INSTRUCTIONS
Here, you'll find articles about one of the four departments of the truth: Instructions.
Instructions are essentially, “How do I worship God”, steps to doing so and ways of getting close to God and living a righteous life. It also talks about what kinds of attributes Christians should have and what things Christians shouldn't be doing, be it a certain way of behaviour, an act that's not scriptural, etc.
WHY JESUS PRAYED
Prayer is how we communicate with God. It comes in different forms: physical talking with the mouth; meditation (when we think about God and His Word); fasting (especially in old times); and even when we trust in Him (because He is a spirit, according to John 4:24 and 2 Corinthians 3:17, so believing in Him is like a prayer for protection, peace and strength to continue in the path of righteousness).
There were many people in the Bible who prayed to God. For example, Hannah prayed to God for a son, because she was barren (1 Samuel 1:9-20). Abraham’s chief servant prayed to God so he could choose the woman who would be compatible with Isaac and positively contribute towards God’s promises to Abraham (Genesis 24:1-27). King Hezekiah prayed to God to be delivered from the powerful force of King Sennacherib (Isaiah 36-37). And it’s important to note that what these people prayed for were things they were not fully capable of doing; things they needed spiritual support for. And due to God’s kindness and mercy, He ansswered their prayers.
But Jesus Christ was not like King Hezekiah, or Hannah, or anyone else who prayed in the Old Testament, because he was the Son of God. He had the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34), and due to his spiritual status, you’d expect that he wouldn’t pray, but rather end all his sufferings. But he did actually pray to God, and more than once.
So why did Jesus pray in the Bible? What did he go through that would make him talk to God, and what did he gain from doing that?
Here’s what we should understand: Jesus Christ came down to this world with a mission: to save humanity (Matthew 18:11, Luke 19:10, John 3:16-17, 12:47, etc.). God had the whole mission planned out, and Jesus Christ was the one to do it (Isaiah 6:8, Hebrews 10:7, Revelation 5). It was something between God and Jesus (John 8:15-16), so even when he was on Earth, that connection between him and his Father didn’t break or cease.
Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit once it was time to begin the mission (Matthew 3:16-17), and he began to preach the gospel. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17).
But the mission proposed different challenges. In Matthew 4:1-11, as Jesus was fasting (a form of prayer), Satan the Devil made his first attempt to take him over. Jesus Christ was hungry and worn out, and Satan proposed an easy way out of all the sufferings he’d have to go through. This was very tempting, and if things were to have gone wrong here, the whole mission could’ve ended, and God’s purpose jeopardized. So you’d expect that spiritual support would be given to Jesus at a time like that. So as Jesus was trusting his Father and rejecting Satan’s offer, the spirits would’ve been strengthening him, and giving him courage.
Then, in John 11, it was time to prove his power, by resurrecting Lazarus. Now, remember what happened in 2 Kings 4:17-37: the Shunammite woman’s son died, and when Gehazi tried to bring him back to life with Elisha’s staff, it didn’t work. Elisha then prayed to God about the situation, and afterwards resurrected the boy. So miracles don’t just happen the way we think they do.
Jesus Christ knew that there was the chance of failure, and making himself look like a charlatan. Therefore, he prayed to God about the situation. John 11:41-45 gives the account: “And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” It’s the same idea; Jesus Christ faced a difficulty, he prayed to God about him, and he received the strength to do what was needed.
But the biggest challenges came near his death. This is when we really understand why Jesus prayed. At this stage, there was a lot of fear and tension. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44). He was fearing that he wouldn’t pass through this as planned by his Father, and he’d be a big disappointment to those in heaven. He couldn’t imagine something worse than that. He needed assistance, and strength from a source beyond himself (because his disciples fled the scene, according to Matthew 26:56). So he talked to his Father about it in prayer. “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22:41-43).
It should also be noted that Jesus Christ could have easily ended his suffering. That made things more difficult. Hypothetically (and realistically), he could’ve prayed to his Father and ended all his sufferings. “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:53-54). But he didn’t allow himself to escape the suffering. Therefore, he prayed to God, and he received the strength to finish the mission.
We need to understand this because the children of God have to run the race of salvation (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Hebrews 12:1). It is not an easy race; there are challenges and obstalces everywhere. Satan the Devil, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) will pose all kinds of threats to you (temptations - Matthew 18:7, Luke 17:1 - and persecution from those who are close to you, according to Matthew 10:36). That’s why St. Paul said, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12). And in Acts 14:22, it says, “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
We cannot maintain a righteous life in an evil world like ours without heavenly support. After all, when we live in the world, but we don’t think like others, or love it, we will be hated by those who love the world and think worldly (John 15:19). Therefore, Jesus Christ advised us to “watch and pray” (Matthew 26:41). “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36). To watch is to study the Bible to understand the signs of the times (that is, what the Bible says about our time, and how that’s fulfiling in real life) and live accordingly (for example, we wouldn’t trust in political leaders becuase the Bible makes us to know that they, symbolized by stars, and “powers of heaven” are being weakened, according to Luke 21:25-26). And to pray is to seek assistance from God so that we can succesfully overcome the snares and traps of Satan the Devil (which we’ve addressed in detail in this article).
Running the race of salvation is more difficult in our time because we are living in the last days. Satan the Devil has been defeated (and so have his kings and princes been defeated too, according to Revelation 6:15-17 and Revelation 12:7-12). And because of this, he has dislocated the world (causing what St. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 to fulfill). Things that used to be banned due to spiritual law have now been legalized, and people are now living lives void of spirituality. Those who want to live their lives according to God’s Word seem outdated, because we are living in a “modern” world that has moved on from spirituality.
Spirituality’s condition now is like the death of Jesus Christ back then. When he was to die, there was a lot of fear, pressure, and tension. And simiarily, worshipping God in our time will come with much tribulation (Matthew 24:21); persecution, temptations, and everything in between. Therefore, we need to pray to God so He can give us courage and strength to do the needful. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
The Bible assures us that prayers concerning our salvation will be answered. In Psalms 34:17-19, God said, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” (also see Psalms 145:18-20). Therefore, when we begin to experience difficulty in running the race of salvation, talk to God about it, because it is His will that we run it and be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). So He would be more than happy to assist us by giving us the Holy Spirit, and making sure he drives away those Satan puts in our lives to drag the godliness out of us.
Jesus Christ gave us the Lord’s Prayer for that reason (Matthew 6:9-10). By praying the Lord’s Prayer, we are not only showing interest in God’s plan for mankind, but we are showing God that we desire His assistance to live as proper citizens of the Kingdom and inherit eternal life (Daniel 7:27). Also, those who pray with their hearts, and not just with their mouth, will also have their lives changed with the Lord’s Prayer. That will keep us in line with running the race of salvation, because that prayer gives us the hope to continue facing challenges from our evil world to inherit the ever-growing Kingdom of God.
GOD'S PRINCIPLE #1: YOUR HEART OR YOUR MONEY
The definition of a principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. God’s principles are ways of reasoning that govern His life. They feature in God’s commandments and laws, given to mankind in the Scriptures, and it is based on such principles that God makes decisions (such as how to judge the righteousness or wickedness of an individual or institution). And it’s important to know that God does not change from them. “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6; see also Numbers 23:19).
Now, the heart is quite difficult to define, but we’ll look at it as a force that drives us to be a certain kind of person in life. What the heart tells us decides what kind of belief system we accept, the kind of person we relate with (from friendship level to marriage level), what side we are on politically (left or right), and many other things. It’s essentially what controls us. And it should be noted that the spirits have the ability to control that (for example, it was Satan who put the idea of betryaing Jesus into the heart of Judas in Luke 22:2-3).
Now, there are two forces that desire our hearts: the world, and God Almighty. When you give your heart to the world (in other words, when you’re worldly), you won’t face the troubles that the righteous face because you “belong” to the world. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:19; also see, 1 John 4:4-5). And in Revelation 13:3-4, it prophesied that many people would give their hearts over to the world (and we can see that fulfilling, as people have given their hearts to things such as space technology, politics, worldly entertainment, which are temporal and of this world).
But God Almighty also wants the heart. It’s one of His principles, and we can see that it governs everything that He does. For example, we find all over Deuteronomy that God wanted the full attention and service of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 4:15-20, 5:6-15, 6:5, 12-18, 8:10-18, 10:12, 20-22, etc.). This principle was embedded in God’s laws that the Israelites were to follow, as seen by all those verses.
God Almighty is our Father (Matthew 6:9-10), and our Creator. “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4). And when He created us, He wanted us to give ourselves to Him, to show gratitude for creating us and protecting us. Isaiah the Prophet made this clear in Isaiah 43:21, where he said, “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”
However, some Christians think that what God wants from us is money. This is commonly taught by some pastors, who have that as one of many crafty ways of exploting people (Ezekiel 22:25, Ezekiel 34:1-11, 2 Peter 2:3). What makes it worse is that they tell you to give, irrespective of whether you are willing or not. But the Bible makes us know that the willingness (in other words, how our heart feels about it) is what matters. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7). For such reasons, God said in Exodus 25:2 that it was those who were willing to give who should contribute to the construction of the sanctuary. And in Exodus 35:22, 29, people who were willing actually supplied for the materials.
God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7, Psalms 44:21, Jeremiah 17:10, etc.) so God wants us to give our hearts to Him. And in doing so, we are offering our bodies as a “living sacrifice” as St. Paul said in Romans 12:1, which reads, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (see also 1 Peter 2:5). And in Isaiah 66:20, God said those who were the kinds of “sacrifices” that He would accept. “And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.”
This can be understood by the story of the widow’s mite in Luke 21:1-4. Rich people were giving gifts of much material value to the temple’s treasury. But a poor widow gave two mites, which was all she had (so she would have to figure out where her next meal would come from). She believed in what God had set up more than the other rich men, because while the rich men were just giving a part of themselves (some of their wealth), the woman was giving her whole self, because she gave everything she has (which, in other words, meant she was giving herself to God).
Another story that helps us to understand what it means to give your heart to God (like a living sacrifice) is the story of David. David’s whole life was about God and His purpose. He devoted the prime of his life to fighting battles for God that would eventually lead to the kingdom of Israel being established, with its capital in Jerusalem. And he even deemed it necessary to build a temple for God, too, where people would go and worship the Lord (1 Kings 8:17). These things only come from someone who’s given their heart to God.
And it was the same David that encouraged his son to do as he’d done. “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
And that 1 Kings 8:17 is a way of understanding what Jesus said in Matthew 6:21. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” David put all his time and effort into doing God’s will, and his heart was there as a result. Jesus Christ could boast of the same thing, because his entire life was about doing God’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 12:49-50, etc.), which, at the time, was to preach the gospel (Matthew 4:17) and pay the ransom (Matthew 20:28, 1 John 4:9-11). And his heart was undoubtedly in what he was doing.
It has been made clear that God wants our hearts. Therefore, we should make sure we give God hearts with righteousness and goodwill towards God’s purpose; not hearts that are still given to the world. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:8; see also Jeremiah 4:14). And David gave a description of that kind of heart in Psalms 51:17. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
When we give that to God, then God will bless us, because this is a principle that runs through everything that God does, including His blessings to humans in this world. “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.”
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WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Light can be defined as a source of illumination; something that makes things in the immediate environment visible. When there is light in an area, we are aware of everything that is in it, so we can’t stumble or get injured because we didn’t know something wasn’t around. But when there is darkness, we grope; we aren’t fully certain of where we are, or how close danger might be.
The Bible commonly uses the word “light”, though not in the physical sense. Today, we’re going to be exploring the spiritual “light”, and how we walk in it.
