Perfectpeace

Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.’

When we are born into this world, our parents rear us to grow,  be adults.

Growth is necessary.

In the same way, after we are born again into God’s kingdom, our Heavenly Father wants us to grow and conform to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.

When we are children, we think and feel like children.

Children are selfish, they don’t consider the needs of others.

If they want food, they will cry for it. They would want the food ASAP, no matter what their mother or father are doing.

You can’t reason with children. Mom is not going to say, “Please wait until I finish what I am doing.”

Children need constant reminder to stop doing inappropriate actions and do actions that are noble and good. They also need constant reminder that they are loved.

Children don’t understand ramifications of their wrong actions until they experience bad outcome.

Children are very impressionable and tend to follow the crowd. They don’t want to be left alone.

But as children grow, they become less selfish, consider other’s need, can differentiate between good and evil, they understand the consequences of their actions. They are less impressionable.

Christians who are not growing show typical childhood behavior in the church.

I am sure you have come across people who are upset that their needs were not met by the pastor or other Christians ASAP. They don’t consider what other are going through. They just talk and complain about their “hardship and pain”.

Some Christians don’t understand how they live in disobience to the Word of God when it is clear that we should forgive as we are forgiven. They go on harboring hate and grudge. This might be because they are not aware of the consequences.

Some go on avenging wrong things done against them, when clearly God says in Deuteronomy 32:35: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.”

Some Christians completely forget God’s promises when they go through trials. They “feel” abandoned. They go by their feelings rather than the truth of the Word.

The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:9: “Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

He learned not to rely on his feeling but on God.

It is very important that we forgo our childish ways and grow to look like Jesus Christ.

How did Jesus model his life on Earth  for us?

-A life of complete obedience to the Father.

-Complete trust in the Father

-He came to serve and die for others

– He forgave those who nailed him to the cross

– He lived a sinless life.

Lots of people think looking like Jesus is an impossible task. Just like the majority of the Israelites thought conquering Canaan was an impossible task.

Numbers 13:27: “And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28: Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

29: The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.”

30: Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31: But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

But God took them from Egypt to give them the promised land through his power. All they had to do was obey and follow his leading.

They were not to conquer Canaan because they had sophisticated war tactics or machinery. They had none. They had to rely on the power of God.

He had shown them that he is a powerful God with all the miracles in the land of Egypt.

In the same way, God had taken us out of the world, and we are born again into His kingdom. And He would like us to grow and conform to the image of His Son.

We have no strength to accomplish this, but He has given us His Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of his Son.

So what is the steps to conform to the image of the Son?

1- To understand this is the will of our Father

2- To decide this is what you want ( to grow)

3- Follow and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit and The Word.

God bless you.

Shalom.

Henry Blackaby writes:” Christianity is an intimate, growing relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. It is not a set of doctrines to believe, habits to practice, or sins to avoid. Every activity God commands is to enhance his love relationship with His people. Religious  activities, apart from fellowship with God, are empty rituals.”