Sermon - Bearing Fruit For God - Kinds of Bibilical Fruit

The past couple of posts have been looking at fruit and fruitfulness.

Jesus comes looking for and expecting to find fruit and a lack of fruitfulness has consequences—that’s what we learned from Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree.

You can see in John 15 that God desires to see us produce abundant fruit that will last and how He prunes or lifts up branches to help them produce more fruit than they already are.

We are called to Bear Fruit For God

Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the crucified body of the Messiah , so that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead —that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death.”

Just as there are two Kingdoms battling over the souls of every human being in this world, there are two kinds of fruit we can produce as humans—Fruit for God and Fruit for Death—the kind of death Adam & Eve experienced back in Genesis 3—so to this day, people all over the world, including us here in this church are repeating what they did and bearing fruit for death.

For those apart from Christ, that’s the only option.  But in Christ, we can actually bear fruit for God—for His Glory.

So what does fruit for God look like?  Are we talking Apples, Oranges and Pineapples?

The First Fruit

Those of you who plant gardens know that even if you plant a variety of plants on the same day, some will produce fruit and be ready for harvest before any others.  There’s one like that when it comes to Fruit for God—it bears fruit before anything else—the Fruit of Repentance

John the Baptist first mentioned this when He was speaking to the Pharisees, questioning their motives for coming to him.  He said in

Matthew 3:8—“Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.”

10b Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit [fruit for God] will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Without this first fruit, the only destination is being thrown into the fire.  Repentance must be harvested before anything else—that is talking about Salvation.  The second fruit then becomes possible.

We know from John 4 that God is seeking worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit & Truth.  God is actively looking for and desires worshipers.  True Worship is the second fruit.

Hebrews 13:15— “Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.”

Because of all that Jesus did on our behalf, purchasing our freedom, we offer up praises to God.  Confessing His Name, speaking His name, singing His name, testifying to His Name—even when it’s not easy, even when it costs us. 

We Worship God for Who He is and what He has done Romans 12—offer yourselves as living sacrifices.  This is essential to a healthy harvest in the Kingdom of God.

The Third Fruit – Sanctification

Out of our repentance & worship comes a true life change—where we are made more and more like Him, conformed to the image of His Son.  To be made holy is to be Sanctified—which is the third fruit.

Romans 6:22—“But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification —and the end is eternal life!”

We have been set free—delivered from bondage to sin—and set free to be a voluntary slave of God—He makes us holy—the fruit is Sanctification—being more and more like Him—having that corrupted image restored and brought back to life.

You can infer what kind of people Adam and Eve were and who we are to be again in Galatians 5:22—“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control.”

I’d guess the first fruit of the Spirit they ignored was Self-Control.

To be Sanctified means to be Set Apart—God sets us apart for a Purpose—to Serve Him and participate in His mission.

The Fourth Fruit—Service & Mission

We have a purpose and something to do—that’s why He keeps us here.  As long as we are here, we have more to do, more opportunities to be watching out for in order to fulfill our mission.  Paul understood this—as long as He was alive, He was to live for Service & Mission.

Philippians 1:21-22—“For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose.”

Paul prays for his readers

Colossians 1:10—“so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.

God doesn’t just want us to be working and laboring—spinning our wheels until we die—He desires us to be fruitful in our Service and Mission.

And in order to be more and more fruitful, we must continually Grow as a Disciple—

The Fifth Fruit--Discipleship

James 3:17-18—“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.”

Wisdom is more than just knowledge—it starts with the fear of the LORD and walking with Him.  It is what you know of God that translates into how you live and make decisions. 

This wisdom changes how you pray, what you pray for, how you prioritize your life, how you know your Bible.  You become someone who loves Peace—peace with God and with each other—loving God and loving your neighbor.

As you grow, you become full of good fruit.

And Discern Good from Evil

Discernment – by their fruit you will know them

Ephesians 5:8-11—“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— 10 discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

As you grow in wisdom with the Lord, discerning good and evil as a Disciple then you will begin to produce more and more of

The Sixth Fruit--Evangelism 

Making new disciples and participating in the harvest

John 4:35-37—“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’”

We sow and reap as disciples—we are to bear good fruit—fruit like ourselves—Disciples make more disciples.   

The Great Commission is—Go and make disciples of all nations—it’s not just a conversation in sharing who Jesus is or asking a question—this fruit is a whole life of influence.—the Vineyard owner oversees it all.  If we would just open our eyes and look around—at our community, we would see there is a great harvest.

This is what it means to be producing Fruit For God.  And God desires us to be effective and fruitful in our lives.

Signs of the End Times ... Are We There Yet?

