DAY 48
Becoming the Answer
| READ Colossians 3:4 |
DEVOTIONAL
Moses entered the mountain alone. Yet when he descended, everyone knew he had been with God. He did not announce it. He carried it. The same principle remains today. Those who genuinely dwell with God carry something that cannot be manufactured. Their words possess unusual grace. Their decisions reflect unusual wisdom. Their love reaches unusual depths. Their peace remains steady under unusual pressure. The world may not understand what they carry. But it recognizes that something is different. This is the fruit of abiding. Not performance. Presence.
The secret place leaves fingerprints upon the soul. We have spoken throughout this book about the increasing darkness of our generation. Yet darkness has never frightened God. Darkness simply provides the backdrop against which light becomes visible. The darker the night, the brighter the stars appear. Likewise, every act of love... Every expression of truth... Every demonstration of holiness... Every display of forgiveness... Every life surrendered to Christ... becomes a testimony that the Kingdom of God is present. The Church does not overcome darkness by becoming preoccupied with darkness.
She overcomes darkness by carrying the light of Christ. This has always been God's strategy. He sends light. He sends truth. He sends transformed people. He sends sons and daughters who carry His glory. The manifestation of the sons of God is not confined to this present age. There is coming a glorious day when God's redemptive work will reach its perfect fulfillment. The Apostle John was given a vision of that day. He writes:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed like a bride adorned for her husband; and then I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'See! The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will live among them; and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them [as their God,] and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the former order of things has passed away.' And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And He said, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true.'"
What a glorious promise. This is where history is heading. This is the fulfillment of every promise. This is the completion of every work of redemption. This is the Father's eternal desire-to dwell with His people forever. The secret place we now experience by faith will one day become our eternal reality. Prayer will give way to perfect communion. Faith will become sight. Hope will become fulfillment. The sons and daughters of God will stand before their Father, perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. This is our blessed hope.
The world often asks, "Where is God?" Perhaps the better question is, "Where are His sons?" Where are those who have spent enough time in His presence that His compassion flows naturally through them? Where are those whose lives preach louder than their words? Where are those who refuse compromise because they have seen the beauty of holiness? Where are those who love without conditions? Forgive without resentment? Serve without recognition? Pray without ceasing? Trust without wavering? The Father is still raising such people. Ordinary people. Completely surrendered people.
People who have learned that greatness is found at His feet. People who have discovered that the highest privilege in life is to reveal Jesus. May we become those people.
REFLECT
1. Where is the Holy Spirit inviting you to shine with visible glory as an answer to a waiting world?
2. What competing voice, habit, fear, or desire needs to become quieter so that this truth can shape you?
PRAY
Father, make my life an answer that points a waiting world to Christ. Where there is darkness, let Your light shine through me; where there is pain, let Your compassion move through me; where there is confusion, let Your truth be visible. Use my life for Your glory, never for self-display, so that others encounter Jesus through me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
PRACTICE
Set aside 10-15 unhurried minutes today. Ask God to help you shine with visible glory as an answer to a waiting world. Write down one truth to carry and one concrete act of obedience.
JOURNAL
What is God highlighting to me today?