CHANGING FROM GLORY UNTO GLORY

11/1/17

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 from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3

Every day brings with it a new experience for us. What happened yesterday is gone now, and a new day has begun. And so with the new day, come new experiences, new things to do and see, and perhaps even new activities to take part in. But even with the new things that may well happen in the new day, we are changing as well.

We are not exactly the same person that we were yesterday. For with the new experiences we face today, we may well see things somewhat differently than we did before. And yet these experiences that we face and the ones that cause us to see things differently, are nothing compared to the deep work that is being wrought within us through the Holy Spirit.

We all have opinions and most of us have convictions of what is right and what is wrong. As a child grows up, he or she may well have had lessons that they learned and a moral compass that became an inward guide to them.
If their childhood was a healthy one, then those things learned from Godly parents, helped them in the decisions that they made and awakened a healthy conscience in them. But even with the best of circumstances in our younger years, we all come to a cross roads at some point in time. Those that have had a deep growing encounter with the Lord probably remember the time when you chose to follow after Him. And now, after perhaps many years you’ve seen how what you once thought was true, is slowly changing even daily, as your walk with Him grows deeper and deeper.
You may not at first notice the subtle changes that are happening to you, but inch by inch, your perception of others is perhaps changing, and your heart is enlarging for love and you may sense a greater awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the inner working of the Holy Spirit 'in us,' as we are being changed into His image from glory unto glory. But it is of course not for our own glory, but for His. To be sure, we are His workmanship, created unto good works, but we don’t glory in the works or even in the changes that are being wrought within us.

It is a mystery how the Holy Spirit does His work. We are like the clay and He is the potter, and He has a design intended for each of us. The clay is shaped as each turn of the wheel spins, and at times, it is a painful process as the lumps are smoothed out and the excess is cut away. But in time our vessels will reflect his image and the form will be beautiful.

We have choices that we can make and some of those choices can lead to an image other than the one that is intended by the Master. But if we return and allow His hands to re-form us again, then the design will continue, and the process will eventually display what He intended in us.

Stephen Hanson