PSALM 17:15 – As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”
THEME OF THE DAY: SEEING OUR KING IN HIS GLORY. It is one of the most important disciplines in the Christian life; to fix our hearts and minds on seeing Jesus, literally. Is it hard? Yes, but it is necessary because it accomplishes two things which are opposites. First, meditating on being face-to-face with Jesus weans us from the affections of this world and goes a long way in preventing the loss of first love for Him. Thinking on seeing Jesus also intensifies our affections for the next world, and specifically, to enjoy the answer to Jesus’ desire in His prayer, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world”(John 17:24).
Such fixation on His Second Coming presents to us two questions which serve as good tools of self-examination when it comes to measuring our desire to see Jesus. Both focus on prayer.
First, in today’s scripture, do our hearts beat with the same passion as David’s prayer to be in the presence and thus likeness of the Lord? He knew only one thing would satisfy the deep longings in his soul for contentment – conforming to the likeness of his Lord. Friends, nothing else brings rest, peace, and satisfaction to the human soul. Nothing or no one in this life will provide them. Only the Lord and the final glorification of His children in His presence will do the work. And the more we long for the final transformation into His image, the more we pursue Him in this life. It is through that pursuit we truly understand the Christian life. In beholding the Lord now by faith through His Word and prayer, we are being transformed moment-by-moment into what we will ultimately be – like Jesus – And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). So, if our desire for conforming to the image of Jesus lacks the passion and pursuit of David, don’t despair. Start asking the Lord for the same heart of David.
The next question to evaluate our desire to be finally made into the image of Jesus comes from a saint in church history, well-known and loved. It is likely safe to say we have heard or sung one of her hymns. Let this account of her heart and what she would have prayed for if given the opportunity do a good work of searching our hearts. Would we have been able to say the words she did?
The hymn writer Fanny Crosby gave us more than 8000 Gospel songs. Although blinded at the age of 6 weeks, she never held any bitterness in her heart because of it. Once a preacher sympathetically remarked, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.” She replied quickly, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?” “Why?” asked the surprised clergyman. “Because when I get to Heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!”
Think about seeing our King in His glory. A lot. It will change us forever if we are able to see glimpses of that glory by faith now!
PRAYER: “Father, keep me from the self-deception to think I may be contented in life without Christ being its center.”
QUOTE: “There is only one source of satisfaction in life – the Lord Jesus.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim