Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!
Pattern Your Lives After Mine,
And
Learn From Those Who Follow Our Example.
How
much damage we as Christ Followers can cause when we do things that are not
consistent with our life in Christ!
Scripture
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Observation
Someone
told me not too long ago, “Pastor Eddy we went over to be with some friends
from church and they were drinking and they were drunk.”
How
much damage we as Christ Followers can cause when we do things that are not
consistent with our life in Christ!
What
do you and I need to change in our lives so that we can say like the Apostle
Paul, “Pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our
example.”
Tony
Hoffman, a leader from the Florida Baptist Convention, taught a seminar at our
church this week on the importance of Disciple Making and Discipleship! He
said, “Millions who say they are followers of Christ, but their lives look
nothing like His.”
Tony
told the story of a young man that grew up during the time that farmers still
used mules to pull plows during planting season. The father of this young lad
would lend his son to other farmers during plowing season and the son would
make a little extra money to help out his family.
One
super hot day this young man was plowing a field of one of the old farmers and
he became very thirsty. He asked the old farmer if there was any water that he
could drink. The old farmer said yes and pointed to an old jug under the shade
of a nearby tree.
The
young man picked up the old water jug. It had green slimy stuff growing inside
around the sides of the jug. And then he remembered the chewing tobacco running
down the old farmers chin. As he looked at the crud and slime in the jug he
suddenly decided that he was not that thirsty.
Tony
said that sometimes when seekers look at the lives of Christians in our
churches and see that our lives are just as messed up as their lives (with all
the crud and slime) they say, I am thirsty, but I am not that thirsty.”
We
must become Ephesians 4:13 Christians. Christians that help other Christians
grow in unity and maturity. Christians that can say, “Pattern your lives after
ours, and learn from our example.”
Application
I
will strive to live in a way that others can see Jesus in me. How about you?
Prayer
Heavenly
Father, I am a sinner. I know that You have forgiven me. Help me live out my
life in Christ in a way that brings You honor and glory and in a way that does
not cause anyone to stumble.
I
pray for my son Eddie on his birthday today. I pray that You bless him. Help
him to realize how You want to use him to further Your kingdom. I pray that you
give him the desires of his heart. I pray that You make his plans successful
and that You answer all of his prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment