One Heart - Power of the WordSample

DIFFERENT

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. If you only love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:39,44,46,48 NIV

God's goal with every disciple of Jesus is Christlikeness in character and behavior. Jesus said: "Everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." (Luke 6:40). There are specific ways in which this transformation happens: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35).

(1) The one characteristic that a disciple of Jesus will be known by is love. Selfless love for those around you is one of the greatest testimonies that Christ is alive in the community of disciples. It is so unnatural compared to those around us in this world.

(2) Disciples should not only love one another but deny themselves (Mat.16:24). A disciple of Jesus is to be unselfish and self-sacrificing, even to the point of enduring suffering on behalf of others. Deny self means to give up something that is completely legitimate, so that someone else, someone totally undeserving of such a sacrifice, can benefit from it.

(3) Jesus told his disciples: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mark 1:17). A disciple of Jesus is not following Jesus only for the pleasure of having Him as Lord. No, they are called with a purpose. All those Jesus called in this way, had to give up their secular jobs to become involved in kingdom employment. Being associated with Jesus demands that we change to become just like Him. Part of this transformation is to "forget those things that are in the past" (Phil.3:13), to deny your own accomplishments, your own ambitions, your own dreams, to forsake past behaviors, values, identities and relationships; to "reach forward to the goal of the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus." There is a cost involved in following Him. Sometimes it is necessary to painfully, "turn the other cheek."

PRAYER POINTS

ME: Pray Phil.3:8-14 in your own words.

US: Pray for the church of Jesus Christ to desire to become Christlike in all their character and behavior. Pray for the process of transformation that includes self-denial, self-sacrifice and having one goal only – to fulfill Christ's commands to love, to deny, and to follow Him.

THEM: Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send "fishers of men" into your neighborhood, your community, your town or city, with the message of reconciliation.

Remember your scripture memory of John 17.

The enemy always pushes us beyond our personal, inbred, preset limits concerning how far we'll go for God: "Here's how far I'm going to love, this is how many times I'll turn the other cheek." The test kills the limits of our humanity, until we're like Christ in everything. We're left with a choice: Become Christlike or gradually shrivel into superficial hypocrites: angry people who have stopped walking with God, who blame others for our bitterness. – Francis Frangipane