The Christ Like Life

Christianity was not popular when it first started out. Christians literally had to hide their new found faith so as to not be put to death by the Roman government. Thousands of years later, it has become more acceptable in the westernized world. Heck it is even cool to wear a cross, or attend church on Easter and Christmas! However, that is not the "Christ Like Life." When Christ gathered followers while on earth, it wasn't just to save them from the fiery hot flames of Hell, but to teach them a life that was selfless, and centered on others. It was a life like he lived one that was centered around his fathers plans and agenda. He was 100% man and 100% God, but while on earth, he laid the 100% God part down, so he could exemplify the life we are to live while we are on this earth. He talked about the golden rule, love your enemies, be good to those who persecute you, turn the other cheek, and go the extra mile. These are things our westernized churches are not teaching as much. We teach about prosperity, success,and boundaries, which are all good, but the very essence of who Jesus was and the example he wanted to teach was different. We are to offer our lives as a "living sacrifice", and the very word sacrifice means to surrender a possession or the act of giving up something that you want to keep. What is it we want to keep? It is our life, our rights, our comfort and our possessions! The Christian life is totally opposite of that. We are told to lay our life down, carry our cross, and that our life is hidden in Christ when we become a believer. We have lost the true art of that "Christ Like Life" by negating prayer daily, or the discipline of fasting, which is hard on the flesh believe me! Like any exercise it must be done daily to get better at it, even stronger. I am writing this post, because I have been a believer for almost 37 years, but the past 5 years have taken a major toll on my faith, and I have lost some of those disciplines I wish to gain back. So my commitment to the Lord and myself this year, is to totally surrender to the "Christ Like Life", and like exercise make it a daily discipline to take up my cross and bear the burden the Lord has for me daily. I have started a fast, and through this I am learning to listen and rely on God every second of the day! Let me leave you with this thought, Tom Landry quoted, "The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be." In the same way, Christians are called to make themselves do something they would not naturally do...... and that is pursue spiritual disciplines, in order to become what they have always wanted to be, and that is like the Lord Jesus Christ! We are to live the "Christ Like Life!" Do what Jesus did and would still do if he were on the earth!