Light Remains

(by Lorie Codispoti)

When I was a child I was deathly afraid of the dark. I could not sleep in a dark room. If someone turned the lights out to say that I experienced panic attacks would have been an understatement. This paralyzing fear followed me into adulthood & I was in my early 20’s before being rescued from its grip.

That rescue came in the form of Light!

It was not the kind of light that comes on when you flip a switch, but the kind that pursues & overcomes the darkness, as well as its debilitating sidekick called fear.

I started reading through the Bible again this year. It never ceases to amaze me how every read through brings with it things you didn’t see before. While reading about the plagues in Exodus I was struck by what it said about the ninth plague: a darkness so thick that it could be “felt” (Ex.10:21).

The Hebrew word for this "felt" darkness relates to something you could actually touch. This thick darkness covered the land of Egypt for three days.

Have you ever experienced a darkness so dark that you could not even see your hand?

We were taking a late night walk with some friends many years ago. We didn’t realize how dark it actually was until we got far enough away from the facility where we were meeting with a group of people. None of us thought to bring a flashlight, which was a huge regret as we stepped into the darkest dark I’ve ever experienced. We literally could not see our own hands, nor could we see the road, which was on the side of a mountain. I suddenly became aware of what I could not see - namely the road, those with us, & what might be lurking in the woods. It was scary.

Then, one of our friends frantically commanded all of us to "STOP!" His teeth had just fallen out. Not kidding! Thankfully, he was able to feel for them & find them in that thick darkness. We all had a good chuckle as it lightened the mood a bit, but we still had to find our way back to the facility.

That was the darkest dark I’ve ever experienced, & it’s one I will never forget.

In the Bible, darkness is more than the absence of light, which is how we define it today. Most of the time darkness is a representation of a tangible evil - a blinding force that can affect both the just and the unjust when they are caught in its grip.

It’s fascinating to note which plagues the Israelites endured alongside their Egyptian slave owners, and which ones they escaped due to the merciful hand of God.

Exodus 10:23 says, “…but light remained in the houses of the Israelites…” God spared them from the plague of a darkness - a presence that manifested so intense that it very likely drove many of the Egyptians to the brink of insanty.

“But light remained!”

I don't think this was a light that suddenly appeared when darkness crept in. This was a light that was already present. A light so powerful that darkness could not overpower & drive It away.

"The light shines in the darkness, & the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5)

That's the Light that rescued me!

Does this kind of indwelling Light reside within you? A Light so bright & present that you can “feel” It? When you do, you will know the freedom of stepping forward with certainty & without fear.

No amount of darkness can put out the Light of Christ. His light will rescue you from fear & "remain" resident within you. It will help you find your faith (or your teeth) when the darkness encroaches and would have you believe that all is lost.

"Shine down your Light on me, let the darkness see, that in Your presence darkness flees, oh, Father of Light shine down on me." (Sandi Patty)

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Valentine Love

(by Lorie Codispoti)

According to the Christian History Institute there are several St. Valentines, who were all martyred about the same time in the third century.

First, we have the Valentine who aided Christians who were being persecuted. He was imprisoned, where he found faith in Christ and refused to deny Him. He was tortured, beaten with clubs and then beheaded. He was said to have written letters to his friends during that time that read, “Remember your Valentine.”

Second, Valentine was said to have been a priest who secretly married couples so that husbands wouldn’t have to go to war during Emperor Claudius’ soldier shortage.

And third, Valentine was a priest who refused to sacrifice to pagan gods. From his prison cell he shared God’s love through his testimony. As a result of his prayers the jailer’s daughter was healed and on the day of his execution he left her a note that was signed, “your Valentine.”

There isn’t enough evidence on any one Valentine to determine which one the day was named after, but, there is one thing that I see common to all three; each one embraced and lived out what it truly means to love.

Today is a great day to remind ourselves of the wonderful truths found in I Corinthians 13…

Love is longsuffering

Love is kind

It doesn’t envy, parade itself, or puff up

It doesn’t behave rudely, seek its own, provoke, or think evil

It doesn’t rejoice in sin, but rather in the truth

It bears all things

It believes all things

It hopes all things

IT ENDURES ALL THINGS!

