But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:16

A song for when you turn to the Lord:

I used to think that I was right

A lonely candle in the night

And while the heart of the world was breaking

I could not feel the aching

The mantle had passed down to me

This thing was my destiny

But while the world was out there dying

I was in here lying to myself

 

For all the knowledge I had gained

Put me on a higher plain

And I became another

No one was my brother

And the loving message He brought down

Turned into a hollow sound

And then I heard Him calling

And His words sent me falling to my knees

 

And suddenly there was with me

An ocean of humanity

A sea of many faces

In waves of warm embraces

And while I questioned how to judge them all

Who would rise and who would fall

I found myself among them

And it mattered little who was wrong or right

 

And then I saw Him lifted up

The wounded one who drank the cup

Of death for all the dying

The end of justifying

And I laid my mantle on the ground

And felt the rain come pouring down

The rain of my religion

Falling down like weeping from the sky

 

This was the day I turned to the Lord — the day I spoke of in this song and had the veil of my religion taken away. And all along I thought I would be joining the saints, but lo and behold, He had me join the sinners.

That’s what happens when the veil is taken away; you join the sinners, and let me tell you, it is great company. Suddenly I was embracing people I would have formerly judged, and overjoyed that they would have me. So this is what it is to lose your veil — to go to the bottom and join everyone for whom Christ died who knows it and believes it, but can’t believe it at the same time, because it’s such good news and too good to be true.

We all have a lot to lose and we need to lose it. And we can afford to lose it because we have turned to the Lord and lost everything except for the one person we truly need: the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit is …

The 21 Day Challenge

— Day Eleven —

Losing My Religion

2 Corinthians, Chapter 3: 16-17

16.  but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

You cannot take it off any other way; there is no way you can show yourself how self-righteous you are. You have to turn to the Lord. That is the only way it is possible. But because we do not do this, we go on year after year hurting ourselves, hurting others, enjoying the momentary pleasure and sense of excitement we get from indulging these attitudes. We are unaware that gradually there is coming into our life the end of the fading glory, the death, the darkness, the emptiness, the sense of futility, the boredom, the dullness of that kind of Christianity.

Is there no hope for us?

The veil is over our minds, the Lord is in our hearts, in our human spirits.

Our hope of freedom comes from that great fact, for the one who is within us is God himself.

For your consideration

1. Take a few minutes and reflect on Liberty.  And then think about you being set free to be bold with nothing to hide including

• No reputation to defend

• No image to hide behind

• Nothing to preserve about yourself

• You can finally be you and you recognize God wants you to be you

• You are not afraid to look at all the evil that is possible in your heart and in your life. This is because you have another basis on which you can receive the acceptance and approval of God.

• It is a gift to you; continually accepting anew the gift of righteousness, of already being pleasing to God

• God’s basis of deliverance is to give you the gift of full acceptance and righteousness. You do not have to earn it at all, and your performance is not going to affect it. You already have it.

When you start looking at the One who is doing this in your life, the Lord Jesus, and beholding him with all your veils taken away so you are not afraid to look at your own evil capacity, then a wonderful thing happens:

17  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom