More Like Jesus

09/21/12 More Like Jesus (part 3) 1 Corinthians 15:49 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. For the last two days I have been writing on what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ. Permit me to say a little more on this awesome truth. The precious gift of Christ-likeness is not something we earn or work for. It is a work of God that He not only does in us but He does it with us. How does God work with us? He empowers us to obey. For instance: 2 Peter 1:3-4 says, His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The promise we are thinking about is conformity to Jesus:. We shall bear the image of heavenly Man. This requires us to live by faith. We believe God will do as he has promised. As the Holy Spirit works in us we become partakers of the divine nature and that is Christ-likeness! The word ‘partake’ means to partner with, a companion, fellowship, or share things together. (Some of you may be familiar with the Greek word – koinonos.) We partake of God’s divine nature which includes His power and everything else we need as he conforms us to “the image of the heavenly Man.” This ‘divine nature’ enables us to express on the outside what God is doing on the inside. We begin to see others as God sees them and treat them as Jesus Himself would. In fact when you are living by faith the Spirit of Christ is doing His work through you. It is no longer you that lives your life; Christ lives His life through you. (Gal.2:20) Do others see your Christ-likeness? Do you seek to think of others the way Jesus thinks of them? Is the Lord Jesus living His life not just in you , but through you? Prayer: Father, do what you need to do in me so that when others hear what I speak and see what I do they will glorify my Lord Jesus. In His precious name amen.

09/20/12 Most of us are familiar with Rom. 8:28. It is a most blessed promise that God will work all things for the good of those who love Him. The next verse helps us understand what the ‘good’ is. It is being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is our good and it is the will of God (His purpose) to work everything in a way that will finally conform us so that we will be like Jesus. Yesterday we saw an example from the life of David. I want you to look with me a little closer at this truth of what it means to be conformed into the image (likeness) of Jesus. When we are being conformed into Christ’s image it is a work that God begins on the inside of us that will show on the outside. When the Spirit of God begins to transform you inwardly, you will begin to express outwardly a life that reflects the beauty of the Lord Jesus! God used the anvil of adversity and the crucible of affliction to conform David into His man! And He will do what is needed in your life to accomplish the good that he has planned for you. So if you are going through difficult times and it seems as though God isn’t listening, you can rest easy because of the truth of Rom.8:29. The almighty and wise and loving God is working for your good. And He has promised that we will be like Jesus. And that is GOOD! 1 John 3:2 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Prayer: Father, thank you for loving me enough to be my good. Help me to daily surrender myself to you. Help me to understand that you are always at work for my good. Create opportunities for me show I can show others what you are doing in me. In Jesus name, amen.

More like Jesus

09/19/12 More Like Jesus Many of us have asked the Lord to make us more like the Lord Jesus. This kind of heart-felt prayer is the kind that God will answer because His will for all His people is that we be conform to the image of His Son (Rom.8:29). But how does God do this? One answer is that He gives us opportunities to be show the same kind of mercy to others that Jesus shows to us. 1 Samuel 24 gives us an example of a man who was being conformed into the image of the One who died for us. Even though God had already anointed David as the next king through the prophet Samuel, Saul still wanted to kill David. We find David hiding in a cave with Saul in hot pursuit. While there were many caves in the area Saul decides to relieve himself in the one that David and his men were hiding in. David’s men thought this was a divinely appointed opportunity to kill Saul and then he would become the rightful king. But David refused to take matters into his own hands. Instead of killing him as he deserved, David showed mercy. Unknown to Saul, David cut of the corner of the king’s robe. When Saul was at a safe distance David revealed to Saul what he had done. David said that he could not kill the one whom God had appointed; instead he left judgment to the Lord. Even wicked Saul realized the righteousness of David. “Then he [Saul] said to David: "You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil (24:17). Here is a picture of our Lord. The Righteous One rewards us with good when we should have been judged and sentenced to die! God was conforming David into the image of our Lord by giving him opportunities to reward evil with good. Someone has said that we should do all the good we can, in all the ways we can, to all the people we can, as long as we can. If you really want to be like Jesus, our gracious Lord and God will give you opportunities to good, even if it is to the ones who wish to harm you. Prayer: Father, It’s not easy to love your enemies and go good to them. Fill me with Your Spirit, open my eyes to see the opportunities that you created and planned for me, and give me what I need to act and speak as if it were the Lord Jesus himself. In His name amen.

