Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Today's Passage

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Paul said that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Our hearts cannot be freed through our knowledge or will power, but by the Holy Spirit that moves in our heart. Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is God living inside us, but are you allowing Him to move inside you? Is the Holy Spirit inside you a rushing river or a puddle of stagnant water? We need to welcome the Holy Spirit to come and manifest the Lord's authority; not only inside our hearts, but also in the meetings, so that the Holy Spirit may flow freely to accomplish its work.

Next, Paul talked about the outcome of having the Holy Spirit move freely - We will be "transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory." If you study verse 18 closely, you'd realize that there's nothing that we don't already know. Paul said "we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness..." So how do we become transformed? Paul brought up one point - We are transformed into what we see, which is the basic principle of growth in our lives. When my daughters were young, I often watched them playing together. One time I saw them arguing, and I suddenly noticed that the way my elder daughter scolded my younger daughter was exactly how my scolded her, with the exact same gesture and tone of voice! I then realized that people will adopt what they see, and that's why Paul said that our "unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory." Actually, the more we see God's glory, we will transformed to reflect God's glory. That's also how it works in a marriage - The longer we are married, the more we become like each other; we talk the same way, walk the same way, may even look more alike. That's why we see some couples seem to look more and more like each other.

Similarly, Paul told us here that the secret to having a more Christ-like life is to be close the Lord and look upon Him every day. The Holy Spirit will move freely in our hearts and accomplish the work of sanctification in our lives. Are you willing to welcome the Holy Spirit to work inside you?

Pray with Pastor Tong

Dear Holy Spirit, I welcome you once again to work inside us. I ask that you manifest your authority in the life of everyone who's reading this message. Draw us near the Lord's throne and shape our lives to be more like Jesus Christ. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!