A Framework for Faith/Spiritual Practices

He was a burning light, but he did not burn with his own light. He was the morning star, but he did not receive his light from himself. The grace of him, before whom he came, burned and shone through him. He was not the Light, but a participant in the Light. What gleamed in and through him was not his.

  - Eriugena, Homily on John 1.1-14 (Irish, 9th century)

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

  - John 3.30

Sanctification is the process whereby the believer is transformed increasingly into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You need to read that last sentence again. Then ask yourself, Is this happening to me?

It's not that we lose our unique identities. Jesus is vastly greater than all our personalities, and He is able to shine Himself through everything that makes us us. It's rather that, through our own unique traits and bents and aptitudes and interests, Jesus begins to manifest His presence and His Person. The light of the Lord, dwelling in the deep recesses of our souls, rises and escapes the confines of our sinful flesh through the apertures of sanctification, to illuminate the darkness of the sinful world.

We remain recognizably ourselves, as John the Baptist did - and as, I believe, we will in eternal glory - but somehow, through a mystery and wonder of grace, Jesus so fills and shapes us as to take who we are and make us Himself, and to show Himself through the earthen vessels of our frail flesh to a Light-deprived world.

Amazing! Absolutely amazing!

Do you sense this happening in you? Do you long for it? Pray for it? Eagerly search the Scriptures to provide the spiritual fuel such a transformation requires?

There is great joy and holy pleasure associated with this process. Indeed, nothing in this life can compare with knowing the reality of the risen Christ stretching out in and through you, enabling you to know that exceeding abundantly more than you've ever known before of His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Make this your prayer today: "Lord, increase in me! Increase in me, O Lord!"

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.