Weekend Words

 From Our Daily Bread...

Just Like Jesus: Read Romans 12:1-2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)

In 2014, biologists captured a pair of orange pygmy seahorses in the Philippines.  They took the marine creatures, along with a section of the orange coral sea fan they called home, to the California Acadamy of Science in San Franscisco.  Scientists wanted to know if the pygmy seahorses were born to match the colour of their parents or their environment.  When the pygmy seahorses gave birth to dull brown babies, scientists placed a purple coral sea fan in the tank.  The babies, whose parents were orange, changed their colour to match the purple sea fan.  Due to their fragility by nature, their survival depends on their God-given ability to blend into their environment.

Blending-in is a useful defense mechanism in nature.  However, God invites all people to receive salvation and stand out in the world by how we live.  The apostle Paul urges believers in Jesus to honor God in every aspect of our lives, to worship Him by offering our bodies as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).  Due to our fragility as human beings affected by sin, our spiritual health as believers depends on the Holy Spirit "renewing" our minds and empowering us to avoid conforming to "the pattern of this world"' that rejects God and glorifies sin (v.2).

Blending into this world means living in opposition to the Scriptures.  However, through the power of the Holy spirit, we can look and love just like Jesus!

How have you been blending into the world?

How has God changed you?

Dear God , please make me more like Jesus each day.

I remember this little chorus that we use to sing in church sometimes:

To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus

All I ask - to be like Him

All through life's journey

From earth to glory

All I ask - to be like Him

From Be Still and Know...

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

Growth is defined as "to increase in size, quantity, or degree, and develop towards maturity."

If there is life, there is growth.  If we have spiritual life, there should be evidence of spiritual growth.  There should be progress along the road to spiritual maturity.  Growth in two areas is emphasized here - growth in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

As we grow in grace, we reveal His love and humility in our lives.  We are gentle and kind, giving preference to others.  We will reflect His spirit of graciousness.

We are to grow in our knowledge of Him; not just in knowledge ABOUT Him, but in knowledge OF Him.  "But grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18, LB).

Our Source Book for this knowledge of Him is the Word of God.  "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby" (2 Peter 2:2).

It is more than just knowledge, it is a knowledge that becomes real in our lives.  The Holy Spirit takes our knowledge of Christ and makes HIM real within us.  "But I will send you the Comforter - the Holy Spirit, the source of all truth.  He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about ME" (John 15:26, LB).

The process of spiritual maturity takes time.  We are living in an age of "instant" living when we want things to happen fast, but this is not true in spiritual development.

Paul wrote, "UNTIL we all ATTAIN oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God; that [we might ARRIVE] at really MATURE manhood" (Ephesians 4:13, Amplified).

God wants us to grow from spiritual infancy to maturity.