Mirror - Mirror...on the Wall...
Illus.
After being away on business, a man thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift. “How about some perfume?” he asked the cosmetics clerk.
She showed him a bottle costing $50.00. “That’s a bit much,” he said, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00. “That’s still quite a bit,” he complained. Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle. “You know,” he said, “What I mean is that I’d like to see something really cheap.” and with that..the clerk handed him a mirror.
Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all?
We all remember the children's story about Snow White...and how the mirror
Would tell the evil queen whatever she wanted to hear...
Kind of like the accuser does..to anyone who will listen.
But on a more serious note this morning... when we look in the mirror,
what do we see?
Do we see more of Jesus, or more of us?
2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJ
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 by the Spirit of the Lord.
Illus.
There is a story of an Amish boy and his father who went to the big city for the very first time and they were amazed by everything they saw.
Having grown up and lived all their lives on a rural farm everything was completely new to them. The Father and son left Ma in the horse buggy and went into this huge skyscraper.
As the boy and father entered the building two shinny doors that could move apart and back together again left them spellbound. They stood watching these doors until the son asked his father, “What is this, Father?”
The father, never having seen an elevator before, responded, “Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don’t know what it is.”
While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving doors and pressed a button.
The doors opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The doors closed and the boy and his father watched small circles with numbers in them light up above the doors.
They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The doors opened up again and a beautiful 24-year-old woman stepped out. The father said to his son, “Boy, go get your mother!”
When we think about transformations...God doesn’t want us
to see what we see with our natural eyes...
Because what we see in the natural...what we see is limited
To our surroundings and to our understanding...
You see, in the natural it may look and you might feel like your sick, weak, broke and depressed,
But God wants you to see beyond the Natural...
God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you...
Victorious not the victim…
healed and not sick..
strong and not weak...
the head and not the tail...
blessed and whole because Christ is in you.
Colossians 1:27 NKJ
27. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
When you look at yourself, because of the relationship that you have with His Son.
He wants you to see what He see's...he see's the righteousness of Jesus
He doesn't see all the imperfections..
He see's all the possibilities that are waiting for you to arrive at..
The Plans and Blessings..that you won't have to work to discover
Because He has already placed in your path
for you to run into...
God wants you to look at your reflection..
as in a mirror the glory of His Son who is in you by His Spirit.
As you do this, His Word says that you are being transformed from glory to glory — from poor to rich, sick to healed, from losing to winning!
The world...And that's what we say "the world"
But It's not the world..."it's the accuser in the world" that says...
it just can't be that easy
You can’t be transformed just by beholding the glory of Jesus. Well...
*if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it,
*if it was that easy, there wouldn’t be all the problems in the world there is today!
And you know what...on the surface
what he says sounds reasonable
But remember this line of thinking is from the father of all lies...and completely contrary to what the bible proclaims...
Because TBS. (The bible says)
"NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE... when you put your faith and trust in God!" Luke 1:37 NKJ
How many of you realize that if you believe this scripture...it eliminates all the possibilities of failure?
Instead, those who listen to unbelief
are saying to theirselves...not so fast
now wait just a minute here...
that’s not the way things are taught and done where I come from...
If your going to change things, "you" must do something about you first
If you don’t put in effort, nothing will happen.
If you don’t start making changes, nothing will change.”
And when you do that...you make it all about self effort...ONLY what your capabilities can deliver..
That's the way the accuser..has the world brainwashed and convinced they should think...
The world will never understand that as you are beholding the glory of the Lord..
He is the successful one in you...
He is the One who is changing you...
He is the one who deserves the credit...
And by believing and acknowledging these things... you are being transformed from the inside out...in the process.
God's precious Holy Spirit… Is the one responsible for your success! Amen??
He is the one who deserves all the Glory!!
TBS. in Zechariah 4:6 NKJ
6. So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
7. ‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
Whose Might..Power..and Spirit? Gods!!
