Seeking Jesus in the Dark

There once was a guy named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees, the group that was trying to find a way to get rid of Jesus. Nicodemus comes to Jesus in John 3:1-2 under the cover of night. He didn't want the people he worked with to see him meeting with Jesus. How many of us fail to pray when we feel like we should at work or when we're out with friends because we don't want to look funny to them?
Nicodemus came to Jesus in secret, and Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again, not of flesh, but of the Spirit. If you aren't familiar with the story, you can read it all in John 3:1-21. But what ever became of Nicodemus? Well, apparently Nicodemus, being a member of the Jewish ruling council had several more occasions to interact with Jesus. He redeems his shady behavior somewhat in John 7:45-52, where he defends Jesus from the chief priests and other Pharisees.

Nicodemus' last mention in the Bible is an amazing and honorable mention. John 19:38-42 tells the story of Jesus' burial, where Joseph of Arimathea (also a secret follower of Jesus) and Nicodemus ask for the body of Jesus, and bury Him in a new tomb. Nicodemus brought about 75 pounds of spices to bury Jesus with, including myrrh, one of the gifts the wise men also brought Jesus at His birth.

Apparently Nicodemus' heart was changed by his secret meeting with Jesus, and he became more and more open about following Him as time continued on. We can't hide Jesus forever in our lives, acting like Christians only at church and trying to blend in with the world the rest of the time. At some point we will be faced with the decision to witness, to share the Gospel of Jesus, and to do what's right, or to turn our back on Jesus and deny Him. How will we respond? Will we try to stay in the shadows, or will we openly proclaim that Jesus is Lord?

Pick of the Litter

Have you ever gone to pick out a new animal as either a pet or maybe a farm animal? The first thing most people do when the start to pick out a new animal is to look all the available ones over and try to gauge the potential of each one. Then we try to pick the one with the highest potential to meet our current needs.

Jesus seems to have done the same thing when He was on earth with us, calling Simon Peter to be His first disciple. Jesus seems to have been drawn to fishermen, and Peter was a great example of what it means to be a man as well as a follower of Christ.

Peter had a blind faith like few people I have ever met. When Jesus came walking on the Sea of Galilee, Peter was the only disciple to ask if he could join in the water-walking (Matthew 14:25-31). Peter was also still a man, and shortly after joining Jesus on the water began to sink in doubt.

Peter also directly denied knowing Christ (Mark 14:66-72). However, as soon as he realized his mistake, he was sorrowful and wept. After His resurrection, Jesus reassured Peter of His love in a parallel to his betrayal, by asking him if he loved Him three times, and telling him again to follow Him (John 21:15-19).

After having betrayed Jesus, he subsequently renewed his faith in Him. Then, Peter soon preached the first Spirit-filled sermon on the day of Pentecost to the crowd gathering to see what the commotion was (Acts 2:14-41). Acts 2:41 says "Those who accepted his message", meaning Peter's message, "were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." Peter's message led to the salvation of about 3,000 people in a single day!

What an amazing testimony Peter had. Certainly, Peter had his moments of failure, and some of them quite bad, but he always repented, and came back even stronger than before. As men we will sometimes fail; we sill stumble and fall, but we need to get back up and try again. Jesus will gladly restore our faith and make us even stronger than we once were if only we'll let Him.

Jesus saw the potential in Peter for a great man, and He wasn't disappointed. Sure, as God, Jesus knew that Peter would betray Him. As God, Jesus knew Peter would have doubts and fears. He knew that Peter was a man, and that Peter would make the same mistakes that we all make as men. Jesus still picked Peter first. How great it is that God looks at our potential for serving Him and chooses us, rather than looking at our potential for failing Him.

The Strait Gate

Today I'd like to take a short look at Matthew 7:13-14. What does this all mean? What is the small gate, and what makes it small in comparison to the wide gate? Why is the narrow path narrow, and the broad path broad?

Close to where I live is a walking trail that I particularly love. On it are gates at any intersection with a road. These gates don't go all the way across the path, but only far enough across the path to let a single person walk through. They limit access to anything larger than a person. You can't drive a car through them. You can't walk through them side by side with someone. This is like the narrow gate.

