Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! Welcome to our column “Daily word for spiritual strength”! We concluded the fact that can be like Christ by living according to the principle: «Not my, but your will be done!» This is the sign of our submission to God, that releases His mercy in our life. It´s also the way how to access God´s mercy that saves, educates and changes our lives. What is submission before God? Submission means doing God´s will instead of your will in everything.
«…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;». (1st Peter 5:5,6).
«Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.». (James 4:10).
So, changes require to deny yourself for yourself, so that we conform more and more to the image of Christ. «For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brothers.». (Romans 8:29).
Being like Christ is the supreme level of changes God wants to accomplish in us. One of the reasons why Jesus came into this world in human body was to teach us how to live a perfect life while being in human body. Jesus set an example of how we can please God while living in this insidious world. Bible says that spirit has no blood, neither flesh. Since God is a spirit, He has no blood nor flesh. We live in human body, so we have blood and flesh, this is how God created us. We were created in His likeness, but we have flesh and blood so that God can rule the material world through us. A man lost his initial image and the glory of God after his fell into sin. However, Jesus came in human body to show us with His life the way a man who sincerely carries God´s image and His likeness should live and look like. Jesus set a perfect example for us to follow.The Bible says, Jesus got tired sometimes, He also felt hunger, got under pressure and went through the storm. His soul felt pain, He was ignored, slandered and told lies by His contemporaries. While on Earth, Jesus went through the same situations we are going through nowadays. We can learn from Him how behave in each particular situation. The Bible tells us how Jesus responded to pressure, how He made decisions in different situations, it tells us about the way He talked and answered to people, about His response to difficulties. We can also read how Jesus responded to pain. The life of Jesus is described in the Bible in details, so that we can learn from His example. Jesus became the light that shines brightly in this world of darkness. God wants you and me to live the same way. «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world».(John 1:1-9).
Jesus is the light of the world. By following Him and learning from Him, we step more and more away from darkness, moving from glory to glory. «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. «Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”». (Matthew 11:28-30).
Let´s learn from Jesus, then He will comfort us and teach us how to become really free! Be abundantly blessed!Rufus Adjiboje, pastor
