Tag Archives: be like Jesus

UNVEILED FACE: 012415

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“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image…” —2 Corinthians 3:18

Here’s what this means.  After Moses went up on the mountain to receive the Law on the tablets of stone, from God, he was so affected by being in God’s Presence (and having God’s tablets in his hands) that his (Moses’) face shown with such a brilliance that the Israelites couldn’t stand to look at him; so he put a veil over his face, to ‘dim’ the glory of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3: 7  .  . and if the ministry of death, [the Law] written and engraved on stones, was glorious,  .  .  . 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 11 For if what is passing away [the Law] was glorious, what remains [life in the Spirit] is much more glorious.” (The glory of the Lord that comes from the Spirit being in our hearts is much more glorious than the glory of Moses with the Law on the tablets in his hands.)

“15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their (the Israelites’) heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” [So] we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror [in our own faces] the glory [of the Spirit] of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  So because we have the Spirit, the veil has been taken away, and when we look at ourselves, having the Spirit in our hearts, it’s like looking in the mirror and seeing God looking back at us. and we are being changed (transformed) into the image of Jesus day by day; and the glory of Jesus keeps showing up in our faces, over and over! Keep looking, and you’ll begin to see Jesus!

Would You be My Disciple? 011415

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In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If anyone would be My disciple, let him 1] deny himself, and 2] take up his cross 3] daily, and 4] follow me.”

What does that mean?  Some say it means that each person has a special personal burden to bear in his life as he follows Jesus.  I’m satisfied that it means something qualitatively different from that.  What happened to Jesus when He ‘took up His cross’? He died.  In this verse Jesus calls us, you and me, to die to our sinful selves, daily, and follow Him.  That’s what ‘take up your cross’ means.  Are you ready?

In Galatians 2:20, Paul says: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith [trust] of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”   What does this verse have to do with being humble?  Well, how much more humble can you get than being crucified?   This verse is all about surrendering, humbling your self, and letting Jesus live His life in you; so that His faith [trust], His love, and His humility come to dwell in you.

It’s like in Philippians 2:5-8, where Paul says, “Let this mind [this attitude] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being found as a man, .  .  .  humbled Himself and became a servant [slave], .  .  .  and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  The whole passage starts out with, “Let this mind [this attitude] be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  What attitude? Humility, servanthood, obedience, self-denial; willingness to die to our sinful nature, daily (over and over), and follow our Lord.

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE? 011015

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Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” NKJV

How are you doing on ‘laying up the treasure’?  Do you have plenty of cattle in the bank and money out West?  How’s the house and the cars, the  neighborhood and the school district; the investment portfolio and the country club; the weekends skiing and the vacations in Europe?  I don’t know about you, but while I don’t have all those things, I certainly take spells of aspiring to them.

Sometimes I focus an inordinate amount of attention on taking care of my stuff, our stuff, our activities, and our image in the community.  Problem is, sometimes we focus so much attention of that stuff that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, [distract us from God] and make us unfruitful.” Matt 13:22

Sometimes I focus attention on those other treasures, the ones Jesus calls ‘treasures in heaven’.  Spending time alone with God.  Talking to people about what God is doing in my life, sharing what He can do for me (and them) if we’ll just get out of the way and let him.  Spending an evening with my wife and kids, doing nothing in particular.  Taking care of the widow women and the orphans and the people under the bridges.  When I’m focused in the right direction, those are the true ‘affairs of my heart’.  Sometimes the Spirit is moving so much it feels like my heart is fixin’ to burst out of my chest.  You’ve probably had that feeling a time or two yourself.

Therein lies the distinction between ‘treasures on earth’ and ‘treasures in heaven’.  When we spend time each day with God, thinking and reading about Him, talking to Him, listening to Him, trusting Him and obeying Him, our lives are changed from ‘glory unto glory’.  We don’t always realize what’s happening in the beginning, but if we continue to do it day by day, we notice that little things begin to change, both in us and around us, and we begin to see what the real treasures are and what those treasures really mean in our lives.  We start to notice that our behavior is changing; our words are changing; we notice that it is becoming easier and easier to be “kind, tenderhearted and forgiving, like God is to us.”  Then it begins to snowball, and we start to notice we are becoming more and more like Jesus, every day.

The Be-Attitudes of Jesus, 010715

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Jesus said, “Blessed are those they mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  And “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5: 4, 6, & 7,

Just about my whole life, I’ve been trying to figure out what the point of this ‘Sermon’, this teaching, really is.  What can it possibly mean that you are ‘blessed’ (sometimes translated as ‘happy’) if you are so sad you are mourning?  How is it that you are, or can be ‘happy’, when you are so bad that you’re desperate to be righteous (good).  OK, I get the one about mercy, if you’re merciful to others, they’ll be merciful to you. Not all the time, but at least some of the time.  (But even then, in the world, most of the time people, are only nice to others when they’re forced or shamed or guilted into it.  Not out of the goodness of their hearts. Even me and you.)

So what are we supposed to do with this passage?  How are we supposed to apply it to our lives, so that we are changed from being like us to being like Jesus? Sometimes I have pretty good questions, but very few real answers.  But here goes.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Blessed are you if you are in mourning for the way you are.  If you are so sad about the way you are, both inside and out, you may be ready, prepared, to let God comfort you.”  There’s that attitude, that humble attitude.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  Blessed are you if you’ve realized that you have no righteousness, no goodness, in and of yourself, because then you are ready, like an empty vessel, devoid of righteousness, to be filled with God and His righteousness.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”  Like we said earlier, give forgiveness, get forgiveness; give mercy, get mercy.  Give a little, get a little.  Give a lot, get a lot.

(Oh, if you don’t really know the meaning of mercy, it’s this: Grace is unmerited favor.  That is, God being nice to you when you didn’t do anything to deserve it.  Mercy is more.  It’s God being nice to you when you deserved to be punished.  Sounds like the condition I’m in most of the time.)

Remember this: With mercy, if you regularly excuse the faults of others, and even make excuses for them, God will do the same for you.  If you don’t; then God won’t do it for you. Just like with forgiveness. (See Matt. 6:14-15)

In the end, all three of these verses, in fact the whole of the Sermon on the Mount, is about our attitude.  Like it says in Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind (this attitude) be in you that also was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who humbled Himself, .  .  .  became a servant, and .  .  .  was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  The only way we can do that is if we do what it says in Luke 9:23, where Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must deny your self, take up your cross (sometimes translated as ‘die to your self) daily, (over and over); and follow Me.”  It’s not so much about doing as it is about being.  I’ve got to quit being like me, and start being like Jesus.  It’s a slow daily process, but it’s worth the trouble.  It will totally change your life!