DAY 6: BECOMING WHAT YOU BEHOLD

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

“What you glance at may inform you, but what you continually behold begins to form you.” — Dr. Daniel LeBlanc

BECOMING WHAT YOU BEHOLD

Yesterday we discovered the importance of having the eyes of our heart enlightened so we can discern what is attempting to influence our imagination. Today we go one step deeper because what we continually behold can begin shaping who we become.

Paul gives us one of the most powerful descriptions of transformation in the New Testament. As we behold the glory of the Lord, we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” Notice the connection between beholding and becoming. Something happens within us as our attention becomes fixed upon Jesus.

There is a difference between seeing and beholding. We see thousands of things every day, but beholding involves continued attention. What continually captures our attention has an opportunity to influence our thoughts, desires, expectations, and imagination.

That makes this especially important in the world we live in today. Our phones, televisions, computers, advertisements, social media, and entertainment continually compete for our attention. Even socially acceptable things such as sports, money, shopping, success, entertainment, or another person can become unhealthy when they begin occupying a place within us that belongs to God.

So the question is not simply, “What did I see today?” The deeper question is, “What am I continually beholding?”

You can behold fear until it becomes the dominant picture of your future. You can continually replay an offense until bitterness shapes the way you see someone. You can behold lust until an image becomes a desire. You can even behold an old failure until you continue seeing yourself as someone God says you no longer are.

This is why beholding Jesus is so powerful. I often say it like this: “I can’t lose for winning. Even when it looks like I’m losing, God flips it around and I win again.” That is more than positive confession. It is confidence rooted in the truth that God is for us and that in Christ we are more than conquerors.

Paul does not merely tell us what to stop looking at. He gives us Someone greater to behold. As we behold Jesus, His love begins changing the way we love. His purity changes what we desire. His compassion changes the way we see people. His victory changes the way we see our battles. The more clearly we see Him, the more clearly we begin seeing who we are in Him.

This is the highest purpose of God Imagination. It is not merely imagining a better house, a larger business, a successful ministry, a healed body, or a more prosperous future. God may place dreams and promises within our hearts, but there is a picture greater than all of them.

Jesus is the picture. The highest purpose of God Imagination is to behold Jesus until the Holy Spirit increasingly forms His image within us. God does not merely want to change what we possess. He wants to transform who we are.

Paul says we are “being transformed into the same image.” The Greek word translated “transformed” is metamorphoō, from which we get the idea of metamorphosis. It describes an inward transformation that produces an outward change. This is more than behavior modification. This is transformation.

But notice who accomplishes it. Paul says it happens “by the Spirit of the Lord.” Imagination is not some independent power by which we transform ourselves. The Holy Spirit transforms us as we behold Jesus and surrender our inner world to Him.

Wow! That makes me realize how much I need Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. I cannot save myself, transform myself, or overcome the power of sin through human effort alone. I need a Savior. I guess that is why they call Him Savior! I also need the power of the Holy Spirit continually working within me, revealing Jesus and transforming me into His image.

But dependence upon the Holy Spirit does not eliminate the power of choice God has given us. God is not going to remove every temptation from our lives and place us in a monastery where nothing can challenge what we believe. Even in a monastery, temptation can still find its way into the human heart. Instead, God gives us something far greater. He gives us the gift of righteousness, His Spirit within us, His Word to renew our minds, and the ability to choose what we will yield ourselves to.

Paul wrote, “Those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 NKJV. Righteousness is not something we earn by successfully avoiding every temptation. It is a gift we receive through Jesus Christ. But having received that gift, we now have the opportunity to live from the righteousness He has given us.

That is where choice becomes so powerful. Temptation may present one picture while the Word of God presents another. The enemy may whisper one thing while the Holy Spirit reminds you of truth. God does not make the choice for you. He has given you the ability to choose which voice you will agree with and which picture you will continue to behold.

This is not a picture of a powerless Christian desperately trying not to sin. This is a picture of a righteous son or daughter of God who can say, “That is not who I am anymore. I do not have to give this my attention, my agreement, or my body. Jesus has given me something better.”

God Imagination works in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and with our willingness to respond to Him. The Word reveals Jesus, the Holy Spirit illuminates what we see, we choose to agree with the picture God reveals, and transformation begins working from the inside outward.

Here is the progression:

Behold Jesus → See His Glory → Choose Agreement → God Imagination → Transformation → Christ Expressed Through Us

This brings us back to personal responsibility. We cannot always control the first picture that enters our mind, but we can decide what we continue to behold. We can decide what we continually feed, rehearse, meditate upon, and allow to occupy the canvas of our heart.

When an old picture tries to return, replace it with something greater. If worship helps turn your attention toward Jesus, then worship. If speaking God’s Word redirects your imagination, speak His Word. If praying the promises of God helps you see through His eyes again, then pray those promises.

Do not merely try to empty your imagination. Fill it with Jesus. Do not merely stop beholding fear. Behold the faithfulness of God. Do not merely turn away from lust. Behold the beauty and purity of Jesus. Do not continually rehearse your failures. Behold who you have become in Christ.

The answer to an evil imagination is not an empty imagination. It is a God Imagination.

Hebrews tells us to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2 NKJV. Our attention has a destination, and His name is Jesus.

Paul also says we are transformed “from glory to glory.” Transformation is progressive, but that is never an excuse to knowingly surrender ourselves to sin. Instead, it gives us hope because the Holy Spirit is continually working within us as we behold Jesus and choose to cooperate with Him.

Pictures that once dominated us can lose their strength. Desires that once controlled us can lose their authority. The old picture of who we thought we were can give way to the picture of who God says we are. We are not powerless spectators watching whatever picture happens to appear within us. Through Christ, we can choose what we will continue to behold.

Imagine beginning every morning by allowing the Word to paint Jesus upon the canvas of your heart before the world has an opportunity to paint its pictures. Then throughout the day, whenever another picture attempts to take over the canvas, exercise the gift of choice God has given you and turn your attention back toward Him.

This is God Imagination at its highest level. It is not merely seeing a better future. It is beholding Jesus, agreeing with what God says, and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us until the life of Christ becomes increasingly visible through ours.

So ask yourself today, “What have I been beholding, and what am I choosing to behold?” Consider what receives most of your attention and what pictures you continually feed. Your answer may reveal what has been shaping your imagination, and it may also prepare you for tomorrow’s question: Who has been holding the brush?

Prayer

Father, thank You for the gift of righteousness You have given me through Jesus Christ and for the gift of choice You have placed before me. Holy Spirit, continue revealing Jesus to me and transforming me into His image. When temptation, fear, offense, lust, failure, or any evil imagination presents itself, remind me that I do not have to give it my agreement. I choose to turn my attention toward Jesus and behold who You say I am in Him. Thank You for my Savior who has delivered me from the dominion of sin and for Your Spirit who is transforming me from glory to glory. Let the life of Jesus become increasingly visible through me. Amen.

Today’s God Imagination

God has given me the gift of righteousness and the power to choose what I will continually behold. I do not have to give temptation, fear, failure, or any evil imagination my agreement. I choose Jesus. I fix my eyes upon Him, agree with His Word, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit. As I behold Him, I am being transformed from glory to glory into His image.