7/15/2023 0 Comments We with unveiled faces![]() With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything change?” That is a piercing, probing question and scenario, is it not? Well, you know what? This scenario is exactly what God wills for us. ![]() His love directs your behavior. What would you be like? Would people notice a change? Your family, would they see something new? Your coworkers, would they sense a difference? What about the less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they detect more joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heart than from yours? And you? How would you feel? What alterations would this transplant have on your stress level? Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? Would you see sunsets differently? Death differently? Taxes differently? Any chance you’d need fewer aspirin or sedatives? How about your reaction to traffic delays? (Ouch, that touched a nerve.) Would you still dread what you are dreading? Better yet, would you still do what you are doing? Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Pause and think about your schedule. What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. Your problems aren’t solved. Only one change occurs. Max Lucado, a source I seldom quote in spite of (maybe because of) his popularity, some years ago posed a great question that is most relevant to this blog: “What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you? What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your mother becomes his mother, and your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Oh! My brethren, there is nothing that can so advantage you, nothing can so prosper you, so assist you, so make you walk towards heaven rapidly, so keep your head upwards toward the sky, and your eyes radiant with glory, like the imitation of Jesus Christ.” The great old preacher and theologian Charles Spurgeon once said, “A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. NIV 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. When we exhibit on the human level the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are Christlike. ![]() The purpose of all of life, the reason we are all here, is to manifest God’s presence on earth through Christlikeness. The very “job-description” of believers is to become like Christ. As the word clearly suggests, “Christlikeness means to be like Christ. It may be said that Christlikeness is the clarion message of the entire Bible – not just the New Testament.
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