Valentine endured much, because that's what selfless love does.

Love is hard!

Everything I read in scripture about love demands a kind of love that I do not possess in and of myself. Without my Helper I am not capable of this kind of love. I can’t work it up, I can’t fake it, and I can’t escape it. This kind of love requires something of me that I cannot give; yet, like Valentine, He calls me to it and then enables me to walk in it. Isn’t that so incredibly awesome?

I’d like to challenge each of you this Valentine’s Day (& every day really) to look beyond the shallow, trinket filled, heart fluff our culture promotes. Go a little deeper into what it meant for Valentine to put action to his words and LIVE out his love. Ask yourself if you are willing to love like that… to bear things unpleasant… to believe that God has a plan… to hope in what you can’t see… and to endure the hardships that accompany true love. Jesus was willing and it broke His heart and cost Him his life. You and I are not capable of this kind of love… but He is… and if He lives in you He will enable you to embrace and live out this love. If we say yes to His definition of love, then we must be willing to embrace the “fellowship of His suffering.”

It is hard to love, but the fruit of Christ's love borne out in your life is worth every sacrifice.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Happy Valentine’s Day!

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Called to be Perfect

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Have you heard the expression that “perfect is the enemy of good”?

Now, if what someone means by that phrase is that we will never progress to the good thing if we demand absolute perfection in every area, then I would agree. Perfection can be a vicious task master that wants nothing more than to enslave its victim to the point that they never see the beauty & freedom that resides within the “good” that God designed for us to experience.

I confess, I have fallen prey to the perfection bug, which I now think is subconsciously rooted in a desire (fear) to control every little detail of life. (Pretty ridiculous to think we are in control of anything.)

I don't think there's anything wrong with setting high standards for yourself, but there is a problem with setting unrealistic ones.

For example:

For many years I worked incredibly hard to perfect my skills as a seamstress, but no matter how precise I was there was always a flaw - a crocked seam, right sides imperfectly matched, etc. Few people would have ever noticed, but the problem with demanding perfection is that nothing is ever good enough. Sometimes I have to remind myself that a lack of perfection does not have to mean that something is inferior. It’s better to have a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. (Chinese proverb)

So if perfectionism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be then what about Jesus’ command for His disciples (which we are) to “… be perfect just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Mtt.5:48)? Is the Bible wrong when it says that Noah, Asa, Job, David & his army were all perfect? Did they embody some sort of moral perfection that the rest of us will never attain?

Unfortunately, our default to Jesus’ command for us to “be perfect” is usually the worn out excuse that none of us is perfect. However, when our understanding conflicts with what we are reading in Scripture it’s important for us to stop & take a closer look at what God meant for them & then before we attempt to apply it to ourselves today.

Our culture defines “perfect” as being free from blemishes, like the airbrushed models on magazine covers - the epitome of fake perfection. But the word Jesus uses for “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 is not rooted in external features or behaviors. The biblical meaning communicates completeness or wholeness. It can also mean maturity.

The context of this verse is key to understanding the kind of perfection Jesus is talking about. The goal is for our faith to be complete, whole, & mature; something that comes through the process of sanctification.

Note that Jesus’ command in verse 48 is a summary statement. It follows the point that God wants us to extend impartial love to everyone - even our enemies - in the same way that He does. To love with partiality is to imitate the wicked. But Jesus tells us to imitate the Father (as does the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:1).

After Jesus tells us to “be perfect,” He says “just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” In the same way that children imitate their parent’s, we are to imitate & extend to others the kind of impartial love the Father has extended to us. Our love may never equal the perfect love of our Father, but that’s not an excuse. The love we extend to others can look like His in its quality. Through His indwelling Spirit He enables us to love - perfectly.

We are all flawed diamonds in the rough, but that should not dissuade us from seeking to be like our Father & loving others with a complete, whole, & mature perfection. I have seen God sanctify the flaws right out of His children. Why, I’ve even seen him turn a pebble into a diamond that sparkles so bright under the Light of the Son you’d never believe it was once filled with so many blemishes it was unrecognizable. God perfects every precious stone that desires to imitate Him.

