I have been absolutely inspired by the light of the moon lately.  Just a few days ago I experienced the full moon with new eyes and new heart.  I live out in the country, far from city lights and miles away from even a tiny town.  Out here it gets dark, very dark.

Recently the landscape has just been lit up by a soft, beautiful glow.  The light of the moon has been chasing away the darkness and providing a beauty to stand in awe of.  It’s really got me thinking; reviewing what I know about the moon and looking for more.

A full moon happens when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.  At this point the moon’s entire face is illuminated by the sun’s light.  So many times I have viewed this sight, paused for a moment, thought “wow, that’s pretty” and then moved on with what I needed to do next on my list.

This time for some reason I just stopped and stared.  This is a giant rock, a few hundred thousand miles away, that does not produce any light on its own.  Yet it lights up the earth so I can see the rolling fields for miles and is absolutely captivating to watch.

I began praying by the moon light.  I thought about the faithfulness of the moon to just reflect the light of the sun.  It relies fully on the sun for every speck of light.  It does not have one ounce of power to create that on it’s own, but in pouring out what it receives it can illuminate and beautify the Earth.

Isn’t that what we as believers are meant to be, reflections of the Son?  Shouldn’t we rely fully on the Holy Trinity for every speck of light?  We do not have the power on our own, but we can pour out what we receive.

Look at what it says in 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.” (NIV)

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord–who is the Spirit–makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (NLT)

Isn’t that just amazing?  Absolutely amazing!  Talk about the heavens declaring the glory of the LORD!

We are allowed to see the glory of the LORD.  We are able to reflect that beauty.  We have the gift of the Spirit, who is at work in us, changing us into His glorious image.

We are being transformed into a powerful reflective light.  We can use that light to shine into the darkness, illuminating the truth and eliminating the fear present their.  Yet, we are not the source of the light.  It’s all done by God’s power.

The Message translation of 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 gives a bit more,

“Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

I just wanted to savor this passage and break it down.  This is one of the ways I meditate on the Bible to place it in my heart and the front of my mind; taking it one little bit at a time.

Turn to God.

He will remove the veil.

We will then stand face to face.

God is a personal presence, a living Spirit – not chiseled stone.

We are free with nothing between us and God.

Our faces shine with the brightness of His face.

We are transfigured like Jesus.

Our lives are gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as we become more like Him.

I am in such awe and such gratitude over this.  It has just stopped me in my tracks.  God, awesome powerful God, wants to stand face to face with me.  He wants to look upon me and to have me look upon him.  In my weakness I am quick to think, “I’m such a mess, I don’t want God to see me like this” and I desire to work harder for Him to make myself more presentable for Him.

That is my nature and my quick response.  The truth is that there is not anything that I can do to make myself more presentable to God.  I can’t work my way to God’s radiant beauty.  Yet, God loves me.  God loves me in my broken and messy state.  He can handle it.  In fact the Spirit knows exactly what I need to work on better than I do.  He is faithful in His efforts and the result is a transformation that is grander than I could ever dream up.

God has so much to give each of us.  He longs to make us bright and vibrant lights to radiantly shine upon this world; to bring the light of truth into the darkness.

It does not matter where you are at.  Maybe you look in the mirror and you do not see that light reflecting through you.  Is what you see a body that is wearing out or failing?  Do you feel like a mess, just icky inside?  Do you not even want to look at your reflection, afraid to see that you are not living up to the expectations that you set for yourself, flooded by all those dreams that may not have come true yet?  I’ve had every single one of those thoughts at one time or another or several times for some of them.

No matter how you feel, what you are scared of or what your physical state, God wants to gentle place His hand upon your cheek and gaze directly into your eyes with His.  He wants you to feel His love for you.  You are so precious to Him!  You are a cherished treasure!  God did not have to create you, but He wanted to so passionately because you bring Him joy.  He sees you as a gift unto this world.  You are perfectly unique; there never has been nor ever will be a creation exactly like you.

It may be hard to imagine the creative perfection of God’s hand making billions of unique individuals.  We live in a world of mediocre assembly lines that turn out one after another, after another, after another of imperfect products.  But that is not what people are.  We are individual masterpieces.

You are a miracle that is grander than a full moon on the dark night.  The moon only reflects a star burning at the center of our solar system.  You reflect the glory of the LORD, the one who lit the sun and sent the moon spinning around the planet we walk upon.

Soak in God’s love for you, then let your light shine.  You are radiant.  You are beautiful.

Dearest and Beloved LORD,

Thank You with deep gratitude and enormous praise that You would want to bring us into Your presence so You could fill us with Your light.  Thank You for making us reflections of Your glory.  Thank You for using us to light this world. 

Lord, I lift up to You all of those who feel that their lights are dim.  Please continue Your good work in their lives.  Help them to build confidence in Your love for them and may they feel a growing glow come upon them.  May we encourage one another and celebrate the light we receive from each other. 

Holy, Holy, Holy are You LORD God!  In Jesus’ name, amen.