual life.
As Paul was contrasting the ministry of the Law to the ministry of the Spirit, he compared the effects of both ministries in the life of God’s people. Those who were ministering in the letter of the Law was performing a ministry of death like the fading glory on the face of Moses. The veil hid the glory and eventually the fading glory of the Lord so the people could not come into direction contact of God’s glory. The ministry of the Spirit gives life for when one comes to Christ, the veil is removed so that one may go before the Lord directly and not through the veil. As a result, there is spiritual freedom and growth.
The key to our transformation is beholding the glory of the Lord. When we see God face to face with unveiled faces, our lives are changed from glory to glory and we then can have the image of Christ that is glorious. This is the process of transformation that can happen as we go before the Lord’s presence. We must go before Him in worship with total humility, we must know that He is with us and watches our every move. We must have a hunger and thirst for going into His presence.
What is the level of your spiritual hunger? Your level of hunger equals to your level of transformation. Do you spend time each day just to be with Him?
Ps 95:1-11 Job 31:1-33:33 2 Cor 3:1-18 Prov 22:8-9