Many people, believers in Jesus and unbelievers alike, are concerned about the end of the world: prophecy, the Second Coming of Christ, end times and the anti-Christ.  If you were to ask them, they would tell you things are getting worse and will get worse as that day approaches.

Ask how and you’ll probably hear about wars, conflict, weather, disease, earthquakes & volcanoes.   

Jesus talks about some of these things happening.  But there’s another list that’s often overlooked because it’s less sensational and headline grabbing.  You’ll find it in 2 Timothy 3:1-5

“1 But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!”

The issues Paul talks about as difficult or terrible times in the last days are not geo-political or disaster related… they are moral and behavioral.  In essence, Paul is saying that these conditions are just as much a disaster for a people, a nation and the world as what we would call “the big ones”.   

That God considers these just as big a deal as the earthquakes and wars.  That these are just as much signs and warnings of the end as when you watch for signs and rumors.

Do you see any of these at work in our culture today?  If so, then today qualifies as terrible and difficult times.

·         When people are Lovers of Themselves – self-love—they live only for themselves and indulge themselves and see themselves as the most important.  They live to be served and pleasured—the essence of hedonism.  Of course, such a life isn’t cheap.

·         When people pursue after money and sacrifice everything else to get it or cross any line to make it.  Greed is a killer and is never really satisfied.  Money buys things and influence which leads many with great wealth to an overestimated sense of their own intelligence and importance.

·         When people are boastful about themselves, their abilities and accomplishments.  It also is related to the word for vagrancy—a wanderer—someone who’s opinion of themselves never lets them be settled, content or happy unless everyone knows just how great they are.

·         Which leads into Pride—the ultimate focus of self.   That element of character that says not only can I do it better than you, I am by nature better than you.  This was a trap Satan himself fell for and what he enticed Adam and Eve with being like God.  Which leads to the next behavior

·         Blasphemers—people who reject God entirely, reject the idea that He is better or superior, reject His authority.  If “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”, blasphemy is the opposite.  It is the lack of the fear of the LORD and is pure foolishness. 

·         When people are able to reject God, they raise their kids to reject them.  Parents are practice for obeying God.  If you cannot obey the mother and father you can see, then how will you be able to obey the God you cannot see.  If parents reject any authority over them, anything to which they are accountable, they will be unable to instill that truth to their children.  Then we grow up and the previous problems listed just get worse.  You have a nation of adult brats who feel everything is owed to them.

·         Which leads to the next point of people being Ungrateful.  The world owes me… it’s my right… such people are never thankful when someone is generous to them, nor are they thankful for what they have.  What’s more ungratefulness increases coveting what other people have, thinking that they are owed which feeds into the class warfare rhetoric that’s so prevalent today.  They are especially not grateful to God because they have already rejected and blasphemed Him.

·         As a result, they are unholy.  Their lives are the opposite of what God desires for them.  To be holy is to be set apart, distinguishable, not common, but available for a special and valuable purpose: an instrument in the hand of God for something wonderful and which gives Him glory.  To be unholy is to be not fit for use and therefore rejected.  At that point, decay only increases.

·         There’s no room to love anyone else when you love only yourself.  An unloving person is only bitter and angry.  They show no real compassion, no real concern for those around them because worth of the other is determined by whether they please me.

·         Thus  they are also Unforgiving or Irreconcilable.   When wronged, they hold a grudge, they cast off, they break relationship with.  The root of this word is used in connection with making a treaty or contract—such a person breaks the terms with impunity because they recognize no authority over them and reject reconciliation.  The KJV actually uses the word, “trucebreaker”.  This would go well in hand with the rampant divorce culture we have created. 

·         Whenever someone like this ends a relationship, be it a marriage, a business partnership, a church membership, or a friendship is broken… it’s not enough to walk away, the other person must be Slandered and their reputation destroyed in order to justify our own actions.  All the blame is cast on the other because “they” are so terrible—every wrong is listed, every fault is exaggerated.  There is little to no remorse for such false characterization and slander.  Which is just further evidence of a lack of

·         Self-Control—rather than self-love, we need self-control.  But there is, I believe, a relationship between the amount of self-love and the lack of self-control.  The more self-love, the less self-control.  “If it feels good, do it”, “just telling it like it is” and other similar phrases are endorsed and lived out.  They don’t care about what they should or shouldn’t do and they don’t have the wisdom to know when to quit no matter who is hurt in the process.  Such callousness only makes one more and more…

·         Brutal—the pain inflicted on someone else is either written off as unimportant or is actually enjoyed.  If I understand the notes on the root of this word, it talks of something being “lame”, like a horse or animal that can no longer walk.  But it is an injury that is deliberately caused.  To be brutal then is to inflict debilitating injury on someone else.

