If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2Chronicles 7:14

God spoke to Solomon and gave him the above instructions following the temple dedication ceremony. It took years for  Solomon to build the temple, which was followed by a dedication service that lasted seven days. The nation of Israel was doing well in that moment, but God knew that the seasons of sin and disobedience will come! Therefore, He gave them the above instructions for those seasons!

The Lord gave the people three instructions:

1. To humble themselves

   It is hard to be open to hear God’s instruction or be willing to make adjustment unless we are willing to humble ourselves.

   Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17

   Regardless of our personal or national success, we must remember that the Lord is the giver of all good things. We can do nothing apart from God giving us the strength, the means, and the right circumstances to help us make progress.

2. To pray

   There is a prayer famine in the land. We are a society who does more and prays less. This is true personally and nationally. At the personal level, we are on the move all the time, so our prayers are drive thru type of prayers, or we are praying while we are doing something else. We generally pray when we need something, or we have something to say to God. How often do we just listen to what God may say in return? What would be the quality of our relationships with our loved ones if that was our regular form of communication with them?

   At the church level, we have many programs, but prayer is lacking. If there is a prayer ministry, only a few old people attend it because everyone else is too busy to attend prayer meetings! At the national level, our leaders and presidents who claim to be Christians, don’t mention the name of God in fear of offending people. Our Founding Fathers had no reservation to talk about their faith or write lengthy prayers for our nation, but that is not the case anymore. The leaders use the name of God only in times of tragedy or when concluding lengthy speeches by stating, “God bless America”! Is that all it takes for our nation to be blessed by God!? Was He just waiting for us to include Him at the end of a speech to show the world that we have not forgotten about Him? Why have we believed the lie that people are offended by mentioning the name of God? Has democracy made the concept of popular sovereignty more important than divine sovereignty!? Do we really believe that we can have true governmental freedom apart from the author of freedom!?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

I shared in the last devotional, that when we follow Jesus, we begin a process of transformation that positions us for true unity with others. This helps us not to force ourselves into a certain mold of  conformity in order to be in unity with others. 

Biblical unity is based on scripture and God’s will for the body of Christ. Paul tell us the following in 1Corinthian 12:12-14:

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. 

If we are going to operate as a body, we need to be united and remain united. Looking unto Jesus and desiring to conform to His image, does not negate that each of us still will look and operate differently from each other.  God has designed us to be a body with many members and functions. Our differences should not separate us but complement each other. A body of many parts needs each member to do its job in order for the body to be supported well and accomplish all its assigned tasks.

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Ephesians 2:2-4

In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that in humility we need to consider others better than ourselves. The truth is that our fallen nature does not function that way. Superiority complex or inferiority complex should have no room in the life of a believer or the body of Christ. The Biblical mandate tells us  to humble ourselves which means we need to stop being self-absorbed and make everything be about us. We also need to consider others better than ourselves. This is not for the purpose of comparing our value to others and feel inferior.  It is about appreciating and valuing what others contribute to the health of the body as a whole.  We would suffer if they were not here.

Lord, thank you for the provision of the body of Christ. Please show us your heart for the body and teach us how we can be part of bringing unity and avoiding conformity.  Amen!

In part I of this devotional, I shared the difference between conformity and transformation, and in part II, I wrote about the difference between imitating rather than following people to learn for a season. Today, I’ll pull those truths together to share what God is looking for us individually. Part IV of devotional will be about our corporate unity that is established on our individual transformation.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

The scripture in Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conforming to the world but allowing our minds to be transformed. In order to develop true unity, we need to find our identity in the person of Christ. We also need to challenge our view of unity according to the Bible rather than our upbringing or the messages we heard from those around us.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29

In Romans 8:29, Paul urges us to be conformed to the image of Christ. We were born in the image of God. Sin marred that image, and we lost sight of true righteousness and holiness. God sent Jesus to us as the perfect example of what He desires His children to become for His intended original purpose. The scripture tells us that we are to have the mind of Christ.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)

In 1 Corinthians 11:1,  Paul tells us to follow him, as he follows Christ. Jesus is the blueprint of what God is looking for in His people. Jesus made the way for us to escape the corruption of the old nature, in order to freely follow Christ and model our lives after Him.

