RHAPSODY OF REALITIES DAILY DEVOTIONAL ;
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19th 2019;
PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME PHD. DsC. D.D;
?FOCUS ON HIS SPIRITUALITY;
…even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now…we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh] (2 Corinthians 5:16 AMPC).
When some people say, “I want to be like Jesus,” what they really mean is to be like the “Jewish man” who walked the streets of Galilee and Capernaum. Some even get enthused at discussions about His physical stature: His build, height, physique, looks, etc., losing sight of what’s more important—His spirituality. Beyond His physicality, you should focus on “Jesus—the Word!”
The limitations of the “physical” Jesus were Jewish. As a Jew, for example, He celebrated Passover, but Passover meant nothing to the non-Jew. Therefore, our focus should be on Jesus the Son of God; God in flesh. See Him in, and through the Word, because He’s the living Word.The Apostle Paul, at some point, mistakenly thought of Christ as though He were merely an ordinary man of Jewish descent. But then, he realized that even though Jesus walked the earth in a physical frame, and lived as a Jewish man, He wasn’t ordinary.
Paul’s focus henceforth was on Jesus—the Word— and he went on to be so successful in his ministry! John 1:14 tells us that God’s Word was personified, and the result was the man, Christ Jesus: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….” So, see Him as the Word incarnate; see Him as the totality of God’s thoughts, ideas, opinions, will, and emotions tabernacled in human flesh. Focus on Him as God’s perfect imprint, the icon of the unseen God, just as Hebrews 1:3 reveals.
Moreover, here’s something quite supreme: as He is the Word made flesh, so are you an offspring of the Word. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 John 4:17 says as He is, so are we in this world. Not as He was, in Galilee, but as He is now, risen in glory, power, strength and excellence, so are you now. You have His righteousness, life, and nature in you NOW. You’re the effulgence of His glory and the express image of His person. Hallelujah!
CONFESSION
I refuse to be recognized according to my physical or earthly features or nativity, but I see myself in, and through the Word. As Jesus is, in His glory, power, strength and excellence now, so am I in this world. Blessed be God!
FURTHER STUDY
John 14:8-10 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Colossians 1:12-19 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.
1 John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Revelation 11 ; Micah 4-5
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Acts 1:12-26 ; 2 Chronicles 33