In 1 John 1:5, John the Apostle said that God is light. In the context of this discussion, what that means is that God provides the way that we can inherit eternal life and other blessings that endure. David the Psalmist made it clear that whatever God is involved in endures, and lasts. “But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.” (Psalms 102:12; see also Psalms 135:13). In other words, when the principles we live by come from the Word of God, then we are walking in the light because the Word of God is the way by which we can live eternally.
The Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is like a light that guides us. For example, Psalms 119:105 reads, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” King Solomon also said in Proverbs 6:23, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”
The reason why the Word of God is considered light is that it allows us to understand the everlasting plan of God, and how we can be a part of it. When we walk in that light, we can serve God faithfully, not be captured by Satan the Devil’s craftiness, and inherit eternal life. St. Paul spoke about this in Romans 15:4, which reads, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
But to understand how walking in the light works, we need to look at some examples.
For instance, Joshua and Caleb walked in the light. God’s plan to take the Israelites to Canaan would endure for thousands of years. He promised Abraham this in Genesis 13:15, where He said, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” Joshua and Caleb decided to believe in that plan and wholly follow it, whilst other Israelites wanted to go against that (particularly when they wanted to return to Egypt in Numbers 14:4). The plan of the Israelites to return to Egypt had no future, and therefore those who believed in doing so walked in darkness. But Joshua and Caleb supported going to the land God promised them (Numbers 13:27-33, 14:6-9). And Caleb in particular not only inherited the land but though he was 85, he was as strong as when he was 40 (Joshua 14:6-13). This is walking in the light.
Another example of someone who walked in the light was Rahab. In Joshua 2, Joshua sent two men to spy on the land of Jericho. When they got there, they lodged in Rahab’s house. However, the king of Jericho got to know about the spies, and he sent men to take them from Rahab.
Now, Rahab could’ve just handed them over, and therefore not have taken any risks. But she decided not to because she knew that Jericho had no future in the hands of God. She supported the spies who were doing God’s will, and she knew that it was God’s will that stands (Isaiah 14:27, 55:10-11). And it was because of this that she and her family were spared (Joshua 6:17, 21-23, 25), while the other inhabitants of Jericho were killed.
Now, we’re going to zero in on Jesus Christ, because in several places, he called himself the “light of the world”. The most commonly cited one is John 8:12, where Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He also said in John 9:5, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Jesus Christ called is the light of the world because it was through him that we know the way to eternal life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There was no other way we could be led to the Father and get eternal life than by Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:27, 2 John 1:9, etc.). He opens doors to obtain eternal life, and it is through him we have an everlasting future. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Furthermore, Jesus Christ brought the way people would worship God in the future. The Jews opposed the new system Jesus brought, but it came to overtake them (and if you look at the world, it is Christianity that dominates, not Judaism). That is how Jesus is the light of the world.
In John 3:19, Jesus Christ described himself as the light of the world, but he also mentioned darkness, which we will now examine. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” When he said, “men loved darkness rather than light”, he meant that the end of the established Jewish system was near, but people would rather cling to Moses than transit to the new arrangement God was putting in place.
The concept of “walking in the light” is more important in our time, the last day. The last day is the last period of Satan's wicked rule over the Earth. In other words, Jesus Christ is erasing Satan's impact on this world. We have seen the warlords, kings, and queens come to an end, and the political leaders we see today don’t have much time, either. They are walking in darkness because they do not know that Jesus Christ is coming after them (Revelation 6:15-17, 19:17-18, Isaiah 34:12, etc.). Therefore, if we believe in them, we are also walking in darkness because we are putting our faith and trust in something that does not have a future. In Psalms 146:3-4, we are advised not to trust in them with these words: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
The Bible makes it clear that everything humans are used to is going to change. The “new heavens’ and a “new earth” are in the making (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1). The phrase "new heaven and a new earth" means a new way of thinking that represents what God wanted when he created man (unity, freedom, peace, etc.). That is what the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the period of the World Wars brought to humanity, and just like a mustard seed, it is growing (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 6:24-33). Eventually, every institution, organization, etc., will have this ideology as its base (Isaiah 2:2, Daniel 2:44, etc.).
The information in the previous paragraph of what the "light" is in our time. This idealogy is what has a future. What used to rule the world does not. Therefore, if we want to walk in the light, we have to structure our lives so we have a future in the everlasting Kingdom when fully established. We do so by studying the Bible to understand what the Kingdom is doing in our time. This understanding must affect everything in our lives (who we marry, how we raise our children, who our friends are, etc.). Once it does, we are walking in the light because our lives align with the future God has for humanity. And if we sustain that, God will give us a portion of it to inherit in the future, as Daniel said in Daniel 7:27. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
We hope that this article has encouraged you to walk in the light. To conclude, let’s look at Romans 13:12 and Ephesians 5:8, 11, verses that provide some encouragement concerning this matter: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:12). The Ephesians account reads, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
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PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES
The title of this article is drawn from Matthew 5:43-44, which reads, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
An enemy is a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. The enemies of a Christian are those who actively work to make their service to God difficult (Matthew 10:36, 22, 2 Timothy 3:12, etc.).
To pray for our enemies is to intercede on their behalf, and talk to God about them, so that He may help them and recover them from Satan’s captivity (2 Timothy 2:26), so they may serve God faithfully, and cease to oppose the righteous.
Therefore, the question is, why should we do so? Why do our enemies deserve our prayers?
One important thing we need to know is that not everybody who wants to make life difficult for us is “wicked”. Some people are just ignorant, and they don’t know better. They may also be persecuting us because they have no other choice (as in, others above them want that, and they can’t say no for fear of consequences). St. Paul, renowned for his eternally beneficial contributions to Christianity, started as a persecutor of Christians, but as he said himself, he did it out of ignorance. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” (1 Timothy 1:12-13). But in Acts 9, after Ananias laid his hands on Saul (his name later changed to Paul), he converted from his ways of ignorance to the faith of Jesus and did very well (1 Corinthians 15:10).
We all know that Jesus Christ was persecuted and killed by his many enemies. But as he was about to die, he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” in Luke 23:34. Many of those who took part in his crucifixion had no choice, and others simply didn’t understand that it was the Son of God Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the Earth (Isaiah 45:12, 18) who they were killing. Many who were killed by Titus’s army in AD.70 were ignorant people, who would’ve done better had they known who Jesus was. And even some of the scribes and Pharisees contributed towards his death out of ignorance (Acts 3:17, 1 Corinthians 2:8).
Steven was in a similar situation to that of Jesus Christ. In Acts 7:54-60, people stoned Steven after he preached the truth, which wasn’t in their favour. As Steven was being stoned, he prayed to God for those against him, saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60). Some of them were stoning Steven out of careless zeal, and he decided to intercede on their behalf and pray to God to not punish them for it.
Similar to the last point, not everyone has the grace of God as we might have. They may not have been born in a Christian family, so they weren’t raised in the faith. Even if they have, God just might not have touched their hearts, and if God Himself doesn’t help you by giving you the Holy Spirit and opening your heart to the Word (like he did to Lydia in Acts 16:14-15), then there is no chance of salvation (Romans 8:9, 14, John 6:44). So if we were raised with the Bible, like Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), we have to show mercy to those who haven’t gotten such grace and are weak (Romans 15:1-2) by including them in our prayers.
And no matter how bad we think our enemies are, we shouldn’t forget that God still created them; therefore, they are still the children of God (but not in the righteous sense). Therefore, as a way of showing love to our fellow human beings, if they are working against our will, and are therefore not doing God’s will, we should pray for them. After all, God Almighty is good to both the wicked and the righteous. “The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Psalms 145:9; see also Proverbs 15:3). Jesus also said, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45).
God also demonstrated true benevolence in Deuteronomy 2:1-6. God said that when the Israelites were passing by the land of the Edomites, they should respect their rights to life and property; therefore, they should buy water and food from them, like everyone else. Now, remember, the Edomites were enemies to the children of Israel, and based on what God had said about other lands (that the Israelites would eat what they didn’t plant, etc., according to Deuteronomy 6:11), the Israelites might’ve expected that they could do whatever they wanted. But because God respected certain rights of the Edomites, he gave His children that instruction.
But if we decide to pray for our enemies, what will our prayers do?
The Bible makes it clear that God Almighty hears the prayers of the righteous. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” (Psalms 34:15). And the prayers of the righteous can be powerful, so long as they believe in what they’re saying. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16). This is why it was common for people to pray for the ministers of Christ (Philippians 1:19, 2 Corinthians 1:11, Acts 12:5, Philemon 1:22). “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” (Hebrews 13:18).
However, new generation churches have begun to advise people to pray against their enemies. They are specifically fond of calling “Holy Ghost Fire” on their enemies. Firstly, there is no Holy Ghost fire; that does not exist. The Holy Ghost (better called the Holy Spirit) is God’s spirit, which does His will (for example, His will is that people should be saved, and by sending it to people, they can do the right thing and be saved). Also, it is un-Christian to be wishing that God bring such judgment on their enemies.
The Bible makes us know that God Almighty does not enjoy the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23, 32, 33:11); rather, it is His will that they should be saved. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4; see also 2 Peter 3:9 and Jonah 4:2, 11). And Jesus said in Luke 15:7 that there is more joy in heaven when people repent of their sins than when they remain in them. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
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TOYING WITH GOD'S EMOTIONS
The word emotion means, “a natural, instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationship with others”. And to “toy” with something means to think about something briefly, and not take it seriously (when it comes to serving God, it refers to not caring what God Almighty would think or feel about what we’re doing - offending God doesn’t mean anything to us).
It’s common knowledge that human beings have emotions. But what many Christians don’t know is that our Heavenly Father has emotions like us, too (Genesis 1:26). In fact, the only reason why we as human beings have emotions is because He initially did. We find this connection in Psalms 94:9, which reads, “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?”. And in this article, we are going to learn about God’s emotions, and how we must never toy with them.
When we study the Scriptures, we’ll quickly realize that God Almighty has emotions. For example, God Almighty can be jealous. “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24). He can also get angry. “And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.” (Jeremiah 25:6). And God Almighty can be disappointed. Consider this text: “Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” (Isaiah 43:24).
We will now consider the story of Israel to understand the act of toying with God’s emotions.
Let’s start at the beginning. God Almighty promised Abraham that He would make a nation out of him (Genesis 12:1-3). Abraham’s belief in that covenant was proven when he unhesitantly prepared to sacrifice his own son, from God’s request (Genesis 22). God Almighty swore on His promise because of how pleased He was with Abraham’s behavior (Genesis 22:16-19).
Therefore, when God delivered Abraham’s seed (which was now the population of a real nation at the time) from the hand of the Egyptians, He meant business. He was determined to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There were many things God Almighty had on His mind as He was leading them. He had to take of many issues (the daily needs of His people, protecting them from enemy nations, etc.). But the Amalekites, not caring about what God Almighty thought towards His people, came and cut off the people at the back (stragglers, old men, etc.). You can imagine how offended and angry God would’ve been, once witnessing that.
That is toying with God’s emotions; making things more difficult for God Almighty because you don’t consider His thoughts and feelings. And God Almighty can be extremely severe on those who do such things. St. Paul once said, “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” (Romans 11:22). As a result of what God Almighty felt, He promised to wipe the Amalekites off the face of the earth. Le’ts read the statements of Moses in Deuteronomy 25:17-19: “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”
However, it would be wrong to think that it was only enemy nations that toyed with God’s emotions. The nation of Israel had never really taken God and His laws seriously. They’d played the harlot continuously (Jeremiah 2) and made God jealous (which, we should note, is one of God’s emotions we should take very seriously). Because God became jealous, He stripped them of all that He’d given them (Isaiah 3:16-26) so they could be humiliated by their former lovers.
Furthermore, the nation of Israel frustrated God with their stubbornness. They were “stiffnecked” (Deuteronomy 10:16) and it made leadership difficult for God Almighty. They weared God down with their complaints (Psalms 78:5-64, Numbers 14:22-23) and they ran God’s patience to the gutter.
