Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Then I looked and here was a likeness, like the appearance of fire, from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem... Ezekiel 8:2-3

What a "wow" moment for the man of God!  The Holy Spirit manifested Himself to Ezekiel in all of His splendor in this awesome encounter.  Ezekiel lived in tough times and was shown by the Lord the things that were happening around him that were an abomination to the Lord.  In the midst of evil and idolatry, the Holy Spirit appeared before Ezekiel in all of His beauty and splendor.  No matter what was going on in Ezekiel's life, the most awesome image stood before him to bring him a message.  Nothing on this planet could dissuade Ezekiel from the knowledge that God was with him.

We may not experience a visitation as powerful as Ezekiel's that sealed the knowledge in his heart that he belonged to God, but God has given us His word that we belong to Him.  We have to catch the vision in our heart that we belong to God and He has chosen us to be His beloved.

Image is everything.  How we see ourselves make the difference between success or failure. If we have a warp self image, we will walk in timidity, convincing our selves that we can't be successful in life's endeavors.

Billions of dollars are spent on plastic surgery, cosmetics, exercise machines and clothing to make the outside of our bodies more pleasing to ourselves.  When we look at our image in the mirror, we often see an image reflected back to us that displeases us.  But the problem is not on the outside, but on the inside.  Our inside or inner man need transformation and when we change on the inside, we will reflect it on the outside.

I went with my mom on several occasions to the senior citizens center in Chicago and during their dance times, I watched the ladies who were confined to wheelchairs move their legs and arms to the beat of the music.  That's what I saw, but they saw themselves doing the Electric Slide and other line dances.  It was on their faces as they jammed to the music.  In their minds, they were transformed back to their dancing days. The mind is powerful.

When we are sure that we belong to God and was created in His image and His likeness, for His good pleasure, we will see our selves differently.  Even if we are bound in a wheelchair, we will see our selves dancing and twirling before Him in praise.  Praise sends us into another realm in Him and there are no physical boundaries or limitations in God.

Want to beat the negative self image issues?  Put on some praise and worship music as you recline and see yourself before the Lord.  Your image won't matter, because you will see yourself from God's standpoint.

As the scripture says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."  Proverbs 23:7
Our heart should believe God, that we are fearfully and  wonderfully made. We were made in secret and God skillfully formed us individually in His image...Hallelujah.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, I see myself dancing before the Lord in deep gratitude and adoration of His love.  What do you see when you look in the mirror?