The "Rapid Growth" Towards Christ-Likeness!

INTRODUCTION:

It’s about 2 yrs. have passed when I DENIED myself, CARRIED my OWN CROSS and FOLLOWED Jesus CHRIST! I encountered a lot of TRIALS that TESTED my FAITH, endurance, patience, self-control, humility & forgiveness. I learned to FOCUS in PURSUING my CALLING and not to ENTERTAIN my NEGATIVE thoughts and feelings. The Lord Jesus CHRIST DEFENDS me from my ACCUSER and CRITIQUES. “So I learned to TURN the other cheek when they STRIKE me.” Every TRIAL, I feel that I am so WEAK, NOTHING & USELESS. So I cry to God for help, “My God, I have had enough, I can’t do this on my OWN!”

“F-A-S-T” WAY to ATTAIN the FULL MEASURE of CHRIST!

F - FEAR of the LORD

A - ASK in FAITH

S - SUBMIT to God’s WAY

T - TRUST God’s PROMISES

FEAR of the LORD:

I learned that DISCIPLESHIP is not MANDATORY! DISCIPLESHIP should not be MOTIVATED by FEAR. Let me ILLUSTRATE my LIFE, when I was in the ENGINEERING, I was DOMINATED by FEAR! I wasn’t STUDYING to LEARN, rather I was STUDYING because of FEAR of FAILING, THINKING of what people SAY and UNEMPLOYMENT! It’s like this: “Get GOOD GRADE and TOP the BOARD exam, to SECURE a JOB.” This is the TRADITIONAL EDUCATION! "The MORE I FEAR, the MORE I FAILED!" It took 6 yrs. for me without even FINISHING my Engineering. I became a DELINQUENT student and an ULTIMATE DROP-OUT!

Then, I shifted to the world of TEACHER EDUCATION. We had a subject “Natural Science.” I found that, out of millions of GIGANTIC and BEAUTIFUL PLANETS in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE”, the CREATOR had CHOSEN this DESOLATE, CHAOTIC, DARK and TINY PLANET, called EARTH to CREATE MANKIND. Yes! I got the “FEAR of the LORD.” In other words, “REVERENT AWE for the CREATOR”. This is the POSITIVE FEAR, w/c literally means, REVERENCE, MARVEL, WONDER and AMAZEMENT! The“FEAR of the LORD.” gave me the HUNGER to SEARCH the CREATOR of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE in the Bible. Therefore, DISCIPLESHIP is for those who WILLINGLY RESPONDED to their PERSONAL CALLING in the KINGDOM of God, and those that are “OPEN-MINDED” and WILLING to LEARN.

In my PURSUIT of the KINGDOM of God, I SAW how the CHURCH was DIVIDED! They OPPOSE each other and CRITICIZE each other! But I found, they ALL MEET in ONE POSITION: “Jesus CHRIST is COMING BACK!” While I was enrolled in the TEACHER EDUCATION, I took the subject, “World Religion and Cults”. Then, God showed how Satan works in the LIFE of people, even to the BODY of CHRIST! Satan is busy in doing his work, injecting“VIRUSES”! Such as, NEGATIVE FEAR, WORRY, DOUBT, JEALOUSY, UNFORGIVENESS, SELFISHNESS, LUST, “LOVE of MONEY” and PRIDE in the HEARTS or MINDS of people. Satan is also busy in doing his COUNTERFEIT gospels! So, most people, even Christians, are still a PRISONER of DARKNESS, most of them are those with “INFERIORITY Complex”, “CRAB Mentality”, “COLONIAL Mentality”, “SLAVE Mentality”, “SUFFERING Mentality” and “POVERTY Mentality” Most of them are “PEOPLE PLEASERS!” Why? They are DOMINATED by FEAR.There is NO FREEDOM at all! This is a CURSE! The GOOD NEWS is, “We are REDEEMED from the CURSE! Jesus PAID in FULL!” Amen! We are the HEAD, not the TAIL! We ALL KNOW that Jesus CHRIST WON the VICTORY over SATAN, VICTORY over SIN and VICTORY over DEATH. IT IS FINISHED! Satan is a DEFEATED FOE! WE’RE FREE!

We ALL KNOW that NEGATIVE FEAR is for demons, they FEAR or TREMBLE w/ TERROR in the PRESENCE and JUDGEMENT of the LORD. Why does some Christians are still AFRAID of the COMING JUDGEMENT. I was once, ONE of THEM! Why? It is because of the CONTERFEIT gospels that were preached to us!

I remember the story of MARATHON, Phaedippas ran about 42 kilometers just to proclaim the word, “Nike” (which means VICTORY), and then he DIED. The word, “Nike” was so much VALUABLE for Phaedippas, even to the point of his DEATH. It was a GOOD NEWS to INSPIRE, ENCOURAGE and COMFORT the HOPELESS Athenians. And we know that the GOOD NEWS of Jesus CHRIST is summed as, “IT IS FINISHED!”, “PAID in FULL”, “He was RAISED from the DEAD”, “He is ALIVE”, “He is seated at the RIGHT HAND of God”, or “ALL AUTHORITY is GIVEN to Him” Remember Stephen? He DECLARED, even to the POINT of DYING, that he SAW the “Son of Man, standing in HONOR at God’s RIGHT HAND.” Surely, this caused Saul of Tarsus to have the “FEAR of the LORD.” This GOOD NEWS TRANSFORMED him, to what he became the GREAT Apostle Paul! Simple, but POWERFUL, But why do we COMPLICATE and CONFUSE the GOSPEL of CHRIST? And we, even CREATE DIVISION! We ALL KNOW, Satan is the author of “CONFUSION and DIVISION”. We also know that Jesus CHRIST is waiting until His ENEMIES will BOW under His FEET and SUBMIT to His SOVEREIGN RULE. This is the SUMMARY of the GOSPEL of the KINGDOM of God. This is more said in the book of Acts.