Despite all this, though, God Almighty was still interested in bringing them back to His fold. “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 3:22).
But they refused that call, too, and God Almighty eventually got fed up with them. He said through King Solomon, “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me”. (Proverbs 1:24-28). When God Almighty beckons for us to come to Him, and be saved, we should act with humility and fear, for our own good (Deuteronomy 6:24). Toying with such opportunities is unwise.
We need to take God seriously as Christians. Serving our heavenly Father shouldn’t be seen as a joke, or some worthless thing that we do to fulfill all righteousness, while we throw our hearts to the world. Our priorities should be centered around how we can please God (Matthew 6:33), and we do all we can to maintain that. For example, we should consider God in every decision that we make (the way David would always ask God whether or not he should do a certain thing, like in 1 Samuel 23:1-5). Our love for God should be seen in how we raise our families, the way we set up our marriages, the kind of job we get, our circle of friends, our financial lifestyle, etc. And we should never tempt God, or act the way we desire without considering whether God likes what we’re doing.
One person we can learn this from is Abel, in Genesis 4. When God Almighty asked him and his brother, Cain, to make a sacrifice to Him, Abel took God seriously and gave the best of his lambs. It was clear that he considered how God would’ve felt about giving a meaningful and valuable sacrifice, which was why he willingly gave something that he would’ve otherwise kept to himself.
God Almighty will have our backs when we take Him seriously and desire to please Him and make Him happy. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalms 91:1-2, 9-11).
Moreover, He will go out of His way to fulfill the desires of our hearts. “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” (Psalms 37:4). Let’s not take this verse out of context, though; for example, those who take God seriously won’t be praying to God for money, vanity, or other worldly things, but rather spiritual strength, wisdom, vision, etc. And even the physical things those who please God will need will also be provided by Him, without us having to incessantly seek for them. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).
So, we make the decision; do we want to please God Almighty, and enjoy His good emotions, or do we want to toy with Him, and suffer the consequences? We are presented with this choice in the Scriptures. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
Let’s make the right decision, so that our lives may be filled with peace, happiness and security in God Almighty.
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THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
The Feast of Tabernacles was an annual celebration that the Jews celebrated in the land of Canaan, the land God had given them for an inheritance. As stated in Leviticus 23:33-43, It took place on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (that would be in September, according to the worldwide Gregorian calendar). The celebration was to last 8 days; on the first day and last great day, there would be a holy assembly, where the Israelites would gather and hear the law of God (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). On all days of the feast, there would be no work; rather, people would take the time to celebrate God Almighty in booths (as that was how God Almighty protected them in His deliverance), and remember Him.
The feast took place in September because the harvest happened then. After a year of planting, people gather what they planted, and the plenty could now be used for a feast. This was why the Feast of Tabernacles was sometimes called the “Feast of Ingathering” (Exodus 23:16, 34:22).
The reason why God set up the feast was so that they could celebrate His deliverance. As Moses explained in Deuteronomy 4:32-35, their deliverance was unheard of in all the nations. Therefore, God Almighty wanted it to be remembered from generation to generation; this way, His name would be glorified, and people would have joy in their Creator and God.
In Nehemiah 8:13-18, we find a record of the feast being celebrated. This was after their captivity in Babylon. “And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month….. So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.”
And it is indeed a good thing that in Israel, the Jews continue to celebrate God’s deliverance. It is called “Sukkot”, and in September, they observe the feast with thanksgiving and joy.
As Christians, we follow Jesus Christ’s example (1 Peter 2:21), because he is the spiritual tabernacle of God. “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Hebrews 8:1-2; see also Hebrews 9:11-12). By paying the ransom (which was needed to atone for humanity’s original sin in Genesis 3:1-6; and by so doing, he would open the path for righteousness and salvation), he became what we look to in order to serve God and be saved (just as the Israelites looked to the physical tabernacle to hear God’s Word and worship).
And we find in the Scriptures that Jesus celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 7, the Son of God himself went up to Judaea to attend the feast. And through the feast, he taught the people (which came as a surprise in John 17:14-15, since Jesus wasn’t a Pharisee). And on the last and great day of the feast, he gave a message of salvation to the Jews by saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38).
But here comes the question: what about the Christians who aren’t Jews? Do they still celebrate the feast?
Well, the way we look at a “Jew” now, is not related to whether your father was a Jew, or whether you were born in Israel. A real Jew is one who worships God in the spirit, or in the heart. St. Paul explained this in many places, and we’ll consider a few: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Romans 2:28-29). Those who have faith in God Almighty, the way Abraham did, based on the true knowledge of God, are true Jews because they fulfill the Abrahamic promise. In Galatians 3:7-9, St. Paul said, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
Therefore, “Israel” is a spiritual thing; and it is those who serve God Almighty in the spirit and in the heart, and who are “circumcised in the heart” (Jeremiah 4:4) who are really Israel before God. “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Romans 9:6-8; see also Galatians 6:15-16).
And the way we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles is not physical, either. Remember, when God set up the feast, He wasn’t interested in the sacrifices, and the singing (Psalms 51:16). It was the joy, and the love they would have for Him, that He wanted, because He is a spirit, not a human being. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). It’s very important that we know this, because when we just do the physical, then the celebration will become tradition, and the value is lost. That’s what St. Paul meant by, “for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6). The letter is just the physical things you do (like offering sacrifices). But when the celebration involves our heart (the spirit), it gives it life, because the celebration will become meaningful, and righteous.
Therefore, we celebrate the feast by living in a way that pleases God, and we show our gratitude to Him by doing things that make Him happy. We "offer" ourselves to God and use our lives to do His work. St. Paul encouraged us to do so by saying, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1; see also Hebrews 13:15 and 1 Peter 2:5).
God Almighty prophesied in Zechariah 14:16-17 that the Feast of Tabernacles would be celebrated spiritually in our time, the last days. And it would be those who celebrate it spiritually (because when Jesus Christ paid the ransom, our worship was no more physical, but rather spiritual) who would be blessed. “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain." The phrase “that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem” is referring to those who have decided to serve God with their hearts and not disobey Him. They are "left" because they are separate from the majority of people who don't live in a way that pleases God (similar to how there were a selection of people who were "left" of all those who went into Babylonian Captivity, according to Nehemiah 1:2-4).
The King in the text is Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32-33, Revelation 11:15, 19:15-21), and we should celebrate his feats in our time. God Almighty has used him to cut down the leaders who used to oppress humanity, and the monarchical system of rulership has been reduced to royal figures who sit on thrones with no authority. In other words, God has delivered us, and we now have the freedom to serve God without having spiritual leaders, who gang up with political leaders, opposing the wrong way of doing it.
Therefore, we should join those in the Scriptures to celebrate God Almighty, spiritually and even physically. “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” (Psalms 98:1-4). When we do so, God will send rain to us (in other words, He will bless us. “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” (Ezekiel 34:26).
DO YOUR FRIENDS ADD VALUE?
Friends can be valuable assets in our lives. Their support, care, and concern for our wellbeing are spiritually beneficial and are scientifically proven to build happiness and satisfaction in life. But when we want to build a relationship with God and serve Him genuinely, not all our friends will be helpful. Some of them will not be at all. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves the question: “Does this friend add value to my relationship with God?
In the context of this discussion, a friend is not just a peer you have at school or work; it is someone who would typically look out for you, and have your best interests at heart. This includes siblings, parents, and fellow church members.
For someone to spiritually add value to your life, they should positively impact your service to God. An example of this is if you have a friend who is more knowledgeable than you are in the Scriptures, and because you are friends with this person, you have the zeal and motivation to grow your Bible knowledge. That friend is adding value to your spiritual life and is scripturally a valuable friend.
St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:11 that certain people should not be our friends because they will not add value to our spiritual lives; rather, they’ll drain it. “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” Those different characters St. Paul mentioned might seem different, but what’s in common with all of them is that such people don’t know God, and they don’t think spiritually. Their main focus is to gain this world because this is the only thing they understand and value.
If such people are our friends, then they will drain our spirituality. The suggestions they make, or the habits they’ll teach us, or the things in life they’ll bring our attention to, will make us less spiritual if we adopt/use them. To make life easier for ourselves, we should not be friends with such people. Some of them will be our co-workers, family members, etc. - but they should not teach us their ways of living.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had many companions, but not all added value. Judas was one of his twelve disciples; he ate with him and followed him wherever he went. But Jesus knew that Judas didn’t like him, and it was hard for him to watch as he betrayed him by escorting the people who grabbed him (Matthew 26:45-57) and made him die a humiliating death.
His family members didn’t support his work either. His brothers didn’t believe in him (John 7:5), and Jesus said in Matthew 12:50 that the members of his real, spiritual family were those who believed in the gospel, not those who came from his mother’s womb (proving that his mother Mary and his brothers didn’t regard his ministry).
These people tried to drain Jesus Christ’s spirituality. He was a light to the world (John 8:12), but such people tried to dim his light by making his mission difficult. Remember, it was his inner circle - those who were supposed to believe in him - that did this.
Amnon is another example of this. He loved Tamar, but Absalom was her brother (and Amnon was his half-brother - David had many wives). Based on such relations, Amnon could not marry Tamar. But Jonadab, who was his friend, decided to give him bad advice. Here is the account:
“But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.” (2 Samuel 13:3-5).
But the advice drove Amnon to his grave. Tamar was reluctant to sleep with him, so Amnon raped Tamar, and when Absalom received the news, he took revenge and killed him.
So Jonadab did not add value to the life of Amnon.
On the other hand, the story of David and Jonathan teaches us how a friend can add value. The will of God was that David would become king, and because David had faith in that plan, he was courageous and bold in all his battles (1 Samuel 16:1-13). Jonathan added value to David's life because he encouraged David to continue with God's plan, and assured him that his father, King Saul, could not stop that. We will now consider what he told David in 1 Samuel 23:17: “Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.”
This love Jonathan had for him made David strong and courageous. It must have given him more faith in becoming king, despite all King Saul tried to do to stop it. This made Jonathan a useful friend; he added value to David’s life.
But how do we identify those who don't add value to our lives?
Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:
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Does this person believe in what I’m doing, and where I’m headed)?
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Is this person my biggest critic, or my biggest supporter?
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Is this person interested in me (generally or romantically) because of who I am, and what I believe in, or because of what I have (money, fame, beauty, etc.)?
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What has this person done to improve my life (e.g. does their advice make you a better person, or does it lead you to do the wrong things)?
So when we identify those in our lives who make our service to God more difficult, by wearing our resolve with worldly philosophies and lusts of this world, we have to make our relationship with them as casual and “unintimate” as possible. Concerning this, St. Paul said, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
Now, let’s take this subject to the next level. God and Jesus Christ are also looking for friends who will add value to their lives, and do their will. They want people who believe in what they’re doing and are willing to support it. In Luke 16:9, Jesus Christ invited us to build a relationship with him and his Father. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” Those “friends” are God and Jesus Christ.
He also described this with an analogy in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” In John 15:14, he told us that if we want to be friends with him, we have to keep his commandments, and believe in him. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14). And what’s more: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23).
Excluding Judas Iscariot, the disciples were friends of Jesus Christ, because they were on his side. They believed he was the Son of God and was right about everything; for this reason, they suffered and endured everything their Master went through. “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.” (Luke 22:28). For this reason, he told them, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15).
In the Scriptures, Moses was called a “friend of God”. He supported the plan God had for Israel, which was that they be led out of Egypt and brought to the land of Canaan (Exodus 3:8). He played a major role in it, and because he did it with humility, God opened Himself up to him and spoke to him as a friend. It was recorded in Exodus 33:11 that “the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”
It is now clear how a friend can add value, and how a friend can drain whatever value you have. It is our prayer as Christians that God will ward off those who are planted by our enemy, Satan the Devil, to make our service more difficult, and that He will give us friends who will add value to our lives, by His grace.
