By Beholding, We Are Changed

I used to be a bossy, strict, know-it-all. Ask anyone who used to know me! Now I'm gentle and patient and kind... most of the time. What changed?

Spending time with Jesus. How cliche does that sound? But it's true. I started going to Resting Place House of Prayer and a little seed inside of me that God had planted there started to grow. I instantly felt connected to God in a way that I hadn't felt very often before - I won't say never felt before, because there have always been little snapshots of heaven that wove in and out of my life and would appear briefly when I least expected them. But here was a place where heaven met earth; where the supernatural and natural both became apparent simultaneously. This was new to me.

I went to HOP every week I could, mostly just to sit quietly in a back corner on the floor somewhere. Why? Because God was touching my spirit in that place. I don't know what He did or how He did it; I never had to figure it out with my head to make something happen; I never had to feel like I "learned" something for it to be a productive night, because every night I knew I was sitting at Jesus' feet, like Mary of Bethany in Luke 10. It wasn't about "learning" it was about "being." Jesus said "one thing is needful," and my spirit and soul confirmed that this was that One Thing.

This is called “soaking.” It’s just sitting and soaking in a God-filled atmosphere like a little sponge. I’ll probably be using this term in future blogs, so that’s what I mean when I say, “I was soaking yesterday, when…” Lol.

It was this soaking time that changed me. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says:

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

I remember in the sequel to Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian’s wife, Christiana, learned this lesson, and it became a mantra for them: “By beholding, we are changed.” The more we are with someone, the more they rub off on us. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more He rubs off on us. The more we look at Jesus, the more we begin to look like Him.

This is a very powerful lesson. How does this affect us practically? What does it mean to “soak”? I’ll talk about that subject another time.... :)

- Kay