1 Peter 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Words are all I have here. Words are all I have on facebook. Words are all I have at church, sometimes. More and more I communicate via e-mail and texting. The written word is the most easily misconstrued form of communication. We have no control over how a person might interpret our meaning. Being honest is vital. The more important the message, the more clarity is required.

Some of the people that read this message I have never met. I might never meet them. If my words have any effect at all, it isn’t within my control. God has visited you and revealed Himself. I can only put to words those things which I see and hear. Only God can make them real.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Just words, only God can make it real for you.

Galatians 2:20a I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:

Ever since the invention of the camera phone selfies have been sent from phone to phone and posted on the internet. Some are funny, some are just sad, even the president has been caught up in it.

Having been part of a difficult conversation about Christ in us, it seems many of us have a difficult time seeing Christ in ourselves. We would love to take a selfie and look to see “Hey that looks like Christ.” I wish it was just that easy.

A selfie is a snapshot in time, a moment of capturing an image which cannot and should not be mistaken to represent all that you are in this life. Christ in us cannot be seen that way either. We cannot expect to see Christ in  ourselves by any moment, evidenced on film or in words on a piece of paper.

Galatians 2:20b and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So often we look at living by faith as living by my faith, but that is not what the scripture says. The faith of the Son of God, He is the faithful one. Living by my faith is but yet another “selfie”. That is why it seems so difficult to capture an image of Christ in us. Living by faith is not static, it is an outpouring of the spirit which is invisible. If you want to see Christ in you, don’t look in the mirror or take a selfie, look to the effect of Christ on others.

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

You won’t see the wind blowing, but you will see the leaves on the tree move.