| Title | : | Changed Into His Likeness |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0875088597 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780875088594 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 161 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 1967 |
Changed Into His Likeness Reviews
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Ever since I read The Normal Christian Life years ago, I've found myself returning again and again to the writings of Nee. Not only was he a profound thinker with a wide grasp of theology, but he was primarily concerned with the practical side of Christian living. This book digs deep and really pulls to the surface spiritual gems of insight from the experiences of the patriarchs. Like his other publications (with the exception of The Spiritual Man) this book is basically a transcript of a sermon series. The Body of Christ has benefited tremendously from Nee's influence and I pray that a new generation of Christians rediscover the riches this man of God has to offer.
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A truly brilliant and spirit led exposition of not only the story, but also the relevance and importance of the phases in a christian's life according to the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This book gave me peace about the lack of peace in my life, and God's way of working with me. A definite must if you're struggling with God and struggling to overcome life's fears.
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I loved this book, especially the way he used Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as examples of the promise, the gift and the receiver.
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What is good in this book is unfortunately drowned out by an approach to sanctification that makes it nearly entirely passive on the part of the believer.
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Another of Nee's books that make me stop and examine my life as far as my relationship with God. Questions I ask: "Do I trust God?" "Where might He be leading me?" Thought-provoking and convicting, as most of Nee's writing are.
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When I was sorting my attic I stumbled onto many smaller books tucked in one container for the day I would have more time to read and reflect. Well, it is that time. I am "retired", in a "stay close to home due to the pandemic" lifestyle. I have read Watchman Nee many years ago and enjoyed his writing style and down to earth presentation of material. I also was looking for something to put into a time gap of 8 weeks while there was a hiatus from our regular Zoom study. I figured a chapter a day, sixteen chapters, this was going to be a great fit. Little did I know how many times I would read the same chapter until I had it firmly in my mind and heart.
The overview of the book is a look at Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and how God worked in their lives, forming them into the men he needed them to be. It is not an entirely easy read, but very worth it. He does layer on the information so that you can see it from different angles to gather the entire thought. As you can see, a chapter a day did not happen. It was more like a chapter a week, going over the material again and again, so rich and uplifting. I can't wait to find another nugget hiding in that attic trove. -
Some books seem to have this magical quality of giving the reader a different but more immersive experience after the second or third reading. This difference is keenly felt especially if there is a gap of a few years between the readings. "Changed Into His Likeness" is one such book in my estimation.
In this book, Watchman Nee gives readers a deep insight into who “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob' is” and how God’s dealings with these three Old Testament patriarchs provide practical solutions to the Christian life and walk.
When I first read the book some years ago, I had felt inspired but that feeling didn’t last long. What I’d learned from it was soon forgotten. Now, after the second reading, I sense that God is revealing Himself afresh to me and I appreciate how he goes about transforming us to be more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
Much profit may be gained from studying the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Once you're done reading this book, it will have you praising and thanking God, as it did me. -
A great read! I love this book by brother watchman nee.
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Deep. Spiritual. Rather peculiar way of seeing the life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Still in the end you see the wisdom of man that comes from a deep communion and intimacy with God.
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Looking at the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jakob from a spiritual perspective that concerns our Walk with God.
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This is a study on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of the Old Testament, and how God worked in their lives. I read it in Norwegian, but it's actually very well written - and translated. (It's actually one of the few Norwegian books where the translation hasn't bugged me. It's published by Logos if you're Norwegian.) Nee's points are very god, show a tremendous amount of insight and are easy to follow. Great book!
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This is not only the best Watchman Nee book I have ever read, but I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that it's the most impacting Christian devotional book I have ever read. Watchman Nee has found a gold mine of truth in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that truth has pierced me and I hope it changes me -- more into the likeness of Christ! I could hardly read more than a few pages at time before I needed to stop and process what I'd read. It is rich and it is life-changing!
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Really informative on the connection btwn the Old Testament (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and New (Jesus). Never thought about the dual meaning of the triune God, the Father/Son/Holy Spirit and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A quick read!
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Angus I. Kinnear's "essential literary tidying-up" - not my cup of tea. Putting aside the unfortunate use of phrases, such as "cock-sureness", the first two chapters felt like a drag with so many impressive facts given but no compelling burden expressed.
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Nee can be hard to stay with. I have only read a handful of his books. True confession: I picked the skinnier ones. He as provided me with some good insights.
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Awesome read so far...
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Wow!