The narrow gate has room for only one thing: Jesus Christ. There is no room for any other religion. There is no room for additional requirements. There is no room for additional baggage. If you have requirements tacked onto your religion, or if you're carrying baggage with you in the race, let it go; there is no room for it. If you are easily able to carry these extra requirements and this excess baggage with you, then you should look around you to see what road you're on.

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life: no one comes to the father except through me." (John 14:6). If He is the way, then there is only room for us to walk through Him. Nothing else will fit. How is it that 1 in 3 people claim to be saved (About.com), but the Bible says "only a few find it"? Romans 10:2-3 refers to the people who add requirements to their salvation: they have a zeal for God, but a false religion.

I'll leave you with this quote from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: "This plain declaration of Christ has been disregarded by many who have taken pains to explain it away; but in all ages the real disciple of Christ has been looked on as a singular, unfashionable character; and all that have sided with the greater number, have gone on in the broad road to destruction. If we would serve God, we must be firm in our religion. Can we often hear of the strait gate and the narrow way, and how few there are that find it, without being in pain for ourselves, or considering whether we are entered on the narrow way, and what progress we are making in it?"

The Death We Celebrate

Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus? We often refer to Him as "Jesus Christ", and we refer to this upcoming holiday as "Christmas", but what does it really mean? Jesus' last name wasn't "Christ", nor was it His middle name. The Hebrew word for "Christ" is usually transliterated as "Messiah". Therefore, "Jesus Christ" is actually "Jesus the Messiah".

So, what is the "mas" as the end of the word "Christmas" then? We actually get the suffix "-mas" from the Latin word "missa", which is actually a dismissal. A dismissal in this form is taken as a release to perform a mission. It shares a root with the word "Mass" as in the Catholic tradition, to which the final Latin words are "Ite, missa est", or "Go; it is the dismissal".

"Christmas" then is actually "the release to perform the mission of the Messiah". Mark 16:15-18 defines this mission. After Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, he gives this single command - "Go". Are we celebrating the birth of Christ? In a sense, we are; without the birth, there would have been no life, death, resurrection, or command to "Go".

Truly, we are celebrating the opportunity to perform the work of the Messiah. We are celebrating the freedom we have through His blood. We celebrate His life, His example, and His redemption! Tell someone the story of Christ this Christmas. Share the redemption story with your family; tell your kids, parents, wife, neighbor, boss, friends, co-workers, and even your church friends. Share the good news even with those who already believe! We celebrate not the birth of Jesus, we celebrate the life we have through His death!

The Life and Leadership of Jesus Christ

Quite obviously to cover the entire life and leadership examples of Christ would be far more than would be feasible in a single post, but we'll touch on some of the highlights. One of the primary focuses of the New Testament church throughout the Bible is teaching the Word of God. We find Jesus doing this already by the time He was just 12 years old in Luke 2:42-47. And we see this continues as an example in several other verses as well (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 7:28-29, Matthew 28:18-20). We're supposed to teach and preach boldly and with authority. We're supposed to call others to follow Christ (Luke 19:5-10, Luke 5:27-28, Mark 1:16-18).

Going hand in hand, we see that Christ's example was that of unselfishness (Romans 15:1-3), providing for those in need (Luke 11:9-10), and serving others (Mark 10:43-45, Matthew 20:26-28). These are powerful examples. Jesus wasn't just a leader, He was a servant of those who followed Him. He was also a friend to those who followed Him (John 15:15), and He loved them (John 13:34-35, John 15:13). So often as men, it's easy for us to bow down to serve others and show others love, but this was the example that Christ set for us.

One of the greatest examples that we overlook as men that was set for us by Jesus was to not try to do everything ourselves; we need to let other people help (Mark 3:13-15, Luke 10:1). Jesus didn't try to fulfill the Scriptures foretelling His arrival all alone. He chose great men to assist Him in His work. If Jesus needed other people to help bear His load, how much more do we need others to help us?

