Page 108 - Back to Bethelehem Ed Miller

I want to show the relationship between the gaze and the glory.
He said, “As I gaze, I’m changed.” The more I gaze, the more
I’m changed. James 1:24, “…for once he has looked at himself
and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of
person he was.” Do you hear what James is saying? If I walk
away from the mirror, I’ll forget who I am. I’ll forget who I am
in Christ. That’s why we’ve got to keep looking in the mirror;
not to learn about the mirror but to see the Lord. Then, as we
see the Lord, we are changed!

Two things happen if you stop seeing Jesus. Number one, you
are going to forget who you are. Number two, the process will
stop. As you gaze, you are changed. If you stop gazing, the
sanctification process is over. That’s the process. The starting
point is seated in you. The process is that you look in the Bible
to see Jesus and we’re changed.

When we see the Lord and we’re changed, some people get
confused what that means. They think, “If I see Him as a great
forgiver, I’ll become a great forgiver.” But the Bible says, “He
who has been forgiven much, loves much.” So, when I see
Jesus, I’m changed. That’s true. But if I see Jesus as a Teacher,
I don’t become a teacher. I become a student. If I see Him as
my Lord, I don’t become as a lord. I become a servant. What
if I saw Jesus as omnipresent? Do I become omnipresent?
That’s not what it means.

Let me illustrate from Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
Let’s say that God shows me Christ as my Shepherd. Do I
become a shepherd? No. I lay down in green pastures. I’m led
in paths of righteousness. If I go through the valley of the
shadow of death, I won’t be afraid. When my neighbor looks
at me they don’t say, “Ed has become a shepherd.” But they
see me resting and they see my walking in righteousness. And
in their deep heart they think, “He must have a wonderful
shepherd.” We’re conformed to Christ and that conforming is
by gazing. Brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t stop gazing at
Jesus in the Bible.