“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29 

I no more than sent out the last post about Enoch, then this one came to me right away. The Lord woke me up at 3:30 in the morning and downloaded this message to me. Something greater than the longing to be like Enoch is the longing to be like Him. 

Growing up I was in church Sunday morning and Sunday night without question. I had parents that knew the importance of attending church on a regular basis. For that I am so thankful. In all the years of attending church, hymns were the main source of worship. Singing them over and over again I pretty much had them all memorized. At the time they seemed boring to me but I loved to sing. So I would belt them out. Not sure how I sounded but it didn’t matter, I loved to sing. I had no idea at the time the wealth I was imparting in my soul by singing those hymns. It is so sad to me that the generations after me do not know the hymns. The hymns have comforted me, brought me strength and encouraged me over the years. The best part is that the Lord uses the hymns to speak to me.

As I was laying there at 3:30 in the morning and the Lord was speaking to me, a hymn flooded me. It’s titled, “Oh To Be Like Thee”. As the words from the song were washing over me a vision was brought back to my remembrance. Yes that’s right, the Lord was speaking to me, I was seeing a vision and a song playing all at once! I had the vision quite some time back during some quiet time with Him. I had reached a point where I just wanted more of Him. I wanted to be filled with Him and more of me taken away. As I was physically crying out to Him for that I was instantly in a vision. 

Before me was a bed of very hot coals. You could see the heat radiating in them. I saw a branding iron laying in the bed of coals. The next thing that happened was a hand came down out of heaven and picked up the branding iron. The iron is now heading towards me. As it is coming towards me I read the words on iron. It said, “Jesus Christ”. It’s so funny because the words were backwards. Just like they would be on a branding iron. When that iron is placed downward the words are no longer backwards. The next thing I know the branding iron is being placed on my heart. So the word, “Jesus Christ” was seared on my heart. That was the end of the vision. Tears began to flow down my cheeks. My thought was how could He ever love me that much? Why does He even care who I am? His love is so immense he accepts us right where we are. He loves to brand us with His name. It’s saying, He is mine and I am His!

Here is the title and lyrics to the song that flooded me. “Oh To Be Like Thee” by Thomas Obediah Chisholm (1866-1960)

1. Oh to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer; this is my constant longing and prayer; gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
2. Oh to be like Thee! Full of compassion, loving, forgiving, tender and kind, helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, seeking the wandering sinners to find.
3. Oh to be like Thee! Lowly in spirit, holy and harmless, patient and brave; meekly enduring cruel reproaches, willing to suffer, others to save.
4. Oh to be like Thee! Lord I’m coming, now to receive the anointing divine; all that I am and have I am bringing; Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.
5. Oh to be like Thee! While I am pleading, pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love. Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, fit for a life which Thou wouldst approve.
   
   

Chorus:  Oh to be like Thee! Oh to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; stamp Thy own image deep on my heart.

To sum it all up my heart’s desire is to be more like Him in every way. Oh that He would stamp His own image deep on my heart!