Jesus Modeled What He Commands
September 27, 2025
Luke 5:16 “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”
Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place;”
Jesus always modeled for the disciples (that would include us) what He commanded and taught. This was not only true regarding prayer, as we see above, but also as it pertained to the rest of the Christian life.
He was born of the Spirit and He tells us we must be born of the Spirit.
Matthew 1:20 “…Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
He was baptized in water, and He commands us to be baptized in water.
Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized…”
Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”
He commands us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and He modeled that for us when the Spirit came down upon Him in the form of a dove at His water baptism.
Acts 1:4 “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him…”
He was filled with the Spirit, and He commands us in His Word to be filled with the Spirit. He was also led by the Spirit, and His Word tells us if we are truly God’s children, we too need to be led by the Spirit.
Luke 4:1 “Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”
Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”
We must be born of the Spirit to become a child of God, and the proof that we are children of God is that we are led by His Spirit. Only the Father knows His will for our lives and only He can reveal that to us and enable us to live it out. He will do that as we live in intimate fellowship with Him and allow Him to lead and empower us day by day by His Spirit.
I do not know all of where the Spirit will lead you, but I can tell you this from my own experience, from what I read of Jesus’ life, and from what I’ve read of disciples’ lives past and present: He will lead you to places where the flesh, self, the sin nature, will be put to death so that the image of His Son can be manifest in you. This process is never pleasant; it can, in fact, be painful physically, mentally, and emotionally, as we suffer with Christ.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Our being transformed into the image of Jesus is a major part of the Father’s will, plan, purpose, and destiny for us. Only God, through Jesus, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, can bring it to pass – so we must stay connected to Him in daily fellowship.
Trust and follow Him even when the going gets difficult and painful. He knows what He is doing, and He will bring you through.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Sinners being conformed to the image of His Son is very much like caterpillars being transformed into butterflies. It requires that the old must pass away so that the new can come. The Lord is doing a great work in us, so we need to be patient, faithful, obedient, diligent, and cooperative if we want to see it brought to fruition.
It is the work of a lifetime, with many twists and turns, ups and downs, setbacks and breakthroughs – and it will not be completed until we go home to be with Him, so stay faithful and enjoy the journey.
1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
A Common Pitfall
September 27, 2025
For those of you who have obeyed the Lord and been baptized in water, received the Holy Spirit and been born again, and are now being led by the Spirit, let me share something of what I have experienced that I believe might help you to avoid a very common pitfall.
When we first get saved, we are so in love with Jesus that we would do anything for Him. We get baptized in water and in the Spirit, and we begin to allow the Spirit to lead us wherever He wills. It does not matter to us where He leads us or what He requires of us; we love Jesus and just want to please Him.
We follow and obey Him without question until He tells us to do, or stop doing, something that we feel is just too hard – too much to give up, too unreasonable, or too much for Him to expect of us. As I shared in my book I got to that point when He told me to love my wife. When we get to one of those points in our walk with Him, we can do one of three things:
1. We can choose to obey Him, humble ourselves, and ask Him for the strength and grace to do what He wants us to do (or stop doing), and then continue to follow Him.
2. We can turn away from Him and go back and serve the world, the flesh, and the devil.
3. We can do what I did (and what I think most of us do): get religious.
I knew Jesus was real, so I could not deny Him and just turn away and leave the church, but I still refused to obey Him, and so I became religious. What I mean by that is that I adopted a set of rules to live by which I determined would get me into Heaven. I would go to church, pay my tithes, be involved in ministry, and do a few other things to help me feel secure in my salvation, without actually obeying Him completely.
The problem was, I was miserable. I had no joy, and I was not enjoying the eternal life that comes from intimacy with the Father. So, I ended up trying to suck life out of this world. This led to bondage, carnality, and allowing all kinds of worldly and sinful habits into my life while still being active and faithful to church; not to Jesus, but to church.
This went on for years and years, as I shared in my testimony. Eventually, my pastor had to take me out of ministry, my marriage fell apart, I was in bondage to sin, and my life was a total mess.
But God! Oh, thank God that there is a, But God! He never gave up on me. He continued to deal with me to repent and to do what He had told me to do, and finally, in desperation, I did! When I did, it was amazing! My relationship with Him was instantly restored; He delivered me from my bondages; and the joy, peace, and contentment that I had known before returned. I still had to suffer through some of the consequences for my actions, but that was all right. He helped me through it all. And He began to lead me into His will for me once again.
Now, I said all that to say this: If you were once walking in intimate relationship with Jesus – hearing His voice and doing His will, being led and empowered by His Spirit, and honoring and glorifying the Father with your life – but you came to a place like I did where you refused to do His will, and you have become religious, or have left the church and are bound in sin… repent and turn back to Him! He is waiting for you with open arms.
If you have never known God, never been a Christian, never experienced His love and forgiveness or walked in communion with Him, know that He loves you and has His perfect plan for your life waiting for you; the plan He created you to live. Repent of your sin and turn to Him! His thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace and His desire is to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
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