·         In the end times, such people will be those who do not love the good.  When there is something that is good in the world, something that reminds them of God’s ethic, God’s law, something that shows mercy and service, something that shows them there is another way to live—such good things are despised and their brutality is poured out on it.  The KJV translates it “despisers of those that are good” the wording of which implies that “those who are good” are not just abstract concepts or things but actual people who are trying to live according to the ways of God and are thus rejected for it. 

The mere presence or existence of someone “good” is a reminder that their life of evil is wrong.  Such people live out 1 Peter 4:4—“they think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation and they heap abuse on you.”  As a pastor, I cannot tell you how many times my mere presence angers someone, or if they see a Bible, the rage that pours out.  We see this often today when the only thing not tolerated by our news and culture is the biblical perspective.

·         The end times is full of people who act and live Treacherously or as Traitors—handing people over to the enemy, providing evidence, testimony or accusation that will get someone in trouble, particularly those who are “the good” much like the men in Persian history who concocted a law they knew would get Daniel thrown into the lion’s den.  They will violate the bonds of friendships, family, faith & even nation to remove the good from stopping their fun.

·         As a result they are Rash or Reckless—they act impulsively.  When they see an opportunity, they jump at it, looking before they leap, not considering the consequences.  The word picture here is of one trying to step so quickly that they trip on their own feet and fall on their face, or someone who is so busy texting on their phone they don’t realize the wall or hole their about to walk into.

·         Because the world is supposed to be all about them—they are Conceited—it’s all about them, my way or the highway.  The word picture here is to “envelope with smoke”—like a stage entrance where they are the star or like the glory of God that surrounds the Mt. Sinai or fills the Temple (Isaiah 6) should really be surrounding them and their glory.

·         The end is full of people who seek their own pleasure—the word is actually a form or hedonism here and see pleasure as the highest goal—especially higher than pursuing after God and that which pleases Him.

·         Some of these people even have an air of righteousness about them—they may even hold positions of power and influence—many people may look to their opinion and seek to model their life after them—the elites of culture and sophistication, the intellectuals in their ivory towers.  They are pious and devoted to their cause (themselves) but in reality, they deny or are working against the true power of faith, devotion and belief.  Those who live devoted to the power of Jesus at work in their lives are disdained, seen as simpletons, backward, a part of “fly over country”, clinging to their “God, guns and religion”.

·         And yet, the true power is there.  The true power is with those who love God, those who are pursuing Him, who love Him more than themselves, who serve others more than themselves, who love the good.  That is where the true power in this world lies… the meek for they shall inherit the earth, theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

So tell me… based on this list of Paul’s, describing the terrible times in the last days… are we in the end times?

New Perspective - Matthew 8:18-20 - Foxes have Dens

Matthew 8:18--"When Jesus saw large crowds around Him, He gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A •scribe approached Him and said, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go!” 20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

This has traditionally been a difficult passage.  Some have proposed that this statement is saying that Jesus was homeless and poor.  In one sense this is true but in another not.

Jesus was homeless by choice not by tragic circumstances.

Other translations use "teachers of the law".

There was something in this culture that I believe adds to this passage.  Famous Rabbis or teachers would attract disciples that would sit under their teaching.  The more followers, the more prestige and their followers would defend the betterness of their teacher they were sitting under.  So it was an honor for this man to come to Jesus to ask to be His disciple, but it was also a boost to the man's own reputation to say he sat under the popular teacher Jesus.

But in order to join or be accepted by a teacher, the candidate typically brought money to buy their way in.  A popular teacher could make a good living.  In order to gain more followers, these teachers would want to be easily found and work from a base of operations to spread their influence.  It could become a cushy life.

 It made me think that this man was likely not empty handed in approaching Jesus.  Jesus wasn't just turning down the man, he was turning down his money.  Jesus was turning down the culturally expected life of an established teacher.

If the man was himself a scribe or teacher of the law, he may have been expecting that pattern to continue under Jesus.  I also suspect that the man was wealthy and used to his own cushy life.

That's when Jesus hits him with a simple truth.  “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head."

In other words, following Me will not lead to the cushy life with a big house and comfortable bed.  He's not setting up a base of operations--He is going to the Cross.  If you want to follow Jesus, He will sometimes lead you through the valley of the shadow of death--but He will bring you through to the other side in Victory.

To me, this statement flies in the face of the health & wealth gospel, aka name it & claim it, blab it & grab it,  covet & love it.