When every believer is willing to go through the process of transformation, we are in a better position to be in unity with others without having to conform to others. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

One of the common scriptures used in the body of Christ to defend conformity is the following: 

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)

The word “imitate” does not exist in King James Version (KJV). Instead the word “follow” is used the in King James version of this scripture:

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)

There is a difference between mindlessly imitating and intentionally following! Mindless imitation is conformity but intentional following causes growth and transformation! A parrot imitates its master and can speak something without ever understanding the meaning of what has been said. On the other hand, children mimmic their parents because they are learning a skill. They repeat what a parent says or does because the child is curious and interested to be like mom or dad. As we all know, eventually, the children stop mimicking their parents and form their own words and sentences. This is an important part of the development. I don’t think any parent wants their 10 or 15 year old to sound or act just like them.

Similarly, Paul is asking the Christians to follow his way of life as he is following Christ. Looking up to our spiritual mentors and initially imitating them can be part of our spiritual development. However, there should come a time that our faith has taken its own life. We learn to hear the Lord and His direction for us, and it is not always the same as our mentor’s instruction. As a matter of fact, there may be times that we actually challenge a perspective/interpretation that our mentor has regarding a topic or a scripture.

Our children stop conforming at some point as well. There comes a time in teen-age years that they don’t actually like or agree with everything we say, and that is ok. If we desire for them to develop independence from man’s approval, we have to give them room to be their own person. We don’t need to get overly concerned that this is the end of our relationship with them. There may be some rocky years ahead, but hopefully that will subside in time and instead we will develop a mutual respect and love for each other’s views.

If we remain in imitation mode, we will not grow beyond those whom we have been following. If we grow beyond what our mentors have taught us, it may get uncomfortable at times, but we are allowing God to shape us uniquely for His purpose. If we remain in conformity mode, we will disengage with God and just develop a religious vocabulary and activity. This will cause us to miss the most important part of our faith which is to being transformed into likeness of Christ.

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. The call has not changed. He is not calling us to follow the crowd,  a particular denomination, or a certain preacher. He is calling us to Himself!

It is interesting that we as Americans are all about individual freedoms and choice. However, most of us would rather conform to our environment rather than stand out as being different. There are many reasons for this conformity. Some of us come from cultures that the sense of community is built on conformity, so peace at any cost is very important. For those individuals,  disagreement is perceived as disunity. Others are so approval driven that they cannot see their lives without others’ acceptance, hence they conform to other people’s wishes. There are those who misunderstand the concept of Biblical unity and believe conformity and agreement on everything are the only answer to true unity. Others have been taught to imitate their leaders which has translated into passively conforming to the views and the desires of their leaders.

Conformity is tricky, and it is easier to preach about than to live it out. We are very clear and adamant when we see our teenagers conforming to the values of their friends, but we have a hard time seeing our actions. Sometimes we do the same thing in our circles.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

The above word “conform”is  Strong’s G4832 which is “sýmmorphos” in Greek, and it means: jointly formed, i.e. (figuratively) similar:—conformed to, fashioned like unto.

• G4832 – describes what is the essence in character and thus complete or durable, not merely a form or outline

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

The above word “conform” is Strong’s G4964 which is “sysch?matiz?” in Greek, and it means:to conform one’s self (i.e. one’s mind and character) to another’s pattern, (fashion one’s self according to).

• G4964 – to shape one thing like another and describes what is transitory, changeable, and unstable

The word “conform” is used in two different variations in the New Testament. In Romans 8:29, Paul speaks about us being conformed to the image of Christ. The word used for that type of conformity comes from Greek G4832. This conformity is about an internal change including the character. It= is about oneness with Christ, and the transformation that happens inside out.

