The Mirror

(Jas 1:23-24)  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Has the standard fallen…has the muse stopped whispering wisdom across the fading frequency of faith.  Being deaf isn’t an issue when all you’re listening to is inside your own head. Excuses come easy when the only voice of reason, is reasoned away. And everything makes perfect sense, when filtered through perfect nonsense.  Perception is reality! As we believe in our hearts so are we (Proverbs 23:7), and unfortunately as we don’t believe in our hearts so will we never be.

Ok, Ok, we all instinctively know how dim and dark the current church is….We all know that this is not the best God could come up with for His people.  So I could join again the chorus of voices screaming in disheartening harmony how terrible of a darkness has fallen over us, but the best at describing the darkness, never produced a single ray of light . And the seeds of hope have never grown in the poisoned soil of pessimism. But, and this is a big BUT, even a “half full” glass of water, won’t extinguish the fire of Hell burning in the fallen hearts of mankind. And leaders with rose colored glasses, pushing all-inclusive resort style salvation, lost their way when they dropped their crosses. Neither extreme offers answers, neither the “all is blue skies group” nor the “sky is falling camp” have opened the heavens in our hearts.

So where the answer….It is in the mirror.

I have a double meaning with the statement above.  First off YOU have an anointing and need that no man teaches you (1 John 2:27), because the answer if you have yielded your heart completely to Jesus is inside of you. We should all stop waiting for next best-selling self help book to transform our paradigm, because what I have come to see, after watching a parade of self-help, next best thing, “revelations” hit store shelves.  Is most of the time the only self that is helped is the author’s wallet, and reputation. Why, because you can’t expect to see your reflection in someone else’s mirror.  Moses can’t climb the mountain for you, because the tablets he brings back will only become law to you.  Ministries should stop trying to produce mini-me’s of the preacher, and start introducing their congregations to the only one worthy of imitation…Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:1). We must all encounter our own burning bush, and hear the words for ourselves that proceed from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Anything less than this will cause dependency on a man, instead of confidence in Christ. That is why the apostle Paul exhorts us with these words, “I know IN WHOM I have believed, and I’m persuaded He is able…” (2^nd Timothy 1:12).

I feel I have to stress this as not to offend clergy, authors, and the avid consumers of the like; books, DVD, sermons aren’t bad within themselves, But (another big one) when they are the vehicle of our revelation instead of the confirmation of it, they become Idols and separate us from Jesus. When we are led by the Spirit and they strengthen our faith, by community, or affirmation of what we are hearing in our own spirits. They are wonderful tools, but tools offer no help, if the destiny we are building is off God’s blueprint for someone else. It took me a long time to get this…I can’t read my way to my destiny, I can’t listen my way to the mountain top of His purpose for my life. I must take up my cross and DIE, my calling is on the other side of my coffin (Luke 9:23).  It’s easier then we try to make it, we don’t need literature or long-winded pep talks…We need to encounter our Maker at the crucifixion of our own way. We need give up our quest to be something, and become nothing (John 3:30). Let’s let Jesus be transfigured in our hearts, from the image that others have created into who he actually is….Now again the question… How?

So again the answer is……The Mirror.

The Mirror of his pure, unadulterated, uninterrupted word, it will reflect who He is and who you are.  We are to be just a mirror image of Jesus Christ. When he shines His glorious light into our hearts we reflect it back into the darkness of our day (Matthew 5:16), and all the sudden we no longer have to describe how bad it is, because we now display how good He is, and His goodness will lead this world to repentance…to truth (Romans 2:4). That’s why God gave us the bible, because it doesn’t have a bad day, it doesn’t have its own agenda. It’s not pushing for royalty checks, or status and rank. It’s not concerned with the amount of people in the pews, or change in the offering. It is however dedicated to the change in our spirits.  Jesus said he did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34)(Luke 2:35)(Ephesians 6:17). He came to bring the sword of the Spirit, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

Sounds like a perfect mirror to me. On the other hand we have spent so much time gazing into this world’s “Fun House Mirror”, and we have created our identities based upon the distorted reflections it has shown us. Its “magic mirrors” have told our daughters that there value is equal to their bra size; it has told our sons that life is counted in the notches in their bed posts, or commas in their salary. It has displayed us as a handicapped humanity. It has defined us by the color of our skin, and the amount of letters after our names. Yet the mirror of Jesus’ word cuts through all of distortion, and reflects our created nature (Acts 17:29).  Have you ever seen the old 80’s milk commercials when a scrawny 90 pound pre-pubescent teen stands before a full size mirror and tells the homecoming queen cheerleader…that he might not be “much now”, but he’s drinking milk. And then the mirror displays a 250 pound, 3 percent body fat stud.

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,(1^st Peter 2:2).

I would say the same to all eyes gazing into the mirror of the words you just read. You might not be “much now” but keep drinking the milk of the word of God, let it nourish your troubled soul, and look into its mirror and see what you will be with the infilling of Gods unending grace (Hebrews 12:28). The Church might not be “much now”, but it will be pure and spotless at his coming.

The answer is in the Mirror of being honest with yourself, and picking up the only accessory that compliments the wardrobe of a warrior….His cross. The answer is in staring endlessly into the Mirror of His holy word and letting it transform you into a polished reflection of the brilliant light our Master longs to unleash into the shadows of the souls of men. And then we will be the enlightened ones who will shine truth into the recesses of refracting, rebellious, religion: the ones revealing who Jesus really is to this world.