I was watching the snow fall the morning after Christmas.  I marveled at how everything was made to look fresh and new.  The barren branches of the trees became glistening and white.  The brown leaves and mud, that covered ground, were suddenly flushed with white, iridescent, crystals.  But within a few hours, the temperature rose and the snow melted off everything and it was, as it first had been once more.  The transformation was short-lived, it didn’t last.

Sometimes, I feel like my spiritual transformation is taking too long, or I find that I fall back into old patterns.  Three steps forward and two steps back.  That is a reality we all face while being transformed by God, here on earth.  But there is a deeper reality that is true of us in the heavenly realm.   2  Corinthians 4: 5-7

“We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.  We now have this light shining in our own hearts, but we ourselves are fragile jars of clay containing this great treasure.  This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Another great Scripture teaches me that my weaknesses have a purpose.  2 Corinthians 12:8-10

“Three different times I begged God to take it (my weakness) away.  Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles I suffer for Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Boasting in my weaknesses, content to be weak, frail, fragile as a jar of clay.  This I must choose to accept about myself, while embracing the grace of God which is strong in me.  The way I put it into words for myself to understand, goes as follows:  “I am becoming who I am in the heavenlies.”  (song by me.)     I am already complete in Christ, already a finished work in the heavenly realms, where Christ is seated.  He is seated in my heart and transforming me, day by day, moment by moment.  And He who has begun this great work in me (and in you) will be faithful to complete it. (Philippians 1:5-7)

I take such great comfort in this truth.  As John the Baptist has said, “He must increase and I must decrease.”   I yield to this reality by embracing my weaknesses, while still believing His faithfulness to complete the good work in me that He has promised.  Behavior modification is doomed to failure, because it is centered on our ability to change, but God’s transformation of us is guaranteed to be finished, because it is centered on His promise and His power.  Take heart, dear believers in Christ.  He who promised is faithful.  We all shall be made perfect through Christ, we can rest ourselves in His care.

Amen and Amen