In Romans 12:2, Paul uses the word “conform” to describe those who work on trying to change themselves to look like their environment. It is about the self-effort of an individual trying to make something happen. Many times, we use this scripture, in the context of not being worldly. However, we can do the same thing in our Christian circles and focus on conforming to others around us. 

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

Healing is a process and that goes for the correction of our vision as well. Many times, we need more than one touch from God to heal our view of people, ourselves, or our circumstances.

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Mark 8:22-25

Jesus touched a blind man who was in need of restoration. By Jesus’ first touch,  he began to see men as trees. The man gained some vision, but he needed more vision correction. Sometimes we see people as trees they just seem to block our goals and our vision.

This could happen in variety of circumstances.  When a married woman is saved, she develops a vision to see her husband saved. She has gained the vision of both of them together serving God, but she finds that her husband is not very interested in her new faith. She prays for him and invites him to various events and church services in the hopes that he will change his mind. However, after a few years of trying, she finds herself discouraged. Now, she begins to get angry at him and see him as a block to her goals and dreams in ministry. His spiritual wellbeing is no longer her focus rather it is all about her happiness and fulfillment in life.

Jesus had to heal the man a second time, so he could see people as unique individuals rather than a lifeless object. We also need more correction of our vision to see ourselves or others clearly. Faith gives us the ability to put on spiritual eyeglasses to begin seeing things correctly.

Trusting God are those spiritual eyeglasses. They give us the ability to see in the spirit realm what we were not able to see naturally. They give hope to persevere and to keep looking to the Lord. They give us eyes to see ourselves clearly, so we can have a greater capacity to accept people where they are rather than where we expect them to be.

Thank you Lord for helping to see things clearly. Please perfect our vision and let it be in alignment with how you see us and others.

When an optometrist tests our eyes to a standard, he/she determines if we need  vision correction. Many live with uncorrected vision and make adjustment by squinting or getting closer to a book to see or read what’s there. We do the same spiritually.

Some of us have a tendency to be near-sighted. We can clearly see ourselves and our situations, but we have a problem seeing other people clearly. They tend to cause a lot of stress or frustration for us. Things seem unclear and confusing when we look at others, so we are cautious about getting close to people and stay away from those things we cannot see well.  

On the other hand, some of us are far-sighted. We have a good understanding of other people and are sensitive to their feelings. We have learned to navigate well when unexpected situations arise with other people, but somehow we do not know ourselves very well. We have spent so may years pleasing others that somehow we have lost ourselves in the process. We stumble upon the same things over and over again, and we don’t know what causes us to stumble. We don’t know what drives us to live life a certain way. We don’t know why we get so combative when others criticize us. We wonder why most of our relationships cause disappointment. 

Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” Mark 14:29

Peter had a pattern of overconfidence. He certainly thought that he was never going to stumble. The problem was that he did not see Jesus or himself clearly. Jesus’ arrest made him stumble. Peter didn’t know that his vision needed correction. His own ideas and expectations of Jesus had impaired his vision.  He evaluated the situation based on impaired vision rather than on the reality of who Jesus was and what He was about to do. He also overestimated his own ability to handle the situation. He had the expectation to fight and win any battle but this was not a battle he could win. In fact, Jesus did not want him to physically fight this battle. Peter’s vision needed correction.

Faith gives us the right perspective and corrects our vision. The Holy Spirit illuminates the areas that need correction. He can show us those patterns that cause us to stumble. When we see with the eyes of faith, we can see things clearly. We don’t have to run from truth because faith gives us the courage to see thing clearly, and we can learn not to stumble upon the same situations or offenses. 

Lord, we thank you that you are the illuminator of truth and clarity. Thank you for opening our eyes that we can see in the Spirit realm what you are doing and that we don’t have to hold on to our own ideas of what is happening.

Faith gives us vision. When we are in a season of doubt and unbelief, vision is one of the first things that gets impacted by the fog of circumstances. We begin to see life as a series of dramatic instances that do not make sense. We tend to become negative or argumentative. Sometimes, we get discouraged and lose hope because life does not fit the picture of our expectations. We all have a vision issue to one degree or another. 

Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. Acts 2:33

The disciples could not see spiritually for almost fifty days because they were disillusioned with their expectations of Jesus. Everything they had hoped and dreamt, vanished with Jesus’ crucifixion, and they didn’t know what was next for them. While they could see naturally, they could not see or make any sense from Jesus’ situation.

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them, everything came into focus. All those bits and pieces of revelation that Jesus had given them, now became a clear picture of God’s plan of salvation.

The disciples waited through prayer and worship until the Lord showed them what was going on. In those seasons where we don’t see things clearly, we need to patiently wait upon God through prayer and worship. We need the Holy Spirit to help us see again. We need His revelation to take us from discouragement to a place of vision and clarity.

Jesus likens Himself to a vine and teaches us to abide in the vine to have a consistent faith life.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:1-5

Abiding faith produces a fruitful life. When we abide in the vine, there is no lack of nourishment or energy from the vine to the branches. Sometimes, when life gets hard or people hurt us, we have a tendency to distant ourselves from the Lord. That does not help the situation because He wants to sustain us in those difficult times. In those times, we expect God to explain everything to us, but many times God’s comforting presence is upon a believer without giving him/her many answers. Abiding in Him sustains and stabilizes the believer in tough times and the Holy Spirit ministers comfort to the child of God.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Jesus reminds His disciples in John 15 that without Him we can do nothing;  Paul tells us in Philippians 4 that we can do all things through Christ. This takes away the pressure that we have to be surrounded with the right circumstances and the right people in order for us to achieve God given goals and be fruitful in our efforts. Jesus speaks about abiding in Him produces a vibrant and fruitful life.

Are there individuals who seemed to block your progress, hinder your vision, or even discourage you from pursuing God’s plan for your lives? It’s time to forgive them. Our power is tied to the vine. If we remain in the vine, God will see to it that His creative and redeeming power is flowing through us and is bringing fruit that lasts.

Jesus shared parables likening the kingdom of God to a wedding. He also gave analogies of Himself being the bridegroom. For the first miracle (turning water into wine) to happen at a wedding could have had deeper meanings. He could have been showing His heart for His bride, His desire to celebrate her (the church), and His special transforming touch on His bride. 

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” John 2: 6-10

Interestingly, the master of the feast made the observation that the latter wine was better than the former wine. He was surprised because generally the hosts brought the best wine first and afterwords, the lower quality wine was offered to the guests.

The thinking of the master of the feast was natural and cultural. Spiritually speaking, God many times has bypassed the norm rather than following man’s pre-packaged plan. For example, God chose David and Joesph who were the younger sons in their families. Jesus in his teachings declared that the last shall be first.

Jesus spent 3 1/2 years with His disciples training and equipping them. However, Paul was the most influential apostle in the history of Christianity, and he came to the Kingdom after Jesus was resurrected. He did not spend any earthly time with Jesus, but His revelations and instructions gave us many of the New Testament books.

This is encouraging news to us all. Many of us may think we have come to the kingdom too old. Some of us think we are too young to be of any use to God. Others think that they are not fit for ministry because no one in their family has served God before, but those factors are not an issue to God.

God has a purpose for each of us, and He can do miraculous work in any life. If the Lord chooses, the 21st century church can do more miraculous work and have more powerful apostles and prophets than we have ever had in the history of the church.

We need to take God out of the box and let Him do what He desires. Our plumb line of success and growth is not the church next door or the previous church era. God can creatively use this generation with their technological advances to reach people all over the world including those nations that are hostile to the Word of God. Let’s be open and expecting of what God wants to do in our generation!