Gloryteller

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I was blessed to meet a new friend a few days ago.
She is so obviously a sister in The Lord
whom He loves dearly.
A loving fellow believer,
A beautiful child of God,
(as all people are loved, and
as all are beautiful in their way,
even though their deeds may not be loved
and may be far from beautiful.)

At our first meeting,
as she approached, offering her hand,
  this nice, nice lady said a curious thing.
She was concerned,
almost apologetic,
about her lack of makeup.
I assured her that it wasn’t a problem
and tried to set her at ease, especially since I
was unshaven, and in quite a
“casual” condition myself.
(which hardly crossed my mind at the time)
I wondered if, perhaps, I saw her in a better,
or at least different, light than she saw herself.
Let me explain.

For days now, God hasn’t left me alone about that meeting,
therefore, I write.
He reminded me of two special revelations He gave me.

The first was not long after He gave my heart new birth.
I was driving through town when I spotted a man who looked
like a “vagrant”, a “transient”, or a “drunk”
sitting on the curb with his head down.
He was unwashed and unkempt.
My old man, whipped by his old master,
immediately tried to come back
and stood in judgement, disgust, accusation, and ungrace,
“Ugh, what a disgrace. It’s his own fault. He brought this all upon himself.
He chose this way of life.”
“I LOVE HIM JUST AS MUCH AS I DO YOU”, said my Father.
He was still and small, yet firm,
and The Truth hit me like a metaphoric brick.
“There, but for His grace, I am”, said my new man,
pushing the old man away.

The second came after a worship service
when I, one of the altar helpers, stood at the front.
As I stood looking at the large crowd, the scene began to change.
Superimposed in front of the crowd was the vision of
a meadow in Springtime. The meadow was filled with
a myriad of fragrant wildflowers of various colors, shapes, and sizes.
All those beautiful “flower-people” were gently swaying
from side to side due to the currents provided by
The Father’s soft, glorious breathing.
“THIS IS HOW I SEE MY PEOPLE”, He whispered.
I. Was. Undone . . .

After those two, and other, encounters with my Lord,
I see people in a new light – His Light.
And I see them with a new love.
That is why I don’t care about “makeup”.
I don’t even like it.
I want to meet the real person.
The person inside.
The spirit-person with whom I’m sharing this
bodily,
earthly,
God-given,
experience.

O, that everyone could see each other as God sees us.
I’m not saying that the old man doesn’t keep trying to return.
It’s a constant struggle, but Jesus is slowly, but surely, making me stronger –
Giving me eyes.

He says “Not all who say, Lord, Lord, will see Heaven”.
Could that be because we mask our faces, our minds, and our hearts?
Could it be that He wants us to remove all forms of
pretense,
theater,
hypocrisy,
fraud,
deception,
acting,
guile,
deceptions,
deceit,
and masking from our inner selves?
If so, I have a long row to hoe, as they say.

So, my dear new friend, sister, wildflower,
child of the Most High King,
if you read this,
do not be offended that I used your initial reaction.
It probably wasn’t even a big thing,
Just a “societal norm”.
Whatever it was,
Thank You!
Most pleased to meet you!
You are my inspiration!
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