What do relationships, the Word of God, and the sky have in common? They are all mirrors. Read this message, and you will discover the particular roles each play in our lives.  

 

The Bible mentions three specific mirrors - relationships, the Word of God, and the sky. Two of these mirrors reflect a man's character; the other reflects God's nature.

 

Let's study each Scripture and see what the Holy Spirit will teach us through His Holy Word.

 

Proverbs 27:19 says - "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."

 

What is the significance of our relationships? Actually, they tell us more about ourselves than we may want to know.

 

Just as there is a similitude between a man's face and its reflection in the water, even so is there a similitude between one man and another in relationships. What this means is that we oftentimes see a reflection of who we really are when we enter into relationships with others.

 

How many parents will testify to the fact of seeing themselves in their own children. Oh! We are not talking about the physical resemblances. What we are referring to here are the various character dispositions that are reflected in our children. We may notice a short temper...stingy disposition...rebellious spirit...strong will...know-it-all attitude...passive, indifferent, and slothful characteristic...or outgoing mannerism, etc. and respond with this remark - "Oh! He is just like his Mother!" or "She takes after her Father."

 

Many times, we find ourselves disciplining our children for a negative trait - only to afterwards realize that we ourselves have the same fleshly characteristic. 

 

What about our marriages? What do they say about ourselves?

 

Before being married, we may have had no problem with control, manipulation, or selfishness per se - simply because we were single and did exactly what we wanted to do without any interruptions. Then, in married life, we find that we cannot get our own way and do our own thing. We have a shared life now.

 

In our marriages, we are often faced with a reflection of ourselves that we don't necessarily like to see. We  may see a picture of ourselves as a person who has a propensity to yield to the flesh rather than the Spirit. We may even see ourselves as a person who will go to whatever measures to get his or her own way. This deceit in our hearts did not manifest itself until another party was added to the picture of our lives.

 

What about our other relationships in ministry, in the Body of Christ, on the job, or in the community?

 

God has a way of placing us in fellowship with people who are totally opposite of us. At times, we may have attitudes surface from our hearts that are so unChristlike that we never imagined were in us. We see a reflection of who we really are if left to ourselves.

 

The mirror of relationships is vital in our spiritual growth. As we daily look into this mirror, we calculate our weaknesses and our strengths and realize exactly where we need the grace of God for change and growth.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 says - "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

James 1:23 -24 adds - "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

 

As we see our "spots," "blemishes," defects, faults, imperfections, deformities, and "hangups" reflected in our various relationships, where can we go to find help to change?

 

God has made provision in His Word.

 

Both the Apostles Paul and James referred to the Word of God as a "glass" or a mirror. The mirrors they alluded to were those used by the Jews, Greeks, and Romans which were made of highly polished metal. Just as one would look into the "glass" and see his reflection, even so one is able to see himself - as he really is - in the Word of God.

 

Sad to say, many today do not allow the Word to be what it actually is - a mirror. It seems as though some preachers place a veil or covering over it whenever they get into their pulpits. 

 

If the "whole counsel of God" was preached as it should be - in a plain and straightforward manner - the general populace would see themselves as they really are - many of them "adulterers and adulteresses"(James 4:4) - being more in love with this world than Jesus.  

 

For indeed, the Word of God is a "looking-glass," and - if preached correctly - it exposes every spiritual spot, blemish, deformity, and imperfection on men's souls and leads them to run to the altars - crying out to God for the Grace to change.

 

Conversely, what we oftentimes experience is a smugness and a hardened security from some who are convinced that they are just fine the way they are - backslidden and worldly as ever.  

 

The amazing feature of this "glass" is that it not only has the ability to reveal the marked differences between us and Christ, but it also has the ability - in turn - to develop in us Christlike qualities which can be measured out from one level of "glory" to another. This is all accomplished by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.   

 

Hence, we can confidently say that - the more we expose ourselves to the mirror of God's Word - the more "glory" will be seen in our lives as we allow it to transform us and conform us to the image and likeness of Jesus..

 

Do you have a desire to be more like Jesus...want your life to reflect the life of God unto others...and want Self to be eradicated in your life? Then - by all means - give yourself to a constant study of God's Word.

 

Job 37:18 says - "Hast thou with Him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?"

 

Elihu asks Job the question - "Were you with God when He stretched out the great expanse of the sky? Did you assist Him? Did He ask for your expertise when carrying out this vast project?"

 

Even though the sky is made up of fluid, it seems firm, solid, and compact - "strong." It appears to be "as a molten looking glass" - smooth and polished - where we find the image of God so reflected through the mighty galaxies.  

 

Each day, it is as if God looks into the mirror of the sky, and we see the reflection of His glory - whether it be at the time of a breathtaking  sunrise or at the event of a majestic sunset. Throughout the day, the clouds entertain us with their many shapes and sizes. Against the backdrop of the night sky, the stars and planets twinkle and glitter so melodically as if to sing us a song about the Mighty Creator. The Sun runs its course at daytime, while the moon keeps its position at night.

 

Through this gorgeous panorama of Creation, we see a picture of the Lord Jesus - unlike any other - which  sends us a continuous message - asserting that He is the God of all Creation - Who has everything under control. He has all power in heaven and in earth, and there is nothing too hard for Him.  

 

Relationships.

The Word of God.

The Sky.

 

These are three things that we are exposed to every day.

They are mirrors in our lives.

Two of them show us up for who we really are.

The other gives us a clear-cut picture of God.

 

The questions we must ask ourselves are - What are the mirrors - that God has placed in our lives - reflecting about our character? Are we pleased with what we see? Most of all, is He pleased? What will we do about it?

 

Do we believe that He is able to change us from "glory to glory"?

Just how BIG is our God?