In His Image

 

I enjoy introducing my children to other people, especially when they display respect and manners. With my daughter, there is no mistake that she is mine. My son has subtle features of me but looks like his father. Even though they both don't look like me, they both can resemble me in their mannerisms. 

One evening, I introduced Cherish to a couple at church that are dear to me. I thought about how I was proud to be her mom. She is kind and empathetic, and she has protective qualities for those who do not have a voice or do not know how to use it. She is smart, funny, and so many other things that make me proud to be her mom. Later in the evening, I sat down to spend some time with God and read my daily devotional. As I was reading, God showed me a teachable moment.

This devotion was about depending on God, but there was one sentence about being made in God's image. This sentence is where God spoke to me. The Holy Spirit reminded me of how just a few hours earlier, I was thankful to have a child (okay, a young adult who will always be my baby 😊) who is a caring and beautiful individual. He wanted me to think about and receive; how proud the Lord is of us when we reflect His very character. 

There can be running jokes among couples that when kids are bad, they belong to one parent, and when they are good, they belong to the other. I often heard my mom tell my dad when I acted a certain way; I was my father's daughter, and when I was good, I was hers. But all joking aside, when we are born again and saved through the gift of Jesus Christ, we must choose to model the perfect example our Lord has given us. We must choose to be transformed into the image of Christ through the renewing of our minds.

If we are blessed with the time, we will spend at least 18 years teaching and preparing our young ones to be kind productive citizens in society. If we are Christian parents, we will hopefully spend that time teaching our children the Lord's ways. Our hope and desires are that our kids will love the Lord with all their hearts, minds, and souls. We hope they will be difference makers for the Kingdom. We hope they do even better with their families and kids than we did. 

Just as I said earlier, I am happy to introduce my kids to others, but there have been times when I didn't want to introduce them for fear of them acting like knuckleheads. Yet, I loved them unconditionally either way. Our Father loves us unconditionally, but I am sure, just like us, that he smiles on our good reflections that others see and not so much on the knucklehead behaviors; yet he never stops loving us either way! BUT, Oh, how pleased He is when His sons and daughters show the world around them they are a reflection of Him. What a blessing when others watch us and how we carry ourselves and say I can see God in them. How wonderful it must be for the Lord when we act in the way He raises us.

There first has to be a rebirth for people to see this type of resemblance. We must be born again and become children of God. Then we must surrender our flesh to the Lord and ask God to help us be people that can walk in the brilliance of the Lord's countenance. Of course, this does not mean to walk in perfection and never make a mistake. We will make mistakes, but it means to be transparent for the Lord, striving to be taught through our Lord's loving ways of who we are in Him and to reflect that in our witness to the world. We can and should be the light of the world and care for it and the people in it the way God intended for His children to do. Everyone should have a heart that chases after God's heart and be the kind of son or daughter that God can look at Satan and tell him; by the way, this child is MINE!

Genesis 1:27 (KJV) - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

John 1:12 (NIV) - Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) - but we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

Matthew 5:48 (AMP) - You, therefore, will be perfect (growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life), as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV) - Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 

If you have never asked the Lord to be your Savior and Master of your life; I invite you to pray this prayer:

Lord I am sinner, I confess myself to you. I believe that you sent Your Son to die on the cross and You raised Him to life again so that I could be called your son/daughter and have eternal life in my Savior Christ my Lord. I ask that you forgive me of my sins and that you come to live in my heart and  fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give you thanks that today. I'm made new in You. In Jesus Name, Amen!

If perhaps you are struggling tonight to see that reflection of God in your life pray this with me, 

Dear God I ask you to forgive me and create in me a clean heart. I Pray for You my Heavenly Father to show me how to walk in Your image and be Your son/daughter that others look at and see Christ in. Lord, I pray for my heart, mind, and soul to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His instruction as well as rebuke. I pray to be a man/woman after Your heart. Lord God help me to be mindful of my actions and words. I pray Father that you place in me a hunger for your Holy Word. I pray that as I meditate on Your word that you will be in my midst and give me wisdom and training in it. Lord remove me and increase You and let Your countenance flow through me so that when others look at me they are attracted to You. In Jesus name, Amen!