Jesus transforms those that follow Him III

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ! Welcome to the „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! We have been talking about God’s desire to see us change and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is very interesting that when we grow other people notice that. I remember the moment when our youngest daughter Esther was born. Her birth brought great joy for your family, because the doctors were concern about her and even advised my wife to do an abortion. When I heard about it I was enraged. I said, “No! We will never do such a thing!” I told the doctor that his calling is to preserve a child’s life and not destroy it. His answer was that in that case it would be our responsibility. My wife and I accepted the challenge. And lo, our daughter was born; her weight was 3.5 kg. After her birth we went to our family doctor every month and observed her to gain weight. It was a sign of her growing. You can imagine how happy we were when the doctor announced that our daughter is fine, that there are no delays in her development and growth. Esther did not just gain weight; she also quickly developed. She started to do things she couldn’t before. And we were so happy about it.

We couldn’t wait till the moment she would be able to sit. Time went by and she learnt to sit and to play with her toys. She got her first teeth. She started walking, eating on her own; she spoke her first words, sang and danced. We saw her growing and developing.

For some time Esther couldn’t roll over, even though doctors said she should. We as parents were concerned. Can you imagine how concerned God is when He sees us not changing for years?

The idea of growth – both physical and spiritual – implies changes. Many believers have been in church for many years, and it would seem they should be at least somewhat grown up, but instead they demand the treatment that of babies. So many should have become teachers and help new believers, but instead they continue to do nothing fruitful. God is not happy with this situation! And, actually, who can be happy with it?

I wasn’t happy when the doctors told me that my daughter was showing signs of delayed development. Right away we found a masseuse that could help us. After several sessions our girl rolled over without any assistance and she liked it too. Our joy was indescribable!

It is the same with our Heavenly Father: when we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ it makes Him extremely happy!

We must keep God’s call to change right before our eyes as one of the most important goals. As soon as we come to God and enter His Kingdom, the desire to change and grow into the likeness of Jesus should be our single desire and our daily bread. And when we start changing, the things around us will change along with the inward changes we experience. Then the most awful situation will change for better and terrible problems will be solved. All of this will happen along with the transformation of our character in the process of the spiritual growth.

«But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen» (2 Peter, 3:18).

I wish you God’s abundant blessings!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye