Unveiled Faces

March 8, 2011

Weirdest thing I did today: Accidentally peel off a scab on my elbow with a guitar string. Ewwww. Picture it. I was playing the guitar and SLICE. OW. So random.

At D group, we studied 2 Corinthians. It is BEAUTIFUL! It delights my heart!!! I HAD to share!

2 Corinthians 3

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

 4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

So GOOD!!!

One of my favorite parts is when it talks about how Moses had to place a veil over his face to hide that his face was loosing its radiance. But because WE are being transformed into the Lord’s likeness DAILY, we do NOT have to cover our faces!!! They reflect the LORD’s GLORY in ever-increasing increments!!!

 I am obsessed with the image of being set apart in a crowd of people not for reasons of vanity, but because I am so completely full of the Lord, that people can look at me, and say, “there is something different about her.” Have you seen those people? Maybe they have a radiating sense of peace, or quiet confidence? Or maybe, it’s the holy spirit.

I also love that there is freedom in the Holy Spirit, and in the Holy Spirit, there is the Lord, and in the Lord, there is FREEDOM. Freedom was a HUGE theme of my life on Sunday. To be free of fear, pain, confusion, and hurt, all I need to do is run to the Lord, who is here with me. That brings such a peace and comfort to my heart.