Remove the Veil

Daily Reading: Exodus 34

Scripture Focus: Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:29b)

Devotional Thought: After smashing the first tablets with the Ten Commandments, Moses had to re-ascend the mountain where the Lord descended and stood with Moses. He revealed his glory to Moses there while the covenant was renewed. After spending another 40 days and nights with the Lord, the skin on Moses' face was shining. The Israelites were afraid to even come near him. Moses would eventually put a veil over his face every time he came out from speaking with the Lord. His encounters with the Lord were so powerful that they left a visible sign.

Jesus gave us another example. It is recorded in the gospels that as he prayed he was transfigured or transformed, his face shining with radiance. Even knowing the suffering that was in his future, Jesus glowed with the Holy Spirit when praying to his Father.

I wonder, do people notice such a change on our faces? Does prayer change us to the extent it did Moses and Jesus? We have that same capacity within us, if we are trusting in Jesus for our salvation. As Paul would say in his second letter to the church in Corinth: “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:16-18).

Remove the veil from your face and let the glory, the grace, and the love of the Lord be evident to all!

-Jenny

Prayer: Lord, we pray for the honor of having your Spirit apparent in our very countenance. May our gentleness be evident to all, so that they long for the same peace and joy that they can see clearly in us.

Psalm of the Day: 7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalms 90:7-12)