transformed

Sunday, Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 2013 (5:38 a.m.)

On balcony, with sunrise, heading north to Cabo San Lucas

Isalnd Princess

Most Blessed Father

Thank You. Thank You for sleep. Thank You for rest. Thank You for rejuvenation. Restoration. Renewal.

Mm, Father. You have allowed me this opportunity. I get to sit here high above the sea, watching the colors of the early morning sky, thinking that it doesn't get any better than this. Why? Because of You!

Waking from intensely detailed dreams featuring less than clean restrooms and a mechanical bull ride, I keep coming back to the western twang of ♫Don't fence me in♫ I don't know the other words, but the catchy tune keeps coming around.

With all that build up, I'm here. Looking to You with sheer gratitude. Asking that You would use me this day as an instrument of Your peace.

(6:18 a.m.)

So the word I keep coming across this morning is transformed. I read about it when I first turned to Romans 12:2. “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be transformed to a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you.”

Mm, again, comfort. Reading a devotion on Self-perception, Your Truth (which ultimately sets us free when we know it according to John 8:32) rings through. “We all have great potential for change, but we cannot do it under our own power. As we yield our life and will to God, we can depend on Him to renew our mind and heart. He will begin to remove our defects of character, transforming us from the inside out.”

And then, over in 2 Corinthians, I get to read more about the transformation that takes place in each of us as we trust You to change us. The Life Recovery Bible's introduction to this book states, “We cannot change ourself by changing our external behaviors. As we are reconciled to God, He tranforms us into an entirely new person; our old self is changed in a fundamental sense.”

Father, I am becoming more aware of the changes You are making in me. I realize Your work is just beginning and ♫it's a long way to Tipperary, we've a long way to go♫ (smile!!). Oh, but I am SO grateful!

I read here in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3 of the privilege of being transparent. Of NOT being like Moses whose veiled face “shone out with the very glory of God – though the brightness was already fading away (v.7b).

Because of Your love for and work in each of us we get to be a living letter (v.2). “By looking at the good change in your hearts, everyone can see that we have done a good work among you. They can see that you are a letter from Christ, written by us. It is not a letter written with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not one carved on stone, but in human hearts” (3).

Oh, “Amen!” Thank You Father! Because of all Jesus did on our behalf, I get to be counted as one of those letters.

The Illustrated Bible Handbook says this regarding the law You gave Moses and the freedom You've given each of us in Christ. “When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone, his face shone with a brilliant radiance. But the glory faded. Moses hid his face with a veil to mask the deterioration from his people.”

This explanation make the truth of 2Corinthians 3:18 even more powerful. “But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.”

Use me this day Dearest Lord to reflect You well. Continue Your hard work in transforming me into the woman You would have me be.

I love You. I thank You. And for right now, I am imagining You singing to me the song from much earlier. In regards to the various times I try to understand You and Your workings. I am NOT to put You in a box of my own understanding so it makes perfect sense for You to tell me ♫Don't fence me in♫

I love You Father. Thank You. Amen.

(744 words ~ 7:16 a.m.)