The final example that Christ set for us was that of not leaving our work half-finished. Jesus finished all that He was intended to, and did so in a complete fashion. John 18:9 tells us that Jesus lost none who was given to Him to save, and John 17:4 and John 19:30 both herald that his work here on earth was completed. His life on earth was short, but it was lived exactly as intended, and completely fulfilled God's will without fail. May that be our testimony when we die: our work was completed, and we were great leaders for God.

It's Good for Everyone

With Christmas fast approaching, I feel it is appropriate to remind people exactly what it is that we are celebrating, and the sort of men that were used by God for this to all come to pass. There were 3 distinct groups of men represented in the birth of Jesus: the government, the family, and the church. Essentially, this represents every type of man possible by representing government, the family unit, and the church.

The Government
Matthew 2:1-2 introduces us to the "wise men" or "Magi". We don't know their whole story, but obviously there was a star that these men spotted in the sky that was different or new, and they recognized it as a sign that Jesus had been born, and came to worship Him. These men were obviously significant emissaries of their countries, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all very expensive items. These Magi encountered another type of governmental leader, Herod, who according to Matthew 2:3-9 and Matthew 2:12-16 wanted to kill Jesus. Jesus' mere lowly presence on earth was such a threat and offense to Herod that he wanted Him dead the moment He was born. Christ represents a very real threat even now to worldly leadership. Those following Him have the power of Christ through prayer to tear down the authority of men who would oppress them. To these Magi though, Christ, this little newborn baby, was worthy of their allegiance and their worship.

The Family
In Luke 2:8-20 we find the magnificent appearance of angels to the working man, heralding the birth of Christ. These men get to be the first average Joe to hear the good news and come seek Him. These men wouldn't have necessarily been educated men, and a sign in the stars may well have passed their understanding, so for them, it was made much clearer. An angelic for broke throughout the heavens and sang praise to them! How awesome and amazing it must have been! These men didn't have expensive gifts to bring, but Luke 2:16 says they hurried or made haste to find Jesus. When they heard the news, they immediately rushed to find Jesus. Luke 2:20 shows them returning glorifying and praising God.

The Church
Luke 2:25-39 shows us Simeon and Anna, who immediately upon seeing Jesus began to worship and praise and speak about Him. We often hear of Simeon here, but unfortunately Anna is commonly overlooked. Anna is an important piece here, as in the church she is the confirmation of Simeon's praise. Matthew 18:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:1 show us that we should be able to confirm anything with the word of 2 or 3 people. It's an important part of Judaism, established in Deuteronomy 17:6 and in Deuteronomy 19:15, then repeated for the New Testament church also in 1 Timothy 5:19 and Hebrews 10:28. This event established the practice again for those who follow Christ.

Every Walk of Life
We've seen here that by the time Jesus was 8 days old, His presence had been acknowledged by people from every walk of life, and members of every group had given praise to Him. Not everyone who heard of Him worshiped Him, as is still the case today. His words and a life pleasing to God and patterned after the example Jesus left us is good for every man, every group, and every walk of life. Have we acknowledged His presence in our lives this season? Have we praised Him? Have we spread the news of His birth to everyone we've come across?

Being "Good"

Proverbs 12:2 tells us that the Lord delights in us if we are good. So how can we be "good"? It stands to reason that if God delights in a good man, that this is an attainable goal. The word "good in the context is literally the loosest version of the word. It is just "not intentionally doing wrong".

So if we keep from intentionally doing wrong, God will delight in us. But no man is without sin, and sin by it's very definition is a willful transgression against God. So then, the only thing we can do is to be purified by the blood of Jesus Christ and let the God sanctify us. To be sanctified is to make holy, to purify, or to consecrate.

The definition of consecrate is to give up entirely to some person or purpose. Ephesians 5:26 tells us that Christ sanctifies and cleanses us with the washing of water by the word. When we give ourselves entirely to Him, He bathes us in His truth. We become a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:12), our old sins and habits are taken away and replaced by new habit and good things.

Is this something that we can in ourselves do? Romans 3:10-18 tells us that nobody does good; we are a bitter mess of sin and ruin. But Romans 3:22-26 tells us that our justification and salvation from our wrongdoing lies in Jesus Christ whose blood was shed for us. It is only by turning our whole being over to Christ that we can become a new and "good" creature.

