Author: Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

«Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does» (James, 1:21-25).

The way that Jesus will lead us on won’t always be smooth and easy. The Bible tells us that Jesus Himself endured the hostility, the cross and the shame. It means that Jesus will also lead us through the valleys of death and tears; this way is not pleasant and desired, but it is good for us, because God only knows what we need. The disciples followed Jesus not only when He spoke pleasantries, but also when He rebuked or corrected them. They followed Him even when they did not understand the true meaning of His words. The simply trusted His wisdom.

According to the Bible, God´s highest goal for us is make us in likeness of Christ. He wants us to be like Jesus. Though, it doesn´t happen in at blink of an eye, it´s rather a process that develops as we allow the God´s word and other God´s means on to influence us. Spending your time with Jesus by reading the word of God and praying, fellowship with other christians, decently overcoming difficulties and pain – all these things help you to transform more and more, just as it happened to Jesus disciples.

«Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”». (John 8:12).

Jesus Himself invites us to learn from Him, then we will find rest for our souls and release from yoke that burdens us.

«..as 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, 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» (2 Peter, 1:3-4).

«And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God» (Romans, 12:2).

When I read the Word, meditate on it and apply it to my life, I initiate changes in my life and actions, since my thoughts and views grow alike with God’s thoughts and His will. God says that His thoughts and His ways are not like ours.

While growing up and changing we will see how we become more patient. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit God wants to be visible in your life. Therefore, God sometimes permits conflicts in your life, to help you with developing the fruit of patience. God desires to trample our pride thus transforming us into likeness of loving, persevere Christ. You are still arrogant if you show resentment at nonsense. God desires to help you to get rid of this arrogance. That´s why He allows people to do wrong to us. God is trying to teach us how to handle such situations, so that we are able to build relationships with people as His representatives on this Earth. Everything God permits in our life works together for good if we let Him mould us.

If we never stop following Jesus, He will change us making those changes more and more obvious in our lives and for the people around us.

The fact that we have become believers yet doesn´t mean we have become perfect. That´s why we should not represent ourselves as such in front of other people. Surely we are not perfect. We are still undergoing improvement process. We are still under process of changes as we follow Jesus and submit ourselves to His Spirit. God changes us as we renew our mind and put aside our old man, as we deny ourselves and carry the cross. All these things have an impact on us helping us to behold the glory of the Lord.

In order for me to change I need to follow Jesus. It means I need to follow and submit to His Word and His instructions. It means to spend time with Him to learn His heart and to participate in His mission. To follow Christ also means to imitate Him in all things. It means to react like He reacts, to speak like He speaks, to love what He loves and to hate what He hates.

When Jesus said He would make us, He meant “He would make us, so that other people seeing you could say you have been made in Heaven”.

If we allow God to change us His way and we follow Jesus, people around will see a reflection of Heaven in our life and in our ministry.