Have a wonderful day, and God bless you.
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THE ESSENCE OF GRATITUDE
Gratitude can be defined as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. It’s a fundamental principle in the way humans relate with each other; it’s an expectation when we do things for people.
One problem, though, is that when it comes to God, people don’t always remember. There’s a sense of entitlement that some people have when trying to build a relationship with God, and it makes them think that they deserve certain things from Him. Also, instead of appreciating what God has done for them, they rationalize it and judge whether they should have received more or not. This isn’t the best way of serving God, because when we study the Scriptures, we’ll notice that there’s a “hierarchy of obedience” (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:22-29, Colossians 3:18-24); and in that hierarchy of obedience, the person being led should feel grateful for what the leader does for them.
In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus Christ used an analogy to explain how this works, and we’ll consider it here: “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”
The last few sentences are very relevant here. Jesus said that the master doesn’t have to thank the servant, or give him special privileges; the fact that the master hired him and gave him a place to stay, and food to eat, is more than enough for the servant to be grateful for. Therefore, Jesus described the work of the servant as a “duty”, meaning that it is expected of them, and not required to be rewarded.
A basic example of gratitude in the Scriptures is the kindness King David showed to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9:1-13. Jonathan, the father of Mephibosheth, was a great friend of David and was the one David could look to when in need. With the relentless searches of King Saul, it was only with the help of Jonathan that David could escape his clutches (see 1 Samuel 18:2-4, 20:1-42, 23:16-17 to understand Jonathan’s kindness).
When David became king, he remembered the great things his friend Jonathan did for him (at this time, he had died in battle with his father, Saul), and looked for any remnant of his lineage to bless. There was Mephibosheth, a crippled man, and David gave him the great honour of sitting at his table with him for the rest of his life (2 Samuel 9:1-13).
We should remember and appreciate the contributions our friends make in our lives. It is ingratitude to forget that they were there for us when we needed help. Therefore, if they need our help, we should gladly help them (provided that what we’re helping them with is in line with the Scriptures).
We can learn how bad ingratitude is with the life of King Joash. Here’s some background information: in 2 Kings 11, when Queen Athaliah realized her son (King Ahaziah) was dead, she seized power by killing all the royals in the land (a queen was unheard of in Israel, so to secure herself, she took down all the men who could’ve become king). Women, by the way, should never follow her example, because it could wreck anything we put our hands to, be it marriage, Christianity, or anything else.
Thankfully, Jehosheba, the sister of King Ahaziah, rescued Joash, one of King Ahaziah’s sons, and hid him and his nurse. While Athaliah ruled Israel for 6 years, he was groomed and protected.
Eventually, Jehoiada gathered some of the rulers and captains in Israel, and they planned an attack against Athaliah, which succeeded. Joash was then crowned king, and Jehoiada led him to rule in righteousness (he even gave him two wives).
You’d expect that King Joash would be grateful to Jehoiada and the others for supporting him and guiding him to do the right thing. But that wasn’t the case at all. In 2 Chronicles 24, Jehoiada died and Joash listened to the advice of the evil princes in Israel. He reestablished idol worshipping and refused to listen to the prophets. The worst of it, though, was that when Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, warned King Joash about how he was offending God Almighty, he ordered that he be stoned to death (verse 22). This is huge ingratitude because he murdered the son of the very man who helped him become king and rule in righteousness.
God then gave Joash his just desert. He brought the Syrians like a whip to lash his back. Just a small company of Syrians defeated the large army of Judah and left Joash with severe wounds. His servants then finished him off, to avenge the blood of the son of Jehoiada.
We decided to go into the details of this story because it is very important when looking at the concept of gratitude. When someone makes the sacrifice to help us have a good future, it is ungrateful and selfish to forget that they ever did such and do them harm.
It is based on this understanding that we’ll now explore how to be grateful to God.
One very important word in the Scriptures is grace; the grace God gives to us is not something we can deserve, or be entitled to. St. Paul mentioned this often in many of his epistles. For example, in Ephesians 2:8-9, he said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” The “grace” in this verse refers to the step God takes to bring you to Him, by way of building your interest in His Word and opening the path of righteousness to you. For this reason, Jesus Christ said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).
A good example of this is when God delivered Israel from Egypt. The Israelites couldn’t deliver themselves from the oppression of the Egyptians because the Egyptian empire enveloped them completely. But God looked upon their affliction and decided to rescue them (Exodus 2:23-25, 3:8, 6:6, Deuteronomy 15:15) and make them His people (Exodus 19:4-6).
Now, the Israelites could’ve shown gratitude to God by using this freedom to serve Him joyfully and faithfully; but they decided otherwise. The way the children of Israel saw the whole event was as if they were entitled to it, and God did it because they deserved it. Therefore, when God began to demand humility and patience, they couldn’t understand why they should comply; and when hunger and thirst began to creep in, they began talking as if they preferred to not be rescued at all (Exodus 14:11-12, 16:13, Numbers 14:2-4, 20:3-4, 21:5).
This made God angry, and if we follow the course of the journey, we’ll find that it drove God to stretch His hand against them (Numbers 14:22-23, 28-37, 16:20-35, 44-50, etc.).
We can contrast this with the behavior of David. God decided to choose David to become king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13) because he had a good heart (1 Samuel 13:14, 16:7); and after a period of tribulation and persecution (which David overcame), he then entered office.
Unlike the Israelites, David didn’t forget what God did for him. He didn’t feel entitled to the kingship; in fact, he felt that he wasn’t worthy of it, but it was by God’s grace that he was able to occupy that office (1 Chronicles 17:16-22). Therefore, he used the kingship to serve the Man who put him there. He dedicated the prime of his life to fighting the battles of the Lord (1 Samuel 25:28) and he devoted his resources to the construction of God’s house (1 Chronicles 29:2-5). He bent everything in his life to advance God’s purpose. As the Scriptures stated, he was a man “after God’s heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).
David is not the only example, though. St. Paul was extremely grateful for having been chosen to be a part of the ministry. In 1 Timothy 1:12-13, he said, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”
It is important that we get the gist. Just like a physical man on Earth, God prefers His children to walk in the path of gratitude than in the path of expectation and entitlement. St. Paul once said, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).”
After all, the works we do in this world can never be an equal exchange to the grace and mercy He shows us (see Matthew 18:21-35; but, unlike some Christians believe, this doesn’t mean that our works are not significant or acknowledged by God; God is pleased with the efforts of His children to do His will, and will reward them accordingly - Psalms 18:20, 24, Proverbs 11:31).
One thing we as Christians should be grateful to God for in our time is freedom. For thousands of years, humanity was stuck with this invincible elite class, who would always be on top no matter what people did about it. People were oppressed, and life wasn’t easy for many. In our time, God Almighty has broken the powers of the autocracies that used to dominate this world (Revelation 6:12-17) and has liberated humanity, similar to the way He gave the Israelites freedom from Egyptian bondage. People are talking about freedom of speech and expression, along with all different kinds of rights, which were foreign ideas just a few hundred years ago.
Now, not all aspects of the change in our time are driven by God; but what’s important is that the children of God now have the freedom to worship their Heavenly Father and preach the gospel without having powerful spiritual leaders enforce whatever they think is right.
The question is, how do we use this freedom? Are we like the Israelites in the wilderness, who used their freedom to commit idolatry (Exodus 32), adultery/fornication (Numbers 25), and disobey God Almighty? If that’s the case, then we’re not using our freedom well. We should take the advice of St. Paul in Galatians 5:1, 13: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (see also Galatians 4:9 and 1 Peter 2:16).
Therefore, we shouldn’t use the freedom to run after what’s trendy and popular in the world (1 John 2:15-17); neither should we use it to riot against the government (Romans 13:1) or advocate for matters that are against the principles of the Bible. Rather, we should use it to advance God’s Kingdom Purpose, and build a solid relationship with God. I mean, think about it; would God free us so that we can forget about spirituality and love the things of the world?
Let’s round up with a couple of texts in the Scriptures that encourage us to be grateful for what God has done for us by serving Him more actively and faithfully till the end.
Hebrews 12:28 reads, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe”. (English Standard Version).
St. Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”
Therefore, let’s try to serve God with a sense of gratitude; with that, it’ll go a long way.
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GENEROSITY AND ITS PRICE
Generosity can be defined as liberal giving; giving more than what is required, or expected. When you think about generosity, you usually remember money, or gifts. But generosity is so much more, and in this article, we will discuss this virtue.
One other interesting thing we’ll explore is that generosity can come at a cost. We’d be surprised how people can so quickly forget about what others have done for them, or even fail to realize it from the start. So it's by courage and true love for our neighbour that will give us the strength to endure pain and suffering for the benefit of others.
A good example of this is the story of David and Nabal in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal was a very rich man, and he had shearers and shepherds who tended the three thousand sheep and one thousand goats he owned. At a time, David and his men showed generosity to Nabal by protecting his shepherds and shearers from any kind of attack while they were in Carmel.
Later, when the sheep were being sheared, David requested that Nabal give him some supplies (e.g. food; it was a “good day”, according to 1 Samuel 25:8). But Nabal refused, and even insulted David and his men.
In other words, David had to pay a price for his generosity; he wasn’t given anything in return for his kindness.
David wanted to take revenge and kill him and his people for doing that, though; but Nabal's wife, Abigail, righteously intervened and prevented him (verses 23-35).
And 10 days later, God killed Nabal for his wickedness, so justice was done to the matter.
Job once said, “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” (Job 4:8).
The point we’re making here is that generosity can come at a price, but it shouldn’t discourage us from giving. Those who are liberal and generous will be blessed generously by God Almighty. In Proverbs 11:25, King Solomon stated, “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” He also said in Proverbs 22:9, “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.”
Furthermore, it was stated in the book of Isaiah, “But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.” (Isaiah 32:8).
It all boils down to fulfilling one of God’s greatest commandments given to man: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14, etc.). If we are well-off in this world, God expects that we should help those who are in need. “But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18).
But generosity goes way beyond distributing our wealth and buying gifts for people. While those things may be nice (1 Timothy 6:17-18), those things don’t give us salvation.
Therefore, spiritual generosity is not about giving gifts or money; rather, it’s about being a source of knowledge and inspiration to others, so that they may have a chance to be a part of God’s fold.
God doesn’t magically call people to His fold; He needs people who are willing to spread His wisdom to others and live by example so that He can use them to bring others to Him.
Jesus Christ is an excellent example of this. Being the Son of God, he was like a very rich man, spiritually (2 Corinthians 8:9), full of the true riches (Luke 16:10-12). And when he came down to this world, he was spiritually generous because he devoted his life to teaching others about the Word of God. In fact, in Luke 4:17-21, he used a text in the book of Isaiah to explain that his coming to the earth was all about giving and helping people. “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:17-19, 21).
Now, mind you, he didn’t set up a charity, or offer gifts to the Pharisees; but he is the most generous man who ever lived because he made himself open and available to enlighten and uplift people, by using every opportunity to teach us important things about our Heavenly Father, living by example and by using his life to atone for the sin every human being is tainted with from birth (Psalms 51:5, Titus 2:14, Romans 3:25, Matthew 20:28, etc.).
This is very important. Spiritual generosity is all about love, and to love someone, you have to do what you know will make them better in the future. Parents, for example, should train their children well so that when they become adults, they will do what's right in their lives (Proverbs 22:6). There will be stubbornness and childishnesses as they're growing, but it's a price worth paying, for the benefit of the children.
The same is with Jesus Christ. He didn't give us money, or other material things because those are of no value to our spiritual future. Rather, he taught us the truth, demonstrated how to love one another, and exposed the iniquities of others so that people could grow (1 Timothy 5:20).
