Derek Prince - Do You Want Change? Look In The Mirror Of God's Word
This is a clip from: God's Word Your Inexhaustible Resource
And then another really important aspect of the word of God is that it's a mirror. We turn to the epistle of James for a moment chapter 1 and verse 23. James says: For if any one is a hearer of the Word -the word of God- and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. The picture there is the word of God is a mirror. But it's not a mirror that shows you what a normal mirror shows you which is your outward appearance, but it's a mirror that shows you what you are like on the inside. It shows you your true spiritual condition. And James warns us not to just look in the mirror, see what we're like, and then go away and forget it and do nothing about it. But he says if we will really look in God's word as a mirror it will show us our real inner condition. I often, when I'm preaching to congregations, I will actually hold the Bible up and say I'm holding a mirror up to you. I'm not going to tell you about yourself. Just look in the mirror and see what it tells you.
When I'm preaching on deliverance from evil spirits which I do preach on from time to time people get rather nervous and I say don't get nervous, it's all right. I'm not going to jump off the platform, stick my finger between your eyes and say you have a demon. That's not it, that's not the way I operate. I'll just hold up the mirror and let you look for yourself. And after that it's up to you to decide what you'll do about what the mirror shows you. Looking in the mirror is extremely important for our spiritual growth and welfare. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says something that's really very beautiful. He says: 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. Now all that's in the present tense what we call in English the continuing present tense. While we continually look in the mirror we continually see God's glory revealed in the mirror.
And as we look the Holy Spirit changes us into the likeness of what we see from glory to glory. That's wonderful but it only works while you're looking in the mirror. If you take your eyes away from the mirror the Holy Spirit no longer works. So you have to continually be looking in the mirror of the word of God to see what God intends to make of you. And the more you look the more glorious it gets. It's not static. Paul says it's from glory to glory. You get one glimpse of what God wants to make you in Christ and you think that's wonderful. The next time you look God shows you that was only just one stage but there's a whole lot more to come. Please absorb this: The Holy Spirit cannot work unless you're looking in the mirror. When you take your eyes from the mirror the Holy Spirit ceases to work in you. So, if you want to be changed spend time looking in the mirror and as you look in the mirror the Holy Spirit will be faithful to change you.
See, one thing I discover today in the world is that I think most people have a very poor self image. They don't think of themselves in a good sense. And unfortunately, this is also true of multitudes of Christians. I think perhaps there is no problem that Christians struggle with today more than a poor self image. I believe the real biblical solution is to keep looking in the mirror because the mirror will show you what you're like... and that's a shock. But if you keep looking then the mirror begins to show you what God can make you. And it shows you how valuable you are in God's sight. If we would take more time with the Bible we couldn't really think about ourselves as inferior or not valuable. I've helped so many people in this way. One thing I tell people is this. Listen, the value of anything is what people will pay for it. You may have a house and you want to sell the house and the real estate dealer will tell you it's worth who knows, 200,000 dollars. But nobody will pay more than 120,000 so the real value of that house is not 200,000, it's 120,000. The value of a thing is what people will pay for it.
Now what's your value? How do you discover your value? By finding out what God paid for you. And God bought you with the most valuable thing in the universe the blood of Jesus. So your real value is what God was willing to pay for you. Don't let people give you a sense of inferiority, don't measure yourself by other people, don't listen to all sorts of negative insinuations but just say - I've told many people to say this- I am infinitely valuable in the sight of God. Because, God bought me with the most valuable thing in the universe, the blood of Jesus. Would you like to say the first part of it? I'll say it, you say it after me. I am infinitely valuable in the sight of God because God bought me with the most valuable thing in the universe, the blood of Jesus. And, that's how valuable I am. You can tell the devil: Don't bother with all your accusations and insinuations because I know my own value. But you won't know that unless you spend time in the Bible. It's only as you listen to what God is telling you about yourself and His love for you that you'll escape from that problem of low self esteem.
So take time in front of the mirror. Most of you ladies here spend at least some time in front of the mirror each day. I've brought up nine adopted daughters so I'm not theorizing when I talk about the time girls spend in front of the mirror! How much time do you spend in front of God's mirror? I'm not saying you shouldn't care about your outward appearance. I think it's appropriate. But how much time do you spend about the things that's permanent? One day all that outward beauty is going to vanish away but what you're inside, you're going to live with forever and ever and ever. It's worth taking time to make yourself beautiful in the sight of God.
There's a beautiful statement in the Song of Solomon which is the dialogue between a bridegroom and his bride. It's also a picture of how Jesus as the bridegroom speaks to His church. One of the verses in it, the bridegroom says you are all fair my beloved, there is no spot in you. And that's how Jesus speaks to us; because of what the blood of Jesus has done for us and what the word of God does for us. We may feel inferior, we may feel not worth very much but if we could take time in front of the mirror we'll discover that He says to us you are all beautiful, there's not one spot in you. It's worth spending time in front of the mirror.