For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:29

God made me to be like Jesus, in mind, body and spirit. His will for my life isn't that I'm happy and secure, but that I am conformed to the likeness of His Son. He calls this life to the full. There is joy and peace and security in it that transcends what the world tells us gives joy and peace and security.

What does it mean to be more like Jesus? Jesus loved God and loved others. Jesus heard God's thoughts, spoke God's words and created God's works. Jesus set prisoners free and gave the blind sight, He released the oppressed and proclaimed the Kingdom of God.

He gives us the Holy Spirit, allows us to hear God's thoughts, understand and speak God's words and through them create God's works, whether that's miraculous healings or life-giving conversations, or anything else that brings Heaven to Earth.

Our church places a high value on the power of the Holy Spirit to move in people's lives in supernatural and natural ways. The Vineyard founder, John Wimber, described ministry as meeting the needs of others using God's power. Wimber, who seemingly spent his pastoral life soaked in the spirit of God, watching God move powerfully in people's lives said something else that I keep close to my heart:

"The test of spiritual maturity is not the ability to speak in tongues, prophesy, or memorize scripture. It is the ability to serve God and others through good works. It is in learning to love and serve the unlovely, the less fortunate, the downtrodden, that we fulfill our purpose on earth. But unless we know whom we are in Christ - blessed with all the resources of Heaven - we will always lack the power, love and victory to change the lives of others."

Tomorrow: Who we are in Christ.

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