I pray daily that I will give myself entirely over to Christ; it is a daily struggle. The old man still desires to take back what was once his. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul tells us that he has to beat his body into subjection so that he isn't "disqualified for the prize". He has to fight the old man that still wants to do the things the old man did. If Paul, who is one of the most well-known and read authors of the New Testament had to struggle against this, how could we dare to say that we ourselves have no struggles with our old man?

Love Like a Man

Many may already be familiar with the passage 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 where we find one of the most powerful definitions of love the way we should love others, and the way we should love our Saviour. This passage beautifully describes the characteristic behaviors of love.

1 John 4:7-8 tells us that if we don't have love for others, then we do not know God. 1 John 4:15-16 tells us that if we are saved, God is in us; God is love. 1 John 4:21 even goes so far as to explain that we are commanded by God that if we love Him, we must also love our brother.

These passages show us that have no claim to know God if we don't demonstrate our love to others. We often tell people that we love them. We tell our parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren that we love them. We tell our spouses that we love them. Do we show it?

There is no lack of manliness in showing love. Loving someone so purely as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is an amazing way to actually demonstrate our manliness. Our world has moved from chivalry; it has moved away from love. And looking around us, we can also see that our world has moved far away from God. Through Christ we are capable of showing love in a way that others are incapable. Let's demonstrate God in us today by showing love to those around us, that others will be inspired both to serve God, and to strive to have as pure of love as ours.

Justification and Reconciliation

As children, most of us at one point or another stole some insignificant thing from a store while we were out with our parents. And most of us got dragged back into the store, made to apologize begrudgingly, our parents had to pay for our stolen candy bar that we had already opened, and then if they didn't think that we were really, REALLY sorry, we got a nice thrashing for it, too.

Romans 5:8-9 tells us that the blood of Jesus has given us justification. That's the payment that our Master made for our sins. This "saves us from God's wrath". This is where our parents have gone in and paid for our stolen goods. It's what keeps us from having the store owner press charges against us for shoplifting. According to Wikipedia, "When an act is justified, a person is not criminally liable even though his act would otherwise constitute an offense."

Justification, however, is only half of the equation. Now that the shop owner knows we steal, he's going to be suspicious every time we come in. But Romans 5:10-11 we see that we can also have reconciliation with God as well. This is where our parents tell us to apologize, and we can either give a true apology, or we can be snide about it. We now have an opportunity to be reconciled, or "have cordial relations reestablished". However, this takes not only the reconciliation and justification of the parent for us, but also our sincere apology for the wrong that we've done.

It takes both parties in a relationship to be in agreement in order to have reconciliation. We can have complete justification, and still be the enemy of God. There is no way that we can make restitution for our sin, there is no self-justification. We've already seen in Romans 5:8 that God has reached out to us. Our responsibility is that of reaching out to God with an open heart, being truly sorry for the sins that we've committed, and asking for reconciliation with Him. Jesus has opened the door for us to have a great friendship by offering the opportunity for reconciliation. Will we be snide, or will we with open arms cry out for our forgiveness?

The Yes Man

In my profession, sometimes people ask for some thing that isn't necessarily what they need, or something that might not be beneficial. And sometimes I say "yes" to those things, even though I really should guide those people toward something more useful to them. 2 Corinthians 1:19-22 tells us a little about saying "yes" and what that means.

We see in that short passage that all of the promises we have in God, Jesus our Savior says "Yes" to. Walking in the footsteps of Christ, we know that we also can say "yes" to the promises of God. We also can see through the study of the Bible that Jesus was the ultimate "YES" to the promise of God (Isaiah 53:2-7). And this is a promise of God's that we can't afford not say "yes" to.

1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us that we shouldn't say "yes" to every idea or opinion that the world presents to us. However, we should be ready to shout with a with a resounding "YES!" when God calls us to do His work. We should be "Yes Men" for Jesus.

Running the Race

I'm not personally a big follower of sports. You won't find me at a racetrack or a ball game. However, being a man, I talk to other men who most often are greatly concerned with following whatever sports are currently in season. However, whether you follow sports or not, there is one competition in which we all should be participating.