The Ever-Present God

09/18/12 The Omni-presence of God is defined as all of God is everywhere at the same time. He is the ever-present God. One of the great truths of God’s holy Word is that God is always with us. To some this is a blessing and comfort but to others it is usually a truth that is either ignored or disbelieved. In Amos 9 the prophet reminds them that no matter where they go they would not be able to escape or hide from God. The people of Amos’ day had become so sinful that they no longer acknowledged God’s presence. Because God is holy He would show them that He was still ever-present but instead of rescuing them they would see His presence come in judgment. The end of Amos 9:4 terrifying – “I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good." Contrast this with Psa.139. The psalmist, David, ask the question: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” As he continues the Psalm David not only acknowledges that God is ever-present but he blessed and comforted by this wonderful truth. God was both near and dear to him and he saw this truth as precious and great (V17). I admit that I can’t rap my mind around this truth enough to fully understand it but I can and do believe it. If you would take a moment each day and meditate on the this marvelous truth I believe you would see a lot less stress and lot more rest for your soul. Write this doctrine on your heart and through the blood of Jesus Christ “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb.4:16). Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for being with me and your promise that you will never leave me. Today I want to rest in you. In Jesus name amen.

The Gospel

The spiritual laxness in many of our churches should burden every concerned Christian. Multitudes who claim to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ show no noticeable change in their lives. Yet the Bible clearly states that Christ produces a radical change in the lives of those who receive Him. They were once in darkness, now they are light. They have been born again, regenerated, and become new creations. These are radical, life altering changes! Still too few show any interest at all in spiritual things. Many attend church only when they have nothing else to do. Can you help but wonder, “Why?” Since the Gospel really is God’s power unto salvation (Rom.1:16) why do so many claim to have received the Gospel but are still unchanged? While I cannot go into all the details about what is wrong, one thing is certain—God and His Word have not changed. Since the Gospel was changing lives when Paul wrote Romans, it still has the power to change lives now. So why aren’t we seeing more changes than we do?

I believe we have presented the Gospel either wrongly or that what we are presenting is not really the Gospel at all. Most people start out by telling lost men and women that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. Then because most lost people think that they are already pretty good they readily accept the fact that God loves them. Having received this message, they begin planning their own lives without taking God into account. They seem to think that God sends whatever successes or wealth they obtain. Then when they face hardships they abandon God and His church since they are still centered on themselves. They do not deny themselves, neither are they willing bear any cross, and certainly they do not follow Jesus. Luke 9:23. Jesus and Paul never started with God’s love; they always began by showing sinners their sin. You will find no place in the Gospels where Jesus begins by telling sinners He loved them. But certainly He did and does love us! John 3:16. The closest we come is John 3:16. But Jesus said this after Nicodemus realized that it was impossible to enter the kingdom on His own. And even then it was a general statement that Jesus loved the world.

So if we don’t start out with the “God loves you plan,” what do we do? We begin where Jesus and Paul did—with the law. People need to see their sinfulness or they will never see the need to repent. Until they see that they have broken God’s law and offended the thrice holy God, continue being deceived—thinking that they are saved when they may not be. Their last state is worse than the first. Consider a couple of examples. Mark 10:17-22 tells of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus enquiring what he needed to do to have eternal life. Our Lord immediately took him to the law. (10:19) But the young man still didn’t understand, since he thought that he’d kept all of the law’s requirements. Jesus loved him enough to tell him the truth. He needed to get rid of whatever possessions he had that kept him from taking up his cross and following Jesus. Our Lord’s style of evangelism is far different from many today. Jesus did not start with love—the young man and all of us who are converted must be convicted of our sin. God uses the law as the tool for that. In the book of Romans Paul does the same thing that Jesus did. Paul takes almost three chapters to convince readers that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Only then does he show that faith in Christ provides the way to escape the law’s punishment for sin. For an example he points to Abraham—Abraham was a sinner (he worshipped idols), but a radical change took place when he trusted God. Romans 4:16 says that we must have the same kind of faith that Abraham had—faith that shows that a radical change has taken place.

