Be Like Jesus

Audio length: 25:46

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Every so often I like to think and pray about the application of Jesus’ teachings in my life, as I feel it’s a wise thing to do. Recently I was meditating on how to more effectively apply my faith in my daily life. If walking the walk and talking the talk of a Christian could be defined in a few words, how would I sum it up? I think it could be summed up by saying that being a Christian means doing what we can to emulate Jesus, to be like Jesus.

Of course, we won’t be perfect and without sin as Jesus was. We have our human nature to contend with. But, as followers of Jesus, as His disciples, we will want to take on His divine nature[1] in the way that we live our lives and interact with others.

I think one of the goals for a sincere Christian is to become more like the Lord, to partake of His divine nature. We want the concept of being like Jesus to be more than a cliché or something that we hear or sing about every now and then. Seeking to live like Jesus did, according to His teachings and the example of His life on earth, should be what guides us in applying our faith in our everyday lives.

Of course, it takes effort to partake of the divine nature. Doing so means that we must pause our own activities and our thought processes to enter into His Spirit, so that we have the Spirit of Jesus,[2] the Holy Spirit, living in us and working through us. It means looking to Jesus when drawing conclusions or making decisions.

We partake of His divine nature through developing and maintaining a deep relationship with Him, growing in our faith and spiritual lives, which we can do by absorbing and applying His Word, looking to Him for guidance and instruction, and hearing His still small voice and His voice in prophecy.

If we desire to be like Jesus, that means we seek to absorb all we can of His words, His ways, His thoughts, so that our thoughts and actions are in alignment with His. The apostle Paul talked about having the “mind of Christ,”[3] which implies thinking, reacting, and acting like Jesus would.

Being like Jesus means more than just copying His “style.” It means that Jesus really abides in us. Jesus said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”[4] An abode is a place where someone lives. So They will come and make Their home with us, as some translations render that verse. Jesus is saying that if we love Him, we’ll keep His words, and that the Father will love us, and that They—Jesus and the Father through the presence of the Holy Spirit—will come live in us.

In John 15, Jesus said something similar: “Abide in Me, and I in you.” He’s stating that we should live in Him, and that He will live in us. He goes on to say: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”[5]

To be a fruitful Christian, according to what Jesus taught, is to live in Jesus and to have Him living in us. And the more we live in Him, and the more we relinquish our nature to His Spirit dwelling in us, the more of Him will shine through us. His thoughts, His attitudes, His actions and reactions, will more and more become our own. When we make decisions, they will be the decisions He would like us to make. We will take on more of His characteristics, more of His love, kindness, meekness, and all the other fruits of the Spirit. We will be more like Him.

To be the kind of follower of Jesus that He spoke about, the kind that He “makes His abode” with, means to have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, dwelling richly within us. It’s doing our best to align our thoughts, our reactions, our attitudes, with His. It’s following in the footsteps of the Master, doing our best to be like Jesus in every area of our life.

The key to being like Me and staying like Me is in partaking of My divine nature, by regularly communing with Me through whichever means keep you connected with Me. You can immerse yourself in My Word, commune with Me in prayer or deep meditation, pour out your heart to Me in praise and prayer and tongues, see My visions, receive prophecy, hear My whispers.

As you sincerely and consistently connect with Me, you will be more like Me, and you will be a light in the midst of darkness. Others will see and feel Me, My love, My wisdom, My Spirit in you.

An important part of our lives as Christians is our witness to others, both our verbal witness and the witness of our lives, attitudes, and actions. We should want to communicate the Spirit of God to others in all these different forms. The way to do so is to be filled with God’s Spirit, to have the mind of Christ, to take on His nature, to abide in Him—so that others clearly see and feel His presence in us through the Christlike things we do, say, and portray.

I want to share an excerpt of a message the Lord gave for a leader of a missionary team in a country where war broke out, which speaks to the concept of being like Jesus to others, and the comfort and strength that people can draw on when they feel His Spirit in you.

In times of crisis, you must continue to keep your eyes on Me so that you can sense what I’m doing, and stay close to Me.

You have to stay firmly connected to Me, so that when others are around you, they feel My Spirit and My presence in you. As you stay close to Me and one with Me, I will help others to find My peace through you. The biggest help you can be to others in a time of crisis is to be a vessel of My Spirit.

Think about what the fruits of being close to Me are, and meditate on them. Reach for them moment by moment. Ask Me to give you the ones that you are lacking in.

In your times of fellowship with Me, ask Me to show you how to have peace in your spirit, love, joy, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, and faith. You’ll notice that every one of these is encased in the spirit of humility. That is their foundation and frame. My goal for you is to manifest each of these fruits, because in doing so you will be drawing Me into yourself, and My presence will be made manifest in you and be more a part of you.

As you manifest My Spirit, others will catch on, and they will want to know Me also, because they’ll see Me in you.

Abiding with Jesus, connecting with Him, working to partake of His nature, taking on the mind of Christ, having the Spirit of God dwelling in you richly, all make you more like Jesus.

Living this way brings the fruits of the Spirit and their beneficial effects into your life. It benefits others, as they can feel the Lord through God’s Spirit in you and through your words and actions. Living this way benefits the mission. When people get to know you, someone who transmits God’s Spirit, it can spark their interest in what makes you different, and draw them to find out how they can have Jesus in their life as well.

It’s well worth the effort to abide in Him, to stay close to Him, to be like Jesus.

[1] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV).

[2] I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance (Philippians 1:19 ESV).

[3] "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16 ESV).

[4] John 14:23 KJV.

[5] John 15:4–5 ESV.