Hebrews 12:1-2 presents a challenge to us as Christians. Are we really being competitive in our Christian life? Or are we carrying around weights and sins? Do we keep stopping on the side of the track because we have so much baggage that we're ineffective runners? The Bible here lets us know that people are watching us, and we need to keep running. It says we need to throw off everything that hinders; throwing off just most of the stuff that hinders us but hanging on to part of it for ourselves isn't enough. We also need to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. We get so tangled up in some insignificant thing in our life, and forget that we're in a race.

This is such a great analogy; you never see a race where one of the runners just suddenly forgets that they're racing. You see some runners get tired and quit. You see runners trip, stumble, and fall. You see ball players get tackled, pummeled, and injured. Most of them get back up and keep trying; pushing their bruised and tired bodies to the limit for the win.

Hebrews 12:3 goes on to say "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." If we see Jesus, and we study His life, we see that he endured far worse than what we're going through, and He's promised He'll be here for us. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, He'll keep His hand on our lives, and we'll not give up and quit. If we turn and look at the things around us, we'll keep stumbling on the track. If we watch how other people are running, we're going to get disgruntled, and give up. Let's keep our eyes on Jesus and run our race.

More verses:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Philippians 3:14-15

Saved!

Today, as I was driving home, I spotted a car on the side of the road with the hood up, the standard symbol of “my car isn’t running”, and I decided to stop and offer a hand. I did all that my limited knowledge allowed, offered all the advice i could, asked if I could offer any further assistance, and then when there was nothing more I could do for her, I went on to my house.

Are you “broke down?” The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Every one of us has been broken down spiritually. And like a car with a broken thermostat, if we go down the road ignoring the problem, we will ultimately be far worse, and often irreparable damage will be done. Romans 6:23 tells us that the payment for our sin is death, but that debt is paid through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8 explains why the blood is important; because, despite our sins, Jesus died for us in a demonstration of God’s love. Jesus was crucified and died so that we could be forgiven. He’s stopped on the side of the road to give us a hand. But how do we let Him help us? Romans 10:9 says that the one and only thing we can do is acknowledge that Jesus died for our sins, believe that God raised Him from the dead, and then confess (declare) that Jesus is now the Master (Lord) of our life.

Romans 5:1 tells us that because of our belief, we are no longer at war with God, because now our Master gives us peace with Him. Jesus started this intercession for us with God as he was hanging crucified on the cross, when he said in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

If you haven’t done so already, I can tell you that turning your life over into the hands of Jesus is the single best thing you can ever do. All you have to do is just believe that Jesus died for your sins, and was raised from the dead by God, and then just talk to Jesus like you would talk to a friend. Tell Him that He is the Master of your life. Admit that you’re a sinner, and that you need forgiveness. Just like the lady on the side of the road, we have to get out of the car, admit we have a problem, and then let the One who stopped to help us take care of it. If we just take that step of faith, He will help us with everything else.

My Friend Jesus

The other week in Bible study, someone asked, “What would you say to Jesus if He sat down on a bus beside you and you recognized Him?” Now, for this exercise, there’s not really a “wrong” or “right” answer, but some answers are definitely “better” than others. I sat quietly and thought for a little bit while everyone else gave some interesting answers: “I’d ask to see the nail scars”, “I’d be speechless”, “I’d ask about...” The whole time that everyone was giving answers, I was sitting there thinking, and the only thing I could think was, “What would be of ANY significance upon actually meeting Christ? Nothing you could say would really be ‘enough’. At that point, no matter what you said or did, actually MEETING Him would be the coolest thing that could ever have happened to you in your life.” Suddenly, it occurred to me, I HAVE met Him.

I met Him at the foot of the cross where He died for my sins. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” I fell in love with Him; and He has loved me from before I was conceived. In Jeremiah 1:5, God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”.

So why then, should (or would) meeting Him face-to-face be any different? I should be talking to Him every day. I should be studying the things he taught. I should be asking Him for help with things in my life. I should be doing the things that He asks me to do. If He is supposed to already be my dearest friend, why should I be speechless to see Him? Obviously it would be incredible, but there’s no reason I shouldn’t know Him well enough that I wouldn’t know what to say to Him.