What makes this even more special is that he is the Son of God Himself (which would naturally make him proud and arrogant when among human beings, which he created - see John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17 and Ephesians 3:9). Despite this, he loved us, and subjected himself to our level (2 Corinthians 8:9) so that he could share heavenly treasures of wisdom and grace with us (many of which have become invaluable to mankind over time).
But his generosity came at a price. The Pharisees saw him as a threat to their reputation and overall glory. Therefore, he became their target (John 11:45-53), and with the help of the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, they hanged him.
St. Paul was another spiritually generous man. Being an apostle, God gave him many gifts such as faith, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit; and what made him happy was sharing it with others, so that both Jews and Gentiles could come to the light of Christ and be blessed (Acts 9:15, 26:17-18, Ephesians 3:1-7, etc.)
In many of his epistles, he mentioned that he endured suffering and persecution for the sake of the Gentiles, so that he could lay the foundation for their faith and righteousness. In Ephesians 3:13, he said, “Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” (see also Colossians 1:24 and 2 Corinthians 1:6). Also, when speaking to the elders of Ephesus, he said among other things, “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:20-21).
But the best of it all was that some people were inspired by the sufferings of St. Paul for the gospel, and were emboldened to also preach and stand for the truth. “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14).
But let’s emphasize that St. Paul paid a huge price for his generosity. He was beaten up several times, stoned, jailed, and hated by many (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). The Jews in particular could not realize the generosity of St. Paul in sharing the true doctrines of God with them (Acts 13:46; see also Matthew 21:43). They would rather make his job difficult. But it all ended in misery; they were left behind, and Christianity lived on.
All the apostles have the virtue of generosity. They sacrifice the joys of this world to lay the foundation that the Other Sheep (John 10:16) will build their faith on. "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone". (Ephesians 2:19-20)
Therefore, knowing that those above us in the spiritual hierarchy have been spiritually generous to us, we should also be generous by living our lives in such a way that those who wish to come closer to God can do so through our honesty, stability, and knowledge of the Scriptures. St. Paul described this with an analogy in Romans 14:15: “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.”
Being spiritually generous is as simple as putting the benefit of others first. When we know the truth, and we’ve used it to rid the ways of Satan the Devil from our lives, then we can help others by being sincere, honest, and faithful in our worship. By doing so, people will be able to know what true service to God looks like. St. Paul said in his letter to Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12).
The price we’ll have to pay for being spiritually generous starts from our own homes (Matthew 10:36). Some of those among us won’t like that we’re always talking about God; they’d prefer you talk about something of the world, that’s more important to them. Some won’t like your spiritual generosity because the gospel you’re preaching will be against them, so long as they remain in their iniquity (many of the Jews, for example, were very angry with Jesus and the apostles because, being very stubborn and evil-minded, the gospel would always be against them - see Luke 4:28-30 and Acts 7:54-60).
But if you play the hypocrite by pretending that you are no different than them, because of fear of persecution (Galatians 6:12-16), or because of love for this world, and a desire to be praised by men (John 12:43, 5:44, etc.) then by them knowing you, they’ve been blocked off from salvation because they will look at your life as the typical way of being a Chrisitan, which would be erroneous if compared with the truth of the Scriptures.
We shouldn’t fear the price we have to pay for spiritual generosity; rather, we should put on courage like a garment, and be joyful that we are persecuted for doing what’s right. “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 3:14, 4:13).
And we shouldn’t be tired of being generous; some will react positively, and their lives will be changed by our kindness. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9).
Always remember: “But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.” (Isaiah 32:8, NKJV).
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WHO SHALL ABIDE IN ZION?
In this article, we will talk about the spiritual temple of God and how we can make our hearts suitable for God’s dwelling.
The name “Zion”, comes from the mountain that became the capital of the kingdom of Israel. When David became king, he conquered the Jebusites and occupied the mountain upon which they lived. There, he built his palace, and his son Solomon constructed the temple.
The temple was important because God symbolically dwelt among the Israelites through it. In Exodus 25:8, God told Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Consequently, Mount Zion became the place where God “lived”.
Therefore, because the temple was built on Mount Zion, God chose Zion to be His habitation. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” (Psalms 132:13-14; see also Psalms 9:11, 74:2, 76:2, 135:21).
In those days, a cloud would appear on the holy temple, indicating that it was suitable for Him to “dwell” in (Exodus 29:36-45, 40:34-35, 18, 1 Kings 8:10-13). Of course, God is too big to dwell in a house built by man (1 Kings 8:27); but it’s a way of understanding the real temple of God - the one built by the heavenly powers, which we dwell in through the Spirit.
Hence, the purpose of the physical temple was to foreshadow the spiritual temple that He dwells in - built upon the foundation of Jesus and the apostles (Ephesians 2:19-22). When God told Moses to build the tabernacle, he said it should be done “according to all that I shew thee” (Exodus 25:9). Moses must have been looking at the spiritual tabernacle, and God Almighty told Moses to make the physical tabernacle in the image of the spiritual one (Hebrews 8:5), similar to how God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:26).
Spiritually speaking, the temple of God is not a physical building. If your heart is clean and holy, it can be considered the temple of God, because God Almighty, through the Holy Spirit, can dwell in such a heart. And St. Paul mentioned this in his epistles. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
Furthermore, he said, “In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22).
To cleanse our hearts, we need the Word of God. It has the power to “wash us clean” (Ephesians 5:26, John 17:17, 1 Peter 2:22) and guide us to God’s House. David once said, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.”
By studying God’s Word, we’ll become aware of how God expects us to live, and how our current lifestyle may differ from that. With the stories and teachings, our spiritual impurities (many of which were mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 will become clear. Then, we can use the Bible to solve those problems (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
When God notices our attempts to overcome our lusts and live a holy life, He will help us by sending us His Holy Spirit. By it’s power (2 Timothy 1:7), we’ll have the motivation and spiritual strength to fully overcome our weaknesses, so that our hearts can become a holy dwelling place for God Almighty.
To understand this more, we’ll look at Isaiah 2:3.
“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Firstly, let’s point out that the “mountain of the Lord”, the “house of the God of Jacob”, “Zion” and “Jerusalem” all refer to the same thing - the question is, what do they refer to?
They refer to the house of God, where righteosuness dwells. But because God is a spirit (John 4:24) that is not a physical house. Rather, it is a spiritual house that is in both heaven and earth. The spirits who obey God’s laws in heaven are living in that house, and God Almighty sends His spirit to human beings on earth with clean hearts so that they can key into that and also live in that house.
Therefore, when God sends us His Holy Spirit, and we begin to focus on doing “the things of the Spirit” (a.k.a the will of God) instead of thinking of how to gain this world (Romans 8:5-8), we can say that God is dwelling with/in us. “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:13). And all the people whom God has sent His spirit to (and who are doing His will) make up a spiritual house, which He dwells in. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5).
The phrase “go up to the mountain of the Lord” is not traveling to a location, but a good way of understanding it is with Mount Zion on earth. It was from Mount Zion that David ruled the people, and it was from there that God dwelt with the people (the temple was mounted there). So the entire nation of Israel was connected to that, and they looked up to that.
The same goes with spiritual Zion. When we make our hearts clean and holy and we apply the Word of God in our day to day lives by studying it and using it to correct our mistakes and adjust our lifestyle to meet God’s expectations (Psalms 43:3), then we are “going up to the mountain of the Lord….” because we are moving closer to God, and abiding by the same principles He lives by. It’s kind of like hydro when you think about it; by paying the hydro bill, they send you electricity, water, and heat. So the mountain of the Lord is like the power plant, and by God sending us His spirit, we are connected to that.
So, what we’ve learned so far is that there is a spiritual temple of God, which we can key into by cleansing our hearts of iniquity, so that we may be holy.
But what we need to explore now is how this works in real life.
It starts with our desire to live in God’s house (Psalms 42:1-2, 63:1-2, 84:2, etc.). If we desire that God should be present in our lives, then naturally, we will forsake our worldly ways, and sanctify ourselves by being separate from those who don’t know God and their ways (Isaiah 52:11, John 17:17, 19, 2 Corinthians 6:16-17).
When God Almighty notices such desire and such holiness (which He likes, according to Leviticus 11:44-45 and 1 Peter 1:16), then He will invite us to His house by sending us His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), so that we can dwell together in spirit. It’s a wonderful process, and Isaiah the Prophet summarized it here: “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56:6-7).
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus Christ described it in another way: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
When we separate ourselves from unrighteousness, then it’s like we’ve opened our hearts to God and Jesus Christ, who will come in and dwell with us. But if we forsake the path of righteousness, and tread the path of iniquity, we’ve closed the door on them; we’ve prevented them from coming into our lives. And if the Holy Spirit was formerly with us, it will be taken away (as it was done to King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:13). Therefore, if God Almighty is dwelling with us, and we are dwelling in Zion (once again, they mean the same thing), then we should be careful to make sure iniquity doesn’t find its way into our hearts. As St. Paul said, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30).
The point we’ve been making is encapsulated by David in Psalms 15:1-2. “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.”
So if we are interested in being blessed as a member of this house, then we should distance ourselves from all forms of worldliness, lusts, inordinate ambition, and excessive desires for material possessions (Matthew 6:24, 19:29, 1 John 2:15-17), so that we won’t be distracted. By doing so, we are purifying our hearts (James 4:8; see also Joel 2:14) and sanctifying ourselves (i.e. distancing ourselves from worldliness so that our hearts can become suitable dwelling places for God Almighty).
But to receive God’s blessings, we have to remain in His house. We shouldn’t be compelled to live differently from how God wants us to because we need more money, or maybe because the lives of unbelievers look more attractive. “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.” (1 Corinthians 7:20, 24). Also, David the Psalmist stated, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (Psalms 24:3-5).
Now that Jesus Christ has returned to his temple (Malachi 3:1), we should take advantage of his presence and abide in his house, so that we may enjoy God’s blessings. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3).
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MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW CHOSEN
Jesus once spoke a parable about a king who prepared a wedding for his son and was looking for guests to attend it. The guests who were invited rejected the offer, and some even maltreated the servants who the king sent to them. The king, being full of anger, destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Still having no guests, he then told his servants to go to the highways and bring as many as they could to the wedding.
But one of the guests wasn’t wearing a wedding garment, and when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted him. “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 22:12-13).
Then came the statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The question now is, what does it mean to be called, or chosen, and why is it that some are not chosen? How does that work?
Firstly, let’s talk about God’s call (or invitation).
God Almighty is a loving Father, and He wishes that all come to Him for salvation. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4; Isaiah 45:22). Therefore, He makes His invitation and grace open to everyone, so that all can have a chance. That’s why Jesus was sent to die for the sins of all men. “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:6). “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11; see also 1 John 4:9-11 and Matthew 20:28).
When God makes His invitation open to all through the preaching of the gospel (Matthew 24:31, 14, Revelation 14:6-7), it’s not surprising that many come. But just as the king in the parable went in to see his guests, and found one who wasn’t wearing a wedding garment, God Almighty checks to see whether those in His fold really believe in His plan, and have accepted Him as their God, or not.
There’s another parable Jesus Christ told that sheds some light on this matter. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:47-50).
While God Almighty would like all to be saved, He can’t allow people who don’t belong in His fold to inherit His promises, because He is holy and just (Deuteronomy 32:4, Leviticus 11:44-45). Therefore, just as a fisherman would do, God Almighty separates the wicked from the righteous. The way that happens is what we’ll discuss now.
When God Almighty called Israel from the land of Egypt, He invited all of them to be His people (Exodus 19:4-6). Millions left Egypt (over 600,000 men who could go to war left Egypt, according to Numbers 1:45-46; double that for the women, and add the elderly) and they were all “called”, as in, they were all invited to be His children, provided that they obey some simple rules and believe in His power to deliver, save and guide.
