1 Corinthians 13:12 — Faith — Stylin' Granny Mama

The following account is taken from one of my own personal prayer journal entries. It is in the fires of upheaval that God does His refining work. For me to rant and rave against that work does not benefit, but when I come to Him with sincerity and a searching heart He uses that refiners fire to bring me into an ever deeper and more joyful relationship with Him. A good friend used to say, “God knows what He’s about.” How true that is. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” I Corinthians 13:12.

Image by Franz P. Sauerteig from Pixabay

(Pieces used in this journal entry came from a short video by Alistair Begg which you can view here, and from an article by A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, titled Himself. You can read that by clicking on the link.)

May 6, 2026

Lord, my God, my Savior, my King; You are an amazing God. You are the only, One True God. You are above all. You are the One True King; the One True Lord. You are the Creator of all that lives and of all that keeps us living. You are the Creator of the universe. How amazing You are. How good Your works are. How beautiful is Your Word. How holy is the Triune God; the Ternion in Sole - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

You have continually provided. Thank you for the provision of all things needed for life and godliness…through the true knowledge of You, who called us by Your glory and excellence; for by these You have granted to me Your precious and magnificent promises, so that by them I might become a partaker of Your divine nature. ( 2 Peter 1:1-4) Wow!

Lord, I certainly do not feel that I have been living as a partaker of Your divine nature. I have been struggling for months: physically, mentally, emotionally. If I partake in Your divine nature should this be so?

You gave me two things to look at this morning: Himself by A.B. Simpson, and the short take by Alistair Begg on Proverbs 24:10. Both seem to be redirecting me back to You. It is You who work and move in the world and in our lives. (Philippians 2:13)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

— Galatians 2:20 (NASB 1995)

It is no longer I who live…but You live in me. I believe this to be true, but lately grief, loss, illness, and sadness have left me feeling empty. I know, you are still there, still in me; You will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5-6). Why then, do I feel this nothingness?

“Never mind, my child, you have nothing. But I am perfect power; I am perfect love; I am faith; I am your life. I am the preparation for the blessing, and then I am the blessing too. I am all within and without and all forever.””

— Himself - A.B. Simpson

Lord, what does this mean? How am I to live? How am I to move forward? I feel so tired…exhausted…

“Come to me!” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I am trying to do that now. I come to You and lay my burdens at Your feet.

“I will make known to you the path of life; in My presence is fullness of joy; in my right hand are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11)

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”

— John 16:1 (NASB 1995)

Lord, these words, Your words, are reminding me, once again that all of life is in You; all I need and want is in You; that fullness of both God the Father, and the Holy Spirit combined with the fully Man; all of that fullness is mine to partake of, to learn from, to be comforted by, to be led by, to be loved by; to lean into, to know deeper and deeper.

Lord, don’t let me go. Don’t let my mind, heart, soul or body ever forget that in You is all the fullness of the God-head bodily, and You are all and everything I need for life and godliness.

Lord, you see my shortcomings, my sins, my coping mechanisms, which all pale in comparison to You. Help me out of the hole I am in. Raise me from the dead!

In Jesus’ precious name, and by His shed blood, Amen.

Last week I shared a quote from D. L. Moody.

“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.”

— D. L. Moody

The reason I started with this last week under my Faith Inspiration column was due to the fact that a single quote like this one can be so inspiring, and can cause us to look deeply into God’s word. I fleshed out the idea of our part in our own transformation, by choosing to read, study and meditate on God’s word. This week I wanted to discuss God’s part in the transformative process. To me those words about His power and work in our lives are wonderful words. Let’s dive in.

Last week I used the analogy of a butterfly to explain our part in the transformation process. We know God is the one who gave the butterfly the ability to transform, but the insect itself has to make the cocoon and push it’s way out once the transformation is complete.

This week I want to use the transformation of leaves in the fall as the analogy for God’s part in the transformative process. A deciduous tree goes through the process of leaf change every fall. As the weather cools, the tree gets less sunlight and in turn the chlorophyll in the leaves breaks down, leaving behind other pigments like yellow and orange. A few trees go through a chemical change where sugar gets trapped in the leaves producing new pigments called anthocyanin which are typically red. (Information from Smithsonian’s online article Why Do Leaves Change Colors in the Fall?)

This transformative process in trees is a process the Creator of the tree put in place. It is something that He instilled in the tree with the idea that as the season changes from summer to fall, the tree will begin that transformation. The tree doesn’t go to the mall and pick out a new gown to wear to the Autumn ball, the tree transforms as God makes it happen.

Image by 👀 Mabel Amber, who will one day from Pixabay

While the transformation in our walk with Him happens in part by our choosing to study and know Him more deeply, our complete redemption, justification and sanctification is the work of God. Let’s review those two passages.

“20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

— Philippians 3:20-21 (NASB 1995)

When we die, or when Jesus comes again, we will receive new, transformed bodies. Our humble state of living in the flesh will be brought into conformity with His glory. Revelation 21 says there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and that there will be no more death, crying, mourning or pain. The old will be passed away.

“15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 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 from the Lord, the Spirit.”

— 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 (NASB 1995)

This next passage reconfirms this idea that the transformation comes from the Lord. The physical Israelites were unable to truly understand the prophecies in the Old Testament, because they were unable to accept that Jesus was the fulfillment of those prophecies, thus the veil that still lies over their hearts. However, whoever turns to and believes in the work that Jesus did through His death and resurrection, Jew or Gentile, he/she has the veil removed and they are filled with the Holy Spirit receiving liberty.

Having the veil removed we are able to see the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into that same image, the image of Christ, from glory to glory. It is from the Lord; a work that He set into motion and accomplishes by His Spirit.

Going back to our beautiful trees, we see that they are transformed from glory to glory. The beauty of their starkness in the winter is now being transformed into the newness as the greening of spring is taking place. However, their true beauty does not compare until their leaves begin to die in the fall. That is when the hidden mysteries of their Creator are fully known. We will not fully know, until we meet Him face to face.

“12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NASB 1995)

The fact that God is transforming us into the image of His beloved Son, so that one day we will be glorified, just as He is glorified gives me hope. I hope it does for you as well.

Have a great weekend!

Leaning In - Getting Back to Basics when Life is in Upheaval - Part 1: A Personal Journal Entry

Wonderful Words of Life - Information or Transformation: Part 2