I
I AM AN IMITATOR OF CHRIST AS A DEAR CHILD
I AM AN IMITATOR OF CHRIST AS A DEAR CHILD
Ephesians 5:1
“Mommy, he’s copying me!”
“Mommy, she’s following me!”
“Mommy, he is repeating everything I say!”
“Mommy, she won’t leave me alone, she is doing everything I do, and going everywhere I go!”
“MOMMY, they won’t stop copying me!!!”
There was a time when my youngest children would follow their older siblings everywhere and repeat everything they said and did all the time. It was like having little parrots. So I would hear a constant daily complaint from my older two children, "Mommy, tell her/him to stop it!”
The mimicking and copying still happens just not as often, and it's mostly done by the six year old against the other three.
I had to teach my older kids WHY the younger ones were behaving in this manner. I had to help them understand that as little ones grow they are just trying to figure out how to be a kid in this world, but most importantly, how to be a kid in our family. So they copy everything they see us say and do. They will copy what they see on TV, in movies, in songs and so forth. That is HOW they learn. So I encouraged my kids to do their best to always set good examples of behavior because they know they are being watched and imitated.
I have watched all four of my children follow, copy, imitate examples of their dad, each other, and me. Thankfully, I can even say I've seen them imitate Jesus in many ways. And, honestly, I have also seen them imitate other things as well.
While driving on a family trip one day I noticed my youngest son in the back seat watching a DVD-Kung Fu Panda, without his headphones. I asked him if he needed help putting them on. To my surprise he replied, "No, I don't need the headphones. I already know all the words to the show."
He proceeded to act out and recite every one of Po's (main character in the show) lines as we drove down the road.
I understand why God's Word says to be like children and imitate Him. Children just seem to be really good at imitating as we adults should be too. In watching my kids grow up and learn how to be good children; I in turn have grown-up and learned how to be a good mom right along with them. Daily, as a parent, I am encouraged, to carefully watch what I allow before my eyes and my children's eyes and ears.
What are they copying?
What are they mimicking?
What words are they repeating?
Who are they looking at to imitate?
Is it Christ?
I have to look in the mirror and ask....
Do they see the Christ in me?
I then confess in faith, “I AM an imitator of Christ as a dear child. I AM because the I AM says that I AM!”
**God's Word says:
- Ephesians 5:11 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
- Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. 4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil.
- Proverbs 4:23-25Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
- Hebrews 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Putting the Word into action- James 1:22-24
- Memorize and recite something Jesus said. (it's the RED word in the Bible)
- Recite the I AM alphabet A-I with or without scripture locations.
- Recite the I AM alphabet as a prayer. Say, "Father, thank you that I AM...A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, all because Your Word says so, In Jesus name, amen."
J
I AM JUSTIFIED
Romans 5:1
JUSTasIF IeD never sinned.
Defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Justify- to judge, regard, or treat as righteous and worthy of salvation.
When Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross we, the believers, became justified, righteous in His sight and God will always look at us as if we’ve never sinned. This can never change. We can not undo what Jesus did and we can not change what God has spoken over us, the believers. He has declared us justified. It's a done deal.
Now you’re probably thinking how God can look at us as sinless when we still sin.
If you’re like me, honestly, I do my very, very best to be an imitator of Christ but I still fall short of the glory of God just like His Word says.
The thing about being a believer is that we can quickly acknowledge our sin, our disobedience, our fault, or whatever the sin may be. We quickly confess it to God and ask for forgiveness and confidently know that it is ours. It is only by His grace and immeasurable mercy on us that we can each say, “I am the righteousness of God and I am justified.”
The part of becoming holy and Christ-like (sinless/perfected) is an on going transformation. It is a forever and ever walk of changing and maturing. We will continue growing toward perfection until we meet Jesus face to face either when we die or in the rapture. We can aim for perfection and to be sinless but God’s Word says we all fall short.
As a favorite Pastor of mine used to say, “It is better to aim high and miss than to aim low and make it!”
We may not be perfected yet as this will take a lifetime to attain but we are JUSTIFIED by faith in God because we believe what God has already spoken.
Speak over yourself as God has already done saying,
“I am justified! I am because the I AM says that I am!”
**God's Word says:
Romans: 10:10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
**Act on it suggestions:
Putting the Word into action- James 1:22-24
- Tell it all to God....
- Thank Him
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