But most of them rejected that invitation by refusing to humble themselves before God and believe in His plan to lead them to the promised land. They complained and murmured against Him constantly, and their courage to endure the hardship of the wilderness melted (Numbers 21:4, Exodus 16:1-13, Numbers 14:2-10, 16:1-50, 20:4-5). To sum it up, they didn’t believe in what God was doing; they didn’t see why they should suffer all that trouble when they could return to their slavery. They simply didn’t have value for the project God was carrying out with them.
That’s why, to serve God, we need faith; and that faith comes from an understanding of God’s plans. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”, according to Romans 10:17).
In the end, it was only Joshua and Caleb (out of all those 20 and older who left Egypt) that accepted the plan God had as their new future and hope, and used their lives to fight for it (enduring the troubles of the wilderness, and leading the battles against the Canaanites). As God Almighty said, “Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.” (Numbers 32:11-12).
They belonged to the idea God had; and with the 40 years that God made the Israelites spend in the wilderness, He was able to fish those ones out, and give them the land to inherit.
That’s a typical example of how many are called, but few are chosen. But we’re not going to stop here; we want to know why it is like that.
It is the answer to this question that helps us to understand the difficulties that we must face if we decide to do what is right before God (Matthew 7:13-14), and why one had asked Jesus, “Lord, are there few that be saved?”, to which Jesus Christ responded, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:23-24).
Accepting God’s invitation to walk in the path of salvation is difficult for many because it requires you to “step out of your comfort zone”. Just as the Israelites had to abandon the “comfort” of being slaves (e.g. not worrying about where their next meal or drink would come from), being a child of God requires you to make a few significant sacrifices - some of which can be painful. In Luke 14:26, Jesus said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
It requires a complete transformation of one’s lifestyle to meet God’s standards of holiness. God stated, “......ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44). The gap between the love of the world and the love of God is huge (James 4:4); therefore, to do the will of God, we must forsake the other (Matthew 6:24).
And while most Christians would love to obtain eternal life, many are simply not interested in making those sacrifices. That’s what Jesus meant by, “for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:24).
Therefore, we have to strive if we want to obtain God’s promises and inherit His blessings. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, St. Paul used the running of a race to illustrate this. “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
Another thing we should consider is suffering. When God Almighty invited the Israelites to be His people, they were excited, because of the freedom and deliverance God wrought for them (see Exodus 15). But when the troubles of the wilderness started to bite at them, and they remembered how their former life never involved hunger or thirst, they were quickly discouraged (Numbers 21:4).
Suffering is compulsory to inherit God’s promises (2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22); after all, we live in an unrighteous world, and restraining ourselves from the growing system of evil in our time (2 Timothy 3:1-5) will require discipline, endurance, and some affliction. Many Christians are running away from spirituality because secularity is growing, and believing in God is becoming more old-fashioned (Amos 8:11-12, Matthew 24:12).
Those who will remain righteous are those who have the spiritual knowledge to understand how the signs of the times are fulfilling (Matthew 24:6-29, 2 Timothy 3:1-5) and the spiritual courage to withstand this unrighteous system and continue to diligently do the will of God.
It was because most of the Israelites lacked this understanding and courage that very few of them made it to the land. They couldn’t see beyond their suffering to the glory and peace of the land (Romans 8:18). It was their old life that they believed in. When the ten spies told them that the inhabitants of the land God promised them were giants, you know what they said? “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4).
Think about that for a second.
But there was something different about Joshua and Caleb. They had “another” spirit (Numbers 14:24). They really believed in the plan God had, and they put all their hope in it (what some people call “putting all your eggs in one basket”). That’s why they weren’t intimidated by the hugeness of the inhabitants of the land. They said courageously, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30).
Finally, we should ask ourselves: why do we serve God? Do we serve God because of tradition, or because our parents served God? Does our love for God come from within us (John 4:24), or is it just for convenience that we obey basic Christian laws?
Those who obey God out of tradition are “called”, but not “chosen”; God has invited them, but they don’t really believe in it, and the world still interests them more. In other words, they haven’t really accepted the invitation.
But to be chosen is to believe in the way God wants you to live your life, and you forsake everything that doesn’t belong to that. Your service to God is sincere and comes from your heart. This is the difference between the “letter” (obeying God because of tradition) and the “spirit” (doing God’s will from your heart) that St. Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 3:6. “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
When you do so, you’ve “accepted” the invitation; in other words, you’ve been “chosen”.
Now that we’ve explored the concept, let’s bring it to our time - the second presence of Jesus Christ (in fulfillment of Matthew 24:6-7).
Unlike what some believe, Jesus Christ’s return is everywhere present; it’s not only for the righteous. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:27). Therefore, the invitation to receive his blessing is open to all. But to receive it, we have to overcome the love of this world (Revelation 2:7) and pursue eternal life with all our effort. St. Paul once said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14).
As the Bible states clearly, Christ has returned to separate the just from the unjust, the sincere from the hypocrites, the called from the chosen. “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:40-42).
This is fulfilling in our time. As the ways of the world become more attractive, and spirituality continues to decline (Matthew 24:12, Amos 8:11-12) those who are called, but not chosen, will lose interest because their belief isn’t sown in their heart; rather, it is in the bazaar of the cultures and traditions of Christianity that are becoming less relevant in the world now, because of the rise of science and secularity (Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15-16). But it is the chosen who believe in the world to come (2 Peter 3:13) that can reject the ways and lusts of the current world so that they can have their share of the eternal one. In Matthew 10:39, Jesus Christ said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
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WHICH LIFE DO YOU SEEK?
If we diligently study the Scriptures, one thing we will notice is that it tends to heavily differentiate this current world from the world to come, and it emphasizes the importance of seeking the one of the future. In Luke 8:14, Christ mentioned “cares of this life”, and he advised us not to be distracted by them (Luke 21:34). John in his first epistle spoke about this world and its “lusts” coming to an end (1 John 2:15-17). Christ even said that there is no gain in seeking this world, because once we die, that is the end of it all. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:24-25).
But despite this huge difference in value that the Bible places on these two types of life, many people, unbelievers and Christians alike, seek this life. They may go to church every Sunday or read the Bible regularly, but if you observe what they desire and seek the most fervently in their lives, it is about what is happening in the world, and how they need to catch up with it; what others are achieving that they are not achieving; what things people do with their lives that they are not doing; and so on.
In this article, we will explore what makes this life so attractive, using texts and examples from the Scriptures, and then proceed to discuss how we can seek eternal life, and why it is profitable to do so.
One major reason why this life tends to be attractive is the aspect of competition. You can see competition everywhere: co-workers competing for promotions, businesses competing for a monopoly over their market, countries competing for global dominance (e.g. the Cold War and its events). Everyone is trying to catch up with what is going on in the world and outdo one another in as many ways as possible. It is easy to get sucked into that desire for money and glory - but as Christians, it is a distraction to our faith, and in the process, we might develop unrighteous virtues like envy and hatred. That is why St. Paul advised, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26).
Another reason why this life is appealing to many is the continuous innovation we see happening around us. Nothing stays the same - things keep changing. Industries like fashion and technology are always coming out with new products, and the hearts of people continue to be attracted to all the new inventions. King Solomon in his day described it like this: “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
A third and very important reason is the concept of status. When you are wealthy, you tend to get a lot of respect, honour and glory from people you are richer than. The more money you have, the more influence, power and authority you get, and it is hard to not feel like you are on top of the world. But when you are poor, the opposite happens; you get no respect, few friends and no voice. As King Solomon said, “The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.” (Proverbs 14:20).
There are many people who dream of becoming “high-status individuals” - and you can see that by the extent they go to get money. Some people take jobs that prevent them from having time for their children and families because of the high salary. Others accept an unbearable amount of stress just because of the money they’ll get from it.
You can tell from the way Gehazi ran after Naaman the Syrian in 2 Kings 5:20-27 that he was eyeing the great things money could do for him. Even though his master, Elisha, dismissed the gifts Naaman brought, Gehazi saw how that money could elevate his status, and so he went behind to get some for himself.
We can also understand this from the way the young rich man in Mark 10:17-25 responded to Christ’s offer of apostleship. The rich man had come to him, asking what he needed to do (which he had not already been doing) to get eternal life. Christ told him to follow the Ten commandments, which the rich man had kept from his youth, and so he replied, “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.” (Mark 10:20).
Christ then told him, “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mark 10:21).
But the rich man was not excited. In fact, “he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:22).
The riches he had acquired gave him respect and glory from the society, and it became his world. He could not see himself give his whole life away for what Christ offered. The statement of King Solomon in Proverbs 18:11 should come to mind: “The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.”
Therefore, if we want to seek eternal life, we have to have value for it, just as Gehazi, Achan or the young rich man had for this life. To do so, we have to know what makes eternal life better than this life in the first place.
In the world to come:
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There will be no war (Psalms 46:9, Isaiah 2:4). There will be no war because those at the top who envy each other and cause trouble for ordinary people will not exist in that world. There will be complete peace and tranquility (Isaiah 32:17-18), because the system of that world will be set up on righteousness and love, and not greed or selfishness (2 Peter 3:13)
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There will be no pain nor sorrow (Revelation 21:4)
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There will be no death (Hosea 13:14), or aging (Job 33:25)
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There will be no sickness (Isaiah 33:24)
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There will be no fear of any trouble or threat. As Micah the prophet said, “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:4).
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There will be no wickedness, injustice or trouble (Revelation 21:1; the word “sea” means wickedness, based on verses like Isaiah 57:20).
These details, and more, are all features of the world to come. If we see this as more attractive or appealing than this current life, then how we seek it is the next important question.
Eternal life is obviously a future event; therefore, if we want to seek something that is not yet in our environment, then we will need to look beyond what we see with our eyes, and focus on the future. That includes sacrificing certain joys, ambitions and cares of this world, like whether we are driving a better car or working at a better job than our neighbours, so that we can focus our attention on obtaining that future eternal world. As Christ said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39).
It also involves hope and faith in the fact that what God Almighty promised will indeed come to pass. As the apostle Paul said, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Romans 8:24-25).
This same St. Paul is a great example we should follow when seeking eternal life. In his letter to the Philippians, he described the sacrifices he willingly made to seek a bigger, more valuable prize of the future:
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).
From verse 12, he said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Moses is another good example. He willingly gave up the honour and glory of being an Egyptian prince because he sought something better - something he had more value for.
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
That phrase “for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” means that he had value for God’s rewards, and so he could forsake the carnal ones to get that.
One more example is Jesus Christ. In Matthew 4:8-11, Satan the Devil offered him all the kingdoms of this ephemeral world, and the glory of them - but Christ rejected it all, because he had no value for it. He repeated this when he was before Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36).
Rather, he had value for the kingdom God would give him - and as we have discussed in other articles, he has received that kingdom and is currently ruling it in the midst of his enemies (Psalms 110:1-2), in fulfillment of the signs of the times (Matthew 24:7-8).
We can see from these texts and examples how we as humans can seek this life or eternal life. Both require our hearts and attention - but the question is, which will we give it to? Will we invest our time, thoughts and efforts in raising our status, pleasing society, competing with our neighbours and catching up with all the new trends of the world, or will we focus on pleasing our Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can obtain eternal life?
It is up to us to decide
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THE OXYGEN OF INIQUITY
At first glance, this seems like an odd title, because the words “oxygen” and “iniquity” don’t seem to go together in the same sentence. Let’s begin by figuring out the link between these two things.
We all know that for a fire to start, three things are needed: fuel, heat and oxygen. If any one of those three things are not present, a fire cannot start.
Similarly, there are certain conditions under which iniquity can spark and grow. In this article, we will learn about what some of those conditions are, so that we can understand how to put iniquity out like a firefighter would a fire.
