Growing to be Christlike

When non-believers ask us, “Why do you read the Bible? Why do you pray? Why do you go to church?” What will our response be? Because we inherit these practices from our parents, or because it feels “wrong” if we do not?

A lot of people pray but forget Jesus. Many attend churches week after week, read the Bible in their designated quiet time, but neither do they see Jesus nor desire to live His life here today. Knowledge about what happened 2000 years ago seems to puff up with Bible reading, but faith is quenched along with love for God.

Jesus demonstrated to His followers what it meant to live in this world. He characterized a spirituality that manifested both the human and divine dimensions. He lived an ordinary human life in a Jewish background, growing up like any young Jew of His time, and went through the rites of passages of Judaism. Yet, in His earthly living, He often spoke of the language of the Kingdom of Heaven. He preached and taught people about the Kingdom of Heaven, how people were called to live before God, and what life would be like under the rule of God. He also performed miracles that nobody doubted that He had authority. After resurrection, He continued to dwell with His disciples and spoke about the Kingdom of God. Jesus’s spirituality was distinctively a fusion of divinity in humanity. 

As Christians pursue spiritual growth, we should also ask – what it means to grow spiritually? It is to grow in the understanding of the incarnational nature of Christ, and pray to live like an incarnated Christ through the Spirit’s empowerment this moment, and it could mean:

Independence of human authority – who gave Jesus the authority and power to drive out demons and healing the sick? The God who was with Him gave Jesus the power (Acts 10:38). Today, Jesus also gave His followers the same authority. We can also drive out demonic attacks on our thoughts, emotions, and living by exercising the authority given us, for the God who was present with Jesus is also here with us today. However, if we do not set time to be in alone with God, if we do not train our mind and heart to listen from Him and be taught by Him, cultivating our spiritual sensitivity to God’s voice, we will grow rusty and ignorant to the divine power indwelling in us.

The Great Inversion – Contrary to what worldly people think as powerful (i.e money, reputation, fame, and possessions), God has a different definition to “being great". God sees the heart of following and loving God as great, no wonder Jesus rebuked,  “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight (Luke 16:15). Of noteworthy, I find that in Jesus’s teaching, He is always calling us to introspect, “Do we truly honor God, or ourselves in what we do? Do we truly love God, are we willing to take up our Cross and follow Him? Is our behavior echoing the heart of Gospel? 

Complete security and freedom – Not about having all, but having Jesus as my all. Believers often derive security from what we have, or our own preparatory work. Jesus did not have everything, He only knows the Father who is completely near to Him and whose provision and care that are beyond human imagination. Perhaps, to worry, is not seeing God for who He is, and how He is intimately related to every aspect of our life, working all things for our good. Christ's spirituality may be radically subversive of the world, but it is also a life of complete freedom. The world is full of human arrangement that is largely based on fear, programming human to operate out of fear, deriving security from things due to fear. But “Jesus had gone through death to destroy the one who had power of death, thus setting free everyone whose lives were held in slavery by fear of death”. We are not under bondages of fear, it is for freedom that God sent His Son to the world, to die for us, to conquer death and resurrect to life. 

Death to self – This is not being ascetic, rather, we are relinquishing our old ways because our life is now saved by Jesus’s life (Romans 5:10), and we are desiring to keep in step with the Spirit. We live as new creations, and are under God's total care. We are contended in God’s hands for He is sovereign and in charge of all outcomes no matter how things may seem out of ways in human’s lens. It is out of love that we put to death our old ways of self-serving, our ideals, our expectations, our personal interests; it is out of love for God and others that we yearn to challenge our complacency and comfort zones by looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and press on to live in the new way of Spirit. 

Spiritual growth is a life gearing towards more of Christ, and less of ourselves. 

I hope when opportunities come and people do ask me, I can grasp the chance and let them know, “because I need Jesus, and because by doing so I get to know Him more and more, and I pray by God’s grace and mercy, I can be more and more like Jesus, so that people around me can come to know Jesus through me too.”

