Mastodawn

Becoming Like Christ

As the Day Begins

“I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”
Psalm 17:15

When the psalmist writes these words, he is not merely speaking about waking from a night’s sleep. He is speaking about awakening into the fullness of God’s purpose for his life. Psalm 17:15 reminds us that the ultimate satisfaction of the human soul is not found in comfort, possessions, or fulfilled desires. Instead, it is found in becoming like the One who created us. The Hebrew word often translated “likeness” here is temunah, which refers to a form, image, or representation. David is expressing a longing that reaches beyond temporary circumstances—he desires that his life be shaped into the character and righteousness of God.

Many believers struggle with this idea because we instinctively want God to arrange life according to our preferences. We pray for solutions, relief, opportunity, or success, and sometimes we quietly assume that God’s primary job is to meet those expectations. Yet Scripture consistently reveals something deeper. God’s greatest work in us is transformation. The apostle Paul echoes this truth when he writes in Romans 8:29 that believers are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” The Greek word symmorphos means to be shaped into the same form or pattern. God’s work in our lives is not merely about fixing problems but forming character—Christlike character.

This changes how we view our circumstances. The challenges we face are not interruptions to God’s plan; they are often instruments of it. Just as a sculptor carefully chips away at stone to reveal the intended image, God patiently shapes our hearts through daily experiences. Sometimes that shaping involves joy and blessing. At other times it involves discipline, patience, or waiting. Yet every moment carries the same purpose: drawing us closer to the likeness of Jesus. As author A.W. Tozer once observed, “The purpose of God in redemption is to make us like Christ.” When we begin to see life through that lens, even ordinary days become sacred opportunities for growth.

So as this day begins, consider what it means to walk in God’s way rather than asking Him to follow ours. His path may not always feel comfortable, but it always leads to something better than our own plans could produce. God is not withholding good from us—He is shaping us for eternal good. And when our hearts align with His purpose, we discover a deeper satisfaction than anything the world could offer.

Triune Prayer

God, my Father, You are the One who created me with purpose and intention. Before I spoke my first prayer or took my first breath, You already knew the life You were calling me to live. Today I confess that I often approach You with a list of desires and expectations. I ask You to arrange circumstances in ways that suit my plans. Yet Your Word reminds me that Your greater purpose is to shape my heart. Help me to trust that Your wisdom is higher than my understanding. Form within me a spirit that seeks Your will first, even when I cannot see where Your path will lead. Teach me to desire righteousness more than comfort and faithfulness more than success.

Jesus, my Christ and Savior, You showed us what a life surrendered to the Father truly looks like. Your earthly walk was not driven by convenience or applause but by obedience and love. Even in the garden You prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” I ask You to shape my heart according to that same humility. When pride rises within me, remind me of Your servant’s heart. When fear tries to steer my decisions, remind me of Your courage. When I am tempted to chase recognition, remind me of Your quiet faithfulness. Let my life reflect the character of the Son of God, so that those who encounter me may glimpse Your grace and truth.

Holy Spirit, my Comforter and Spirit of Truth, dwell within me and guide my steps today. Illuminate the Scriptures so that I see clearly what God desires from my life. When I feel uncertain, whisper wisdom into my heart. When I feel weak, strengthen my resolve to walk in obedience. Shape my thoughts, my words, and my actions so that they align with the likeness of Christ. Let the fruit of Your presence—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—grow within me throughout this day. May my life become a living testimony that Your transforming power is real and active.

Thought for the Day

God’s greatest gift to you today may not be a change in your circumstances—but a change in your character. Ask yourself this morning: What situation today might God use to shape me more into the likeness of Christ?

For additional reflection on spiritual transformation, see this article from Desiring God:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/conformed-to-the-image-of-his-son

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#becomingLikeChrist #ChristianDiscipleship #ChristianTransformation #morningDevotional #Psalm1715Devotion #spiritualGrowth

Intentional Faith Jan 27

Learning Obedience the Hard Way

A Day in the Life

“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
Hebrews 5:8–9

When I sit with Hebrews 5:8–9, I am always struck by how unsettling—and yet how steadying—these words are. They tell us something about Jesus that we might prefer to overlook: obedience was not merely assumed by virtue of His divine Sonship; it was learned through suffering. The text does not suggest that Jesus was ever disobedient, but it does insist that obedience was forged, embodied, and brought to fullness through lived experience. The Greek word translated “perfected” (teleiōtheis) does not mean morally improved, as though Jesus lacked something ethically. Rather, it speaks of completion, maturity, and readiness for purpose. Through suffering, Jesus was fully fitted to become the Savior who could stand in our place.

This truth reframes how I understand hardship in my own life. If obedience was something Jesus learned under pressure, why would I assume that my formation would come through comfort alone? There are dimensions of trust, surrender, and dependence that cannot be taught in ease. Scripture consistently bears witness to this pattern. “It was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10, italics mine). That line is not cruel; it is redemptive. God was not punishing His Son but preparing Him to carry the weight of the world’s salvation. As commentator William Lane observes, “Suffering was not incidental to Jesus’ vocation; it was the means by which His obedience was made complete.” That same logic, though on a creaturely scale, shapes our discipleship.

The study rightly points out that bitterness is one of the great dangers of suffering. When hardship hardens us, it seals off parts of the soul from God’s transforming work. I have seen this often—in others and, if I am honest, in myself. Pain that is resisted rather than entrusted becomes a closed door. Yet some rooms of the heart can only be entered through suffering. The Spirit of God does not merely comfort us in trials; He instructs us there. “We rejoice in our sufferings,” Paul writes, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4, italics mine). That progression cannot be bypassed without loss.

The contrast between Saul and David makes this painfully clear. Saul was elevated quickly, without the long apprenticeship of hardship. He possessed authority but lacked the interior maturity to steward it. David, by contrast, was shaped in obscurity, betrayal, and prolonged injustice. Years of being hunted, misunderstood, and restrained taught him something Saul never learned: obedience rooted in trust rather than entitlement. When David finally ascended the throne, his heart had been trained. As Eugene Peterson once wrote, “God develops the life of faith not by letting us have our own way, but by leading us through what we would never choose for ourselves.” That insight rings true here.

Hebrews presses us further with an uncomfortable question embedded in the text: are we willing to become like Christ at the cost required? Jesus’ suffering did not merely precede salvation; it authored it. The passage says He became “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” Obedience and salvation are not rivals; they are inseparable. This is not salvation by works, but salvation that produces a life willing to follow even when it hurts. Dietrich Bonhoeffer captured this tension well when he wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” That dying is rarely dramatic; more often it is slow, faithful endurance under God’s shaping hand.

In a day in the life of Jesus, obedience looked like accepting limits, bearing misunderstanding, and trusting the Father when the path led through suffering rather than around it. In a day in my life—and perhaps yours—the same lesson quietly unfolds. If I spend all my energy avoiding hardship, I may also be avoiding the very work God intends to do in me. The gospel does not promise exemption from suffering; it promises meaning within it. And that meaning is nothing less than being made ready—made complete—for the purposes of God.

For a thoughtful exploration of how suffering shapes Christian maturity, see this article from The Gospel Coalition:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-god-uses-suffering/

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#becomingLikeChrist #ChristianSuffering #discipleshipAndHardship #Hebrews5Obedience #spiritualMaturity

Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven Feb 25, 2020

The Christadelphians or Brothers and Sisters in Christ are a community of lovers of God, who follow the teachings of the Nazarene Master Teacher Jeshua, better known as Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

As followers of the Jewish man from Nazareth, we are aware that Jesus him being a Jew, worshipped the God of Israel, and asked to do his followers to do so too. That God of Abraham is a Singular Eternal Spirit Being, no man can see. Jesus did not come to earth to undo the Law of God or the Torah. He came to explain it and to show the Way to God. Therefore, we take the words of Jesus seriously as an indication of how to continue our life on the path laid in front of us by this rabbi, and keep to the Law of God, God and His son their teachings and wishes, instead of keeping to human doctrines.

Jesus preached love for all creatures of God, and that is why we find it necessary not only to show and share that love for the whole of creation (earth, plants, animals and human beings), but also to come up for the weaker ones and to help and defend those in need.

In case you are looking for making your life easier or want to know more about the present and the future and our position in the whole picture or Plan of God, then you are right at our address.

Even when you are not sure about the existence of God, you are welcome to join us at our meetings and Bible Classes. We also provide printed material which you are welcome to read and to question us about. Any time of the day someone shall be willing to help you with your questions or solving your problems.

At our ecclesiae we have meetings for studying and worshipping but also moments of gathering and sharing good time and food. Also, at those events you are very welcome.

In Wintertime, we also provide shelter for the night, in certain towns, for the homeless people. Waifs and strays are also welcome at our food supplies.

But our main occupation in the ecclesia is the provision to glorify God and praise Him with a merger in prayer and Bible reading in the unity of spirit.

For those gatherings, where they may take place (Leuven, Leefdaal-Bertem, Tervuren, Brussels, Nivelles-Nijvel, Mons or Newbury), we invite you to join us and to feel the spirit of our brotherhood.
In Belgium, we are financially very limited and do have no building of our own. We have to rent spaces and also use private houses, making house-church. For that reason it is not possible to offer set days and hours for our meetings. In Newbury, it is different. There our brethren and sisters have their own hall and offer services on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with regular events on different days as well. Never be afraid to contact them or us to have further contact or to know about their and/our activities.

For the Carelinks (like the Antwerp Ecclesia) and Old Paths Christadelphians you shall have to contact them. We as Free Christadelphians are not bounded to any person or organisation and could be considered being part of the more progressive branch of Christadelphianism, having liberated ourselves from all boundaries of this world, only to be bounded to the sent one from God, the son of God, Jeshua, Jesus Christ.

One of us might have a strength in one area and another might be strong in another. We believe that when we can join hands to make ourselves stronger. We are convinced that when we come together in union, we all benefit and are made into the image of Christ.

We believe that all can help each other to grow in the Body of Christ, becoming more like Christ, pure and set apart. Coming together we give each other the opportunity to learn more about the Word of God, by sharing and discussing that set apart or holy Word. Together we can help each individual around us, to become part of a bigger unit, able to be compassionate, gentle, and to have a great capacity for mercy and forgiveness.

When coming to our ecclesia you should not be afraid that people would look at you as a strange intruder, because nobody would. Nobody shall go to point to the faults of yourself or others. Instead, you may find we try to use the strengths the Lord has given us to build up the body of Christ. We all have faults, and we all have gifts, and they are meant to work together. We all go for the same primary goal, to grow in the spirit according to God His Wishes, and to form a strong unit in the Body of Christ. By the influence of our fellowships you and we can have our character transformed.

At our ecclesia or church, we are people who want to share the hope in a better world. To reach that goal we know we have to start by ourselves and our own surroundings. We hope to inspire each other in our community of believers in Only One True God, but also to encourage those outside our community, to work at a relationship with Jesus, because when we seek him and not this world, he will teach us, and we will grow in all good things. A lot of this process is done through our brethren and sisters, who are here also for you!