This man was handing Jesus a "check" full of money.  Jesus didn't want a Rolls Royce or a private plane, another mansion or a Hawaii vacation.  He turned the man away in much the same way that Peter turned away Simon the Sorcerer's offer of money in Acts 8:18-23.

The Gospel has never been about money or the promise of riches.  Faith is not a means to greater wealth and Jesus is not delaying the Second Coming because "you don't got your money" as I heard Jesse Duplantis claim back in the 1990's at a church in Austin, TX (that was the last straw and my family and I finally walked out).

Faith is about a willingness to give up your own wants and comforts in order to live for the Kingdom.  It may mean turning down more money in order to be where God wants you to be.

Are you the man or woman willing to give up the money and creature comforts to follow Jesus or are you the one who walks away from Him for not providing it?

Money don't buy you love... nor salvation.

Sermon - 2 Timothy 1:6 - God's Fire - Lighter Fluid or Fire Extinguisher

Now that summer is winding down—a debate rages every weekend—


“To Grill or Not to Grill? That is the question.”

And within that debate rages another one—Propane or Charcoal?

How many Propane advocates do we have? Charcoal?

Those of you who love Charcoal should listen carefully—because today, we’re talking about a fire.

In order to offer up sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God, the Israelites were commanded to set up a big fire. When God’s presence came down on the Tent of Meeting, He was the one who started the fire (Lev. 9:24). Later, in 2 Chronicles 7 when Solomon was dedicating the temple and the altar, again it was God who started the fire that consumed the first sacrifice.

They had some instructions to go along with this fire—they were supposed to maintain it and not let it go out.

Leviticus 6:12-13--12 The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. 13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.



Even things like the lamps had to be maintained and kept burning.

Lev. 24:1-4--The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.



How do you think they would respond if someone came running up to the fire with a large bucket of water to put it out? That person would be stopped at all costs. It would be an act of blasphemy—and spiritual terrorism.

This was not an obligation that they took lightly? I would hate to be that guy who didn’t take it seriously.

Picture it like someone leading a tour group through the temple grounds and they introduce everyone to an important person—“And next I’d like to introduce you to Jason—his job is to make sure that the fire of the altar remains burning at all times. That’s because this fire which has been burning continuously for the last 50 years after originally being started by God Himself. “

A small kid tugs on their parent’s sleeve and says, “I don’t see any fire”

Southwest Airlines has an ad campaign that expresses this moment: “Wanna get away?”

I would not want to be that guy who let the fire go out. Would you?

And yet you and I are capable of it—not just passively letting it go out, but actively putting out the Fire of God in your life, in the life of those around you, and even your church.

In 2 Timothy, Paul gives a great encouragement to his son in the faith. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.



Keep this gift ablaze in your life—keep the fires burning, keep the altar burning in your heart, in your life that God started because you are charged with keeping it lit.

How else are you to offer yourself as a Living Sacrifice as Romans 12 calls us to do?

If you neglect, ignore, stop using your gift—if you ignore, don’t listen to, put off the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit, then that fire which was started in you will die down, the light and heat that it gives off will diminish and weaken and eventually your passion and your effectiveness as a believer in Jesus Christ will wane.

Paul says that you cannot let that happen. Instead you must deliberately and attentively keep that fire alive—more than that—you must “fan” that fire into flame.

Have you seen anyone do that? Get a roaring fire going from a few smoldering embers? You stir up the coals a bit, add a little more fuel and start to blow.

Maybe you even have one of those fancy Fireplace Bellows that give a great directed air to get a fire going again.

Or maybe for those die hard grillers, you just pull out the Lighter Fluid and spray it on to get the biggest flame possible.

Who here has done that in the last month? Sprayed lighter fluid directly on a fire? The last week? Yesterday?

God started a fire in you when you believed—the gift of the Holy Spirit is described as coming down on the early church in Acts 2 as a fire—filling the people of God—filling those who are His Temple. He is taking up residence, not in a building—but this time a people.

God does not want your gift that He has given you to use… He does not want the fire the Spirit inside you to be a mere flicker—a smoldering pile of ash that does nothing but give evidence that something once was happening here.

But Paul feels the need to say that you must, MUST, MUST keep this fire ablaze—your very life depends on it

When we talk about grilling on the weekend—it’s optional—our life is not on the line—our next meal may come from it—but fire wasn’t so easy to come by and start like it is today.

you must fan it into flame again because I’m sure that he had seen many people’s fire for life, for ministry, for serving, for worship, for praying fizzle out.

As tragic as it is to let the fire go out, you’ve got to realize that it more tragic to sabotage and to deliberately put the fire out.

