Day 11: Like Jesus

To be like Jesus / To be like Jesus / All I ask / Is to be like Him

All through life's journey / from earth to Glory / All I ask / Is to be like Him

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Hi everybody!

Sorry this is one day early...I will be leaving home tmr at an unearthly hour and will not be able to post anything :( Please only read this at 0001 on 17th July 2009 :)

Today’s (ok, tomorrow's) verse is one of those verses I tend to take for granted in the Bible, thinking I know what it means when I actually don’t.

Romans 8:28-29

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Perhaps it might help to look at a paraphrase of the verse by Eugene Peterson.

“…That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored.”

(I underlined the stuff I found interesting)

That’s pretty great, isn’t it? God deciding from the very beginning that He was going to shape our lives to become like that of Jesus. So ALL of us who love him, ALL of us whom God recognised from the very start, will be made like Jesus. It’s not a choice or a privilege for only the very “holy Christians”. If we are children of God who have the Holy Spirit working in us, we will become “Like Jesus”.

Yes, it is important to be Christ-like so that our friends will be drawn to Christ. It is also helpful to know that we can become more and more like Jesus through:

-Reading and Applying the Bible in our lives,

-Having the fruit of the Spirit developed in us,

-Loving one another, and

-Serving God and others.

Yet, I think it is even more reassuring that becoming Christ-like isn’t something we can strive (in our own strength) towards suddenly becoming. I often get frustrated with myself when I feel I am not yet “good enough” or up to standard (not loving enough, not having enough patience, etc etc) But this verse shows that I don’t have to strive!

The logic is this:

1) God WANTS us to be Christ-like, and he says he has decided that we will be.

2) So if we ask God to make us like Jesus, will he do it? Yes. Why? Because we are asking for something in his will.

4) But he will do it in his time and in his best way.

What we need to do, then, is to (1) ask him and (2) be submitted to the Spirit’s direction of our lives. Christ-likeness will then be formed in us, slowly but surely.

Blessings,

Cheryl

[BTW! For a period of time I kept wondering whether I had the Holy Spirit since I never ‘felt’ the Holy Spirit in a super clear way. 1 Corinthians 12:3 encouraged me greatly –

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

If we can confess with our lips and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, we have the Spirit in us – so let’s submit to His gentle prompting todayJ]