Becoming Like Jesus: Part 5 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 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 8:28-29

Transcript

Good morning. I’m John North, and I’m here to help you start your day right.

And as we go to God’s word, to the Bible, and spend some time with Him, would you just open up your heart and mind and say, God, if you have something to say to me today, I’m listening.

I’m not only listening but I’m ready to respond to you.

Do you know that God is involved in your life, even if you have never gone to church and have never made a decision to trust in Jesus Christ, God is involved in your life. The fact you’re listening right now is a part of God reaching out to you.

Do you sense it in your life as you look at your life right now? God is reaching out to you with incredible love, and a desire to work with you and in you in your life.

You know, as God reaches out to you, if you have never encountered God before, you simply need to understand that there is a barrier between you and God, and that barrier is your own guilt before God. The times you’ve broken His moral laws, you may not have done a huge crime of any kind, but every time you do something your conscience tells you not to do – you’ve broken God’s laws, and that separates you from God.

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And in fact, the penalty for breaking God’s laws is eternal separation from God, God’s judgment.

There’s no way you can ever escape that. Nothing you could do could get around that.

And so God has done what had to be done. God Himself, God the Son, Jesus Christ, became a man, lived life here on this earth as a human being. And died and faced God’s judgment, God the Father. So that you could be forgiven because the penalty was already paid for your sin.

Becoming a part of God’s family just involves turning to God and saying thank you so much for what you have done for me.

Because there’s nothing I could do to forgive myself.

But you have forgiven me and I receive your forgiveness and I invite you to start changing my life.

Well, when you pray that prayer, God always says yes, and He comes into your life and He does that spiritual transaction. He removes your spiritual guilt and forgives you and begins a wonderful relationship with you, and in that relationship, God is at work in your life to make you more and more like Jesus Christ.

To make your life all that it can be in his hands.

And I want to read a passage today that talks about how God does that from Philippians chapter 2 in the Bible. It says, For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Instead of working from the outside in and just giving you a bunch of Christian expectations, God works in your life from the inside out.

God knows that you cannot change yourself no matter how you try. And so He places His Holy Spirit, Himself, His presence in your life, and His Holy Spirit is at work in you to change you in ways that make you more like Jesus Christ. Yes, you have to choose to turn away from things that you know are not pleasing to God in your life, but as you make those choices, God’s power enters into that and enables you to carry out those choices.

And even then, it’s not just an abstract thing where God just pours His power into your life, but that power flows through your daily relationship with God.

Make sure that as you choose to live God’s way in life, you also choose to spend time with God. Build your relationship with Him as God leads you. Instantly respond to His leading in your life. When God calls you to cut certain things out of your life, cut them out. Spend time with other people who love God. Deepen your relationship with God in any way that you can, and you will find, through your relationship, that God is at work in you to change you, to be more like Jesus Christ.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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