Be Like Jesus

To be like Jesus you must not try and copy Jesus.  We are not called by God to steal the idenity of Jesus. It seems many look at the life of Jesus and say, "he did that so I'm gonna do that too".  God calls us to follow Him and not just "copy" His Son. 

If you were to copy Jesus, copy His heart, not His outward deeds,  To copy outward deeds would be a striving to live according to the flesh.  You would be seeking to emulate good flesh, but flesh none the least.  Like our words, our deeds are to be a manifestation of our heart.  To produce miracles, drive out evil spirits or raise the dead does not come from external conformity but inward transformation.  

God made Adam to be a being that was not God, yet in relationship with God.  If God wanted more Angles or more Sons (of the Jesus sort) He would make some.  God created sons of the human sort and calls us in our humanity to be Christ like, not Christ himself.  We have limited power,  authority and purpose.  We are "not like Jesus at all" in that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father.  Jesus was the expression of God on earth.  Jesus lacked nothing and was filled beyond measure with the Holy Spirit.  We, on the other hand are only a part, have limited infilling and by God's design need each other to make a part.  Put a thousand of us working together in unified diversity and we have a "small part" of what God is doing on the earth.

When we read the Bible let's seen and understand what God desires for us (plural).  Let's be quick to live with fisherman, traitors, proud Peters and doubting Thomas's,   As the parable of the sower reveals,  fruit will follow good soil.   Just as Jesus waited on God 30 years for an infilling and release into service, maybe we too should have a heart that is patient,  kind, willing to yield and slow to anger.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Biblical Excellence and Stressful living

Image
Here is a posting from my journal some ten years ago. It was a part of my reflection as I transitioned out of public ministry and more into the prayer room. As in all perspectives, I am sure what I was doing was affecting what I felt everyone should do. We feel more secure when people agree with us. But I feel there are many young people, bombarded by social media and a false sense of reality, that need to know they are OK in their brokenness. Not OK, as in no need to change or grow. But OK in  being less than you can and less than others expect is a part of becoming all God made you to be. The road to Biblical excellence does not travel from the head, but the heart. Excellence. It is a word we use to challenge people to do their best, and just a little more. It is a mindset we may have to motivate ourselves to do more and to do more, better. But why? Should a Christian strive to live on the edge of perfection? Should that quest to be excellent be a motivati...
Read more

Contemplative Prayer Retreat on Your Journey

Image
Link to PDF  Generally, there are four different parts of our walk or journey with God.       Traveling towards/repositioning/repenting       Camping/waiting/rest            Assent/moving upward to fellowship/abide            Descent/moving outward to minister/serve/give Life is more confusing then it needs to be when we do not know what leg of the journey we are on. When we don’t know what God is doing in our lives, we feel lost, uncomfortable or even anxious. Add to this discomfort our tendency to take matters into our own hands as we can add burdens to our lives as we live as if we are in one stage while being in a different stage. This season of contemplation is designed to help you hear from the Lord what stage of the journey He has you in. We also need the wisdom to understand when our jobs are on one stage, our family in another and our service to the Lord...
Read more