Redirecting Our Gaze

December 01, 2023
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: 2 Kings 2:12–15; Matthew 17:1–13
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. (Matthew 17:1–3)
The Christian's greatest goal is to be like Christ. We want to emulate His exemplary life, model His method of teaching, resist temptation as He resisted it, handle conflicts as He did, focus on the mission God calls us to accomplish as Christ focused on His. And certainly it is our desire to commune with the Father as the Son did throughout His ministry and suffering. No greater compliment can be given than this one: "When I am with that person, it's as if I'm in the presence of Jesus Himself."

Throughout this study of Elijah, I have often thought of how closely the great prophet's life resembled the Messiah, who was yet to come: the way he spent time alone; the courage he showed as he stood in the presence of his enemy and delivered God's message; the power he exhibited when it took a miracle to convince his audience that he was a man with a message from God—the one true God; the compassion he demonstrated when he cared about the widow's grief and brought her son back to life; even the anguish he felt in his own Gethsemane as he wrestled in his soul. And finally, how much like Christ was his departure. As others stood staring, he was taken up to heaven out of their sight.

Is it any surprise, then, that when our Savior asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" the answer from some was, "Elijah." Why, of course! Small wonder, for in many ways their lives paralleled. And when the two men appeared before Jesus and three of His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, one was Moses, and the other was none other than Elijah (Matthew 17:3).

Elijah's heroic and humble life urges us to be like Christ—to lift our eyes from the grit and grind of today's woes and to turn our attention to the glory and hope of another land. Immanuel's land! And in that frame of mind, we'll redirect our gaze from who gets the glory to who gives the grace. Then, while fully focused on Him—our King of grace, the gentle Lamb of God—the deepest longings of our souls will be satisfied.

If you compare your life to Christ, how long would your list be of matching characteristics?

https://watch.formed.org/suggested-content-for-sunday/videos/daily-reflections-feast-of-the-transfiguration-august-6-2023?_hsmi=268827823&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9em-ys0ZJ_E-ma45Y-40qwZrBaE76_n_inDaO_60UmvtkJEgsz462o_cJCNn8jT9ekLPsqS1ZYKm1n3z-4-U_PvN43Kw

Alchemy and the Light Body - Jay Weidner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ariw8l4ggfM
Jay Weidner is interviewed by Steve and Joe at BG Cast concerning various subjects including the idea that the transfiguration of Jesus Christ is not a one time event.

Christian Despondency
MARCH 6, 2023

I was despondent. They dug a pit ahead of me, but they fell into it!
Psalm 57:6

Recommended Reading: Psalm 57
In his book, A Spiritual Clinic, J. Oswald Sanders devotes a chapter to despondency among Christians. “Who among us has not experienced that nameless feeling of misery and hopelessness?” he wrote. Sanders points out that such biblical heroes as Moses and Elijah had moments of great discouragement. For Moses, God prescribed the help of seventy elders; for Elijah, a time of withdrawal in a solitary place where the Lord met him.

“God prescribes individually for each of His patients. God delights to restore each depressed soul to a sphere of increased usefulness,” said Sanders.[1]

When we face daunting challenges, we can remember that God is always with us. He will give us wisdom and courage. He will deal with us individually, prescribing what is best. Take a moment to ask the Lord to show you the next immediate step you should take toward restoration and increased usefulness. He doesn’t want you to live in chronic despondency when His joy can be your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

It is not without its comfort that the two men who conversed with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration both broke under the strain of their ministry and prayed that they might die.
J. Oswald Sanders

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