Following in His Footsteps

In Genesis 1:27 it states, "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." Therefore, we were made in His image. This is why Jesus Christ is our prime example. He showed us how to act and what to do. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will do the things He did and greater things because He was going to the Father (John 14:12). If we are able to do greater things than Jesus, then the world shouldn't be the way it is. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is upon them. Remember that in the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit would come in and out of people but the beauty of the New Covenant is that He stays with us always. So how can we be like Jesus and follow in His footsteps? Well, obviously having the Holy Spirit helps. But another important component is grace. Without God's grace upon our lives we wouldn't be able to do the things we do. Grace allows us to have godly encounters with others. The Bible says that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:37). We must be the few in order to show this world who Jesus really is and how He can work through all of us.

Loving Unconditionally

There is no love greater than the love God has for us. He loves us more than we could ever imagine. His loves is indescribable and unchangeable. He loves all of us equally and we really can't make Him loves us anymore than He already does. In 1 John 4:16-17 it states "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." Therefore, we can rely on the love that God has for us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. So how do we love unconditionally? Well, we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God of course. When we truly accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters into our hearts. This of course is if we truly want to be like Jesus and follow Him. Since God is love, we have love inside of us and we are able to give others love encounters. The best way to love someone is by giving them the gift of life: Jesus Christ. He not only came to die for our sins,diseases, sicknesses and so forth. He came to give us life and to have it more abundantly. He came to be our example so that we may follow in His foot steps and do the things He did.

Striving for perfection

There is no need to strive for perfection. Many people believe they have to be a perfect Christian before they can do the things that God has called them to do. It's like they believe they can't reach their destiny until they have it all together. We must not forget that Jesus came for the lost, broken, and needy. He came for those who were sick. After all, He is the Great Physician. The truth is as we follow Christ, we become more like Him. We need to make an effort to study the Word, to be in His Presence, to worship Him, and to be around like-minded people. It's a process we need to be willing to take.

Receiving and Giving

We must receive in order to pour out. When we receive love, compassion, mercy, and so on from God we are able to give love, compassion, mercy and so on. The Bible says in 1 John 4:19 that we love because He first loved us. When we receive, we are able to overflow with His goodness and pour good fruit onto others. This is not talking about selfishness such as we can only give if we receive. Not at all. It's more about overflowing with God's goodness, passion and love. It's also knowing and learning how to give. If we have never received love, we would not know how to give love. Therefore, God teaches us how to love because He is love and He first loved us. As it states in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Once we know what love is and have received it in abundance, we are able to pour this love onto others.

Experiencing Heaven on Earth

The most well known prayer in the Bible is the "Our Father." You can read this prayer in Matthew 6: 9-13. If you read verse 10 very closely it talks about bringing Heaven to Earth. We should be praying that His Kingdom comes, that His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. That is a very powerful prayer to pray. That would mean that what's going on in Heaven can be happening right here on Earth. And why wouldn't we want that?