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Does pleasing God means wearing long skirts and sleeved up tops?
Does it mean avoiding being social? Does it mean regular ritual of church?
Does it mean paying my tithes and offering? Is it in giving? Is it in my services to God?
Is it in going for every Christian gathering? Is it avoiding unbelievers?
These are the questions of my heart every time I hear about living a life that Glorifies God.
This is not my dilemma alone, but the dilemma of every Christian who desires to live to please God. We have these burning questions in our hearts, but we don't know where and who to turn to for the answers. The answers we get don't seem to go well with us.
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One of the reasons it seems so difficult to live a life that glorifies God is because of the way we have been orchestrated to approach Him. God has been presented to us as a scary deity that if you don't, please Him, you will die. For many, God is not someone you can approach in a friendly manner, you need to come to Him like a scary deity that he is.
Do I support lack of reverence to God? No, God is holy and whoever will approach him or appear before Him must come in holiness and reverential worship not in the ritual or routine way that we do most times.
At times, I tend to question some of the doctrine that we practice as Christians because they are mere rituals and not relationship. The first understanding to living a life that glorifies is that approaching God should be based on our understanding of who He is, and the love He has for us and on our desire to have a relationship with Him.
When we have this understanding, it wouldn't be difficult to follow and obey Him as He leads us on. Come to know that God is not scary, rather He loves and desire to have a relationship with us as humans.
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Gen.1.26 - God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
Gen.1.27 - So, God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
God created man for two purposes which are vocational purposes and relationship purposes. The vocational purpose of a man is to have dominion over everything created by God and the relationship purposes is the have man reflect God by relating with Him as friend to friend, not the way we have been made to believe. This was the order of creation until man fell and everything went haywire. After man fell, the need for this purpose was still there because it was man’s original essence of creation.
God in his pursuit to change this, gave us His only son who became the perfect example for us to see and become like God.
John testifies to this in the first chapter of his gospel account.
John.1.18 - No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].
This is to show us that the perfect example to love a life that glorifies God is emulating the life that Christ lived. When we live this life, we come to please God and glorify Him.
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1. IN UNDERSTANDING
This is the first baby step to becoming like Christ. We must understand that this is what we have been called to do and called to become.
We need to settle this as we desire to live like Christ. Becoming like Christ is based on the understanding that we carry as believers that we can be like Him as he has ordained us to be. We must understand His nature, understand His personality and we must understand his perspective about things.
Having this understanding will enable us to shape and pattern our lives like His easily.
2. STEADFAST PRAYER
This is the next step to becoming like Christ. Men ought always to pray, and not faint. In our earnest prayers, we become more like Christ because He is a man of prayers.
We must be conscious about praying and we must do it consistently. It should be our lifestyle, not a ritual or a routine.
Just like we won't go a day without eating, we must ensure that no day goes by without communicating with our Maker.
3. INTENTIONAL STUDYING OF THE SCRIPTURES.
John in his revelation told us that no man has seen God, but the one who has been with Him has come amidst us to show us what it means to follow God. In order to live a life that gives Him glory, we must study intentionally about who Jesus was and how He related with God.
Was he distant? Was he close? These are questions that we should raise as we study His words intentionally.
4. FELLOWSHIP
This helps us as it gives room for correction, rebuking, rebuilding and rebranding. No wonder, the scriptures said we should never forsake the gathering of brethren.
Fellowship with people of like minds, study the words together and learn from each other.
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In conclusion, becoming like Christ is not what we can outrun in a day. It is a gradual process of feeding by the one with has called us to Himself.
We must believe, understand and know that this is His desire for us that we live our lives in ways that brings glory to Him.
When we follow these steps, He shapes our characters, our speech, our thoughts and everything about us reflects Him as it has been ordained from creation.
"Remember, God is not scary!"
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This profound. God bless this blog.
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