How To Be More Like Jesus

How to Be More Like Jesus (Eph. 1:19)

"That you may really come to know practically, through experience for yourselves, the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge that you may be filled through all your being, unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God himself." (Eph. 1:19) Amplified

Proposition Statement: The greatest way to give God glory and to please Him in all respects and bear fruit in every good work is to be like Jesus Christ, as your spiritual worship.

Illustration: CHRISTLIKENESS

When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, "I do not want to be like a Paul...or any mere man. I want to be like Christ...I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints...Oh, to be more like Christ!"

Source Unknown.

Paul wrote, "For my determined purpose is that I may know Him (that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly. that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from the resurrection (which is exerts over believers) and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death in the hope. That if possible I may attain to the (spiritual and moral) resurrection (that lifts me ) out from among the dead (even while in the body).

Not that I have now attained this ideal or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me and made me His own. Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the supreme heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward." (Phil. 3:10-14) Amplified

The following are guidelines to becoming more like the Master, Jesus Christ, in all our relationships, activities, and personal concerns:

1. CONSISTENT - Jesus practiced what He preached. He said, Love your enemiesand do good to those who despitefully use you. Jesus forgave His persecutors because He knew that his example would overcome all problems.

Illustration: On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom." No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of the Son who makes us free can be seen in the lives of His true followers.

Bill Morgan

2. COURAGEOUS - Jesus showed courage without being arrogant. In the midst of terrible threats he said, "I could have called 10,000 angels to set me free, but nevertheless not as I will, but let My Father’s will be done."

3. PRIORITY DRIVEN - Jesus set His sights on the most important goals of His heavenly Father. He siad, "It is not those who are healthy that need a physician but the sick. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those which are lost." At the end of Jesus life He was able to say, "I have accomplished what God sent Me to do." (John 17:4)

4. MOTIVATED BY LOVE - Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you. By this will all men know that you are my disciples because you have love for one another."

5. VISION INSPIRED - Jesus said, "Who do people say the son of man is? Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the son of the living god." Jesus said "Blessed are you Simon for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock (the confession of your faith) I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)

Illustration:

In Discipleship Journal, Carole Mayhall tells of a woman who went to a diet center to lose weight. The director took her to a full-length mirror. On it he outlined a figure and told her, "This is what I want you to be like at the end of the program." Days of intense dieting and exercise followed, and every week the woman would stand in front of the mirror, discouraged because her bulging outline didn’t fit the director’s ideal. But she kept at it, and finally one day she conformed to the longed-for image.