Changed by Beholding

As the mind dwells upon Christ, the character is molded after the divine similitude. The thoughts are pervaded with a sense of His goodness, His love. We contemplate His character, and thus He is in all our thoughts. His love encloses us. If we gaze even a moment upon the sun in its meridian glory, when we turn away our eyes, the image of the sun will appear in everything upon which we look. Thus it is when we behold Jesus; everything we look upon reflects His image, the Sun of Righteousness. We cannot see anything else, or talk of anything else. His image is imprinted upon the eye of the soul, and affects every portion of our daily life, softening and subduing our whole nature. By beholding, we are conformed to the divine similitude, even the likeness of Christ. To all with whom we associate we reflect the bright and cheerful beams of His righteousness. We have become transformed in character; for heart, soul, mind, are irradiated by the reflection of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us….

Jesus Christ is everything to us—the first, the last, the best in everything. Jesus Christ, His Spirit, His character, colors everything; it is the warp and the woof, the very texture of our entire being. The words of Christ are spirit and life. We cannot, then, center our thoughts upon self; it is no more we that live, but Christ that liveth in us, and He is the hope of glory. Self is dead, but Christ is a living Saviour.77Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 388-390.

If we keep our minds stayed upon Christ, He will come unto us “as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Hosea 6:3. As the Sun of Righteousness, He will arise upon us “with healing in his wings.” Malachi 4:2. We shall “grow as the lily.” We shall “revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” Hosea 14:5, 7. By constantly relying upon Christ as our personal Saviour, we shall grow up into Him in all things who is our head.78Christ’s Object Lessons, 67.
The Faith I Live By p. 150
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for Bob and Marvin. Rose
—-Please keep my wife and I in prayer. We are facing some big problems that is causing quite a bit of distress. Nathan
—-Please pray for my sister who has cancer. Rhonda
—-Please pray for Charles who is in the hospital. They are having difficulty getting his bleeding stopped. Judy
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Dear Friends,

From the time that Ron was fourteen until he became an avionics technician, he worked with his dad as a house painter. He learned to do a very good job of painting both the inside and the outside of both old and newly constructed houses. He also learned to put up wallpaper and to stain woodwork to a satin-like finish. When he was done with it, it would be perfect.

He, on the other hand, did not look so perfect. He would come home spattered with paint and stain. I could always tell what colors were used in the house, because he was wearing them. That paint was not easy to get off. In fact, washing his clothes never removed the paint: it only cleaned the cloth. In order to remove the paint itself, his clothes had to be soaked in a lye solution.

So it is in our spiritual life. We become all spattered and dirty with sin. We are in a pitiful condition. It can be hidden for a while, but soon those sins soon becomes noticeable to everyone around us. “The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isa 3:9; 1:5,6; 64:6 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Ps 14:2,3

Oftentimes, our Great Redeemer has to get our attention, so that we can see our sin-stained garments, so we can realize that we have been traveling on the broad way to destruction, so we can feel our need of His forgiving power. Many times it must be drastic—like soaking those paint stained clothes in the solution of lye. Paul explains, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb 12:5-11

We are helpless to change ourselves. Even when we see what we should be, we cannot cleanse ourselves. We cry as did Isaiah, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Isa 6:5 Our loving Saviour will help. Our Loving Saviour died to save us. He has promised to restore us, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.” Hosea 14:4 In the vision given to Zechariah, God teaches us what He wants to do for each of us. “And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” Zech 3:1-4

Our Great Creator promises “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” “I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Eze 36:26,27: Heb 10:16 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom 13:12-14

May we allow Him to remove our filthy garments of unrighteousness and to clothe us with the robe of His righteous “that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” 1 John 2:28.

Rose