Living your life ‘Jesus style’

Living your life ‘Jesus style’

By Clayton Adams If living your life for Jesus is your goal, what will help you become more like Him?

I urge you to learn from the prophet Isaiah's example found in Isaiah 6:5-7.

'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'

Then one of the seraphim (angel) flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.' Simply stated, we are each unclean and unworthy of God's acceptance, love and forgiveness but thankfully we can enjoy each of these. I am that man just like Isaiah.

Jesus performed many more miracles, spoke and taught more than what is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The apostle John wrote; “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) Jesus taught three basics in His ministry: Acceptance, Love and Forgiveness. I believe Jesus commands His followers to accept, love and forgive one another and He made these the requirements to follow Him.

Briefly, acceptance is welcoming people without judgment. For example, I welcome you to church regardless of how you are dressed. We can love someone without conditions. For example, I love you even if you don't stop abusing yourself with drugs.

Forgiveness is forgiving others without limits or reservations. This is of primary importance as Jesus said; 'For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 'But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:15) Accepting, loving and forgiving others is not easy and this is why Christ gave us the power of The Holy Spirit, His Holy Word and the Fellowship of Believers all working in our lives. The power of God guides us, strengthens our faith and equips us for all of our spiritual battles.

I believe our culture influences our faith far more than churches. I also believe that our culture influences our churches more than our churches influence our culture. We must be on guard against the cultures constant assault and attacks against the teachings of Jesus. We e can be determined to serve Christ despite our cultures influences. I am determined to serve Christ even in the face of a culture and people who are against Jesus. Will you be determined?

Clayton Adams is pastor at Earle First Assembly of God. You can e- mail him at cpalaa@ yahoo. com, or find Earle First Assembly on Facebook.

‘AWord from the Pastor’