Change

          Some things can change quickly while others take a long time in order to change. There were those times when my Father would raise the hood on the car and notice that the battery terminals were getting corroded. He would reach for a 7 ounce bottle of Coca Cola and then pour it on the top of the battery. All of the corrosion would fizzle for a moment and he would then pour a little water on it to remove the fizz. The battery terminals were like new. They had been changed by the ingredients of the Coca Cola. That was an example of a quick change to something. A rose can be changed by grafting in different rose. The result would be a combination of the two but it takes months for it to happen. Other examples of change may even occur over many years. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

       Paul reminds the believers at Corinth that they are all in the process of being changed and many of them don't even know it is happening. I am particularly excited about the word that is defined as "changed" in this passage. The word is used several other times in the bible and you would recognize it as the word "transfigured" that is used of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. The only other time it is used is here in Second Corinthians and also in Romans 12:2 where it is translated as "transformed." This is a gradual process that begins the moment you become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and continues until you either die or meet the Lord in the air at the rapture, whichever comes first. Some look at this gradual process and describe it as our "sanctification." It doesn't happen like pouring a coke on corroded battery terminals. It takes a lifetime to accomplish. Paul described the process here as going from glory to glory, one after the other, until we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. In our modern day life, we can also associate this change as that which occurs when a worm goes into a cacoon and comes out a butterfly. It is a metamorphosis. That is what is happening in each of our lives from day to day and from glory to glory. It is interesting to note that the dictionary describes the definition as "a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means." In the case of believers, it is indeed through supernatural means, in other words, by God Himself. When you feel as thought you are going one step forward in your spiritual life and then two steps backward, remember that God is working in you and in the end, you will be His completed work. Praise God today for His work in each of our lives. As Paul told the Philippians, God will complete each and every work in us. Philippians 1:6