The Small Branch

I have been taught that we are to reflect Jesus in all we do, like a mirror.  But I am not sure that is the best picture.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"  If the Spirit dwells in us, then we need to be a cleaner window, not a mirror.  "Me" dirties my window.  "Me" makes it hard to see through to the Spirit.  Genesis 1:27 says "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  If we are created in the image of God, then He should shine through  us, not be reflected off of us.  Maybe being sanctified means that our dirty window gets cleaned to clear glass so that the image of God is what people see rather than the dirt of ourselves.

     Matthew 10:20 says "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."  Several times in the book of Acts, the disciples are questioned and tortured yet they stand boldly before their accusers and speak.  Why?  How?  We are told they are "filled with the Holy Spirit".  To be filled with Holy Spirit, we must first be empty of ourselves.  This is not a one time act of emptying, but a daily, even minute by minute, emptying of ourselves.  Think about a glass.  If you want to fill it with lemonade, first you have to get the milk out of it.  To mix the two would not be good, it would just give you sour milk.  You empty the milk and even wash the glass before you put the new drink into it.  But even if you want more lemonade the next day, you still wash the glass before you put it in.  Over and over, washing the glass so that it is clean and ready for what the Father puts in it.