Phil, I suppose that in both memories, you were told that you are like
Jesus. As to why I do things for Jesus, I don't think about that much,
they just come out. I don't do them to perform or feel better about
myself. I just enjoy doing them.
earlier, Phil Scovell, wrote:
>Like Jesus Or Jesus Like?
>
>
>By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>
> It was money again. To be more specific, it was the lack of
>money again. I sighed heavily as I consider the bills we had to
>pay; knowing the money wasn't going to reach. I didn't like the
>feeling I had but identifying that exact feeling wasn't easy to
>recognize. Turning to the Lord, I said, "Lord? This doesn't feel
>right. Where is this coming from?" He immediately flashed a
>memory image into my mind. Getting up from my office desk, I
>walked into the other half of my office and sat down in my
>rocking chair and continued praying.
>
> I recalled the event quite well. My dad had died a year
>earlier unexpectedly and I had lost all of my sight in six months.
>Now we were moving from Des Moines, Iowa, where I was born and
>raised and had all of my friends, to Omaha, Nebraska where I knew
>no one. I had been to this memory in my thoughts perhaps hundreds
>of times over the years but never saw, or felt, anything that was
>out of place. I saw myself seated at the table with all my
>friends. These were my church friends and they had collected
>enough money to purchase me a small portable open reel tape
>recorder.
>
> Admittedly, something always felt slightly wrong in the
>memory but I never could locate it. "Lord?" I complained. "This
>memory has nothing to do with money. What are we doing here?"
>
> "How did you feel?" I heard in my thoughts.
>
> I looked at the memory again and focused on myself seated at
>the table. I was sad. Sad because I was leaving all of my
>friends but there was something else. It had to do with my
>blindness but what was it? I couldn't seem to locate the
>feeling.
>
> Suddenly, it was there. I felt as if the Lord were in the
>memory with me and I turned to my right where He seemed to be
>standing and said, "Lord, I'm not like these people any more."
>
> I expected a sympathetic response from the Lord. Something I
>had heard many times before as I prayed with others. "I was with
>you," he might say, or, "I'm your friend now," or, "I love you."
>Instead, to my total amazement, when I said, "Lord, I'm not like
>these people any more," He immediately said, "That's because you
>are like me now." You could have knocked me over with a feather.
>I wanted to say, "Me? You mean, me? I'm like you now?" I
>couldn't think of anything to say because the impression of the
>Words heard in my thoughts were so authoritative, I knew what
>Jesus had said was true.
>
> This whole thing started out with money, or the lack thereof,
>and ended up with Jesus saying, "That's because you are like me
>now." What's that have to do with money? Stop and think about
>it. Hidden in my woundedness of forty years past was a lie which
>told me that I wasn't good enough and wasn't deserving enough.
>Now, here is the Lord God Himself telling me I was like Him now.
>
> This forces a boat load of questions immediately to the
>surface like a broaching whale. Does Jesus have any financial
>needs which He cannot handle? Has money ever been a problem for
>Him? Does He pay his bills late? Does he hardly make it from
>paycheck to paycheck?" Of course, the answer to all these
>questions, and many others, was obvious. The connection was made
>through His statement to me, "That's because you are like me now."
>Yes, I was aware of all the theology and doctrine behind that
>powerful statement but this was not a Sunday school class, a
>church service, or a Bible seminary professor explaining the
>meaning of Scripture. This was Jesus The Christ, The Creator of
>the universe, telling me, of all people, that I was like Him now
>and not only that, He told me in a memory that was over 40 years
>old. So what did He mean, someone may ask. Perhaps it would be
>easier, if we were going to attempt an explanation, just to say
>what He didn't mean. Frankly, I don't plan on doing either. I'll
>leave it up to you as what you think it means. I'll give you a
>little hint, however. The answer is bigger than anyone can
>imagine, envisage, or even fathom.
>
> The bottom line is this, Jesus said, "You are like me now."
>He did not say, "Be like me now," followed with a list of things
>we should, and should not, do in order to remain like Him. In
>other words, we are not like Jesus because we are imitators; we
>are like Him because we are His children. One of the biggest
>problems, in my opinion, concerning the church today, is the idea
>that we somehow are supposed to spiritually grow up and
>spiritually mature so that nothing, absolutely nothing, effects us
>any more. It is a balancing act. We walk the high wire, far
>above the rest of the world, perfectly balanced, in order that we
>won't fall to either side. If you are thinking, "That sounds
>dangerous," you would be right. If you are thinking, "This sounds
>like a lot of work to me," you would be right. If you have to do
>anything to maintain your relationship with the Lord, you are
>performing. Performance driven Christianity is what you can do
>for the Lord. Maintenance free victory is what the Lord has done
>and is doing for you without any effort on your behalf. In short,
>and to the contrary thinking and teaching of most, it isn't what
>we can do for Christ that counts; it's what we allow Him to do for
>us that makes the difference.
>
> Of course, about this point, someone says, "What about
>church membership, tithing, reading my Bible, memorizing
>Scripture, winning the lost to Christ, preaching the Gospel,
>supporting missionaries, pastoring, speaking in tongues, laying
>hands on the sick, and raising the dead?" We could easily add
>about another 20,000 things to this list. Again, I'm repeating
>myself now, these are all things we do for the Lord. Somebody,
>somewhere, and somehow taught us that these things make us more
>theologically acceptable, doctrinally sound, draws us closer to
>God, and somehow makes us literally grow spiritually.
>
> Before you get your tail in a permanent irreversible knot,
>let me quickly point out that there is nothing wrong with any of
>the things I mentioned. It is why we do them that makes a
>difference. When I ask this next question, don't answer right
>away but think about it first. Think about it for an hour or a
>day or a month but don't answer the question the moment you read
>it. Stop right here. Don't read further. Clear your mind of any
>preconceived answer. Do not allow yourself to anticipate my
>question. Then, when ready, continue reading.
>
> Are you doing things for God because you think they make Him
>feel better about you or do you do the things for Him because they
>make you feel better about yourself?
>
> So which is it going to be for you? Like Jesus or Jesus
>like?
>
> This question either has a simple answer or it will create a
>multitude of other questions. If you don't know the answer, call
>me. It will be time for the Lord to begin His healing work in
>your life.
>
>Safe Place Fellowship
>Phil Scovell
>Denver, Colorado USA
>Mountain Time Zone
>Phone: 303-507-5175
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>
>Phil C Sharp
>The Coil Of The snake
>A Free Online E-Novel
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
John
Have you crashed your Windows today ?
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