Working to Progress

In striving to be like Christ, sometimes I feel that the bar is set impossibly high. Yet, God's word instructs us to make Jesus our ultimate example in how to lead our lives. (1 Peter 2:21-25)

One facet of Jesus' character has be weighing on my mind lately. With the coming of Easter, I have been reflecting on Jesus' journey to the cross, and His response (or lack thereof) has been challenging me.

Jesus was falsely arrested. He was mocked and beaten by Jewish leaders. He was deserted by His disciples. He was questioned by rulers. Crowds, who just days before had heralded Him as their king, screamed for Jesus' death. Jesus was whipped, forced to carry His own cross, and nailed to that cross. All the while, He was being mocked, berated, and cursed.

He never said a word in anger.

He never opened His mouth in rage.

He had no accusing words, hurtful retorts, or vengeful speeches.

Jesus was nothing but respectful and gracefully went through the trial that He faced. He kept the end goal in mind, and remained true to His destiny.

Often, we go through trials and attacks - mind you, no where near the level of attack that Jesus faced. Yet, we "forget" who we are and say things out of character. We arm ourselves with vengeful weapons and go into defense mode. We snap and say things we don't mean. We hurt those who hurt us. We do things that we regret.

We are called to be like Christ. We are challenged to be more like Him.

I am working on having Jesus' character in the face of an attack. I'm working on keeping my mouth closed to nonsense and only speaking words seasoned with grace and respect. I'm working on recognizing the enemy and not giving him any ground in adverse situations. I'm working on keeping my end goal in mind, and staying true to my God-given destiny.

We are all works in progress. Let's just make sure we're working to progress!

Verse of the Day: For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21

Afternoon Ti: Changing Seasons

So, the weather is finally changing here in Chicagoland, and I'm thankful for a warmer breeze than what we've been getting. Yet, there are a few people around me that are not enjoying the changing tides: the allergy sufferers. Right now, their eyes are itching, noses are sneezing, and sinuses are acting up because of all the change going on. Their bodies are sensitive to the pollen in the air, and they have to suffer through the blooming of spring.

It got me thinking to our own spiritual changing of seasons. They are those times when God is taking us to a higher level, requiring more out of our behavior, and asking us to submit fully to His will. Although we may bask in the joy of getting closer to the Lord and walking out our salvation, our flesh has issues.

Our bodies itch to get back to those sins we're trying to leave. Our eyes look back and remember how we used to do things. The burgeoning of righteousness makes our flesh suffer, and in order for us to move ahead - that fleshly will has got to die.

Is God changing any seasons in your spiritual life? Is your flesh having a hard time dealing with the change? Don't give in to your fleshly desires! Quench those symptoms with the word of God, and bring yourself into full submission of His will. As you follow after the change the Lord is offering, you will experience the benefits of being fully committed to Christ.

Verse of the Day: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1, 2

Growing Fruit

Today's post is the opening of my upcoming book. Hope you enjoy!

It would have been wonderful if the moment we accepted Jesus as our Savior our whole beings were changed into loving, Christ minded, God obeying creatures. However, this was not the case. Our sinful desires and tendencies remained with us after we said the Sinners Prayer. We were just empowered to overcome those desires if we chose to fight against them with the Lord’s help.

Many of us ignored the call to arms.


Simply because our souls have been saved from hell does not give us a ‘pass’ to continue on in the same behavior that we engaged in prior to being saved. It became our responsibility to transform ourselves into the image of Christ in our thoughts, attitude, and behavior.

In other words, it was time for us to start growing fruit.

Developing fruit requires sacrifice on our part. Many of us have lived with wrong behavior so long, it’s second nature to us. We are quick to catch an attitude when something doesn’t go our way. We’ve perfected the lies we tell to cover our errors. If someone crosses us, we relish in retaliating and putting them back in their place. Insert your sin here.

Yet these kinds of actions grieve the heart of the One who saved and delivered us. It is His will that we live a loving life showing mercy, humility, and peace to others. As He has shown us love, it is only right that we show Him love in return by following His will.

Our desires should take second place to His desires. If God doesn’t like it, it should be crossed off of our lifestyle list.

The Bible says that we can make the necessary changes by renewing our minds. Renewing here means that we have to retrain ourselves to think along the lines of the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. We have to kick out every thought that’s not acceptable to God and actively sacrifice our will and replace it with His will. (Romans 12:1, 2)

Sacrificing our fleshly will and renewing our minds will be all the more easier as we actively follow after God. He has already given us His Holy Spirit to help guide us in the right way to go. We just have to make the effort to listen and obey Him instead of ignoring His gentle tugs to do better.

This is a process that takes time. It requires dedication, discipline, and resolve. Yet going through the process will result in our becoming more like Him.

Verse of the Day: So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. Galatians 5: 16, 17 (NLT)

Created in God's Image

Well, I'm back in school. So, you all will now get to be blessed by what I'm learning in my classes again! Yesterday, I had to read on the imago Dei or the image of God. What stood out to me is that everyone is created in the image of God.

God takes the time to hand-craft each and every one of us into His image. He purposefully chooses to create all of us, and He then forms us to look like Him. All of humanity bears His image and likeness. Every single one of us.

Many people on this planet - although bearers of God's image - choose to live in a way that looks nothing like our Heavenly Father. People choose to follow their own selfish desires and whims despite their actions being contrary to God's Word.

Can you imagine what would happen if we all fully embraced being created in the image of God? What changes would break out if we simply chose to conform to the image of God in every area of our lives? How much would things improve if we began treating each other like the image-bearers of God that we actually are?

Jesus stands as our prime example of what it means to fully embrace being created in the image of God. Jesus walked the earth with authority. He knew no fear. Jesus treated His fellow man with love and respect no matter who they were. Even people who were supposed to be His enemy got shown the love of God when they came across Jesus' path.

Today, let's live our life like Jesus. Let's remember that we were all created in the image of God. Let's remember that every person we encounter - no matter where they are in life, no matter how they appear, no matter how they act - they were created on purpose by God to look and act like Him!

Every human being deserves our respect and love. As we acknowledge how much care God put into creating them, we ourselves will take on more of His image ourselves.

Verse of the Day: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:26, 27