We Hid Our Faces

 In the Old Testament Moses' face shone when he came down the mountain after speaking with the Lord (Exodus 34). But after Moses had given the law to the people, they asked him to veil himself because they were afraid. However, we then read that when Moses went into see the Lord, he took off the veil. Who could imagine veiling one's face before the Lord, before his friend, before THE friend?

When we gather in our congregations, we are in the same position as Moses was in the tabernacle. We are with the Lord; we look to him and shine. How? We shine because he is shining on us. But there's more! We then look at one another-- we see the shining faces, that pleasure and delight and glory and we do what comes naturally, we shine even more, going "from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:17ff). This is why many are against masks in the church, because the churches are the assemblies of God. The Lord Jesus has promised to come on Sunday and he comes and is among us, our friend and our savior and we shine!

And what of all the masks we see in so many places now? Short answer: they have no future. How come? Not because of man. Man holds down the truth in unrighteousness. We are caught up in a delusion and we cannot get out.

However, this is the new covenant time and we will be unveiled, all of us.  According to Isaiah 25, "the veil that is over the face of the nations will be removed." And this promise is not only for when Jesus comes but it can be fulfilled right now. We see the power of death.  The fearfulness of it has all the tribes and ethnicities in its grip.  But death has no victory. Death has no future.  Let's stop praying just for ourselves. Let's pray first for the churches, the congregations and then at the same time, for all mankind that we would all be delivered from these coverings and not just the ones that we can see. Help us Lord to be freed from these veils that cover the eyes of hearts and keep us from seeing one another as You do. For too long we have hidden our faces from those who are incarcerated, from the refugees, from the unborn, from our neighbors of opposite political stripe. We have hidden from the poor man, we have hidden our faces from the tribes, from the slaves and descendants of slaves, the builders of this land.  It has been our great loss. At the end of the day, we have hidden our faces from the Lord Jesus. 

We don't have to save the world, I am not calling for more "busyness," just that the eyes of our hearts would be uncovered and we would see as the Good Samaritan saw, as God sees and understands us and loves us. All I want is that the constipation of our hearts would be unblocked, to put it crudely! I want the Holy Spirit, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty! (2 Cor. 3)