To Reflect His Radiance
What is so amazing, and one of the many things I just love about God’s Word is that you can read the same verse over and over again and discover something new every time you read it. God took me to new depths in a verse I have read many times: Ps 34:5 “Those that look to him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame.” I have written a few blogs using this verse, but it was the words of a song that God used to open my eyes and take me on a journey that I am still trying to process. I wanted to write a blog about some of what I am learning, but every time I start I get a little overwhelmed with where I should even begin? I guess I should start with the song that God used to start me on this journey. The song is called “Freedom Reigns” by Jesus Culture on their new album “Come Away.” The chorus says this
“They looked unto him, and were lightened….there is life, light, liberty, love, everything in fact, in a look at the crucified One. Never did a sore heart look in vain to the good Physician….He who trusts in God has no need to be ashamed of his confidence.” -Treasury of David Commentary
Our faces are not covered by shame because God has showered us and continues to shower us with mercy and grace. As we seek Him and dwell in His presence we become radiant. I am so overwhelmed with how God weaves things together in His Word to paint a picture for us to see. He is the radiant One. In His presence we become radiant...we reflect His radiance!
Exodus 34:29-35 “ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
2 Cor 3:15-18 “Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
How do we become radiant? There are two things I discovered!
1) The Lord’s Presence
2) Unveiled/Freedom
Oh, how I wish ya’ll could see how silly I was when the Lord was revealing this to me. It was all I could do to stay sitting and keep reading…I was just so excited and in awe.Jesus is the wildest and most exciting ride! I love when God takes me on a journey in His Word and takes me to new depths, and shows me new things I never saw before. Oh I am so excited!!!! I can hardly stand it!!! To quote Rachel Zoe "I'm not freaking out later, I'm freaking out now!"
1) The Lord’s Presence
“I see a cloud ,I step in. I wanna see your glory like Moses did. Flashes of light, and rolls of thunder, but I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid; show me Your glory.”- Jesus Culture
After seeing glimpses of the Holy One, the Great I AM, display His might and power along the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses understood there was more to this God than could be grasped with the human mind. He was not satisfied yet, still, he wanted to know Him more. He was not satisfied with seeing the work of His hands; He longed to see His face….to know Him. This was not the one we might expect to be found on the mountaintop, so to speak. If you know the story of Moses at all; escaped a genocide, adopted by the family who enslaved God’ people, and eventually committed murder. This is not the resume we would expect for one who desires to know God. Yet, “Show me Your glory!!” was his bold prayer. And the God who first spoke to him from the bush—was pleased with Moses’ desire.
He directed Moses back up the mountain and told him exactly where to stand, and gave him a glimpse of His glory. What I see in Moses is desire. More than wanting provision from the Lord, Moses wanted to experience His presence. Nothing in the world could compete with simply being with Him. It was this longing that overcame his fear of the Lord’s holiness and kept him moving up the mountain, pressing into the cloud, to wait for God. There, at the top of the mountain, the Lord God Almighty descended, and His glory passed by Moses as he hid in the cleft of the rock.
What is God’s glory? It is the splendor of His person, His character, His name, and His majesty. It is the revelation of the person of God (Ex 34:6-7). At this revelation Moses bowed down and worshipped. Afraid to budge, his soul found for the first time the very reason for its existence: glory. Moses lingered in God’s presence—40 days and 40 nights to be precise. Wave after wave of love, like an ocean of goodness, engulfed him in the presence of His Majesty. Nothing in our natural world can compare…his soul was overwhelmed, but like the infamous bush, miraculously he was not destroyed.
Beholding.
Worshipping.
Adoring.
Listening.
Moses did not realize that the revelation of God’s glory had transformed him. Of course, he knew he’d never be the same again after experiencing God, but Moses had no idea that transformation was evident to all; he was unaware of his own radiance.
2) Freedom/Unveiled “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace falling on every face, there is freedom.” –Jesus Culture
This point I hope will be a little more to the point..lol. I kind of already talked about it but just want to, I pray, be able to show you the last way we are able to be radiant. The first was spending time in the Lord’s presence through reading His Word and prayer, and the second is freedom or unveiled. Unveiled I think might paint a picture for you of freedom I am hoping. When Moses was in the Lord’s presence he would remove the veil. Also it says in 2 Corinthians “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Each time I have come to this point in the study Ps 62:8 comes to mind: “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” To me “pour your hearts out before Him,” is such a perfect picture of coming unveiled, surrender, set free!
Matthew Henry Commentary on 2 Cor 3:12-18
“They have light and with open face they behold the glory of the Lord. We behold Christ as in the glass of his word; and as the reflection from a mirror causes the faces to shine the faces of Christians shine also.”
Jamison Commentary - FAVORITE QUOTE...I think it pretty much sums up everything I have been trying to say in one sentence...lol. "As Moses’ face caught a reflection of God’s glory from being in His presence, so believers are changed into His image by beholding Him.”