But what is iniquity?
According to the Scriptures, iniquity is anything that God hates; anything that goes against what God has approved and said is right. To give a couple of examples, God likes it when children obey their parents (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1-3), or when pastors take care of their flocks by preaching the truth (1 Peter 5:2-3, Acts 20:28, Jeremiah 3:15, etc.). The opposite of that, when children disobey their parents or when pastors exploit their flocks, is iniquity, as it is in opposition to those things that God likes.
Iniquity has been described as fire in the Scriptures (Isaiah 9:18, 50:11, 65:5, etc.), and as was said above, there are certain conditions under which iniquity can thrive. If these conditions are not present, iniquity tends to die off pretty quickly or never start at all. But if any of these conditions are present, it has a way of growing until it engulfts whatever righteousness is present.
As Christians, it is important that we understand how iniquity starts and grows, so that we can be alert to it, and not allow Satan to take us by surprise. In saying that, we will be discussing 5 things that always become oxygen for iniquity.
1. Fear of the unknown. This is essentially a lack of trust in God that makes us fearful of certain bad things that we think might happen to us if we don’t take laws into our own hands. This is oxygen for iniquity because Satan the Devil has a way of driving us into doing what is wrong before God, based on our fears.
To give you an example, Jeroboam, the man who God chose as king to head the ten tribes of Israel taken from Solomon’s kingdom due to his disobedience, suddenly feared that his power was at stake because the Israelites still went to Jerusalem to worship God. He completely forgot who made him king, due to his fear of the unknown, and rather than asking Him for guidance, he took laws into his own hands by setting up two golden calves - one in Dan and one in Bethel - so that the Israelites didn’t have to leave his kingdom. God Almighty hates idolatry with a passion (Exodus 20:3-6), but it was Jeroboam’s fear of the known that became a perfect condition for such iniquity to develop.
Till today, fear of the unknown has a huge impact on world events. Many wars, past and current, happen because of fear of some kind of danger, be it against one’s life, or against a community or nation. Devastating conflicts that reuslted in the deaths of thousands or even millions were caused by fear of the unknown, which they take action on through mass destruction.
2. Love of money. This is a big oxygen for iniquity. Paul described it as the “root of all evil” in 1 Timothy 6:10. The reason why the love of money is oxygen for iniquity is that it elevates money, which is of little spiritual value (because spirituality is about a personal relationship with God, which money is not a part of) to become a priority in our lives - and it destroys righteousness and our spirituality, and gives way for iniquities of all sorts to grow.
Let’s use the current state of many churches as an example. The way churches were set up was that you would hear a sermon, and if you feel blessed by the message, you give however much money you felt like. This resembles the way it was in the Bible, as God Almighty never forced His children to give to His projects (Exodus 25:2, 35:5, 21-22, 29). But many pastors now have changed it to mean that you must give, whether the giver likes it or not. Even if it’s not said directly, there have been tactics implemented, such as making the offering plate nice and large in the front, moving it around to each member of the congregation, and even creating doctrines to encourage, lure or threaten members to give more. That shift - which is still ongoing - is caused by the love of money, and as Christians, we should be cautious of how far that goes. A carnal thing like money shouldn’t become a priority in spiritual matters - otherwise, worshipping God loses its value.
Something similar happened to the children of Israel in their day. Money was elevated to become a huge deal in matters that had to do with God and holiness, as was stated by Micah the prophet: “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.” (Micah 3:11). As a result, iniquity took over the land: “Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.” (Isaiah 1:23).
3. Ignorance. Ignorance can be defined as not knowing the implications of our actions; a lack of knowledge of the consequences of what may be wrong, or the advantages of what may be right. It is always oxygen for iniquity because Satan the Devil, being the wicked man that he is, is always looking for people to influence and deceive, so that he can ruin their lives. If we are spiritually sound, we will automatically know he is trying to lure us into sin, and we will reject him (James 4:7). But what if we lack such knowledge? “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6).
A good way we can understand the room ignorance gives for Satan to cause trouble is by looking at what Rehoboam did in 1 Kings 12:1-20. In the account, the children of Israel came to the newly crowned Rehoboam and asked him to lessen the yoke his father Solomon put on them. Rehoboam wanted advice on how to respond to the people, and so he went to the elders who served with Solomon.
They told him that he should listen to the people and lessen their yoke; but because of his ignorance, he forsook their advice and took counsel from younger people who grew up with him. They gave him the opposite advice - that he should increase their yoke and make life harder for the people.
Rehoboam did not know what would happen, due to his ignorance, and so he went and told the people what those young men said. The Israelites, offended by what they heard, said that they were not interested in having Rehoboam as their king. That was how Jeroboam became king of Israel in the first place.
That is what ignorance does. From that time till his death, war against Israel never ceased.
4. The Bandwagon Effect. The “bandwagon” effect is when one conforms to the wishes or ideas of those around them. Be it from friends, family members or any other person who does not share our spiritual goals, it can be devastating to our spirituality if we fall into it.
King Solomon in the first chapter of his book Proverbs explained it in the form of advice: “ My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.” (Proverbs 1:10-16).
What Aaron did in Exodus 32 is a striking example of how to fall into iniquity because of the bandwagon effect. An impatient and disgruntled congregation confronted Aaron in Exodus 32:1, and they told him, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Aaron knew that what they were asking for was wrong, but because he was willing to please the people, he yielded to their unrighteous request, and built the calf for them.
Christ in his day emphasized the pressure that the world will put on us to conform to its ways, and encouraged us to resist it and be happy doing so: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12).
5. Spiritual carelessness. Spiritual carelessness is when we are not careful about a matter of high spiritual value or significance. This, for example, is important if we’re parents, because God Almighty placed children in our care to train and nurture, both physically and, more importantly, spiritually (Deuteronomy 6:7, Proverbs 22:6). If we throw caution to the wind and start taking jobs that prevent us from having time to raise our children, or we hang out with friends when we’re supposed to be at home raising our children, or we generally have the mentality that our children can learn how to serve God themselves, and we don’t need to be with them to teach them how to live righteously, then we are being spiritually careless, as it may not end up the way we expect.
For instance, Eli the high priest was spiritually careless. His sons grew up to become vile and worthless people, and by the time they became priests, they slept with the women who came to the tabernacle and refused to follow the laws of God concerning offerings and such. Eli watched all that happen, but did nothing about it.
Doing nothing to solve a problem that has much spiritual value is always oxygen for iniquity, as it gives room for Satan to operate with no opposition. Eventually, God Almighty said He would judge the house of Eli because of his spiritual carelessness: “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” (1 Samuel 3:13).
Therefore, if we want to prevent iniquity from growing like this, we should have a sound understanding of how Satan operates (2 Corinthians 2:11), so that we can catch his works at the roots.
The way the apostles promptly settled the matter between the Hebrews and Greeks in Acts 6:1-4 is a good example. The Greeks felt that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food; and it was gradually becoming more important in the ministry. Spiritually speaking, such a matter was of little value; and the apostles foresaw a situation where the ministry would become about serving tables instead of doing the will of God. They quickly took action by setting up a committee to handle such matters.
Another good example is in Joshua 22. The Reubenites, Gadites and children of Manasseh inherited land east of the Jordan River, while the rest of the Israelites were on the opposite side. They had assisted their fellow brethren in conquering their lands - and after they were finished, they returned to their own land.
They envisioned, though, that in the future, the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan River would think that they didn’t belong to God, due to the geographical separation; and so to prevent that from happening, they built an altar so that those who saw it would know that they belonged to Israel. They didn’t intend on worshipping on this altar; it was only there to serve that particular purpose.
However, God Almighty had explicitly stated that there was going to be one place that He was worshipped (Deuteronomy 12:5); and the Israelites, not aware of their intentions, felt that they were going to transgress that law, and they immediately mobilized to go to war against them.
Before going, though, they sent Phinehas the priest and ten princes to find out what happened. Only then did they know that the altar was not built to sin against God, but rather so that those on the other side of the Jordan River would remember that they were Israelites too.
What we can learn from this story is how urgent we should be to put out iniquity. Just as a fire has to be put out as soon as possible, the other Israelites didn’t give it any time - they went immediately to find out what happened, so that if iniquity was to be committed, they would put an end to it promptly.
But how is any of this relevant in our time?
The apostle Paul made us know that in the last days, which we are living in based on the fulfillment of the signs of the times in Matthew 24:7-8 (that fulfilled in the two World Wars, when the world’s greatest nations fought against themselves, leading to great disaster and the collapse of the monarchical system), iniquity would abound. This iniquity would abound as Satan’s last attempt to prevent people from coming to God (Revelation 12:12). Let’s hear him:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
Take “blasphemers” for example. We find blasphemy in the educational system, as people are now taught to believe that God does not exist, and that we as humans came by ourselves, against the Bible’s position that we have a Creator, who made everything we see today (Psalms 100:3, Isaiah 45:12, 18). You can also see “disobedient to parents” fulfilling, as many kids are becoming more stubborn towards their parents, and feel like they don’t need to listen to them to live good lives.
There’s also “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”, which we can understand by looking at how excited people are when they watch football or dance to music, and all the effort, money and time they spend doing such things, versus the excitement and dedication people used to have for going to church and talking about spiritual things.
Each and every one of these iniquities are being institutionalized in our time, meaning that institutions are now set up to develop those iniquities and rope as many people into them as possible. It is by the grace of God that we can be alert and vigilant to catch such iniquities as they creep into our families, relationships, or bond with God, and cut them out as soon as possible.
This same apostle Paul gave us relevant advice concerning this: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17).
KING DAVID'S WAR Part 2: "OCCUPY"
Note: Reading Part 1 is important to fully grasping the content of this subject. For the benefit of understanding the campaign of Christ, which is connected to this article’s content, have a look at that article. You can find it by going to the page “Doctrines” and clicking the button that reads “King David’s War”.
In the previous article on this subject, called “King David’s War”, we studied the campaign of David, starting from when he was anointed by God as a shepherd boy, and finishing with the battles he fought as king over God’s people. We then connected that to the campaign of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who He has appointed to be the commander-in-chief of His army (Jeremiah 51:20), and we looked into the activities that Christ is into right now, and how that was represented by the campaign of David in times of old (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:32-33).
However, this discussion is worth another article, as we are yet to discover the role that we as Christians can play in this ongoing warfare.
Just as we did in the first article, we will briefly review the way God’s people physically occupied the Promised Land, to build a base for our understanding of the spiritual. However, we will not be looking at the campaign of David again, as we covered many of the details already. Instead, we will study a couple of battles fought by Joshua and his men, as we can also use those to understand the spiritual side of warfare which we as Christians engage in during these times (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Joshua was the leader of Israel at the time they were to enter the land. Formerly, it was Moses, but because he, in his anger, did not sanctify God’s name when bringing water out of the rock, God said that he would not enter the land (Numbers 20:7-12). Joshua was then appointed to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land (Numbers 27:12-23).
God gave Joshua an important piece of advice before he began the campaign: “Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:6, 9). When fighting the battles of God, courage is very important; without it, the enemy will overwhelm us, and we will not be able to gain the victories that allow us to occupy God’s Promised Land.
One important battle that Joshua fought in the process of occupying the Promised Land was against the city of Jericho in Joshua 6. Before entering the city, seven priests were to march round the city while blowing trumpets, and the ark of God would follow them. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, seven priests marched round the city seven times while blowing trumpets, after which the people shouted, and - let’s hear the result from the Scriptures:
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.” (Joshua 6:20-21).
Note what they did when they entered the city. They did not just conquer it; they destroyed everything they saw there. They did not spare anything, because everything that belonged to that city was unholy, and could not be saved. This is important for our spiritual warfare too, which we will get into later.
