Evidence of Spending Time With God

Reflections for this date are based on the following scripture passages:
Luke 19	Luke 20	Luke 21	Exodus 33	Exodus 34	Psalms 36

"Whenever Moses went before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses' face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the LORD." (Exodus 34:34-35)

When Moses went up on Mount Sinai and spent 40 days in God's presence receiving the Ten Commandments and other instructions related to God's covenant with the Israelites, his face shown when he came down off the mountain. This phenomenon continued and Moses put a veil over his face when he was in the presence of the people because of the brightness of his face. When he went into the tent of meeting to be in the Lord's presence he removed the veil, and each time he left the tent and the presence of the Lord, his face was radiant anew.

A face radient from being in the presence of God is not restricted only to Moses. Sure, his face literally radiated a brightness like a light that shown, but a face that radiates is something we all experience when we spend time with God. Time and time again I have noticed people whose face was troubled or sad reflecting a burden they carried. But after regularly spending time with God for a while, their face changed. It no longer had the troubled or sad look but a radiance due to the lifting of the burden that weighed them down.
I minister among many who struggle to come out of addictions. On top of the burden of their addictions, many aspects of their lives are a mess. Their eyes are dull and lifeless and their faces downcast when they first come. Our continuous encouragment is to spend time with God through prayer and reading His word. Invariably their countenance begins to change when they do this, and with time begins to take on a radiance as it reflects a newfound joy. There can be no mistaking the result of spending time with God.

Some begin spending time with God and their faces begin to change, reflecting their time with God. Then they get pulled back into their addiction and this, too, is reflected in their faces. The look in a person's eyes and the turn of their mouth tells the story. This phenomena is too prevalent to ignore and causes us to be tireless in our efforts to turn them to spending time with God. We cannot take away their addictions or straighten up the mess of their lives, but God can and He is the One to whom we need to point them.