Nancy Taylor Tate
A central theme when I write or speak relates to the preparation of our lives for the eternal purposes of the Lord. Truly the Lord is doing a work inside each of us. How precious is His workmanship! His life within us! His never-ending love for each of us!
When I am saved, I am born again. As a newborn baby desires milk, so I begin to desire the sincere milk of the Word, that I too may grow (John 3:7; 1 Peter 2:2).
Life in its fullness always moves toward maturity. As I learn to apply the Word of God to my life, I begin to grow spiritually. A deep inner desire for more of the Lord begins to increase within me. I begin to understand that an intimacy of relationship with the Lord is available, and a desire for that begins to govern my life and the choices I make.
Be it good times or hard times, I set my desire on the Lord, and my passion for Him increases. As a partaker of His divine nature, progressively, day by day, the fruit of the Spirit is being formed within me as I reflect His nature (1 Peter 1:3–8; Ephesians 5:9; Galatians 5:22–23).
Daily, there is a freshness in my walk with the Lord. Each day is new! Truth is no longer just a theology that I memorize, quote, or claim. Now I am experiencing it! And it is changing me. I am starting to reflect Him. What a glorious calling! And how encouraging. The purpose for which God has been preparing me, from the moment of my salvation, is now finding fulfillment.
I know of no higher calling than to reflect Christ to others. Our lives may be the only Bible some people ever read. I’ve learned it’s not just how much we know that touches hearts, but who we are becoming and how we live that impacts others. The overflow of His presence from our times with Him may be the only touch of His presence that someone comes into contact with.
Somehow, I got on an email list where someone is always offering to sell me really good sermons to use, just what a speaker might need for a Sunday morning. But the Word made flesh in a life is harder to find and more costly to buy. That sermon is written over a lifetime and gets richer as the years go by.
It is Jesus who is the light and gives life. May we live in a way that reflects Him! As we spend time in His presence and in fellowship with Him, may our lights shine through our lifestyle, our attitudes, the things we do, the things we say, the ways we respond. May we share Jesus with others! May they see Christ in us.
This is the high calling of God that rests on each of our lives. God is preparing a people who will reflect Him as an end time witness in the earth today. May we be a part of that people in whom Christ is being seen. And when that day comes that we stand before the throne, may a full measure of Christ be seen in us.
A present purpose! A future hope! Christ in us the hope of glory! (Colossians 1:27) We are not the light; we can only reflect Him. As we spend time in His presence, may that reflection grow stronger, and may He be seen more clearly.
There is a people who the Lord is raising up for His end time glory. We too can be a part of this people.
As we yield to the Lord and His inner workings, may we be encouraged by what God is doing deep within our hearts.
“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8