(Acts 7:54-60)
The ultimate goal of every follower of Christ is to
become more like Him each day. We read about how Jesus lived His life. We
study the way He handled different situations. We carefully dissect His
words. The whole point is to become more like Him. The popular phrase
"what
would Jesus do" helps to remind us during our busy days, that when we face
decisions, we should stop and ask, what would Jesus do? You see,
Jesus came to this earth and lived as a man. He walked the same roads we
walk. He saw the same things we see. He felt the feelings we have. While
remaining 100% God, He was also 100% man and comprehends what we go through
in our day-to-day lives. Because of His virgin birth, He was born without
sin, and then proceeded to live His life without sin. He set the example
for
all of us to follow. He gave us the standard by which we all should be
striving to live up to each day. By living like He did, we make our Lord
proud of us.
Many see this as an unrealistic goal. While in our own strength I agree;
however, when we are living in His strength...it becomes very real. You
see,
when Jesus left this earth, He promised a comforter...someone to come along
side
to help. That promise was fulfilled on the day we celebrate as Pentecost
with the advent of the Holy Spirit. One of the benefits of accepting Jesus
Christ into your life is to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit gives you power to live beyond yourself when you are yielded to
that power. The Holy Spirit is what brings you under conviction when you
are
not living a life pleasing and acceptable to the Lord. It is the Holy
Spirit
that enables you to live a Christ-like life, thus making Jesus proud of you.
The person and power of the Holy Spirit has been the subject of much poor
teaching. I am not going to get into any theological debates over this
issue and will instead stick strictly to what the Bible clearly teaches.
At that
moment of being "born again", you receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There are Biblically documented gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit now
available to those who will allow the Spirit of God to rule and reign in
your
life. It is the Spirit of the living God now residing with you that gives
you
the supernatural power to love your enemies, forgive those who harm you,
overcome the trials of day-to-day life, defeat sin in your life, and know
God's love in ways you never experienced before. It is the Holy Spirit that
guides and directs you throughout the day to keep you on the path God has
chosen for your life. It is only because of the Holy Spirit that we can
live like
Jesus did, and make Him proud of us.
You will be in my prayers today as you think about these words. The most
effective way to make Jesus proud of you is to live like He did. In today's
scripture,
we see Stephen being stoned to death and asking God to forgive those who
were
killing him. This is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. It was only
because of the
power of God living in Stephen that he was able to do that. Was Jesus
proud? There
is no other place in scripture that says Jesus was standing. Search the
Bible. It always
says Jesus was sitting. Why was Jesus standing in this instance? I believe
it was
because He was so proud of his servant Stephan that He actually stood to
welcome
him into Heaven. My challenge to you today is to act like Jesus and make
him proud
of you.