By your might, by your power, how much is possible? Not much if any...
But by His Might, By His Power, By His Spirit,...
is there anything that’s not possible? NO!!!
Everything is possible...
I'm sorry what did you say?
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!
His Word Declares it!
My bible says in Phil. 4:13 NKJ
13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Through who? Through who?
That's Right....Through Jesus!
Not my ability, but His Amazing,
Unlimited...
Never Ending...
12 baskets left running over...
Walk on water...
Take that Mountain kind of Ability!!
MSG. says it like this; Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
And you can… you really can do anything...
And you know how I know you can?
Because God's Word says you can and God has given us the authority of His word...
to be able to walk in the super natural of His ability instead of our own!!
Forget about all the unbelief and replace it with Trust and belief....
Just rest in what He can do instead of what you can do!! Amen??
All you have to do is to believe...
Believe that you can do all things through Him!!
When God looks at us, if we have a relationship with His Son, He sees His Son’s perfection,
He doesn’t see our imperfections... And thank goodness He doesn't...
TBS. they are washed in the blood, cleansed forever, never to be remembered again.
And when we look in the mirror....
Which is every single solitary day...for almost all of us
we should see the same thing God sees,
His Son, His Righteousness, His Ability living in us!
And because of that, He has given to us...
every benefit that Jesus has available to Him...
just as if He was giving them to His own son!
Praise God!
Again...how do we know this?
It's not idle here say...Gods Word tells us....
He has given us His Personal Guarantee...
so we have something we can stand on...
hold on to and can believe in...
All the benefits that have been provided for us at the cross...
I want you to realize and take rest on thisp statement...
the moment we receive what Jesus did for us by dying for our sins
and accepting Him as our Saviour...all Gods Promises
and benefits became ours to experience and enjoy!!
Praise God, is there anybody who can give God a shout up in this place, this morning?
1 John 4:12-17 NKJ
12. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
as He is, so are we in this world,
that’s a bold statement...it is a "Bold Statement!!"
And it's also a True Statement!! Gods Word Declares it...
Do you believe it?
You should, and take REST in it...
as He is, so are we in this world, (not as He is and if we do everything we know to do, or can ask advice from others to do, in this world)
we should be proclaiming these words...
in and over our lives daily..because I can tell you,
When you start to think this way..casting away the unbelief and resting
on His ability instead of your own...
this will change your life and allow Him to work in your life like never before...
when you make this amazing realization!
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts!
So stop focusing on yourself and your efforts...Look away
from these things and begin to behold the glory of Jesus
who is in you right now,
and you will begin to lay hold of
The changes and the miracles in your life you are seeking Him for.. Amen??
Mirror..Mirror on the wall
Who is the One responsible for me having anything at all??
No...it's not you
Only God deserves the credit for that question!! Amen??
But..it all starts with the man in the mirror making the decision to Believe
and quickly becomes about Jesus, who lives in the heart of the man
or women in the mirror.
It shifts the focus of right doing and self effort..To right believing
and complete dependence on His efforts and His endless capabilities alone...
God wants us to take rest in what He has given us...and to
rest assured in this life that He has given us!
There is nothing that’s been left out...
He thought of everything we would ever have need of
and included it with His Amazing Grace and Love, He gave on Calvary.
Every promise He ever made to us, has been guaranteed by it!
The Very same Love that He has for His own son!
He not only Loved us enough to send His Son to us to redeem us,
but Loved us enough to give us access to everything Jesus has as well..
when we establish a relationship with Him!
All made possible by the finished work of Calvary.
John 3:17-17 NKJ
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Do you know Him today?
Are you living in His Extravagant Love Today?
Are you resting in His reflection in the mirror today, instead of your own?
Start to see, what God sees, believe that He wants His very best for you in your life
Set aside any unbelief and rest in His Amazing Ability to Deliver..
The abundant life He has already prepared and waiting for you...
Amen?P
