Monday, February 21, 2011

Have you been with Jesus today?

Acts 4:13. There are many sayings that i believe, are partially correct, like: Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are; you are what you eat; i think, therefore i am, etc. When i say i believe they are partially correct, it's because you can be a godly person and have ungodly friends; eat bitter melon and never be a bitter person (bitter melon is known as the most bitter vegetable in the world) or even if you are not a thinker, you still are (exist). Examples: Matthew 11:19 Jesus was called "friend of sinners" because He loved the sinners and yet He never sinnedMark 1:6 John the Baptist ate locust and was never able to flyActs 12:21-23 after the crowd called Herod "god", he died because he really thought he was a "god" (of course he wasn't). The point is: What you think, eat or who you associate with will only influence you to become what you will be, but you still have the freedom to decide what you will be. You can change your "environment", be changed by it or be in constant fight against it. I know it still sounds kinda confusing, so, let's use the disciples as an example: Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus as much as Peter did. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied Him. Nevertheless, Peter repented and lived and Judas had remorse and killed himself. Peter became so much "like" Jesus (likeness is not equality) that the religious leaders realized that, as in Acts 4:13, Peter had been with Jesus. Many times we try to lead people to Jesus by "saying the correct words", "quoting the correct Bible verses", "showing ourselves to be morally correct", etc. In this case, Peter and John went to jail because they reflected the "Light" (Jesus Christ) so much that even the "blind people" (the religious leaders who Jesus called blind), could see the Light in them. Let's compare Jesus with the Sun and Peter with the Moon. We all know that the moon doesn't have light in itself, it only "reflects" the sun's light, so: We have "night" because "at night" the earth have rotated (the other side of the earth, let's say Japan, they have day), and we suppose to have the sun's light being reflected by the moon. Of course the moon has its phases: New, quarter, full. The moon is at its best when is full, it fully illuminates the night (darkness). The same way we suppose to live (operate): The more we align ourselves to reflect Jesus (the bigger Jesus is in us) the brighter the Light (Jesus) will be reflected through our lives. When we are born again we are like the "new moon" (partially reflecting the sun's light), then we should grow to "quarter moon" and then to "full moon". Of course, the more the "earth" gets between the sun and the moon, the less the moon will shine. The same way it works in the spiritual life: The more attached to the earthly (worldly) living we are, the less of Jesus we will have in our lives, therefore, the less Jesus Christ will shine in and through our lives. 1 John 2:15.
Conclusion: The more Jesus grows in us, the more His light will shine in us, the more His light shines in and through us, the more people will see His character in us (we'll be more like Him). Matthew 5:16.

No comments: