Clean Yourself Like Jesus Cleans Dishes!

When people look your way what do they see?  Do they see a Christian?  Do they know they see a Christian?  In 2 Corinthians 3:2,3 Paul says:

You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by everybody.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.(NIV)

Paul is telling the Corinthians to be a letter of recommendation from Jesus. To act in such a way that everyone notices Jesus living in them.  To act in such a way that nobody even questions if they are Christians.  Paul wants them to act and be Christlike.

This is what Jesus says about the matter in John 14:12,13. He says:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to Father.(NIV)

Jesus says that anyone who believes in him can do things even greater than what he did in his short time on earth.  How cool is that!  Jesus believes we can be like him. So how do we be Christlike?

Back in the Bible days there were Pharisees.  They were basically the preachers of the day.  Jesus didn't approve of them because they just preached about the Lord because they liked getting praise for seeming "holy".  They were all show.  Jesus told some Pharisees to get their acts together:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  (Matthew 23:25,26, NIV)

Jesus wasn't worried about their dish cleaning habits. He was telling them not to just preach the word of God to get praise. He was telling them to actually practice what they preach. If they they did that they wouldn't have had to act at all.  Jesus said in Luke 6:45 that:

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.(NIV)

Fill your heart with God pleasing things. Read the Bible and fill your heart with the word of God everyday.  Listen to God pleasing music. I don't mean listen to hymns everyday, there are plenty of Christian bands out there.  That's the whole reason I have the Christian bands gadget on my blog, to show people that there are some pretty awesome Christian artists out there. Rid your life of things that you feel are keeping you apart from God, for example, friends that tempt you to do ungodly things. If you do this then you are working towards being Christlike. 

Stand Out

In today's culture everyone wants to fit in. To catch the latest trend. To be popular and to fit in. God doesn't care about any of those things. He could care less about trends. He doesn't want you to fit in. God wants you to be His witness no matter what other people think.

Witnessing doesn't come naturally for Christians, it never is easy. When you feel the holy spirit pushing you to witness to someone don't ignore it. Every time you say "no" to God you are saying that you don't need God and that is far from the truth. My definition of love is wanting to do something for someone everyday on your own premonition. So if you love God wouldn't you want to witness for Him no matter what the cost?

Fitting in is overrated to God. Standing out for the Lord is definitely worth it. Don't worry about what clique might be waiting to tear you down or what your friends might think. God promises he will take care of us. In Matthew 12:22-24  Jesus says:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!(NIV)

If you are following God He will provide for your needs and keep you under His wing. Being a Christian truly is an adventure and can trump fitting in any day.

You hear all the time how people are trying to "find themselves" so they can find their purpose in the world, those people will be really disappointed when they don't find anything. They were looking in the wrong place. They shouldn't find themselves, they should find God. God created you to have a relationship with Him.  God made you with a purpose. He made you with strengths and weaknesses. God made you with those strengths and weaknesses so you can use them to witness to others and make Him known. The only way you can use those strengths to their full capacity is to follow Him. God told me to start this blog and I thank Him from the bottom of my heart that He did. Writing is one of my strengths and my writing is improving as well as my faith. I wouldn't dare have it any other way.

So stand out for God. It may seem horrifying now but I promise you will have no regrets. You might have some trouble along the way but God ensures it is all worth it in Romans 5:3-5. It says:

Let us rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)

The Holy Spirit will help you out whenever you are down and you are being discouraged. That's why Jesus called it "the comforter". God knows it will be hard for you to live out your Christian faith. He is always willing to comfort you whenever you need it. In 1 Corinthians 1:3 Paul tells us:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. (NIV)

There is a reason God is called Father. He is like our all powerful all knowing dad. Just like any parent, God is willing to comfort His children. When you are following God you are never alone, God is right there to have your back every minute of every hour. So stand out. You have the God of the universe on your side.

Stay Strong

Sharing the gospel and leading a Christian life can be really tough. Sometimes God can tell us to do things that just seem downright crazy. God pointed this verse out to me when I was reading the Bible in school.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
 (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

God doesn't want anything to phase our relationship with Him. God ensures that everything you do for Him isn't for no reason. We probably won't know the reason right away, but that is where faith comes in. In the book of acts Stephen was stoned to death because he was witnessing to a group of people and they didn't like what he had to say. It wasn't in vain. Peter was flogged. It wasn't in vain. Jesus was crucified. It wasn't in vain.
Never be afraid to live out your Christian life. Because you know whatever the consequences, it's not in vain.