Note: Those who already broken over their sin are ready to be led to the cross and God’s love. The general rule is: the law should be applied to those who think highly of themselves (pride which God hates), and grace to those who are broken by their sin.

Take Heed

Two days ago I received word that one of my dear friends had succumbed to temptation. Since then his wife has left him, the church he served in has dismissed him and no one seems to know where he is. My heart aches for him and the church. This is the second time in the last few months that this has happened to one of my friends and I am grieved because of it. People's emotions and feelings are running rampant (mine included). Some are disappointed and upset while others are bewildered and confused. What is even worse is that reproach and shame has been brought on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and His church. These men are my friends. I prayed with them and served alongside them. We shared our heartaches with each other. They are my brothers. We live in perilous times. While these men are near and dear to me I'm sure there are others who could repeat my story. There are questions that I want answered: Why are these things happening? How can they be prevented from happening again? What can I do?
Most of us think that this would never happen to us. I know I thought it. Several years ago while I was in seminary we had an outbreak of moral failures. Our professor addressed the issue in class. I was sitting there thinking that I would never do such a thing. In my mind I was listing reasons why I would never be unfaithful to my wife. About the time I had convinced myself how wonderfully pure I was and would remain that way, the professor said that if you are sitting here and thinking that you would never do such a thing and that you would always remain faithful, you are the very one that is most likely to fall!
(I knew those guys were really smart but could he actually be reading my mind?) Needless to say he had my attention. The Bible says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12)
I do not have all the answers but God’s word does. The 1 Corinthian 10 passage speaks to this issue. What is amazing to me is that Paul spoke of the people eating and drinking then rising up to play (10:7) before he cited other sins and rebellions. It seems that most of our failures usually begin when we are full and satisfied, when we don’t seem to ‘need’ God. Then we begin to look elsewhere as our hearts lust for something more. These things usually happen because we seek our satisfaction from others instead of God. And knowing why they happen is a sure way of preventing them in the first place. We must, in the power of the Holy Spirit, keep our minds stayed upon our Lord. He will keep us in perfect peace. (Ia.26:3) And what can you do? Take heed, be on your guard. If you are a follower of Christ you are an enemy of the devil. He seeks to devour you and your family. Never think you are above any sin or temptation. Have some accountability in your life. When possible, don’t allow yourself to be put in a situation where you can be tempted. And above all keep yourself close to God and your spouse. We live in perilous times but not impossible times. Don’t allow Satan to ruin you and those close to you. Have faith in God.

The Mind

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
One of the best books on spiritual warfare that I’ve read was by Warren Wiersbe, The Strategy of Satan. In the first chapter he says that the spiritual battles begin in the mind. He went on to explain how important the mind is because your mind is the place where God communicates with you. God speaks the truth, His word, to your mind. And Satan’s greatest weapon against our minds is his lies. All of us act and live based on what we believe to be true. If the devil can convince you that a lie is truth then your life will be based on a lie. So, our thoughts are of utmost importance.

What we think about the most usually reveals where our true passion lies. It may be our goals, children, parents, jobs, etc. But most of what most people think about are earthly and will soon perish. Many seem to be running around like ants on a hill, never thinking much of eternity. Most do not even consider that they will one day die and enter into eternity. What will they do then? We are laboring, striving, and exhausting ourselves for what? Is it some fleeting pleasure that will soon pass? It is trying to secure the recognition of someone who will soon not be here? What is it? Set your minds on things above where Christ is seated in heavenly places! The battle for your life begins in the mind. Think on Christ!

One more thought I want you to consider: you can control your thoughts. One of Satan lies is that we can’t help what we think about or how often we think about something. But 2Cor.4:5 tells us that we are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We are not to allow certain thought processes to control us. We are to control our thoughts, take them captive so they will obey Christ.
As wonderful as our minds are we can only think about one thing at the time. A person cannot entertain evil thoughts and thoughts about the Lord Jesus at the same time. If, then, an evil thought should come to him, he should immediately get rid of it by meditating on the Person and work of Christ. Satan cannot read your mind but God can and does. Our thoughts are on loud speaker, surround sound and in high definition before Him. The battle really does begin in the mind. Let’s be sure that we are thinking on things that are above, things that are pleasing to Christ.