“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 Corinthians 3:18.

Beloved, if we are believers of God through The Savior, we are God’s image bearers in Christ Jesus. When God looks at us in the Spirit realm of the eternal, in the gracious provision of Christ, He sees us as He designed and desires we be. That fact is awesome to me: that God sees the image of Christ in me that I will bear eternally while the Spirit works to transform me, making my earthly existence bear that image in the life I now live.

Transformation is our physical person taking on the image that is already ours in the eternal through Jesus. In these days in which we live, it is vital that we realize the image we bear and walk it out in our daily, moment-by-moment, breath-by-breath life. For that to happen, we must realize the advice given us by James.

“…if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” ~ James 1:19-25.

God’s word teaches us of Himself and His ways. When we look intently at His Word in the power and leading of His Spirit, we come to know our God. We also come to know our eternal selves in Christ through knowing, believing, and living this same word out into our days.

I know I will hear many “Amen” voices from those who have the experience of Paul in Romans 7. Paul’s account of the struggle between the Spirit man in us and the flesh that jumps up like a headless chicken to bring struggle to our walk of righteousness is a picture of this “forgetting what we look like” analogy in James. It is so frustrating to receive an awesome word of instruction from the Lord, stand in agreement with Him that this truth is righteousness, determine to walk it, then go into the day to fall away, forgetting the truth we know only minutes later. So frustrating!

Thankfully, God is patient toward us, not wishing any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. It is vital in these days that we not give up on ourselves in utter frustration, but keep working to see our salvation express itself through the image of God in us made increasingly clear as we press on toward the goal. Get up; dust off; take another look in that mirror as many times as needed through the day and keep walking forward until the image sticks.

Ask God to focus your heart and mind on one aspect of His nature that He wants you to focus your heart to possess in this day. Ask Him for one scripture to carry through this day as reminder of who you are in Christ. Begin today to take an active role in holding to the image in the mirror of God’s presence, perfection, and refining parameters. Thank God that He who is faithful to complete His good work and word in you.