Instead of grabbing the lighter fluid—you pull out the FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

Do you think you would be capable of taking a Fire Extinguisher to the Temple and putting out the fire of the Altar?

Then why would you be willing to do that in Your Life? In Someone else’s Life? In the life of your church?

When the Spirit of God moves in your heart? How do you respond?

When an opportunity arises to use your gift? Do you follow through? Talk yourself out of it?

There are 2 ways you can respond to the leading of the Spirit—Lighter Fluid or Fire Extinguisher

You Can be an Extinguisher in Your Own Life

When you refuse to use your gift and it is neglected—it loses its power and effectiveness. You lose your light and heat and your power. You’re an extinguisher.

When you Ignore or Put Off or Explain away the leading of God—your fire dies down-- love for Him goes cold, your responsiveness to Him is lessened and your usefulness Him. You’re an extinguisher to your own altar

There are so many more I could think of here—I’m sure you can think of a few that you’ve used—a few fires that you’ve put out.

You Can be an Extinguisher in the Lives of Others

When someone comes to you seeking answers and you set up an appointment with someone else so because you’re uncomfortable—that’s an extinguisher.

When someone with a rough past has given their life to Jesus and in their enthusiasm they want to serve and you tell them—“I don’t think we have anything right now.”—that’s an extinguisher

When someone thinks they might be called into the ministry and you tell them that’s a bad career move b/c they’ll never make any money—that’s an extinguisher.

You Can Be An Extinguisher In Your Church

We can have Extinguishers In the church

When you Oppose Everything

When You Gossip or Complain

Hold on to Bitterness

When you are not Welcoming to new or different people

When you are not Praying

A church that has no vision—vision for the lost, for the Mission and Kingdom of God—that’s an extinguisher

A church that is more concerned about what people are wearing or how they look is an extinguisher

A church that refuses to grow, refuses to adapt, refuses to reach out is an extinguisher—rightly standing on the unchanging message but inflexible with methods

Such a church is in danger of what happened to the church in Ephesus—losing your first love—your fire going out and your lampstand removed.



Most churches safety reasons have lots of fire extinguishers at strategically placed locations in order to put out any fires that may pop up—and rightly so.

But what we also need is lighter fluid in strategic places where we can make the movements of God even bigger.

As great as it is to have Firefighters like Justin in our church—who’s job it is to put out fires—we need more men and women willing to start spiritual fires and fan them in to a great flame.

The People Extinguished -- The Church Extinguished

The People on Fire -- The Church On Fire

The church needs people who are not carrying around fire extinguishers but lighter fluid

We need more Power Plants not more Surge Protectors



What purpose for the gift?

No fear—boldness

Power in witness

Love and compassion for the lost

Self- Control

Sound judgment—discernment—opportunity of how and when





How do you Fan into Flame or Keep Ablaze this gift?

• Fuel

o Word of God—this is your spiritual food—if you’re going out to eat after church today—how crazy would it be to have all this food placed before you, but never eat it—

o Worship—praise God in your life—not just on Sundays or when someone else is leading you

o Fellowship with other Believers—we strengthen each other

o Serve—you build muscles by working them—you add fuel to your fire in serving the church

o Don’t get burned out

• Wind or Breath

o God breathed onto the dust He had formed and the man became a living being. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit”

o Jesus said, “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8

o When the Spirit moves—you must hear Him, Recognize Him and Respond to Him in faith and obedience

o Learn His Voice, Recognize His Leading

Opportunity to respond—how is the fire of your altar? Are you an extinguisher in your own life? Can you offer yourself as a living sacrifice with the fire and passion in your heart?

Maybe you need God to start your fire today.

Unveil Me

2 Corinthians 3:18--"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Moses had to wear a veil in returning from meeting with God because the people were afraid of someone being so close to God. Yet in vs. 16--" whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." Our spiritual blindness is removed and we are truly able to see for the first time.

But the trouble comes because others are supposed to be able to see a difference in us as well. We are supposed to "reflect the Lord's glory". Moses had to veil his face--we are supposed to keep ours exposed.

What do people see in your unveiled face? Some days, people see the Lord's work--other days they see my sin. Unfortunately, God rarely gets the credit for the good things in my life--but He certainly gets the blame for the bad things in my life. "What a hypocrite! If that's what God does in someone's life... count me out."

This transformation is an ongoing, daily process through the work of the Holy Spirit--it is to be an "ever increasing glory".

Are people going to ask you to put the "veil" back on because the Glory of Christ is too bright in your life--or b/c of the ugly reflection?

Let me ask you... how do we positively reflect the glory of Christ? How do we negatively reflect His glory?

Is it possible to hinder the transformation process?

Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,

Kelly