"For those whom he chose before, he also predestined them to be in the same way as the image of his Son, so that He would be firstborn among many brothers; and those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, these also he declared righteous, and those who declared them righteous also glorified. "
Romans 8: 29-30 (Textual Bible)
In our mind the true battles are fought that determine what has to be manifested; which way? In that we are called to a war that is not against blood or flesh, therefore, weapons are not carnal but spiritual.
The Bible teaches us that we were made in image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) God is Spirit, (John 4: 23-24) that is to say that we are primarily spiritual, that is distorted by disobedience, so we must understand that in Jesus Christ we are restored; by the first Adam the curse enters, by the last Adam (Jesus Christ man) the blessing is restored; that is, the image and likeness.
In chapter 3 of Genesis is the narration of the fall of man because of their disobedience, they realized they were naked (Genesis 3: 7) not that before they had their eyes closed but the glory that clothed them was removed.
Most people, when they live an easy life without adversity, tend to forget their identity, stop thinking about the reason for the existence of man and the meaning of life, and lead a life destined to satisfy only the desires of the flesh. The Christian is called to be different. It is fundamental to be sure of our identity.
The book of Acts, in the Bible, tells in chapter 27: 13-38 one of the adversities suffered by the Apostle Paul for preaching the gospel "... whose I am and whom I serve ..." (v. 23) Paul was sure of his identity, he did not change according to the circumstance, he was not a Christian only in abundance, he was also a Christian in difficult times. Everything that we have in the heart is manifested through pressure, in the temple, in the development of the service we are all spiritual, but in the trial, in the desert what is really in the heart is manifested; (Deuteronomy 8: 2 you will remember all the way that YHVH your God has brought you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
They say that a speaker can say three hundred words per minute but, our mind says a thousand words, so that the Lord tells us that he has chosen us, that he predestined us to be in the same way as his Son's image there are a thousand words in the mind declaring "No! It's impossible, nobody loves me! I'm nothing! And I do not try to be of the "new age" I only say that we need to pay due attention to what the Lord says about us and what we are called for; we spend too much time trying to please our fellow men and we forget the will of God. We are not going to be judged our sins exactly, but by our faith.
Whenever I give a compliment to my daughter Dana, she answers me. I already knew it! What's more, she has a T-shirt that says "Before I was vain, now I'm perfect ..." (kidding) It seems like a waste of pride and vanity but let's observe the word of God; John 12: 3 The Lord is anointed by a woman with high value perfume to what He agrees and later in chapter 13: 4-5 he humbles himself by washing the feet of his disciples; The Creator of the universe serving man, you can be king and be humble at the same time, the world, the system tells us that we will not be able to, that we must accompany their tendencies, that now it is like that, that the Bible, the Word of God went out of style, times changed, satan is behind all this looking for the children of God to lose their faith; When I was a child and read in the Word that we were the church of the Lord and the doors of the ades will not prevail against it I imagined the system hitting the doors of the temple making the walls tremble and us inside scared, because I did not understand.
Proverbs 23: 7a It says "Because what is your thought in your heart is such." Identity.
There is a story that recounts the life of an Asian man who, after the Second World War, in a devastated country gets a job on a railroad as a banderillero with a minimum salary, the young man worked hard until he became the head of that station. As a result of the crisis, the government canceled all pensions and pensions and had only the usual miserable salary, although it was already old. One day his daughter became seriously ill and had to take her to the hospital to which the man declared "I am a banderillero ... I can not leave my post due to a family problem" his wife took care of everything but did not reach it, since the young woman died. The man did not flinch, he was still at his post moving the flag at the arrivals and departures of the train.
After a while his wife became ill and the man had the same response and attitude, the woman leaves him alone and goes to the hospital in the nearby town, suffers a long time but the banderillero is not going to see her, after so much suffering the woman dies, then the man went there staying a long time next to the body of the dead wife the hospital employees ask her "... while she was sick you never came, and now that she is dead you come ... how can it be?" but the Man does not say anything and returns to his work with tears in his eyes, dreams of his daughter every night, has regret and remorse for having let them die. As a result of the crisis the town is abandoned since it was a coal town and drying the mines there is nothing left, also the railroad is closed; in one of those dreams the daughter says "... dad, now you do not have anything left ..." and he responds, it's true, then he is taken by the young woman out on a night of raw snowfall in which the man dies on the railway platform. End of story. It seems stupid but those who do not understand Japanese culture do not understand their mentality, they are very perseverant and neat.
The train passed only once a day, nobody controlled it, the man could have taken care of his family without stopping to attend his work, nevertheless he was committed to his work; he was very responsible, he did not leave his post or his work schedule for anything even though he was not guarded. Many will say What stubborn guy who does not realize that in the end he did not get anything? Maybe we should learn from that kind of mentality.
We do not know how much life lies ahead. We need to be stubborn for the Glory of God. Jesus went to the cross for our salvation, and he had it for joy, should not we be faithful to our Lord in response to his sacrifice? Many today gather once a week with luck, to which they respond "we must not be so fanatical" and we are saved, what else? Why pray so much? Why fast? if Jesus already sacrificed himself.
"Truly I say to you that there is no one who has not left home or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel, who does not receive a hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers , sisters, mothers, children and lands, with possessions, and in the next century eternal life "
(Mark 10: 29-30)
We are not conformist believers, we are faithful to God, we proclaim the gospel of the Lord at all times, we ask for the restoration of the true church, we have the favor of the Lord to live a victorious life.