Sonship- The revealing of the children of God
Born again- Your new identity as the Beloved
Open your eyes- Light vs darkness
Beholding - How do we live with unveiled faces
So, we find ourselves on the final part of Lesson #7. I hope you have been blessed and released from the bondage of not knowing what in this world is going on. Literally! That has to be the hardest part of the process; always wondering, always second guessing; am I doing this right or that right? Oh what we put ourselves through! But Jesus is a Savior who has been tempted in every way and surely understands what you are going through right at this very moment.
How do we then take these 7 basic lessons of Christianity and live with unveiled faces? Take a deep breath. It's not as hard as you might think but it absolutely takes practice. Remember, Jesus doesn't condemn you. Your life does not consist of a list of rules to determine if you are naughty or nice. Christ has perfected you in himself and God has accepted his ransom as paid in full! The only thing left to do is to follow his lead (walk in the light as he is in the light), have great faith, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
The instructions are all there in the Bible for your benefit and your training in righteousness. They are there for you to know the ways of peace and grace. You've got this. You are starting from beautiful. You are starting from loved and accepted and peace, joy, a family, a Father who is pleased with you. You are perfect; perfect in every way that in the end will matter.
I would say that it is only up from there but you are already as high as you can go. There is no one in the universe higher than God and you and he are one. Your mission is to keep yourself from being polluted by the world and the things that are in it. Don't let your beautiful white robe of righteousness be dirtied by doing things and living a life that is contrary to the will of God. It is a time buster meant to keep you distracted and preoccupied so that when the time comes for you to stand before God all you can say is, "Well what had happened was...". Don't do it; it is a trap!
You are not lead astray because the world is evil. You are led astray by the desires of your own heart. Now, this may not seem like it at first, but it is a good thing. Let me explain. If you were lead astray because the world is evil then you would be left without the most important thing; hope. There would be no hope for you.
The world by it's very own nature cannot be good. Therefore if it is your own desires that lead you astray then understanding that God has given you a new heart that does not gravitate toward evil desires solves the problem. In other words knowing that you have a new heart at the moment that you are born again of God is the key to the renewing of your mind. Your heart is no longer wicked because evil cannot be in the presence of God and you are in the presence of God. So stop messing around and go boldly to the throne of Grace. The Way has been made for you and Jesus is the Way. God's face is not hidden from you.
The world is wanting proof that God exist and you my friend are the proof. The world wants to know where God is and you know where he is. They want to be convinced that what you have believed is true, so that they will not feel foolish if they believe. Well, don't you dare take on that responsibility. You have enough to do just keeping yourself on the path of righteousness.
Your only responsibility is to not hide the path to the Way. Don't cover it up with a life that does not accurately reflect who God is and where he is. Don't mask it in complacency and idle hands. Don't be fooled into living a life that is ordinary, when you are born of royalty. When you find people that are looking for God (whether they admit it or not) show them the Way. Tell them you know where he lives.
It's not about inviting them to church although it's a start; it's about telling them the reason for the hope in you. This hope does not consist of facts and figures and statistics, try as you will you will never have enough of them to convince them. Tell them how he found you. How has he, being invisible, revealed himself to you. If nothing else, tell them to just call out to him from their hearts and he will hear them and meet them where they are. He knows how to find them, just as he found you.
Let the grace of God shine evermore brightly as your own life is transformed from glory to glory. Like a spotlight to a grand event, piercing through dark skies and hopeless longings of something strangely familiar.
God is faithful to guide them and to be a light to their path just as he is to yours. The Gospel is the Good News that the Christ has come for us! We were kidnapped and held captive by Death and our Father has paid the ransom with his very own life. Now we are free to live with him and for him, because of him.
We don't have to pretend to be anything that Christ is not. If He is perfect then stop trying to pretend that you are not. We must intend to be everything that he is, because as he is so are we in this world.
Our lives are lived with unveiled faces. We have accepted the truths of God and have been saved as a people unto himself. Having been set free and given access into the heavenly Kingdom we now must live to shine his light as children of his household. Your room just may need some cleaning and organizing to be livable, so roll up your sleeves and be prepared to get busy.
God's grace has been poured out for us to ensure that the work that he has begun will be completed. So don't disqualify yourself with unholy living.
As we are corrected and trained and taught his ways of righteousness and peace, we learn to cast off the things of this world that bind us and trap us, and that try to deceive us into forfeiting our inheritance in Christ. Remind you of someone; Eve perhaps?
Christ doesn't say get holiness, he says hold onto holiness and in the end don't be found without it.
Always remember that our hope is set on Him and on his love and on the one who is the
Everlasting God. (Yes go on sing the song, you know it.)
You cannot be anything other than you are born to be so don't be discourage and for goodness sake don't listen to the lies. Open your ears instead to the amazing sounds of grace, hope and love that are being carried on the winds from a distant land that is home.
How do we live with unveiled faces? We live a life of love. Love for God and love of God. Love anything and everything, for God is love and one that does not love is not of God and does not know him. If you are thinking you do not know him well, it's never to late to get started. He will never leave you nor forsake you so, what do you plan to do about it? Love of course!
Be blessed. Be loved.
