To Be Like Jesus

 Galatians 3:27   For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

A Christian believes that Jesus is the Son of God. In addition, he or she should desire to be like Christ. To be united with Christ means to be one with Jesus, and is a statement of a Christian's partnership with Jesus in communicating to other in our walk and our talk, what he is like. The hearts and action of Christians are to be the same as that of Jesus Christ. Our lives should characterize the tenderness, compassion, unity and love of Jesus and we should have a desire to serve others. What should be absent are selfish ambitions and vain conceit. God understands that doing these things will not be easy. But neither was Jesus' journey to the cross. Jesus was "obedient unto death" knowing that his sacrifice would ultimately result in restoring man's broken relationship with God. God wants Christians to be obedient to the same degree, knowing that this will fulfill His purpose for our lives and work out or finish what was started when we first put our faith in Jesus.

Being one with Christ should result in a desire to be like Christ. This in turn should lead to a commitment to be obedient. The net result should be a life that reflects Christ character, one where our attitude and actions are a good reflection on God. Like Noah's ark, there is only one door into salvation, and that door is Jesus, and only those inside Christ spiritual body, His Church, will be saved when the flood of judgment comes. The Fathers will is that none will be lost, let us live a life that leads all men to the salvation of the Lord.

Do You Know Enough To Truly Believe

John 6:69 "And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God"
    

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God?  Is your belief  a committment to follow Him. Is your belief one of total surrender, or is it just the fact that you believe that Jesus lived, died and rose again, but not strong enough to bring you to action. Do you know enough about the Lord to truly believe.

People it is a must to learn about the Lord. How can you trust Him if you don't know Him.Yes what mommy and grand mommy,and even daddy tells you is good, but you have to know God personally and for yourself. Paul scolded the Corinthian Christians for their un-spiritual attitudes and conduct. He explained that their problems were cause partly by some of them having too little knowledge of God's ways. Most of the division the church now suffers, is from our lack of knowledge and  understanding of the knowledge we think we have about our Lord.  We cannot properly honor and serve God or his Son, Jesus Christ, unless we have knowledge of his will.We aquire that knowledge through regular, diligent Bible study.We must study to show ourselves approved unto God, that we might truthfully live the word of truth. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that we may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work. It is through our knowledge of God and his word that we are equipped to do that which he calls us to do.

Think about your relationship with Christ. How much time do you truly spend with Him.If He was to do with you the way you do Him, would you feel like you were in a good relationship with Him?

I Will Trust Him

Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him

The Lord knows them which are His, and his eye is always on them. Time, place, speech, or the way we dress cannot obscure his vision or dull his hearing. He can discern Daniel in the den; Jonah lodged in the belly of the fish, Peter in prison, Lazarus wrapped in rags, or Abel rolled in Blood. He can call them by name, and send his angels to comfort them, for God knows those that are His.

Many talk about trusting God, however the truth shines in that great day of trouble. The true believer is calm and quiet in his God, and takes refuge in His strong tower. Everybody can find a bird's nest in the winter when the trees are bare, but what about when the green leaves hide them. The believers faith and life is put on displayed by adversity. The true believer shines in times of tribulation, for His trust lies within the Lord.

Do you truly trust in the Lord? Now I am not talking about saying you trust Him , but do you live in your trust of Him? Does the trials and tribulations of life cause you to seek comfort in things of this world?

Give It All To Jesus

1Kings 10:2 "And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart".

It sometimes can be a unwise thing to pour your heart out to someone, Samson found this out the hard way as he bore all to Delilah. Yet if we could meet with Solomon who could solve all our difficulties, we might wisely do so. But we have one with us now who is greater and wiser than Solomon in Jesus, who is incarnate wisdom.The problem is ,when it comes to Jesus we are all to silent,and with our worldly friends we talk way too much, just look at some of the stuff we see daily on social networks. This is an Evil that must be changed.

