Christlikeness

Christlikeness

Tony Evans

In His Presence: If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

Christlikeness is the Spirit of God inspiring the ability to emulate the person of Christ in and through your life. How do you know if you are Christlike? Your conduct will be consistent with the character of the Savior. You constantly grow more into His image, becoming more like Him this year than you were last year, more like Him today than you were yesterday.

The Spirit is so powerful, it liberates the dead body to enjoy the new life that Jesus provided by His death and resurrection.

For more devotionals by Dr. Tony Evans, click here.

People NEED People

Note: The views expressed in this piece are those of the writer. There are a million opinions on this topic (and I'd like to hear yours) but don't be offended if our opinions don't align!

It's a quarter after one 

I'm all alone 

And I need you now 

- Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"

In God's massive and glorious ecosystem of life He created animals of all shapes and sizes. The common denominator between them all is that each animal looks to its own kind for social needs. You never hear about female independent lions or male elephants who choose not to wife up a female elephant because of the responsibility it entails. No, balance is made whole in God's ecosystem.

We humans? Not so much.

I've heard on several occasions by several different people that some people are just meant to be single. That I can agree with. But should that be a person's desire or should that be God's will revealed to them for their life?

Here's Paul the [single] Apostle on singleness:

" I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that." (1 Corinthians 7: 7, NIV 2010 edition)

In life we meet and come into relationship with people who have gifts. While I don't believe in soul mates, I do believe that God can allow you to come in contact with someone with complimentary gifts. Someone who challenges you to be better (better = more like Christ) because what they bring to the relationship is something you may not have been built to either see, do, consider, or think about. These gifts, as Paul mentions, come from God and they are for a designed purpose. Where you are weak, they are strong and vice versa. Relationships should bring God glory and if you come across someone who "fits" with your gifting - and more importantly their gift fits you! - that is giving God glory at it's finest. What better way to use your God given gifts than in the ultimate ministry of marriage and relationships? Our flesh will fail us at times and question our reason for being and imperfections will seep through but...

No one is perfect.

No relationship is going to be without heartache or pain or disagreement (or even a few personality mismatches). Any Christian can tell you that even our personal relationship with Christ can be filled with those feelings and challenges. However God's love is bigger than all of those things. Relationships produce fruit, and that comes through a process. No one said the process would be painless (I bet any mother can tell you how painful a "process" can be).

What fruit is coming out of your relationship?

Undoubtedly, God had a calling on Paul's life. One that extended beyond a home life and one that would impact generations of Christians to come. Paul's life was special and God knew what He was doing. Imagine the pain and lack of fulfillment that his wife and children would feel. So should singleness be an option or a calling?

Why would God create a humanity that doesn't need/depend on/appreciate it's own humanity?

What are your thoughts?

Correction Vs. Protection

This is the stuff that gets under my skin 

But I've got to trust You know exactly what You're doing 

It might not be what I might choose 

But this is the stuff you use

- Francesca Battistelli - This Is The Stuff

Today's Window Seat Thought is about correction and protection. God uses both to sharpen us and put us on the path that we are supposed to be on.

Correction/Discipline: In correction, God does not remove the sin (what I mean is that He does not look past them but He DOES forgive them*) but removes some benefit experienced while in our reckless sinful state and inflicts a consequence directly relating to the actions that occurred. This is sort of like the parent who doesn't fight to remove your bad grades on your report card but will put you on punishment as a result of them. Correction is used to allow us to see the errors of our ways and then work at them so that they are no longer a barrier to our right relationship with someone or something. Biblical examples of correction include : 

• Adam and Eve: God didn't remove the serpent, he removed the joy of carefree living. He also made life that much harder for Adam and Eve and well, you know how the rest of the story goes (Genesis 3:16-19). 
• David and Bathsheba, god did not restore David's mistakes but he removed the oneness that David felt with God. Not only that, God set a curse upon his house which had an immediate and public impact (2 Samuel 12: 11). 

Just like in the natural sense where we must work to improve our grades in order to restore our privileges, In spiritual correction it is always our responsibility to learn the lesson and restore our right relationship with Christ.

Protection/Grace: God removes the potential for sin or danger regardless of whether we are at fault for something or not. Ever run late for work and see that you just missed and accident? Ever be somewhere where you shouldn't have been and something bad happened but you were kept safe? That's God's protection. Evidence of His grace and mercy that He willingly pours out to us to protect us from harm. Biblical examples include:

• God protects Lot from destruction (Genesis 19) 
• Saul becomes Paul (Acts 9) 
• Jesus calms the sea (Mark 4: 35-41)

Both correction and protection are forces that god uses to show his unfailing love for us. Sometimes they can happen at the same time (correction protects you from further sin as long as you obey). Also, protection is not always given as a result of a potential or desire to sin. The bottom line is that its a crazy world out there and just as many forces work against you that work for you. Isn't it great to know that someone is working on your behalf to save you from the decay and destruction that the world throws at us?

Might not be what we choose but these are the things he uses.

Francesca Battistelli - This Is The Stuff:

Has you experienced God's correction or protection in your life? Have you witnessed it in the Bible or the lives of others? I want to hear about it!