How to have a shiny face

A friend told me that before she was saved she easily identified Christians. It was not by anything they did or said though; it was their shiny faces!

I might have laughed at this, except that the Bible confirmed her observation:

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” (Psalm 34:1–5)

A radiant face is not uncommon. It can be seen on newlyweds, the faces of many women who are pregnant, and on a child in wonder over a new discovery. It is the mark of delight, even perfect contentment and joy.

According to the psalmist, my face should be radiant. Yet there is a caveat for this. The Bible says that it happens to those who look to the Lord, who bless and praise Him all the time, trusting Him and not boasting in themselves. By this attitude of total and joyful trust, they are delivered from fear and invite others to be glad in Him and magnify His name with them.

Sometimes Christians are more noted for sour faces. For instance, it happens to me when I worry instead of trust Him, or when  I grumble instead of being thankful, or when I’m selfish and things are not going my way.

What is the cure for this? A clue comes from the psalmist in his invitation to others; he says “let the humble hear and be glad.” The joy of the Lord is not available to the proud of heart.

Humility is a great key. Without it, I’m not seeking anything from the Lord because I’m satisfied with myself. Without it, I think I can handle my life. Without it, I’ve no reason to be overjoyed because I’ve shut off the grace of God and am living by my own efforts and strength, not aware or not admitting my efforts are puny.

However, even if what I do looks good and seems to work for me and please others, it is not the way that God works. His avenue for blessing in my Christian life is the same as His avenue for blessing in becoming a Christian:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8–10)

I cannot save myself. Humility is important in being able to say that, but humility does not save me either. As the Word of God says, I am saved by grace through faith, not my own doing. My face might take on a glow when I am boasting, but that is not the same as the radiant face of one who has received the gift of God and been recreated in Christ.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, all I can say is wow! No, that is not all . . . I will bless You today, praise You continually and boast in You, from my insides and out of my mouth. Those who are humble will hear and be glad. I can invite them to magnify You with me; we will exalt Your name together! I can continually seek You, knowing You will answer me and deliver me from whatever troubles me. I will not be ashamed or bashful about the faith and life You have given me, and who knows, I might even have a shiny face!

A Christian Countenance

A friend tells that before she became a Christian, she knew who believed in Jesus because they had shiny faces. For some unknown reason, after she believed, she was no longer able to see that glow.
 

The first mention of a shiny face is in Exodus. Moses had led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. They were in the wilderness on their way to the land He had promised them when God summoned Moses to go up a mountain and meet with Him. There God gave this man His commandments. When Moses returned, he found that the people had sinned by creating a golden calf and worshiping it. He destroyed the first set of commands, interceded for his people, and God renewed the covenant again on the mountain.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:29)

This happened in the New Testament also. A disciple named Stephen was said to be “full of grace and power” and doing wonders and signs among the people. Those who disputed with him “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”

Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:11–15)

Last Sunday our pastor preached a sermon about hope and the future glory that God has promised His people. I looked across the aisle at a friend and noticed that her face was shining. Afterwards, she exclaimed her delight in this message and being reminded of what God has prepared for us. 

Today’s devotional reading is one sentence. It says, “The face is made every day by its morning prayer, and by its morning look out of windows which open upon Heaven.” For me, this means getting up each day and spending my first hours in the Word of God and in prayer. It means turning my heart and mind toward the promises of God and thinking deeply about all He has done and is doing. By this, God can change any anxious thoughts or even remnants of nastiness from the previous day or bad dreams from the night. Just thinking about Him and His goodness changes my countenance, but it also changes my attitude and outlook.

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Lord, I cannot see any glow on my own face, but that is not as important as being aware of Your grace and presence and letting it affect the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. Thank You for granting me time with You each morning and throughout the day. Thank You for Your power to set the agenda of my heart and fill it with joy.

A flower in the grass

The company my husband works for hosts two events this time of the year, a Christmas party and an awards dinner. During the party, five and ten year employees are given service awards. At the dinner, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and thirty year employees are honored. This company began a bit more than thirty years ago and has grown from a few people to nearly two thousand.

As I looked around the room, I recognized several who are Christians, partly because I knew them, but many because of their countenance. Christians often have a glow on their faces. A friend says that before she became a Christian, she noticed this glow and wondered about it. We could see it in our travels to China a few years ago, and I saw it again last night. I also wondered if the success of this company was due to God’s blessing on so many of His children who work there.

Today’s devotional reading is from a simple verse in Isaiah. It says, “They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses” (Isaiah 44:4).

The author of the devotional points out that the preceding verse says that God’s people spring up because of water poured like floods on dry ground. In regions where rain is scarce, the effect of showers upon parched vegetation is miraculous and growth springs up where nothing seemed to have existed.

This growth is also compared to willows and we know the way willows grow when they are well watered. Eight years ago we planted two of them and two dogwoods in our backyard. In five years, one of the willows became so large that we had to cut it down. Last summer, the other one also had to be removed as it had engulfed the other plants.

In this verse, God’s people are said to spring up among the grass. The devotional author says that the grass could be emblematic of the flesh, just as the Bible elsewhere says, “All flesh is grass.” This reference speaks of the reality that all pride, boasting and even the beauty of the flesh and “all the glory of man is as the flower of grass” which is cut down by a scythe, withers and is gathered into heaps and swept out of the field.

Thinking of grass then as fleshy humanity, Isaiah 44:4 pictures the children of God springing up among the people like flowers among the grass, beautiful objects among the green blades. In another place, Christians are described as lights shining in a dark place (Philippians 2:15). In other words, our appearance is distinct in some way.

This awes me. I’m blessed to see God’s people springing up here and there among the “grass” which everywhere so thickly covers the world. I’m also awed to be one of them. As the devotional writer says, at times I was hidden beneath that grass — perhaps a flower only in God’s sight. My roots were in the dust and I lay undistinguished in the masses of people around me. Yet being a flower, even one of the Redeemer’s own “lilies among whom He feeds,” He dropped the rain of heaven upon me and I sprang up and now flourish like a willow tree.

I also have His assurance that no matter how much I grow, He will give me the space I need. He will prune off whatever needs to be removed, but He will never cut me down.