Face to Face (1/23-24)

Luke 9:29-31 NLT, “And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothing became dazzling white. Then two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking of how He was about to fulfill God’s plan by dying in Jerusalem.”

Jesus might have prayed for a while since Peter, John and James were very drowsy and had fallen asleep. Now they woke up and saw Jesus’ glory and two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter got so excited and blurted out, “This is wonderful! Let’s make three shrines—one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

A cloud came cover them; and Peter, John and James were terribly afraid. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, Listen to Him.” Then the cloud was gone. They looked around, and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them. [Ref. Luke 9:28-36; Matt. 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13 in NLT]

Inspiration: I had a question, wondering, what would happen if a person pray to God for a while. Would there be anything during prayer time? Then somehow, God led me to read the “Transfiguration” scriptures. Some of the commentaries quoted, “The Transfiguration revealed Christ’s divine nature” and “God’s voice at the Transfiguration gave authority to Jesus’ words.”

Here’s what impressed me. Peter, John and James had a wonderful experience of who Christ really was. Jesus was God’s own Son. They saw the transformation in Jesus, face to face. Then God said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Then it dawn on me. God emphasized was “Listen to Him.” The dictionary, ‘listen’ means pay attention in order to hear and to give heed and take notice of and follow advice.  

Then God spoke to me, “All those times of your reading, studying, praying for understanding My Words, I was there with you. You already did what I want for you to do, was to listen to Jesus’ Words from the Bible. Didn’t you feel My Presence many times? Didn’t you feel any inspiration from the Words I had shown you? Didn’t you write My Manna that was Fresh from Heaven? I was there speaking to you sometimes when you took nap, didn’t I?”

Oh, Lord, thank You for speaking to me and correcting me. Then God spoke to my heart, “Someday you will see Jesus, face to face. For now, listen to Jesus’ Words and study them and share it with others.”

My friend, “listen to Jesus” was what God had told Peter, John and James to do. Their “listening to Jesus” was put into writings: John wrote the Gospel, three letters and Revelation and Peter wrote two letters. We have the Bible today which tells us that someday, we’ll see Him, “Face to Face.” The song often is a blessing.

                                 Song: Face to Face

Chorus:
Face to Face I shall behold Him, Far beyond the starry sky--
Face to face in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by!

1. Face to face with Christ my Savior, Face to Face what will it be--
When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me?
[Chorus]

2. Only faintly now I see Him, With the darkened veil between--
But a blessed day is coming When His glory shall be seen.
[Chorus]

3. Face to face! O blissful moment! Face to face--to see and know--
Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ who loves me so.
[Chorus]    [Lyrics: Carrie E. Breck; 1Cor.13:12; Music: Grant Colfax Tullar]