So much wisdom
The transformation in Jacob to Israel is incredible
The end of the book, I had a frog in my throat
It’s amazing what the Holy Spirit can do in and through us! -
This to me is a short and potent book. I highlighted it some 384 times because of the nature of the abounding truths that lay there in. I actually got an idea to read the book of Genesis and Galatians side by side.
I have now fully understood when they say “I am the father of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob”. Abraham was given a promise of the land and many children; Isaac was born into wealth and did not to work for it while Jacob was the one man who strives for everything he got.
The child who is born does not have to worry where his life comes from; he just lives it quite naturally.
The good Lord reminds us that there is nothing that we have that we did not receive. Yet to be wealthy when you have been born into wealth is surely no problem. He reminds us that his promises are yea and amen no matter how much we have to wait for them. Abraham in a hurry tried to get ahead of the promise by getting Ishmael. Funny thing was that it was a recommendation from the wife to have the maidservant. The Lord reminds us that his promises are not nought. He keeps his promises.
It is unbelievable that Jacob was a man who bargained for everything; he even bargained for his wife. Isaac never even saw Rebekah before she was chosen. His father said who she must be, chose her, sent for her, paid for her dowry. In his role as son, Isaac received everything. And we, before God, possess nothing that is not His endowment. The Jacob principle of natural strength dominates us.
Jacob was a most clever, able man. There was nothing he could not do. He cheated his own brother, deceived his father and contrived to relieve his uncle of all his possessions. But this cleverness, this talent for self-advancement had no place in the will and plan of God for him. He met his match in Laban...who put him to task... with all the schemes in place...
People who are specially clever have to learn, if necessary through suffering, that it is not by the wisdom of men that we live, but by God.
All the three men belonged to God and there is no Jacob without Isaac, safe to also say there could be no Isaac without Abraham. Abraham is chosen from a generation of idolaters. It means God can use anybody. God had to test Abrahams faith, severely. So thorough that Abraham laughed at himself. When Abraham is told to go to the Promised Land..... out of Ur of the Chaldees, the state of things in the world as a whole had become so bad it could not well have been worse. Through the long years only Enoch had been translated. Out of the disaster of the Flood one family alone had been saved alive. Now in Abraham's world things were no better. The ark had not failed, but the family who were saved had done so. The outcome of that generation was the conspiracy at Babel, and then world-wide idolatry.
I like how Nee uses the phrase Liberty of Conscience to describe the Protestant church. When we have our natural strength judged we go like or rather boast....`I feel this.' `I look at it that way.' `In my humble opinion . . .' Secretly we glory in our opinions and in our difference from and independence of others, and we never really recognize this as outright defeat. I read this and I was like wow!
In relation to the land of Canaan which was to be Israel's inheritance, Abraham was put to the test on three separate occasions. For he was a very ordinary man, just like you and me, whom God had selected and set apart for this special task, and his faith was no greater than ours.
First test - Abraham learned that there was no land like the land of Canaan.
Second test - In the matter of leaving his kindred, Abraham had never fully obeyed. He still held on to Lot. Abraham perfected his obedience in separating from his nephew; on the other he learned not to maintain his rights to the land by selfish, grasping methods.
Third test - Abraham's third test, and the last connected with the land itself, is of course the battle of the kings. Sodom, where Lot now dwelt, was raided, and Lot himself was carried off. Abraham went at once, with all his tiny forces, to his nephew's rescue.
This goes to show you cannot stand and fight for God if there is one scrap of worldly scheming or planning or ambition left in you.
Then there was this example.... “We watch a child making models out of mud. He may have real imagination and produce some quite recognizable models, but we say, `They are nothing but mud. It is only childish play.' Yet the difference between that child and ourselves is very trifling compared with the difference between ourselves and God. He is God. We are men. He uses us-and rejoices to use us-as His instruments, but that is all. He uses us.”
The truth- We need to reckon ourselves dead before we can believe fully in the God who gives life to the dead. Abraham was shown that he himself was not the father, the source, of anything. God waits until we have reached an end of ourselves, and then Isaac comes.
In addition the flesh always leads to trouble - Not only was Ishmael valueless to God; none have so injured God's people and their witness, or so fought against God Himself, as has Ishmael. To try to help God can be to injure His work.
As Christians - The secret is receiving, not doing.
Clever people have many worries; schemers pile up troubles for themselves. No doctrine of sanctification is complete which does not deal radically with the strength of our nature.
Watchman Nee as always is and always was deep!
Awesome read. -
It's an amazing book!!