And then, as I continued to think about how that Jesus should already be my dearest friend, I realized that, even now, I treat my friendship with Christ differently than I treat my friendships with others, even my very closest earthly friends. When opportunity presents itself, I brag on some of my closest friends here on earth for their redeeming qualities. I would gladly take a bullet for my closest friends (yes, getting shot would suck, and I’d hope it’d hit me in the foot and not the face, but I’d still take it anyway). How often do we not just MISS opportunities to brag about Jesus, but FAIL to do so when we feel like we should? How often do I hide Jesus in my life from the world?

When we fail to do the will of our Father, we’re letting our best friend down. We’re trampling on the confidence our best friend has placed in us to perform a task. We wouldn’t dream of not feeding our friend’s dog while he’s out of town for a week, but we’ll fail time and again to do the simple things that God asks us to do; we even fail the things that are very specifically mentioned in the Bible, not just the little things we feel in our hearts we should do.

I know that I definitely need to work hard at being a better friend to Jesus, and I challenge you to examine your friendship with Him as well. Almost all of us know the song “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, but how many of us know “I’ll Be a Friend to Jesus”? Can we truly not just say that Jesus is our friend, but that we are His friend as well?

They tried my Lord and Master,
With no one to defend;
Within the halls of Pilate
He stood without a friend.

Chorus:
I’ll be a friend to Jesus,
My life for Him I’ll spend
I’ll be a friend to Jesus,
Until my years shall end.

The world may turn against Him,
I’ll love Him to the end,
And while on earth I’m living,
My Lord shall have a friend.

I’ll do what He may bid me;
I’ll go where He may send;
I’ll try each flying moment
To prove that I’m His friend.

To all who need a Savior,
My Friend I’ll recommend;
Because He brought salvation,
Is why I am His friend.

The Man Jesus

What is your perception of Jesus as a flesh and blood human being? I was curious to see how many artists had ever thought to portray Jesus “the man” and not Jesus “the emotion”. So, I did several searches through Google Images using various methods and keywords, and found only one image of a non-feminine Jesus Christ.

Think for a moment of all of the pictures you’ve seen of Jesus in your lifetime, and then think of the sort of life that the flesh and blood Jesus Christ lived. Jesus Christ, the baby born in a stable, with a feeding trough for a crib; Jesus Christ, the child raised by a carpenter. I’ve worked in a several different carpenter’s shops. I’m by no means cut out for that work by the way, and kudos to you if you are. Even with all of our fancy machines and all the technology we have now, it STILL isn’t easy work.

According to Luke 5:4-7, the adult man Jesus was welcome aboard fishing vessels. Watch The Deadliest Catch some time if you think being on a ship fishing ship is easy, then imagine it without any of the fancy technology. And don’t think for a second that anyone could get away with not working on a fishing boat back then. I can only imagine trying to heave a big net into a boat. I tried to seine a pond one time with a little net and thought I was going to die.

This man wasn’t by any means weak. The man Jesus walked all over an area approximately 5600 square miles ( around 140 mi x 40 mi) for about 4 years. This man is supposed to be the embodiment of what we as men should strive for today. Hebrews 4: 15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus the man had human desires. He had human emotions. It is by His life and by His words that we can measure what we should be. He spoke out boldly against the sins of the flesh; if He was without sin, and He spoke out against those things, then He did not participate in those things. Those are all easy traps for us men to fall into: lust, greed, sloth... to name just a few.

However, Mark 11:15-17 tells us that we’re not supposed to wuss up. Jesus (without sin) threw the merchants and their customers out of the temple, He overthrew the moneychangers’ tables and the seats of the guys selling doves. He was manly enough to take physical action without hesitation to defend what was right.

In our quest to become more Christ-like, let’s closely examine and remember who He really was. Let’s take into full account the life that He lived. I know I don’t measure up. But I also know that with God’s help I’ll continue to try. I would be PROUD to be so manly as Jesus.