Christ-Likeness and The Word of God

 

  Christ-Likeness

 

The caterpillar of a moth, we are told, becomes like the color of the leaf upon which it feeds. The color in this way indicates the character of the food it eats.  If we would be like Christ we must feed on Him.  Our moral character will always manifest the color of our mental food.  Christ lived upon the Word of God His Father, and so maintained a life like Him.  If we would be His disciples we must come after Him in this matter.  Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3)  (Psalm 119:11; Psalm 119: 105.) 

Quote taken from- Handfuls on Purpose – Smith and Lee

I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name for Your love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word (Psalm 138:2).

Just as in the desert God provided manna for the people to feed on each day, in these last days He has provided the Word of God (Jesus) made flesh, for us to feed on.  Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God  (Mt.4:4; Lk.4:4; Deut.8:3).

As we feed on and digest His word, we will become spiritually nourished by it.  We are told in Psalm 119:11, to hide His word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him.  When Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus quoted the word of God to him in answer to each test.  (You may have noticed that Satan, true to his nature, will twist, add to, or omit parts of Scripture. If you compare Matthew 4:4 to Psalm 91:11, you will notice that when Satan quoted this particular Scripture, he omitted "in all your ways").

God wants us to store up His word in our hearts so that we are always prepared for temptations, tests, and trials.  He also wants us to be able to use His word for encouraging, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness, and for discernment of what is correct teaching, and what is not.  Most importantly, He wants us to know Him better, and that comes through knowing the word of God, and practicing living it out more and more in our life under the Spirit's guidance and enablement.  It is through His word that we come to faith, and through His word that we grow spiritually.  However, we must never separate the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit opens our understanding of the word of God and takes the word of God which we have digested, and brings it to our mind at the appropriate time as we need it - in any circumstance.  He also empowers us through it as we submit to being vessels prepared for His use.

 Peter tells us to grow in grace and knowledge of God our Father  and our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1). We have everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him - so that we can escape the corruption in this world through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and prayerful communion with our Father.  We are to be diligent in adding to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. To grow in grace and knowledge and to be putting off known sinful ways and putting on Christ-like character.  As we let the fruit of the Spirit grow in us and practice living it out in our lives, we will progressively take on more and more of the character and love of Christ Jesus. 

Some Christians try to live by the Spirit alone, while neglecting the Bible. This can be dangerous, because if you don’t know what the Bible teaches and are not rooted in biblical doctrines, you may inadvertently spread false teaching, or be carried away by it because you lack discernment.  We are accountable to God for every careless word we speak. We must be very careful with His Word. We should not get our Bible knowledge from others,who may also have gotten it second hand from someone else. but we should be like the Berean's and check out if what we are being taught lines up with God's Word. See Acts 17:11.  Many people just take a verse out of context as a proof Scripture.  This can also be dangerous, as they get a wrong understanding because they have not checked out the context surrounding it, or looked up other biblical references to it to find out how it is used in other contexts as well.

Some Christians may be in the Bible much, but neglect the Spirit of God.  This can lead to legalism, and possibly becoming judgmental of others.  We must be respectful, graceful, and loving in all we do and say.

We must always keep these three together, prayer, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, as they always work together.  Let us not separate them.

Do you separate the Holy Spirit from the Word of God or do you keep them together always, along with prayer to our Father?

The Word of God is the mind of Christ. See Rev.19:11-13.  The entire Bible, both O.T. and N.T. testifies of Christ. (Luke 24:25-27)  The Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance what we have digested of God’s Word.  This is so important because we don’t usually have a Bible in our hand at times of temptation, and often not when in many difficult circumstances, especially unexpected ones. But if we have His word stored up in our heart or at least digested, if not remembered, the Holy Spirit will be able to bring it to our mind when we most need to hear it.  Is this not a good enough reason for being daily in the Word digesting a passage a day, at least? I say a passage rather than just a verse, as a verse alone could be taken out of context.  We need to read the Scripture in context with surrounding Scripture.

James says, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1). This makes me nervous... but also much more careful, and prayerful regarding what I write.  I know I will be judged more strictly if I get it wrong.  Therefore, I appreciate input from anyone out there who has any questions on anything I have written, to please comment and let me know, and I will certainly have it checked out.  It is important to have a teachable spirit, because only God is infallible. I am not a theologian or a seminary student, just a senior who loves to study God's Word and share with others.  My prayer is that everyone become a good Berean! In these days especially, and the days ahead, you will need to be.(Acts 17:11)


Meaning of digest here... 
 
Chew one's cud -

Fig. to think deeply; to be deeply involved in private thought. (Alludes to the cow's habit of bringing food back from the first stomach into the mouth to chew it, called chewing the cud.)

 

Ask all kinds of questions while reading and ask also, how does this relate to me or my circumstances? How does it relate to my spiritual growth? What have I learned from this passage? Why was this message given? What was the reason for this particular message? Why should I know this and how do I apply this to my life?

~Annie~