From... To part 2
Where we get to is directly affectd by where we come from. Now, having said that, it's the journey not the destination. This never-ending life long journey into the heart of the matter... is a journey of self discovery. By which I mean discovering who we are by discovering who Jesus is. He is our identity. God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And the best part about this journey--about the starting place being so important--is that when we look into the mirror with an open, unveiled face, we are changed into the glory of God that we see (in the mirror, in ourselves, and in each other) FROM glory TO glory! We start at glory! And, listen, I understand that may seem like nonsense when you look around at your current situation and the song lyric "If you're going through hell... keep on going" seems to apply. I understand that it doesn't always look like, or feel like, glory. Hebrews 2:8-9 tells us that, "Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet. Fo in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Everything is under our feet. Because everything is under HIS feet. And He walks in our feet. Our feet ARE His feet. When you don't see it that way... focus on what you do see. We see Jesus. He is the One who carries us through. He is the one that brings us from glory to glory. Guys. Honestly. Truly. We start at glory. It doesn't have to look like it, or feel like it. We are who we were created to be. The "trick" is BEING who we are by knowing and believing that we are who God says we are. Knowing the truth and letting the truth set us free and make us free. See, we're not trying to go FROM bad TO good. Good and evil were on the same tree. The tree of death. We don't need to turn over a new leaf. We need to understand that Jesus cursed that fig tree because it couldn't bear any fruit. And we need to get on a whole new tree. The only tree left when we get to Revelation. The Tree of Life. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, right? The beginning and the end. It starts with Him and it ends with Him. In the beginning we were created in the image and likeness of God. In the "end," the cross, we were conformed to the image of God's only begotten Son. From glory... to glory. So don't worry about where you are right now. God allows u-turns. In fact, I believe He encourages them. So don't think you can't start where you're at. Wherever you are, that's where the glory is. You are the spout where the glory comes out. This "transformation" is really just a maturation. The more you understand your (HIS in you) glory... the more you can experience that glory by letting what's inside come out. That's the best way to experience anything. If you want to experience forgivness... forgive someone. If you want to experience love... love someone. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be who you are--who you really are, which is who you are in Christ, which is who Christ is in you--by letting what's inside come out!