Another battle Joshua and his men fought was against the people of Ai in Joshua 8. This battle is particularly interesting because the strategy they used was given to them by God. They were to split the army into two parts. One part would engage the people of Ai, and they would pretend to lose and flee, so that the army of Ai, thinking they could get a crushing victory, would leave the city and chase after them. The other part of the Israelite army would make a surprise attack on the city and set it ablaze. With no city anymore, the army of Ai would be hopeless; and both sides of the Israelite army would close in on them and destroy them.
Verses 9-29 tell us that they did exactly what God said, and the victory was as fantastic as predicted.
This, too, is spiritually significant; and we will get into that now.
Apostle Paul spoke about a kind of warfare we should wage that is not “carnal”, or physical, but rather spiritual: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
In another epistle, he told us that our enemies, too, are not physical: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
If the warfare we are expected to wage is not physical, and our enemies apparently are not physical either - this means that the land we are supposed to occupy must also not be physical, right?
The physical land God promised Abraham’s seed is a symbol of the spiritual land that God promises His children, the spiritual or true Jews (Romans 2:28-29, 9:6-8). Just as the Kingdom of Israel, established by David, was set up on the land God gave to them, the Kingdom of God, headed by Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:6-7) is set up on the “land of uprightness” as the psalmist described it (Psalms 143:10). We occupy this land by living righteously. As the apostle Paul said, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17).
God sometimes spoke about putting His children in “their own land” (Isaiah 14:1, Jeremiah 23:8, Ezekiel 34:13, 36:24, 37:14, 21, 39:28, etc.). This is what He was referring to.
Isaiah the Prophet described this process of occupying the Kingdom as rising to a new reality, brought about by the coming of Jesus Christ: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1).
The Israelites in their day had no way of entering the land God promised them when under Egyptian bondage. It was when God opened the way of freedom to them by executing judgment on the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12) and weakening the hands of Pharaoh that they could leave their slavery and enter that good land. Similarly, the Bible spoke a lot about Christ returning to set up the Kingdom, establish righteousness and peace on the earth and remove the government of Satan that was formerly present (Isaiah 2:2, 9:7, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Revelation 12:7-12). That is why Christ was told to rule “in the midst of his enemies” (Psalms 110:2).
Before Christ returned, those who were living righteously were doing so under an unrighteous government, with Satan as its head (1 John 5:19, 2 Corinthians 4:4 - he is the “god of this world”). This government is a spiritual institution in heaven that manifests physically through the different systems that control the world. But since the return of Christ, humanity is now in the hands of God, and we are worshipping under a righteous government, constituted by Christ and the apostles (Luke 22:28-30, Isaiah 32:1).
By living righteously, we are “occupying” the spiritual space created for us through the return of Christ, just as the Israelites occupied the physical space given to them by God’s return to fulfill His promises to their fathers (Exodus 3:8).
Now, let’s say we are interested in occupying this land. How do we go about doing so?
The battle or warfare we must wage begins within us. The enemy in ancient times was a physical enemy outside that had to be conquered with physical weapons - but it is not so anymore. The spiritual forces that work against our souls to prevent us from doing what is right before God have to be conquered - and those forces work within our own hearts. Those forces that make us want to envy others, hate others, disobey God, rob our neighbours, love money, fornicate, commmit adultery, or whatever it is, are the enemies we must conquer; otherwise, we cannot occupy the land (Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Christ said such things proceed out of the heart (Matthew 15:18-20); therefore, we are fighting against our own incentive to do what is wrong.
That incentive is the sinful nature we are born with (Psalms 51:5), which we inherited from our ancestors, Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12-14). Paul described that incentive in Romans 7:15-24 as making him (i.e. mankind as a whole) to do things he knows are wrong, and not do things he knows are right. It is what “wars in our members” (James 4:1); and our spiritual warfare is mainly concentrated on that.
One of the weapons we use to conquer those enemies is the Word of God, called the “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). The explanation as to why it is so was given in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
It can deal with all of the spiritual challenges we face, and cleanse us from our spiritual impurities. The psalmist once said, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalms 119:9, 11).
Just as Joshua and his men destroyed everything they saw in the cities they conquered, we also have to use the Scriptures and its power to subdue every bad character we find in ourselves. If it is envy, for example, we study the Scriptures to know why envy is bad, and what happened to biblical figures who were envious, and advice on how to overcome it and the blessings of doing so. Regardless of what it is, the same process applies. That is the spiritual significance of the physical battle that God’s people fought in Joshua 6, which we looked at earlier.
Once we have been able to win that battle, we will also meet much opposition to our faith from family and friends. Yes, our opposition begins there, because it is those closest to us who will envy our talents and faith. As Christ said, “And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:36). It was Joseph’s brothers who envied his speciality (Genesis 37:4, 8, 11). Christ’s brothers, some of the closest men to him (by blood), did not believe in him (John 7:5); and it was one of his own disciples that betrayed him (Psalms 41:9, John 13:18).
Our warfare against such ones is not physical wrestling; rather, it is our resistance to their attempts to drag us out of the faith or sabotage our interests. Christ would sometimes speak about “forsaking” or even “hating” such ones (Matthew 19:29, Luke 14:26). He was not necessarily referring to physical hatred or forsaking, but instead our resolve to finish our spiritual race (Matthew 24:12-13, Hebrews 3:14), even if it is at the expense of our closeness to some of our family members or friends.
And as we are fighing those battles, we also spread the gospel message. The same Word of God we use to conquer the enemy within is also the one we use to win souls to Christ, as the gospel message can conquer or subdue the unrighteousness in some people’s hearts that are preventing them from coming to God. The ministry of the apostles was all about this kind of warfare; and we read all kinds of stories of people being converted to God by the power of the gospel (Acts 2:37-47, 16:14, 19:18-20, etc.).
To wage these battles, though, we need courage. To be courageous in spiritual warfare is to be dogged about our beliefs in the plans and promises of God, and not fear what others might think or do in their attempts to work against those interests. Apostle Paul, for example, was very courageous, as we can tell from what he said in his epistle to the Romans: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16).
What is more, the psalmist said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” (Psalms 27:1-3).
It is also by this courage that we can spread the truth of God’s Word in the presence of those who teach or believe opposite doctrines and not fear the backlash.
This is the spiritual warfare which we as Christians should wage in our time. By engaging in this, we are soldiers of Christ, working to advance the Kingdom Purpose and occupy the land. To round off, apostle Paul gave us an advice on the way we should occupy the Kingdom by subduing the spiritual enemy and living righteously: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
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GOD'S UNIQUE FRIENDS
The Bible is full of amazing stories of people who had a very strong relationship with God. Abraham, Jacob, David and King Hezekiah are just a few examples. When reading about these people, it’s hard not to ask, “How can I build such a relationship with Him? What steps can I take to achieve it?”
In this article, we’ll review 4 things that might help in building a strong relationship with God. Afterwards, we’ll briefly discuss 3 steps we can take to show God our interest in having a bond with Him so that He can help us achieve that.
The first thing that often helps in getting close to God is gaining an understanding of who God is as a person. When becoming friends with a human being, you tend to want to know what they like and don’t like, what their views are on various matters and how they reason. Similarly, knowing God is about understanding His thoughts, mindset, powers, love, wisdom, strong sense of justice, righteousness, patience, humility, etc. (Genesis 18:14, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalms 86:15, Deuteronomy 10:17, 32:4, Job 33:27-28). They form the basis of our relationship with Him.
God Almighty using Isaiah the prophet invited us to build a relationship with Him this way: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18).
King Hezekiah is a great example of someone who understood God Almighty. Consider Isaiah 38:3, where Hezekiah confidently reminded God that he had done what was right in His sight: “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.”
If Hezekiah did not understand who God was and what He liked, he would not be able to truthfully say that he did what pleased Him. It was based on his understanding of the will of God that he could confidently and with all honesty state that he had done what was right before God.
Trust is another essential aspect. People often discuss the subject of trust in God Almighty; but it’s equally important that it goes the other way around. Can God Almighty trust us to do His will and be on His side at all times? Can He trust that we will defend His interests? Can He be sure that we will use whatever gifts, talents or blessings He gives us to live righteously before Him?
These are very important questions; and the answer to them determines the quality of our relationship with Him.
Someone we can learn from in this subject matter is Abraham. He was specifically called “the friend of God” in the Bible (Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23); and one thing that made him special was that God could trust him to raise children in His fear so that His plan to make a nation out of his seed, through which His beloved Son Jesus Christ, the blessing to all nations, would come into the world (Galatians 3:16, Genesis 12:3) would fulfill. We can see this by reading Genesis 18:17-19, a brief and interesting glimpse into God’s thoughts:
“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
Note the phrase “For I know him”. We can extract trust from that statement.
It’s also important that our relationship with God is based on sincere love for Him. If we decide to become Christians because we want money or fame or even basic needs like food and shelter, but we don’t sincerely love Him and His holiness, then we might find it difficult to obey and trust Him during times of difficulty. Our relationship can only withstand adversity if it is based on love for God, because unlike material things, God Almighty will always exist and be who He is (Psalms 90:2, Malachi 3:6).
Imagine if what Satan said about Job was true, and Job only worshipped God because he wanted health and wealth. He would have certainly cursed God when calamity befell him, and his bond with God would have been destroyed, because the base for it had disappeared. But he did not do so, as the Bible story goes, because he enjoyed the relationship he had with Him.
Hear his words in two different accounts: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15). “As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.” (Job 27:2-6).
One more thing worth mentioning is that friends of God tend to defend His interests. When we have a strong bond with God and we see something happen that we know He doesn’t like, we will have the motivation and courage to go against it, either by living differently (i.e. in righteousness) or by speaking against it.
Considering Acts 14:8-18 might give us a better idea of how this is done. After Paul cured a crippled man in Lystra who had never walked in his life, the citizens thought that their pagan gods had come to them in human form, and the priest of the city brought animals to sacrifice to them. Paul and Barnabas could have proudly accepted the ovation and worship, at the expense of God Almighty; but they refused to, and instead took advantage of the attention to tell them the truth and encourage them to drop such unrighteous acts, thus standing on the side of God.
These are just four things that help in building a strong relationship with God. Just as there are scientifically-proven psychological and emotional benefits to human friendships, there are many things we gain from having God as our friend, including vision of the future (Amos 3:7, Psalms 25:14), assurance of safety and protection (Psalms 34:7, Proverbs 1:33), abundant peace in our homes (Psalms 29:11) and a sense of satisfaction and hope that even human friendships cannot supply (Psalms 119:49, Proverbs 14:32, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 18).
We’ll now proceed to the 3 steps we should take to build this kind of relationship with God Almighty.
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Study the Scriptures. Diligent and prayerful Bible study is the only way to get to know some things about God that can get a relationship with Him going. As mentioned earlier, understanding His thoughts and mindset is important to becoming His friend, and that cannot be found by reading only a verse or chapter. It requires much study of the entire Scriptures (not just one Testament), guided by the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul advised, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).
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Meditate. Some Christians stop at just studying the Bible, but to get far with God, we need to talk to Him regularly. Most of our prayers will be in the form of meditation, which is thinking about God and His ways. Children of God in the Scriptures often meditated (Psalms 1:2, 119:23, 48, 79; Genesis 24:63) and were advised to do so by God Almighty (Joshua 1:8).
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Take advantage of life experiences. Studying the Scriptures is like learning the theory of how to build a relationship with God; but actually practicing righteous principles is the application of theory, and that is where the bond is developed. When we face challenges in life, therefore, we should see them as opportunities to trust God more and believe in His powers more rather than as reasons to think that God is not with us.
All we need to do is to apply these methods and give it time, as strong friendships are not built in a day. Experience by experience, God will pull us closer to Him, and by His grace, we will become one of His unique friends.
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