We ought to share with Jesus all that is in our heart, when we neglect to be intimate with him we cheat ourselves out of a blessing. He said cast all your cares upon him. He is inviting us to talk and share with him. To conceal anything from so true a friend betrays the friendship as shows that there is something wrong to be hide. It shows a lack of confidence in his love, his sympathy, and even his ability to fix what ever the situation. Between the bride and the bridegroom there can be no secrets or the love will be  hurt,the marriage shaky. Besides how can you keep something from Him who knows all things. He knows our sorrows, our joys, our service,our plans, our successes and our failures, he understands our desires, our fears our loves and our mysteries, but he wants us to trust and love him enough to share them with him, he is the savior of all that will hinder us from his eternal peace and his everlasting rest. There is more to letting Jesus into your life than just opening your heart, you must give him your heart and all that lies within it.

The believer must draw near with full assurance of faith, come and tell him all your wants and desires freely, without concealing anything from him, for that shows a distrust and lack of faith.The stronger the faith is, the more the heart will share and it will share more completely. Is there anything you want you cannot tell the Lord? Is there any sin you feel you cannot confess before him, any person in your heart you haven't share with Jesus.Think of all the hurt and pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Open your heart, share your heart, give him your heart, Jesus never fails........

A Cry From The Heart

Isaiah 55:1 " Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;  yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."
Here we have a invitation from the depths of God's heart. He says come, everyone come. All who thirst or hunger. The poor, poverty stricken, all are invited to come.  He urgently gives an invitation that offers rest and peace for all who come. God invites the weary to come to Him so they can experience rest for their souls.

The key to experiencing this rest is having a right relationship with God, something that can happen only if you have a personal relationship with Jesus.We all have responsibilities that drain us and difficulties that wear us down.We can let the world drag us down its weary path, or we can join our lives with Jesus, who wants us  to know that He's eager to have us in His yoke of care, guiding us, giving us help for our present needs, and assuring us that He has a plan for us that includes rest and peace, with everlasting life.

So he tell us to come, leave where you are, the situation you are in and come to him.The promise is when you come to Him with everything he will give you rest. Rest from worry, from need, from doubt, rest from the cares of this world,for he said you don't need money but come and buy; be filled.The invitation has been extended,will you accep it?

 

Lost unawares

Luke 15:8 "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver,if she lose one piece,doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it"?
Church there are many In the house of God who are lost and unaware of it. Rather it be they are lost in denominations, titles, positions or in the business of the church, many are lost. God's church has been replaced with personal  ministries; His word substituted with our wishes, His truths exchanged for our traditions, His purpose with our desires and His will with our wants.  It sometimes seem sas though He should be happy with what ever we do.

 There are a great many people, who enter church houses around the world to worship and praise God, but who have no ideal they are lost.They are lost in the church. And so there are  many who stay lost outside the church. Over the last ten years or so it seems that God has called a vast number of Apostles, Bishops, Pastors, and Prophets, and yet sin is running more rampade than ever before, and the sad thing is a lot of the trouble is coming out of the church house.We are lost; lost in religion and religious rituals, lost in mans triditions and in denominations, lost in church leadership, seeking to be part of the who's who of religious circles, lost in positions and titles, busy with church business, but lost to the business of the Church. When asked what church we attend ,we don't say the name of the church anymore, we give the name of the Pastor or Bishop like they actually have a church. We pass down churches to family members like God no longer gives us Pastors according to his heart. People we are the body not the head. We were called out and separated to be servants of God, to go out into the world, and preach Christ and him crucified. So much time is spent trying to convience the world of who we are, that we forget to tell them about the one who truly matters. The lost in this world don't need to know who we are ,but they need to know who Jesus is; they don't need to know we are saved, but they need to know the savior.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost; he gave us instructions to go into the hedges and the highways and compell them to come in, that his house might be full; To preach the gospel to every creature. We have gotten lost to the message of salvation and replaced it with one of prosperity and self promotion. Let us get back on track and find the lost in the house of God, and go out and preach Christ and him crucified to a dying world. He is the power of God unto salvation.

Mercy's calling

Jeremiah 18:11 "Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you:return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good".

This is a voice of mercy, concerned about each one of us. Justice might slay the sinner, but mercy will slay the sin and spare the sinner.Yet the voice of holiness,is opposed to every mans evil way, and offers each person an acceptable life. The Lord Jesus did not come to be a minister of sin, but a destroyer of sin.Let each of us examine our own selves,for we all have an evil way of our own.God is crying out with mercy, and from his message we first hear we must return.This includes three things; We must stop, stand still, go no further in our evil way. We must turn around, turning from our wicked way to seek Gods face. And we must hurry back, move in the right way and continue on the right path. Seeking the lost was so important to Jesus, that he said he would leave the ninety nine to save the one.So let us heed his call.

