Living as Jesus Lived

The Holy Spirit transforms us through the renewal of our mind (Romans 12:2). It is in our thoughts that the seed of true Christlike humility is sown. It is not by our actions or by our behaviour before others but rather by our thoughts (when we are by ourselves) that we can ascertain whether we are being transformed into Christlikeness in this area or not - our thoughts concerning ourselves and about how we compare with others.

It is only when we are truly small in our own thoughts, that we can genuinely "regard others as more important than us"(Phil. 2:3), and consider ourselves as "the very least of all the saints"(Eph. 3:8).

Jesus always considered Himself as a man to be nothing before His Father. Therefore the glory of the Father was manifested through Him in all its fulness.

Because Jesus took this form of nothingness before the Father, He could joyfully submit to anything that the Father ordered for His life, and obey all the Father's commandments wholeheartedly.

"He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death" (Phil. 2:8)

By Zac Poonen in Living as Jesus Lived.

Very thought provoking and an area I can and need to really grow in. I hope it inspires each one who has that desire.

To Kill or to Heal

Every art, every healing, and every good, can be used for an opposite purpose.Every possibility I have of producing a fine character in time, I can use to produce the opposite; I have that liberty from the Creator. God will not prevent my disobeying Him; if He did, my obedience would not be worth anything. Some of us complain that God should have made the universe and human life like a foolproof machine, so simple that there would be no possibility of going wrong. If He had, we would be like jellyfish. If there is no possibility of being damned, there is no need for salvation.
In the time between birth and death, most of us are in our " shell." There is something in us that makes us peck, and when the crack comes, instead of it's being the gentle light and dawn of a new day, it is like a lightening flash. The universe we awaken to is not one of order, but a great big howling confusion, and it takes time to get adjusted. The distresses we reap in between Gods decrees for us, we, together with other human beings, are personally responsible for. If we make our life a muddle, it is to a large extent because we have not discerned the great underlying relationship to God.
By My Utmost for His Highest

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to see;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

He has made everything beautiful in It's time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should enjoy the good of all his labor--it is the gift of God.
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14