FaceTime is changing the way people are able to
communicate. It was so awesome this
semester to be able to FaceTime my family while I was in Honduras. Those little snippets of familiar faces and
the people I love most helped me stay focused and work hard while on mission in
Honduras. Texts or phone calls just
wouldn't have been the same for me. It
was the best form of communication I could have had even though we were
separated by miles.
What if we could FaceTime God? What if we could sit in his presence and see
his face? How might that change us? And if we can, why do we settle for other
means of communication that just don't keep us motivated and able to stay the
course? I think there are moments of
FaceTime in scripture that reveal quite a bit about our communication with God
and how we settle or disengage in our relationship with him. We have been walking through this idea of
FaceTime the last two weeks on Sunday nights with our students. This past Sunday night, we camped out in
Exodus 34:28-35. This passage reveals
quite a bit for us as we think about FaceTime with God.
First and foremost, when you're face-to-face with God,
nothing else is needed. For 40 days and
40 nights, Moses was God-sustained. Kind
of sheds light on that whole "man shall not live on bread alone"
statement huh? This is the result of
intimate, uninterrupted communion with God...that we would be
God-sustained.
The second thing we see here with Moses while he is
face-to-face with God is that he desires nothing else. His hunger was not for food, but his hunger
was for the very words of God. When we
are in the presence of God, the desires and pleasures of this flesh we live in
seem to get drowned out by the overwhelming sense of awe we have for the
Father. But this discipline has to be
developed. You don't just one day decide
to have some FaceTime with God and end the call 40 days later on your very
first try. No, it takes someone who is
in good shape spiritually to have the stamina and endurance to let go of
earthly desires and sit patiently with God.
The result though is that we come away with the greatest
treasure we could ever have. Moses comes
away with the very words of God. The
true test of the heart is whether or not God's word actually is our greatest
treasure.
The third thing we can catch here is that after spending
time face-to-face with God, we come away reflecting more of who He is. Some people just have the glow. You can identify them just by how they live
and love. I'll never forget my youth
minister's wife telling me that my girlfriend (later to become wife) had the
glow. I respected her opinion so much
that I was sold. I knew she was the one. Some of us try to manufacture the
glow...hours in a spiritual tanning bed...but it just doesn't seem to come out
right. You can’t manufacture
holiness. It comes only from being in
and remaining in the presence of God, face-to-face. Moses walks in such humility that he seems
oblivious to his own glow. When Moses
figures out something is going on, he puts a veil on. Holiness isn't about us. It's about God and his perfect holiness. Any chance we have to sit in with him ought
to humble us and remind us of who we are.
We shouldn't become proud. How
awesome was it that Moses was with God?
He had all the bragging rights, but he walked in humility.
Finally, we see something really important about Moses and
ourselves. When he goes back into the
presence of God, to meet with him face-to-face, he takes the veil off. Every veil in our lives is removed when we
stand before God. This is true
FaceTime. It is the unveiling of our
hidden lives, our secrets, and our sinful nature...at the same time, it is the
perfect measure of grace in that God allows us to stand in his perfection, knowing
our shortcomings, and still return us to do his work.
You can't manufacture the glow. It's time for some FaceTime!
Posts
