The Mirror of the Word

The Mirror of the Word

By Pastor Gary Wayne

Our personal identity has been fascinating to me for years.
Especially as I try and bring people to an understanding of who God says they are, compared to the identity they picked up going through life.
There is a primal need to have someone tell us who we are. And if I don’t have Godly parents to instill identity in me, I will search for someone to tell me who I am.
The problem is most of the people telling me who I am, have no clue.

I want to talk about the supernatural ability of God’s Word to tell me who I am, and who I will become as I look into the mirror of His Word.

Text: 2 Corinthians 3:18, James 1:23-25
- unveiled face – we let every guard or wall down as we interact with God.
- beholding as in a mirror – what are we looking at – what is the transforming object
we focus on?
- What is the result? 2Co3:18 We “are being transformed into the same image.”
Jam.1:25 “this one will be blessed in what he does.”

So all of us who have had that veil removed - we “…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

Is that not GOOD NEWS?
Rom 2:4 When I experience “… the goodness of God leads you to repentance…” Repentance = change the way you think.

When you got out of bed, did you look in the mirror before you came here today? We took a good hard look in the mirror and then took steps to change our appearance for the better.
The Word of God is like a mirror. But it is supernatural – in that it doesn’t just show me what I look like now, it also shows me who I should look like, and as our texts tell us, it reflects “His image.”

I’ve read studies that say that most people don’t feel good about themselves when they look in a mirror. Many experience a negative reaction due to social comparison, self-criticism, or anxiety about their appearance. Too often people tend to focus on perceived flaws rather than appreciating their reflection, with some studies showing a majority feeling critical or inadequate.

Do you want to become depressed? Spend time looking into the mirror in “self-reflection.” Most people who set out to “find themselves” come back hopeless.

But if I spend time in the mirror of His word, not studying me but Him, it causes something inside to be transformed into His image.

2Co3:18 “We can all draw close to Him with the veil removed from our faces.
And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus.
We are being transfigured into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another.
And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Passion T

I want to pray for us concerning the false identities we pick up that are not who we are.
I want us to ask the Father who created us, and actually knows who we are, to do a supernatural work inside our understanding and our belief system to match His.
I want to ask Him to bring transformation to me as I look into His mirror, to where I reflect the image of Jesus.

Pray This:
Holy Spirit, reveal to me the agreements I have been making with lies in my
life. Show me, Lord, either the lies which I’ve been entertaining recently, or
show me the lies which have their roots deep in my past.

There are many ways to surface these lies. Simply notice – what do you say to yourself when things go badly? When you get mad?
And what do you say to yourself when you make a mistake, mess things up, when you feel like you’ve failed? What comes out of your mouth about yourself?

Or what do you say to yourself when you see yourself in the mirror? Do you see yourself as God describes you, or in light of your failures and flaws?

In order to break free, we renounce (reject, surrender) these lies. We break agreements with them. Take them one by one.

Pray This:
Holy Spirit, come help me do this.
Lord, I renounce every lie. I break my agreement with them.
I remove them from my life – thinking – vocabulary.

Father break every false identity I hold onto.
Help me change the way I think to match Your thoughts about me.

Transform me into the image of Jesus.