Imitate Me As I Imitate Christ

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. This is a strong statement made by the Apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 11:1. Paul understood what Jesus meant by the command to go and make disciples.

"The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master (Lu. 6:40 KJV)."

A disciple is a student. The word master here literally means an instructor, or teacher. We tend to interpret this verse as meaning the student will never be superior to the teacher. If we take the rendering of this verse in the Amplified Bible we find, "A pupil is not superior to his teacher."

Right there it is! This is what it says, the teacher is superior to the student! We must be willing to throw away the remainder of this verse to get this interpretation. Let's finish this verse from the Amplified Bible.

"But." But is a conjunction. But indicates more is coming. "But everyone [when he is] completely trained (readjusted, restored, set to rights, and perfected) will be like his teacher." I like all the different adjectives describing completely trained.

What Jesus is telling us in Luke 6:40 is when the teacher has correctly taught the pupil, the pupil will be exactly like the teacher. This is what the Apostle Paul understood when he wrote the words of 1Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ (NKJV)."

This places a tremendous responsibility on those who preach and teach Christ. If you have taught and preached correctly, your students, your disciples, will be exact replicas of you as you replicate Christ. Very, very interesting. God bless...

Denying Yourself

"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mk. 8:34 KJV)."

This is a familiar Bible verse. I hear this verse spoken of frequently, and so do you. This is one of those verses we tend to get excited about. We've taken up the cross of the Gospel and we're following Christ. Or, are we?

We tend to blow right through the phrase, "let him deny himself", and move right into taking up the cross. We're following Christ, or so we think we are. Do we fully comprehend what this verse is saying to us?

The word deny literally means to surrender ownership, or to disown oneself. This verse is telling us we must surrender total control to God to follow Christ. My friends, this is very black and white. Total surrender means letting go of everything we are, everything we own, and everything we want and give it to God.

What is taking up our cross? Jesus didn't say taking up his cross. The his in this phrase refers to you and me. The cross we're to take up is ours. The literal translation of the word cross means a stake or a pole, hence a cross. Dig a little deeper though and this gets interesting.

The Greek word for cross is derived from a Greek base word which means to take a stand, exposing ourselves to death. The figurative meaning of cross used in this verse means to stand. Jesus is telling us if we're to follow him, we're to surrender ownership to him and take a stand.

Let me finish with this. You will not take a stand to the death for something without relinquishing complete control of self. This is the message Jesus is giving when he says to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Following Christ is giving complete control of our lives to God, giving our lives to take a stand for his kingdom. God bless...

Sow the Word

"The sower sows the Word (Mk. 4:14 AMP)."

I'm not going to recount the parable of the sower. I want to focus on this Bible verse and the impact it should have in and on the lives of Christian believers.

"The sower sows the Word." A sower is one who plants seed. The Christian believer is a sower. Jesus left us with this command before his ascension, "Go and make disciples of all the nations (Mt. 28:19 AMP)." He didn't say if you feel like it, go and make disciples. He commanded, "Go."

"But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8 AMP)." We get excited about receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Ro. 14:17).

Don't you think we should finish the rest of Acts 1:8? Yes, we'll receive the power of the Holy Spirit, but for what purpose? "And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."

The moment we profess to be Christian we're a witness. We become a witness the moment we lay claim to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Our words, actions, activities, and even our appearance will testify as to who and what we are in Christ. We're a living, breathing testimonial of the god (yes, small 'g' intended) we serve. We're a witness whether we realize it or not.

How can we sow the Word if we don't know the Word? I can take this question in two directions. Jesus Christ is the Word. The written Holy Bible is the Word. I will combine these two directions with one statement. You won't know Christ the Word without knowing the Holy Bible, the written Word. It's the written Word which tells us who Christ is.

Jesus says to search the scriptures. "And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me (Jn. 5:39 AMP)!" No wonder Paul writes, "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth (2Tim. 2:15 AMP)."

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to sow the Word efficiently (Acts 1:8). Why would God do this? The Word shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose (Isa. 55:11 AMP)."

I encourage us to get into the Holy Bible, the Word of God. Search the Word. It'll teach us who Christ is. Study the Word. Place the Word deep in our hearts. The words we speak, we speak from the heart. We'll speak the Word when we know the Word. We'll sow the Word when we know the Word. Lord God, make me a sower. God bless...