May we all be “perfect” & shine with the love of Christ.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Resolve to "Number Our Days"

(by Lorie Codispoti)

I make resolutions all year long, so while the beginning of each new year brings with it hopeful desires, I see it as a marker on the timeline of my life. While some people may feel strangely uncomfortable when they glance at the blank squares on a new calendar, I like to look at each one with a heart of expectancy.

This mindset, however, is an acquired skill that continues to challenge this natured selfaholic.

I could easily fill my calendar with all the things that make me feel accomplished. And while there is nothing wrong with the desire to accomplish every task on my list, I must remind myself to seek & surrender that list, as well as myself, to my Father’s agenda for each day. The assignment is His, therefore the results at the end of the day will be more rewarding than if I am the author.

My husband opened the new year with a message he preached on Psalm 90 - the chapter where the author asks God to “teach us to number our days…” (vs.12). He reminded believers that we are sojourners whose citizenship does not reside in the land we’ve been called to as ambassadors.

His challenge was no different than those of James & Peter, who encourage us to live sanctified lives set apart to Christ. Numbering our days - being purposeful about filling each empty box - is how we navigate a new calendar year.

We are currently working our way through the book of Ephesians & it’s no coincidence that this week’s message complimented his challenge on living a purposeful, productive, & effective life.

In Ephesians 4 we read Paul’s exhortation to unity through the gifts God dispenses to the believers in each church. We’re not given gifts so that we can hoard them or fill our days with self-serving goals. Verses 12-16 explain that these gifts are given to us “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry…” (vs.12). The implementation of these gifts, in turn, “…causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Vs.16b). We are to fill our calendar with the administration of these gifts.

I feel the need to insert an important caveat to my point here.

We once attended a church who put so much emphasis on “service” to one another that if this was not your specific motivational gift you were looked down on & even chastised for what was deemed a less-than approach to loving one another.

I say that to warn all of us: If we are not purposeful about our primary purpose in life - to know God & make Him known, ("The chief end of man is to glorify God & to enjoy Him forever." Westminster Catechism) our goals, no matter how selfless they may appear to look & feel, will become more & more futile as time passes. You see, if we forget to prioritize our relationship with God, then our “service” to Him can turn us into selfaholics whose daily goal becomes more about getting our fix than it is on producing the fruits of righteousness that draw others to Christ.

So, how do we “number our days” as Psalm 90:12 encourages?

Maybe start by applying the first verse of that chapter: “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.”

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to make a lifelong resolution to superimpose dwelling in the presence of God onto each day of your calendar year.

We glorify God with our desire to know & enjoy Him. And by enjoying our time with Him we will see clearly how to fill our days with service to one another - service that will knit us together as we fill our days with productive purpose. It’s the only kind of goal that will fill the end of each day the same way it started - in the restful & satisfying presence of the God, who loved us before He created time & who will love us long after today's calendar becomes tomorrow's record of our life & how we spent it.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Prepare Him Room

(by Lorie Codispoti)

“Let every heart prepare Him room.” (Joy to the World)

Are the lyrics rolling around in your head yet?

Virtually everyone knows this famous Christmas Carol. It’s fun to sing, whether we are caroling our way through the neighborhood or belting out the notes from the pew.

Isaac Watts wrote this poem in 1719, a century before a Boston, Massachusetts music teacher, Lowell Mason, composed the tune we’re all familiar with today.

I wonder if Mr. Watts asked the same question I ask myself every year… Have I prepared Him sufficient room? A room big enough to “receive her King” with a contagious Joy that overflows into every activity this holiday season?

It doesn’t take much these days to crowd out the Christ of Christmas. It’s easy to unintentionally relegate Him to the periphery when our to-do list continues to expand. Add to that our unsuccessful attempts at displaying a prefabricated joy & we have a recipe for disaster.

The problem with manufactured joy is that it’s fake & everyone knows it.

It’s like the people that burn a chocolate chip cookie candle for everyone coming to their open house. The aroma permeates the atmosphere & the only thing you can think of is locating that plate of cookies. I don’t know about you, but the moment I discover that the whole thing is a ruse, the last thing I will notice is a newly remodeled kitchen. And joy? Well, let's just say that's not the first emotion that comes to mind.

I know that there’s a lot to do during the holidays, but the question is not about how many things you can cross off your to-do list before December 25th. The question I want to ask all of us is about the kind of joy Mr. Watts wrote about. Have we prepared enough room in our holiday for the joy of Jesus to permeate the atmosphere in such a way that the aroma draws others to the refreshment we long to share with them? Or, are we attempting to imitate the real thing by putting a scented candle on display & hoping that no one gets close enough to discover it’s a fake?

Here’s the thing about this favorite Christmas hymn...

Joy to The World was not written, nor was intended to be sung at Christmastime.

Isaac Watts was inspired by Psalm 98:4-9, when he wrote this poem...

“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, & sing praises… For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, & the peoples with uprightness.”

This song was not written to celebrate the first coming of Christ. It was written to herald His second coming. (But because it was published at Christmastime the connection stuck.)

I’m glad this favorite is part of our Christmas repertoire, but I encourage all of us not to stop preparing Him room when Christmas is over. We need to be continually preparing for the return of our King.

Let’s purpose to “repeat the sounding joy” & share this recipe for the real thing with everyone who is drawn to “the wonders of His love.”

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Broken From The Inside

(by Lorie Codispoti)

"If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If it is broken by an inside force, life begins."

I have no idea who the author is, nor do I know the context in which this statement was written, but for me this illustration speaks to the way God transforms our lives when we come to Christ.

Our enemy is the “outside force.” He’s the nest robber who steals the eggs with the intent to break & destroy them. However, there is a greater “Force” at work. This is the Force that not only hears every cry for help, but upon hearing that cry He thwarts the enemy’s plan by swooping down & chasing him away. He then stands guard & strategically nurtures the newborn to full maturity. And so begins the transforming work of our great & mighty God.

The Bible tells us that we are created beings (the material part of us), formed in the likeness of our Creator (the immaterial part of us) for the purpose of communion with Him. (Gen.1:26-28)

Because we were created in the image of God, our nature includes the ability to display His communicable attributes. Characteristics like the ability to show compassionate, extend forgiveness, choose faithfulness, display wisdom & holiness, etc., all reflect the imago dei (Image) of our loving God. Additionally, because His Spirit resides within us, we are invited to imbibe & exhibit the fruit of that Spirit (Gal.5:22-23).

Being transformed is a process that begins on the inside as God regenerates our hearts & restores us to Himself.

What does this look like when our nests are vulnerable to an unrelenting outside force? I'm glad you asked.

Birds like the cuckoo are called brood parasites. They are master con-artists, & rather than building their own nest, where they can incubate & feed their own chicks, these birds cheat by laying look-alike eggs in another bird’s unattended nest. When the baby cuckoo hatches before the other eggs it will roll them out of the nest, where they are destroyed (“broken by an outside force”).

Parents, you have a huge responsibility in caring for & raising your children - to “bring them up in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.” (Eph.6:4) It can feel like a daunting task when you know there are brood parasites lurking in the shadows, patiently waiting for an opportunity to swoop in on an unattended nest.

Fear not the outside force!

God has made a way for His own to succeed.

Have you ever heard of a village weaver? These unique birds construct their nests out of grass, which is not really all that unique. However, what distinguishes them from other birds is that their nests are completely enclosed, except for a long tube at the bottom that is sized specifically for their bodies. This feature protects their eggs from predators like brood parasites. But, that’s not their only means of protection. These birds stick together by building their nests close to one another & forming what we might call a neighborhood watch program. When an intruder attempts to infiltrate one of the nests the whole flock will come together and harass the invader away.

The body of Christ is like a flock of village weavers. We come together to worship & grow in the knowledge of our amazing God. This is part of the transformation process. But, we also come together to fight. No one has fought as valiantly as the God Man Himself - the one who took on the entire host of Hell to insure that His offspring would multiply & be victorious. In fact, He said that the very gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. (Mtt.16:17-19)

“But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” (Heb.10:39)

Let’s be that village, Church!

By doing so we will be transformed by the life-giving Force that breaks us from the inside & sets us free to live for Christ & multiply our population.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

UNDER The Rainbow

(by Lorie Codispoti)

If you ask my eight year old granddaughter what her favorite color is she will say, “rainbow.” It’s been her favorite from the time she could communicate her choice. She loves rainbows!