So as we seek the Lord, and spend time in His Word and in prayer pouring our hearts out before him, and coming unveiled in His presence He sets us free, and we are able to reflect His radiance. We are not the ones who are radiant, Jesus Christ is the Radiant One and as we look to Him we reflect His radiance and become a light in this dark world to shine for His glory. We no longer carry around shame because we have been set free and forgiven. I PRAY you were able to begin to grasp this powerful truth. God is helping be process it as I write it! Lord Jesus we love you, and I give you all the praise!
“Freedom reigns in this place.
Showers of mercy and grace
are falling on every face, there is freedom.”
“They looked unto him, and were lightened….there is life, light, liberty, love, everything in fact, in a look at the crucified One. Never did a sore heart look in vain to the good Physician….He who trusts in God has no need to be ashamed of his confidence.” -Treasury of David Commentary
Our faces are not covered by shame because God has showered us and continues to shower us with mercy and grace. As we seek Him and dwell in His presence we become radiant. I am so overwhelmed with how God weaves things together in His Word to paint a picture for us to see. He is the radiant One. In His presence we become radiant...we reflect His radiance!
Exodus 34:29-35 “ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
2 Cor 3:15-18 “Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
How do we become radiant? There are two things I discovered!
1) The Lord’s Presence
2) Unveiled/Freedom
Oh, how I wish ya’ll could see how silly I was when the Lord was revealing this to me. It was all I could do to stay sitting and keep reading…I was just so excited and in awe.Jesus is the wildest and most exciting ride! I love when God takes me on a journey in His Word and takes me to new depths, and shows me new things I never saw before. Oh I am so excited!!!! I can hardly stand it!!! To quote Rachel Zoe "I'm not freaking out later, I'm freaking out now!"
1) The Lord’s Presence
“I see a cloud ,I step in. I wanna see your glory like Moses did. Flashes of light, and rolls of thunder, but I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid; show me Your glory.”- Jesus Culture
After seeing glimpses of the Holy One, the Great I AM, display His might and power along the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses understood there was more to this God than could be grasped with the human mind. He was not satisfied yet, still, he wanted to know Him more. He was not satisfied with seeing the work of His hands; He longed to see His face….to know Him. This was not the one we might expect to be found on the mountaintop, so to speak. If you know the story of Moses at all; escaped a genocide, adopted by the family who enslaved God’ people, and eventually committed murder. This is not the resume we would expect for one who desires to know God. Yet, “Show me Your glory!!” was his bold prayer. And the God who first spoke to him from the bush—was pleased with Moses’ desire.
He directed Moses back up the mountain and told him exactly where to stand, and gave him a glimpse of His glory. What I see in Moses is desire. More than wanting provision from the Lord, Moses wanted to experience His presence. Nothing in the world could compete with simply being with Him. It was this longing that overcame his fear of the Lord’s holiness and kept him moving up the mountain, pressing into the cloud, to wait for God. There, at the top of the mountain, the Lord God Almighty descended, and His glory passed by Moses as he hid in the cleft of the rock.
What is God’s glory? It is the splendor of His person, His character, His name, and His majesty. It is the revelation of the person of God (Ex 34:6-7). At this revelation Moses bowed down and worshipped. Afraid to budge, his soul found for the first time the very reason for its existence: glory. Moses lingered in God’s presence—40 days and 40 nights to be precise. Wave after wave of love, like an ocean of goodness, engulfed him in the presence of His Majesty. Nothing in our natural world can compare…his soul was overwhelmed, but like the infamous bush, miraculously he was not destroyed.
Beholding.
Worshipping.
Adoring.
Listening.
Moses did not realize that the revelation of God’s glory had transformed him. Of course, he knew he’d never be the same again after experiencing God, but Moses had no idea that transformation was evident to all; he was unaware of his own radiance.
2) Freedom/Unveiled “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace falling on every face, there is freedom.” –Jesus Culture
This point I hope will be a little more to the point..lol. I kind of already talked about it but just want to, I pray, be able to show you the last way we are able to be radiant. The first was spending time in the Lord’s presence through reading His Word and prayer, and the second is freedom or unveiled. Unveiled I think might paint a picture for you of freedom I am hoping. When Moses was in the Lord’s presence he would remove the veil. Also it says in 2 Corinthians “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Each time I have come to this point in the study Ps 62:8 comes to mind: “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” To me “pour your hearts out before Him,” is such a perfect picture of coming unveiled, surrender, set free!
Matthew Henry Commentary on 2 Cor 3:12-18
“They have light and with open face they behold the glory of the Lord. We behold Christ as in the glass of his word; and as the reflection from a mirror causes the faces to shine the faces of Christians shine also.”
Jamison Commentary - FAVORITE QUOTE...I think it pretty much sums up everything I have been trying to say in one sentence...lol. "As Moses’ face caught a reflection of God’s glory from being in His presence, so believers are changed into His image by beholding Him.”
So as we seek the Lord, and spend time in His Word and in prayer pouring our hearts out before him, and coming unveiled in His presence He sets us free, and we are able to reflect His radiance. We are not the ones who are radiant, Jesus Christ is the Radiant One and as we look to Him we reflect His radiance and become a light in this dark world to shine for His glory. We no longer carry around shame because we have been set free and forgiven. I PRAY you were able to begin to grasp this powerful truth. God is helping be process it as I write it! Lord Jesus we love you, and I give you all the praise!
“Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
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