🌤 Becoming Like the One We Behold
As sunlight transforms the skin it touches, so Christ transforms those who behold Him in trust.
📚 Devotional Credit: Abide Above
📸 Photo Credit: Unsplash
There’s a deep spiritual principle embedded in today’s truth offered by Miles Stanford: we are transformed not by trying harder, but by beholding. As the sun draws the flower to bloom, so Christ draws our hearts upward. His Spirit does the changing—from glory to glory—not by our striving, but as we behold Him in faith through His Word.
The danger is subtle but common: resting in our spiritual titles—redeemed, justified, beloved—without living in moment-by-moment dependence upon the One who conferred those titles. When this happens, we may find ourselves wrestling in the dark, not because our standing is uncertain, but because our communion has been neglected. Titles without relationship leave the heart dry. But when we draw near in confidence, enjoying His presence, we are changed—not because we’re working for it, but because He is working within.
Andrew Murray encourages us to trust joyfully that what we behold in Jesus is not only beautiful—it is our destined likeness. Christ has given Himself fully to us, and in Him is every resource for our transformation. We need only look—and live.
📓 Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My beloved, it delights Me when you turn your gaze toward My Son. You were never meant to be changed through effort, but through intimacy. As you behold Him, My Spirit is shaping you—not into someone better, but into someone new. The glory you see in Him is the very glory I am forming in you.
Draw near, not because you must, but because you are already Mine. Come, not as one trying to gain something, but as one invited to enjoy what has already been freely given. In My presence is joy—not duty, not pressure, not delay. I am not asking you to mimic holiness but to receive the life of the Holy One within you.
The light that once spoke into darkness has spoken into your heart. The more you behold, the more you will reflect. Keep looking—not with fear, but with joyful expectation—because the One you see is the One I am revealing through you.
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 3:1–4; Romans 8:29; Galatians 2:20; John 15:4–5; 1 John 3:2; Ephesians 1:18; Hebrews 10:22
🧺 Real-Life Analogy
Imagine placing a clean white shirt beside a strong pot of coffee—the shirt doesn’t need to “do” anything to take on the aroma. Given time and closeness, the fragrance begins to saturate it. So it is when you rest in the presence of Christ. Transformation doesn’t begin with activity—it begins with proximity.
Today, you might feel tempted to manage behavior or fix something outwardly. Instead, pause and draw near in trust. Whether in conversation, responding to criticism, or facing uncertainty, simply yield with the inner posture: “Lord, I trust You to radiate Your presence through me in this moment.” His life is the aroma that changes you from the inside out.
🙏 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You that I am not being shaped by my efforts, but by beholding Your Son. I don’t need to chase what I already have in Christ—full access, perfect love, complete acceptance. I rejoice that as I look to Him in faith, You are forming His image in me. Today I live from this reality, resting in Your indwelling presence and enjoying the transformation You are already working out within.