Today I just want to highlight quotes from the lesson in The Lord’s Table workbook.

Those who are focused on Jesus live victoriously over habitual sin. Our focus determines the direction of our life. (TLT, p. 171)

We need to look outside ourselves, look beyond the food, to the Person of Jesus Christ and “point our nose” at Him. This will keep us flying “straight and level.” (TLT, p. 171)

When he appears, we will be like Him. Oh how this should encourage our hearts, for so often while we are in this world we see that we are not like Him, and it hurts us to see these areas in which we are weak. It seems that each day we discover there is something else that must be extracted from our lives in order to reveal His image in us. A day is coming when we will indeed be like Jesus, completely. (TLT, p. 171)

Given the things that I have done recently, I receive a great deal of encouragement from these words. It has broken my heart, indeed, to see anew just how many ways in which I fall short of being Christ-like. I don’t mean in the sense of bashing myself over the head…just in the sense of being absolutely clueless…blind.

Yes, it *does* seem like each day there is something else that “must be extracted” from my life “in order to reveal His image” in me. It was the diet soda, then it was sweets, it was the scale…it feels like there are so many things to which I cling…the internet…you, my internet friends…God asks me lovingly, “Am I enough…really enough?” If all else were stripped away and all that was left, would I find Him satisfying? Truly ENOUGH for me?

I appreciate that this lesson points out that in 1 John 3:2 there is an important word there…translated “because” in some translations. Translated “for” in the NIV.


“But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

I WILL be like Him…and why? Because I shall see Him! The key is seeing Jesus…As I gaze on Him now, I will be transformed now.

Oh the power behind this one little verse. It teaches us that seeing Jesus changes us into His image. Though while on this earth we will always have some part of us that needs to change, if we focus on Christ we will slowly be changed into His image even now. (TLT, p. 171)

We must remain committed to seeing Him or else we will become distracted with pride that we’re doing so well, or with our appearance and comments from others, or any number of other things. Focusing on Jesus Christ is the answer to all of these distractions that can come our way. (TLT, p. 172)

I know for a fact that this is true. It is very easy to be distracted.

My favorite quote in today’s lesson is this one from page 174:

When we see Jesus we are granted liberty! Do you see it? The answer to our weight problem is to turn to the Lord; that is, to stop attempting to gain God’s favor by what we do, to stop trying to work our way into a right standing with God, and simply turn to the Lord! When we thus stop working for righteousness but rather turn to the Lord in repentance, we will catch a glimpse of Him and His beauty that will stun us! We will see in Him all that is needed to deal with our entire sin problem; the guilt, the shame, and the power of it. And as we gaze at Him we are slowly changed into His image.