When should we return? Now, every step we take in the wrong drection takes us further from God. Each step away makes it harder to come back,and you might not have another chance to come back; the day you hear his voice harden not your hearts.Everyone should return,for every man has his own particular way of sin,even though we might think others sin is worst than our sin. God is calling out to each and everyone of us to return to the good way, the narrow way, the way of righteousness, peace and love. So let us return from our evil way, our personal sin, our consitutional sin, our most frequent sin, the one you are most easily lead to engage in, like pride, envy, etc. To enter into sin is easy, it is the nature of the natural man, but yet how difficult is the way back, to retrace your steps back to righteousness is work, and we must labor. Only by faith in the Lord Jesus can this be done, to those who believe in the Lord Jesus he will send the Holy Spirit to lead them in the way everlasting.

There are two things proper to a man that returneth:first,to go a way clean contrary to the way he went before; secondly to tread out and destroy his former steps. Many think the way to hell is but a little out of the way to heaven,but they be decieved,sin is more than just a stepping off the path it is total rebellion against God, it is going away from God,so we must turn around, turn from our ways to turn to God's way.Jesus said" I stand at the door and Knock" let us answer his call, let us return to our loving Father like the prodical son, let us hear his call of mercy. 

Created In Christ...

Ephesians 2:10 " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. "

We who profess to be born again. Those who my the confession of their own faith claim to be born of the spirit of God, are thus claiming to be Christ like. These are not words to be just thrown around lightly. We must remember the world is looking, there are others who are reading the word of God in the life that you are living. We who profess Christ are ambassadors to Christ.

Now this I snot to say we are to live a life perfect and sin free, but our short comings should be the acceptation and not the rule. If we believe that Christ rose with all power there should be some evidence of this in the life that others see us living. People should see love for others in our life. Ours should be a life of prayer which offers hope to those lost in darkness. Just as many of us resemble our earthly parents, there should also be some resemblance to our heavenly Father seen in us.

The text says we are  His workmanship; The work of God, the creator and maker of all things. We have been created in Christ, in Him who there is no sin we have now been created in him unto good works. We are to be the example which God ordained , and thus we should walk or live in the profession of our faith.  Jesus rose with all power let us live like we believe this truth.

Saved From Sin -Not In Sin..

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

Jesus Christ death; the message is unbelievable, a message of redemption, which is a substitution for sin. This is one of the great verses proclaiming the unbelievable love of God. It is impossible for man to grasp the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us, yet that is exactly what the scripture says. He who knew no sin made to be sin, because the sole that sins shall surely die, so for man to live Christ had to die.

Why was this act necessary? Because man needed more than just righteousness to stand perfect before God. To stand righteous before God is not enough, because man has already sinned. Man already stands guilty of breaking God's law, and the judgement and condemnation of death has already taken effect upon man. So the condemnation and judgement of sin had to be taken care of. God did this by laying all the sins of man upon Christ, all the guilt and condemnation of sin, God placed it all on Christ and allowed Him bear it all Himself. God's purpose for this was that we through Christ death, might be made righteousness of God in Christ. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, I mean really believes, God takes that man's faith and He counts it as righteousness. The man is not righteous, but God considers the man's faith in Christ as righteousness. God does this because he loves man so much, that he sent His only begotten Son to die that we might have a right to life. Jesus secured righteousness for man. He came into the world to die for man. He came and arose from death and thus conquered death for man. His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer.

The truth is this, God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much, that He honors any man who honors His Son by believing in Him and believing Him. When we sincerely trust Christ, God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness, thus He judges us , and treats us, as though we are innocent. We are not innocent, us and God both knows this, but God counts us as innocent because of our faith in Jesus Christ. In the eyes of God, our faith says we have died with Christ and rose a new creation in Christ who is the righteousness of God..

Greater Than Mothers Love

Song of Solomon 3:4 " It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought Him into my mothers house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me".