Do you love rainbows, or has our culture’s rebranding of this heavenly display skewed your view of them?

Let’s set the rainbow back in its rightful place.

This unique display of creation has much to tell us about the God who designed it & placed it in the sky for us to see. It also has much to say about humanity’s past, present, & future.

I'd like to share with you a few of my discoveries.

WHAT THE RAINBOW SAYS ABOUT GOD & OUR PAST.

The first time Scripture records the appearance of a rainbow is in Genesis 9, where God made a promise & covenented with Noah that He would never again destroy the Earth by a flood.

Most ancient cultures have their own version of a worldwide flood, along with many rainbow myths. What stands out about the Genesis account is that it is not fiction. We have the historical & scientific evidence to support the chronology of the Genesis flood. Evidence that fits with what we see in both the fossil & geological records.

For Noah & his family God intended for the rainbow to be a new beginning. It was a sign of His ongoing mercy & love for mankind. We read in Lamentations that His mercies & compassion are NEW every morning. We read in 2Corinthians that, in Christ, we are NEW creations, & that all things become NEW. In Isaiah we’re told not to remember the former things because God is doing a NEW thing.

Our God is a God of new beginnings, & whenever we see a rainbow we are reminded of that truth.

WHAT THE RAINBOW SAYS ABOUT GOD & OUR PRESENT.

In school we all learned that rainbows appear when light reflects & bends through water droplets, giving us a multi-colored arc of seven colors.

Did you also learn that no two people see the same rainbow? That’s right! According to National Geographic, “Viewers on the ground can only see the light reflected by raindrops above the horizon. Because each person's horizon is a little different, no one actually sees a full rainbow from the ground. In fact, no one sees the same rainbow—each person has a different antisolar point, each person has a different horizon.”

The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, speaks of God’s judgement on His people for their unfaithfulness, but he also speaks of God’s promise to restore & bless them. He emphasizes God’s presence & His beauty in chapter one, where he describes what he saw in a vision: “Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” (Vs.28)

The rainbow reminds us that our perfect & holy God is a God who judges sin, but He is also an ever present God who promises to restore & bless those who turn from their sin & worship Him alone.

WHAT THE RAINBOW SAYS ABOUT GOD & OUR FUTURE.

Before Dorothy went "over the rainbow" & was transported to the fictitious land of Oz, she imagined a place where the storms of life would be behind her & all her dreams would come true. But, what lesson did Dorothy learn at the end of the movie? The same one we need to learn about reality. That not all dreams are attained by traveling "over" the preverbal rainbow, but rather, by living well under it. When we weather the storms that God allows in our lives it can draw our hearts, as well as the hearts of others, to Himself.

When we’re finished with our assignment here, we will also testify that “there’s no place like home,” but, unlike Dorothy’s home, we’ll reside forever in a perfect world - a world where our dreams will come true because they align with the beautiful will of the King who rules & reigns there.

Jesus said that He was leaving Earth to prepare a place for us (John 14). Our God is not a wizard hiding behind a curtain. If He promises to return for us then we can trust His faithfulness to fulfill all that He has promised.

When God used the sign of a rainbow to communicate His covenant with Noah & his family its important to note that He did not say that He set “a rainbow in the cloud.” He said, “I set MY rainbow in the cloud…” (Gen.9:13) This is significant because our English bibles read “rainbow” but the Hebrew word is translated “bow,” as in a battle or war bow.

Given that insight, notice where the bow is aimed. It’s not the Earth. God aimed the battle bow toward the heavens, at Himself. The arrow formed a cross as God went to war against our sin. He poured out His wrath on His sinless Son in order to take back what was stolen.

So when we see a rainbow today - without the arrow - let it remind us that Christ took the arrow & broke its power over the sin storm that engulfed us. May the bow we see in the canvas of the sky remind us that the peace treaty has been signed with the blood of Christ.

I think my new favorite color is rainbow.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Face The Mirror Of Reality

(by Lorie Codispoti)

When’s the last time you took a good look at yourself in the mirror?