"The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

A reflection after reading Jesus, by Dallas Willard (Dictionary of Christian Spirituality)

One-on-one with God

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[d] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” - Matthew 14:28-33

Do you like Peter?
When I started reading the bible, Peter is an apostle whom my heart is drawn to greatly. The reason is not merely because he is a great apostle to the Jews, but it is also because of his multiple one-on-one experience he had with Jesus that I could resonate with.

In the passage of Matthew 14, the disciples who had been following Jesus closely and had witnessed miracles after miracles performed by Jesus were sent by Him onto a boat. As they were left on the boat by themselves, they were being hit by the waves and the wind, greatly distressed by the inner insecurities and external threats they were in. When Jesus came to their rescue by walking on the water, they were terrified and thought that He must be a ghost! And then came Peter's one-on-one experience with Jesus here.

Like the disciples, believers like ourselves who have experienced grace in our lives often become distressed when we are hit by waves of lives and the perceived absence of Christ in our struggle. We are distressed because we tend to equate God's presence to no waves, no wind, no struggle, and no fight. As much as we would like to deny, we secretly long for a smooth-sailing life that is freed from troubles.

God knows about our heartfelt inclinations too. He knows that it is not the trouble-free life that makes us strong, it cannot strengthen our feeble arms against the demonic attack. Instead, it is faith and assurance in Christ that are strengthened through trials that enable us to enjoy a life that is more satisfying that a trouble-free life. Which is why Jesus comforts us saying,

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).

What should we do when we are thrown into struggles that threaten to destroy our faith in Christ? I often find hope through Peter's response to Christ in this incidence, and also from Christ's response to Peter's baby faith.

Jesus walked on the water (v 25)
Why did He have to walk on the water? Certainly, He being God He is, is able to do any supernatural things including walking on the water. Here, the boat of disciples were distressed in the middle of the lake, and to come to them in the fastest possible time, both swimming and rowing a boat will be too time-consuming - thus Jesus walked on the water so that He can come to them in the earliest possible time. The Lord does it to demonstrate His love and willingness to do whatever that is necessary to rescue His sheep, and there will never be a place on earth where Christ cannot find us and save us.

In response to their fear and calling Him as ghost (Matthew 13:26) , Jesus said, "Take courage, It is I! Do not be afraid!"
The disciples may not be expecting Jesus to come to their rescue. If they have, they would not have shouted in fear and unable to discern Him. They called Jesus ghost because they cannot accept and believe the reality that Jesus would come to them in this manner. But in response to all these, instead of scolding them, Jesus understood their vulnerabilities and affirmed them - Take courage!

Why?

Because "It is I. Do not be afraid". There is no reason to fear, because the God who created Heaven and Earth, and you, is here with you, helping you, guiding you, and empowering you. There is no reason to fear because Christ has taken all our sins when we were still ignorant, and died on the Cross for us so that we can be freed from condemnation. There is no reason to fear because He will neither leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Then came the 1-1 experience of Peter with Christ.

Peter said "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water". He said, "Come!"
With the lingering doubts, I also pray that believers can deal with the doubts about Christ, who is for us and with us, the Peter-way. Instead of remaining in doubts about Jesus, Peter asked for clarification with Jesus, hoping to get verification from Him alone. It is not so much of Peter himself wanting to do supernatural act of walking on the water, it is more of Peter's willingness to pursue this personal experience with God - one which we fear, yet desire.

Jesus encouraged Peter by saying "Come". Come and test and approve my will. Come and learn about your weakness and see how Christ's strength is made perfect in your weakness. Jesus didn't say swim over, Jesus just said - Come. I see that as Christ encouraging us to come towards Him with all we are - with our broken heart, our ordinary conditions, our disbelief, our insufficiencies...

