Phil,
The reason The Lord told you that you were like him now, really doesn't have
much to do with material things.  It has to do with the fact that that the
Lord has planted His life in you.  You are carrying His seed in you, just as
sure as a pregnant woman carries her husband's seed in her.
You are Jesus' disciple and he has given you the power to do those things he
has called you to do.  He told his disciples before the last supper that
they would do greater works than he, because he was going to His father.
Now all that list of things you mentioned like reading your bible, praying
etc. these should just be natural things that you do as a result of having
His nature in you.
Now, a general observation.  The church has slipped so far back fromwhat the
Lord has commanded his disciples to be, that the attitude today is,
something like this: Wow! I can have all that the world has and wantes me to
have, and as the icing on the cake, I can have Jesus too, and be sure I am
going to heaven when I die.
This is twisted thinking and puts the Lord far below what He is supposed to
be in our lives.
Few preachers tell everyone the whole gospel.  They are content to keep
their popularity by saying or strongly implying that since Jesus paid it
all, I don't have to do anything but just sit back and wait for Jesus to
take me to heaven when I die.
Wrong.  We have his seed in us, and he expects us to have a close enough
relationship with him that we will do His works, not our works in His name.
He does expect fruit.
So, that, in my opinion is what it should mean to  be like him now.
Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 6:49 PM
Subject: Like Jesus Or Jesus Like?


> 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.comm
>
>
> I Flew Kites With Jesus
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com