I truly believe the best years of my life was spent in the arms of another mans wife. She loved me like no other. She took care of me and for me, even to the changing of my soiled diapers. I wanted so much to hold to her at every turn, for she was just that good to me. Yes the best years of my life was spent in the arms of my fathers wife, she was my mother, and until I met Jesus I didn't believe any one could or would love me better. But I found out that Jesus loves me so much that He died that I might love Him.
When you truly come to know Christ and enter into a personal relationship with Him you then truly become aware of just how much He loves you. You grab hold of Him and you can't help but to share Him with all you see. See the love of Jesus creates in our hearts a love one for another. When He lives within our spirits, His mind is our mind, his will is our will, and he is seen by others in all that we do. But first we must seek Him. The writer says "I found Him"; I a man, found the Lord of Glory; I a slave to sin, found the great deliverer; I, a child of darkness, found the light of the world; I the uttermost of the lost ,found my Savior and my God. Now I hold Him; Holding Him by not offending Him. First by being lazy, when the soul turns sleepy or careless, we tend to put Christ away. By beholden to Idols, for you can't serve two masters, nor hold on to two things. By being unwilling to be sanctified, or dwelling in an unholy house, we must remember to take Christ home with us, and let Him rule the house. If you only walk with Christ at church and never take Him home, you will soon part company with him forever. So hold on to Him and share Him with all.

When you diligently search for Christ in your heart, he shall be found, but then you must hold to Him by learning of Him, by loving Him, by obeying Him. Build a personal one on one relationship with him, then share him. Bring him to your house, not in word only but let others see him in you by your actions, and attitude , and take rest in His arms as you enter His peace.

A Life Long Commitment

John 14:15 " If  you love me, keep my commandments".
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life". But I ask the question do you truly love Him? He said with our lips we do honor Him, but are far from Him. Are we guilty of living our lives based on His love for us, more than our love for Him.
Jesus said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. Obedience is not optional for believers. Jesus stated a simple fact that must be clearly understood."If  you love me you will keep my commandments. Jesus is not giving an optional commandment, "If you love me then (optional) keep my commandments. He is saying that the man who truly loves Him will keep His commandments. So for the born again believer there is no option. He loves Jesus; and he keeps His commandments. In this we the true believer is not claiming perfection, but we are claiming to love Jesus and to believe with all our heart that Jesus is the Son of God. Therefore we must diligently seek Jesus, and seek to please Him in all that we do. To Love Jesus is not an emotional thing. It involves emotions but it is not based on emotions. It doesn't change according to the situation. It is not a rational or mental commitment. It involves the mind but it is more than deciding and following some rules.To love Jesus is a matter of the heart and the spirit. It is a heart thing, from the innermost being of man.

 

The heart is the seat of man's affections, and devotion.The heart attaches and focuses our  affection, will, and devotion to an object or person.The heart causes a man to will, or to give himself either to good or bad. To love Jesus means that a man focuses his heart, affections, and devotion upon God by giving and receiving the love of God. That we give all we have and are to Jesus Christ for him to do as he will. We deny ourself, not deny our self of things, but deny self. We die to self and our will that we might live in Him as He lives within us.

Committed!

Isaiah 49:6"And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth".

We have a call to duty, just as Israel did and Jesus did, and that duty is to share the truth about God with others, so they can have a relationship with God. God wants to restore his relationship with all people and nations. A relationship broken by sin and compounded by people's rebellion against him.

People seems to have one or two approaches for sharing our Christian faith with others. Some feel strongly, that they should live the Christian life to the best of their ability, and only talk about Jesus if asked. Although others might know them to be kind and considerate, but because they seldom speak about Jesus or the gospel, few will ever know about their faith in God. The other way is to share the gospel with our words as well as our lives. Working hard, trying to live in a way that is pleasing to God, and also looking for opportunities to talk about God, and what it takes to have a relationship with Him. Jesus said, this about the relationship between our lives and our words: "you  are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before man, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven."

We are called to be God's light in our world today. It's through our lives that people see what God is like and hopefully become attracted to him. But it is through our words that they hear what's true about God, For faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God and what it takes to have a right relationship with him. God's servants are to be the light that penetrates spiritual darkness and leads others to a relationship with Jesus. It is our dedication to this mission which glorifies God, and in the process help reconnect others to him. This is our call to duty, will you answer the call?