Nougat 8

Have you ever been hobnobbing? Hanging with the influential, maybe even the rich and famous, in the hope that some of their importance would transfer over to you? I haven’t really. (Those are not my circles. I don’t know that I’d be gauche in those circles, but it’s not my location at present). What I realize from those who do hobnob is that they seek to name drop, ie impress us, with whom they know. Today’s Holy Nougat invites us to think about all that in a different way.

“When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭29‬-‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Reflected Radiance

Moses was not wearing some fancy imported must-have face mask or potion. His face was radiant because he’d been in the manifest presence of God. He was up on the mountain, in the cloud of God’s presence, speaking one on one with God. I don’t think it was quite the same as we do now, despite God’s Spirit dwelling within us. This was intense, unfettered and intimate.

Most of all, it showed.

When the folks looked at Moses, it was evident that he’d been in God’s presence. Yes there was the radiance, but what came from him in those moments left no doubt about Who he’d been hobnobbing with. That glory was not faked. Moses was clearly in the presence of the Most High, Ruler of the heavens and earth.

We too can reflect the radiance of God.

2 Corinthians 3 tells us

“If the old way [ie the Law under Moses], which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way [ie under grace obtained through the resurrected Christ], which makes us right with God! So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” ‭‭(2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬, ‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬) … and we hold firmly to that blessed assurance.

Our faces might not literally shine like Moses’ but this is a different dispensation. And while the folks of them didn’t wish to behold the glory of God reflected on Moses’ face, ours is a world that’s dying for want of beholding such radiance. More than anything else, we ought to seek to be in God’s presence in such a way that we also reflect God’s glory. That we walk around with reflected radiance.

And this is not about Page 2, rather it’s about sharing the Love, Grace, Mercy, Life and Peace of God to a lost, broken and dying world.

It begins with a conviction, mobilized into a request and an openness to go where God’s Spirit leads us. It entails intentional time under the Sovereignty of God, that becomes an overflow to all we encounter. I’ve seen it before, that Shekina glory, and it’s one of my aspirations.

Greater than the sighting of a total solar eclipse, my desire for all who are called by God’s name (including myself), odd that we reflect the radiance of God’s glory wherever we are.

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May all we seek be found in Christ