I’ll never forget the time I was talking to my grandmother about how much time women spend in front of a mirror. We were on our way to her weekly hair appointment. (In her generation & circle, the women went to the beauty parlor once a week for a wash & set.) She made the comment that she didn’t like spending too much time in front of a mirror, because it was a reminder of how old she was getting. It wasn’t that she minded getting older; it was that sometimes she felt like she was looking at a woman on the outside who wasn’t the same as the women she felt like on the inside.

I get it now!

The older I get the less time I want to spend looking at the reflection staring back at me. Perhaps if I don’t look then I don’t have to face the reality that things are not what they used to be. I can pretend I’m something I’m not, as long as I stay away from the very thing that presents the inescapable truth that I’m getting older.

I’ve been reading through the story of the prodigal son.

Even if you’re not a Christian, you’ve likely heard the story of this father & his two sons. The oldest son is obedient, trustworthy, & loyal, while the other has a bit of an identity shift & decides he wants to put as much distance between who he wants to be & who he is. So he runs away from everything he’s ever known to embrace a life that checks all his emotional boxes & makes him feel significant. Trouble is, he’s been lulled into thinking he can create his own image by avoiding the mirror of reality.

I heard a bible teacher recently say that we can’t know who we really are until we know who God is. We (Western Christians) read the Bible asking it to tell me things about ourselves. The teacher noted that our culture reflects more of the Greco Roman world (Aristotle, Socrates, Plato) than it does the culture that Jesus was addressing. The Bible is a book that we should approach the way it was written & intended to be interpreted. We need to read the text with a heart that wants to know more about our Father God.

While this story talks about two brothers - one of which decides to cut his familial ties & run away with his inheritance because he wants to redefine himself apart from them, and the other who has to deal with jealousy when the prodigal returns - the real story is about a father who loves both of his sons.

The text tells us that the father watched & waited.

He watches with great heartache as the younger one chooses a path that only leads to destruction. It’s the story of a father who searches for & is willing to go to extreme measures to forgive his wayward son, & assure him that his cries of desperation have been heard & he is always welcome to come back home.

While we may think that these two brothers deserve a stern rebuke from their father, that’s not the direction he chooses.

According to the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, whenever the Israelites were reduced to eating the pods that pigs (unclean animal) were fed it was due to a famine. It was not only a desperate measure to ward off starvation, but it was a shameful thing that forced them to face the reality of where they were & what they had become as they drifted away from God. It was a reality check that caused them to humble themselves & repent of their sin.

I submit to you that both of these sons have an identity problem. They both think they are something they are not, and this stems from the fact that neither one of them really knows their father.

Jesus is not telling this story to showcase the faults of two foolish brothers. The spotlight shines on the character of a loving father who watches, waits, & then runs to meet the wayward son. The father who later will assure the older one that his standing has not changed & neither has his love for him.

“But when he came to himself.” (Luke 15:17)

It's time for the prodigal to go home & face the mirror of reality.

This son gets to a place where he finally realizes that he’s been gazing into a warped mirror - one that was set in front of him to give him a twisted view of the man he was designed to be.

One of the things I never stopped to think about, until now, is that when the prodigal reaches his father & begins to confess his sin, he doesn’t even get to finish his confession.

He may not have known his father, but his father knew him. He knew that his son had been humbled by his poor choices & was now truly repentant. (Psalm 51:17 tells us that God will not despise a broken & contrite heart.) The father is moved with compassion & cuts the son off mid-confession. Overjoyed at his return, the father orders that he be given a robe, a ring, & sandals for his feet. Then he orders a party to welcome his son home.

Most of us can relate to one of these two sons. Maybe even both. We’ve either squandered the resources we’ve been given, or we look down from a place of presumed superiority on those who have.

Maybe it's time for us to turn & head back to the Father's house. Perhaps it’s time for us to come to ourselves & face the mirror of reality.

The beauty of this mirror is that the more time we spend gazing at the woman (or man) we were created to be, the more convinced we will become that the Image we see is a reflection of our Father in heaven. God the Son, willingly left His position in glory to show us what He looks like.

Our loving Father wants us to know that the Image we see on the outside was designed to match the One He created us to reflect on the inside.

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