And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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 8:28-29)

God wants us to be like our brother Jesus. We don’t like to be compared to our siblings, especially if it is a comparison of coming up short against them. Who has not heard the line, “Why can’t you be more like your brother, or sister, ___________?

God does want us to be more like a sibling we all have if we have been adopted into the family of God – our brother Jesus. Maybe you didn’t know you had another brother. Sometimes it’s like that in families: we have siblings we don’t know about.

This sibling came first. He was born into the family; we are all adopted. How can that be? He was a natural born son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He became part of the human race and by God’s design he became the forerunner of our type.

What does that mean, for you and me, and everyone else? It means that God uses all the circumstances in our life to make us more like our brother Jesus. He wants us to be like Him. He is so for you that everything that gets thrown your way will ultimately be used by our Father to shape us into the likeness of our brother Jesus.

Is this a prophetic word? Maybe. Depends what you mean by a prophetic word. It is a biblical word that shapes our prophetic destinies, first of all to be like our brother Jesus. God has other plans for you. These may be more specific to your life and destiny. However, His ultimate plan is to make you like your brother Jesus.

What goes in the bag of “all things”? Literally, all things!!! It could be your choices, good or bad. It could be things the evil one throws your way. It could be the good things God wills for you. It doesn’t matter. God can use anything to get you to be more like Jesus.

God has a higher purpose for you than you realize: He wants you to be like your brother Jesus. This does not mean that we celebrate all circumstances that come our way, but we do celebrate the fact that even those that are painful can be used by God for the good of his ultimate purpose: to be like Jesus.

By Ralph Veenstra