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Peter indeed walked on the water when he focussed on Jesus. What kept him walking on the water wasn't Jesus's physical hands on him at that point of time, rather, it was Peter's trust in what Jesus had commanded him to do that kept him walking on the water. Trusting in Jesus for what He has said and for who He is, are so crucial. When you trust, God's power becomes our power; when you trust, God's promise becomes yours; when you trust, God is also trustworthy to show you He is indeed living and active even in the seemingly scary circumstances.

As Peter walked, he saw the wind and was frightened, and he began to sink. But as soon as he sank, he cried out "Lord, save me!" Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Peter's faith was weak and imperfect, but it was certainly real. Like Peter, when our eyes are focussed on other things except Jesus such as our insufficiencies, less ideal conditions and other factors, we also find ourselves sinking, despite we have attempted the first step by faith in Christ. But the very least we can do is to learn from Peter, in our helplessness, struggles, and doubts, cry to the Savior whose hands are always extending towards us to catch us from sinking.

How blessed are us who can hear Jesus saying to us "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
It's Christ's reminder to us not to focus on the wrong thing but on Him - His character, His promise, His power through the indwelling Holy Spirit in you who believe. Indeed, the waves and wind are at times very strong, but our spiritual mind and experience can go ahead of our rational mind. Like us, Peter's understanding of Christ was faulty and imperfect, but Christ is always working in us and transforming us simply because we love, trust and want to listen from Him, and when we honestly meant to obey Him.

May we also pursue that One-on-one experience that Peter had. Our faith can be small, but if we exercise our faith in Christ, we could also one day proclaim with awe and adoration of Christ like Peter, "You are the Son of God!"

Fear not the waves and wind. No matter how ferocious they are, they are within Christ's sovereignty. They are merely elements in God's workshop to strengthen our faith, repair our insecurities, and deal with our misplaced faith. Draw on our faith in Christ for who He is and His finished work on the Cross.

Peter walked on the water, you can too. All we need is to focus on Christ, and Holy Spirit will work beyond our imagination so that Christ receives all glory.

Be Still, and Move On

"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today... the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still...move on.." (Exodus 14: 13-15)

This is what God told Moses when he led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, and pursued by the Egyptian army after their exodus.

Despite having witnessed God's miracles and works during the Passover,  and witnessed the plagues that came upon their enemies, the Israelites were terrified and started complaining, losing faith in God when they were being pursued by the Egyptians, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:10-12)

How familiar these grudges are!

"God, what have You done to me and my life? After confessing my faith before my parents, they left me, and I am worse than an orphan now!"

"God, before becoming Christian, I used to have more friends, more free time, more enjoyment! But now, I seem to only have sufferings and sacrifices! It's such a painful life."

"God, is this still Your good and perfect plan? Why then am I in great torment?"

"Why is it still the same after knowing You, O God?"

"Why do the enemies, the hostilities, the undesirable things, still follow me?"

But when faced with all these grudges, God only said, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today... the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still...move on.." (Exodus 14: 13-15)

And we know how God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk on, confused the Egyptian army and wiped out all who pursued His people, gave instruction to Moses to stretch his hand over the sea and pay attention to God's works that followed. Eventually, "the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant" after seeing the great display of God's power and glory in the entire battle.

The story of Moses and Israelites was one of the most comforting story we have heard in church. Yet, often, there remains an un-identified disbelief in us - will God also fight for us and lead us like how He did to the Israelites? In face of trying circumstances, doubt just springs and grow like a yeast inside us.  However, in face of trying circumstances, it is also God's litmus state to our hearts of our faith in Him. Do we trust Him?

If we trust Him, our response will be:
Yes Lord, I need not be afraid.
You are in front of me, and You will fight for me.
I need only to be still.
And move on doing what God calls me to do in my current state,  trusting that You will deliver me and lead me to the destination You've prepared for me. Not later, but move on, now.

The light which we read in Genesis, that came to earth with God's Word, is also the light which shines upon us. The creative power of God's Word is still with us.

Is there anything too hard in God's creative hand?
Fight the doubts that linger in our hearts by trusting in His promise and that He made all things beautiful in His time.

His rescue is never late.