In His Image (Day 1 from Beside Still Waters)

". . . We all, with unveiled faces beholding, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord."

2 Corinthians 3:18   NKJV

        

            HAVE YOU EVER SEEN a photograph of a reflective image? I must admit I find them mesmerizing. If the fishing is slow when we are out on the boat, I will study the water intently looking at all the beautiful images reflected upon it. Sometimes the sun is so blinding as its image is cast on the water that you can’t even look at it, and I am reminded of the transfiguration of Jesus when he spoke to Moses and Elijah, the word says, “. . . His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light.”  It goes on to say that a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice was heard from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” ( Matthew 17:2,5 NKJV.) Even now I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Yet on another day, when the light shines on the water, you can see the bright blue of the sky with the softness of the clouds casting its image, it’s like we are pressed between two heavens.  When the sun peeks through the clouds its rays can be seen touching the water forming a Jacobs ladder effect, and I can imagine the angels of God ascending and descending on it, then I can almost hear God saying, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” (Genesis 28:15, NKJV.) I get so involved in what is unfolding before me I just close my eyes to hold onto the moment as long as I can. Then there are those rare times, usually at a sunrise, when the sun seems to wrap itself around an image so completely, casting a reflection on the water that is simply breathtaking. The first time I saw this I was in complete awe of how beautiful it was. The sunrise had the softest rose light that engulfed everything like a gentle fog. There was a small tree leaning out over the water, the sun seemed to be rising directly behind it with a brighter rose color covering the water like a rose peddled carpet. As I stared at the sight before me, I couldn’t tell where the image and reflection began or ended, it was so complete, so perfect.  As the day went on I couldn’t get the image of my mind, it was truly beautiful and it made me think of eternity, the circle of life. The scripture tells us that, “We shall not all sleep, [die] but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:51-25 NKJV). To think that in the time it takes to blink your eyes this life will be over and we will change into the likeness of Christ as we step into eternity; our faith, our hope, is suddenly complete. That image locked in my mind is so personal that it is hard to describe or even share.  Another reflection is almost eerie and sort of ominous; it always leaves me feeling strange inside, like a cold chill coming over me. It’s at the end of the day; night has fallen with only the light of the moon to see by as the shoreline casts its silhouette across the darkening water. The peacefulness of the evening turns into a solemn kind of sadness. My thoughts seem to always want to go back to when Christ died on the cross, betrayed and rejected by man, that moment when he bore the sins of mankind and God had to turn his face from his son. It was then that Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

           Because of my past, and the walls I had built around myself, the Word of God became my lifeline; I really didn’t know who I was outside of the Word. I had made lists of who the Word said I was in Christ and would read them every day, and every day I found myself growing stronger. The more I applied the Word to my daily life the more empowered I felt; I wasn’t a victim anymore I was being transformed into His image, 2 Corinthians 3:18 put it this way, “. . . We are all with unveiled faces beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory . . .”   (NKJV).  You might be asking yourself how this happens; the answer is in verses 16 and 17, “. . . When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  I don’t see my life through a victim's eyes, and when others see me, I don’t want them to see a survivor either; I want them to see me as an overcomer.