What It Means To Be Like Jesus (#3)

Jesus indicated that those who follow Him will become like Him (Matt. 10:25). What does it mean to "be like Jesus" in today's complex world? Matthew paints eight portraits of what Christ-likeness looks like, including:

#3: To Be Like Jesus Means...

TO COMMIT OURSELVES TO OTHER BELIEVERS (Matt. 3:1-17)

John the Baptist was not your average individual. He was an unexpected child. He lived in the wilderness--the "other side of the tracks" for that day. He wore strange clothing and ate strange food. He was pugnacious, even offensive at times. Yet he helped launch Jesus' career. In return, Jesus had nothing but praise for him (Matt. 11:7-15). If we want to be like Jesus, we must not pick and choose our brothers and sisters in God's family. We need to embrace other believers and demonstrate our unity in Christ, no matter how awkward or inconvenient.

(from the Word in Life Study Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers)

What It Means To Be Like Jesus (#2)

Jesus indicated that those who follow Him will become like Him (Matt. 10:25). What does it mean to "be like Jesus" in today's complex world? Matthew paints eight portraits of what Christ-likeness looks like, including:


#2: To Be Like Jesus Means...


TO ENGAGE THE WORLD'S PAIN (Matt. 1:18-2:23)


Jesus' entry into human life was fraught with awkward tensions and human dilemmas: a miraculous but nevertheless embarrassing conception, an earthly father who was considering a quiet divorce, an outraged king resorting to infanticide, an early childhood in a strange culture, and a return to a homeland that remained hostile and dangerous. We, too, are all born into some troubles and circumstances. If we want to be like Jesus, we need to face up to the world and remain very much in it, despite all its troubles.



(from the Word in Life Study Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers)

What It Means To Be Like Jesus (#1)

Jesus indicated that those who follow Him will become like Him (Matt. 10:25). What does it mean to "be like Jesus" in today's complex world? Matthew paints eight portraits of what Christ-likeness looks like, including:

#1: To Be Like Jesus Means...

TO ACCEPT OUR ROOTS (Matt. 1:1-17)

Jesus' family tree hides nothing. His heritage was multiethnic and included several unattractive or embarrassing individuals. Indeed, the circumstances surrounding His own birth might have raised questions in the minds of some. But Jesus never denied His ancestry or allowed others to shame Him. If we want to be like Him, we need to understand and accept our roots in terms of culture, race, gender, and reputation. Moreover, like Jesus we want to avoid demeaning anyone else's heritage.


(from The Word in Life Study Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Christ is the Cornerstone

Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he is precious to God who chose him. And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. As the scripture expresses it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a precious cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed." (1 Peter 2:4-6)(NLT)


Peter asserts that Jesus Christ is the living cornerstone upon which the whole church is built. The word stone usually evokes imagery of something that is anything but living--"stone cold faith," for instance. But our faith is built upon a Savior, who is very much alive. Christ's church is alive as well, for Peter calls us "living stones" who are being built into a spiritual temple for the Lord. Let us rejoice that we worship the living cornerstone, Jesus Christ.


LORD JESUS CHRIST, you are the living cornerstone upon which the church is built. Although the world rejects you, we praise and worship you, for you are God's precious Chosen One. Help us to build our life firmly upon you. Amen.



(from the Praise and Worship Study Bible by Tyndale House)

All Hail The Power

Edward Perronet's ancestors were French Huguenots, and his father was an Anglican pastor. Edward followed in his father's footsteps but soon left the established church to work with the more energetic Wesleys. Of the many hymns he wrote, this is the only one to survive, but it embodies much of his spiritual exuberance and fire. It has even been called the "National Anthem of Christianity" because of its glorious appeal and stirring effect on the hearts of believers. As you reflect on the words of this hymn, contemplate the kingship of Christ and the response this calls forth from your own heart.

All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all;

Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all!

Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from the fall,

Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all;

Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all!

Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial ball,

To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all;

To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all!

O that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall!

We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all;

We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all!

(from the Praise and Worship Study Bible by Tyndale House Publishers)

A Prayer Of Worship

God, you are with me and you can help me. You were with me when I was taken, and you are with me now. You strengthen me. The God I serve is everywhere--in heaven and earth and the sea, but he is above them all, for all live in him: All were created by him, and by him only do they remain. I will worship only the true God; you will I carry in my heart; no one on earth shall be able to separate me from you.
--Quirinius of Siscia (d. 308)

Missionary Weapons

"When you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (John 1:48)


Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us--it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, "If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion"? Yet you won't rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God's training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person's true character.

A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private "fig-tree" life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.

Are you saying, "But I can't be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer of Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn't come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready"? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God's work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around  you.

God's training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.