We all come before God in prayer. But do we ever take the time to think about what that really means? Are we cognizant when we are praying that we are actually coming before God’s throne? How should this affect us and our thinking? How important do we consider the time that we spend with God? What do we expect the outcomes to be?
Kalon Mitchell
Preparation and Consistency
We have to continually prepare in our lives, both in the physical and in the spiritual realms. Our preparation will determine our outcome in both. But it is not enough to just decide to prepare, we must have an outcome, a desire or a goal that we are fixated on and consistently driving towards. It is not enough to just casually want it. Rather it must become our purpose, our driving goal and desire, anything less does us and others around us a disservice.
How Is Your Perspective?
I was talking with my son the other day about how each of our lives are different. We don’t do the same things for work and for fun; we do not have the same friends and there are many other examples which could be stated. Occasionally, things overlap and that is where friendships and shared interests come into play. But everyone’s paths are unique.
For the most part, we are each on our own paths. As a Church, we work together towards the same goals, but as Proverbs 14:10 points out, we are responsible for ourselves: “The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.”
Growing up, I remember hearing about the end coming and all the ins and outs. I remember feeling scared and nervous about the things that were to happen. And then we add the knowledge that we don’t know the exact time of Christ’s return. This has made it tough at times to live with the right perspective. But indeed, it takes the right perspective to live, not swaying to the right hand or to the left (compare Proverbs 4:27; Deuteronomy 5:32; Joshua 1:7; Isaiah 30:21). The choice is ours. That should be the scariest part for us as Christians. God has already decided before time began that He would call us in this day and age. Science has shown us that the odds of you and me being born is 1 in 400 trillion. Think about that for a moment, let it sink in. Is it odd that we were born, in the time and place that we have been? I think not! 2 Peter 1:10 asks us how we are doing in our calling, in our diligence, in our effort to make sure that we don’t fall, that we don’t stumble.
As I stated before, our paths are all unique. We go through the issues in life to learn. Oftentimes, we don’t learn from others’ mistakes, even though we could and should if we were wise enough (1 Corinthians 10:11; Proverbs 1:1-9). Rather, we have to trudge through the trials and learn the hard way (Proverbs 11:2; James 1:2-4; Romans 8:28; Proverbs 24:16). The key is to pick up the pieces, learn, repent and move forward. In Philippians 3:13 Paul had every reason to be regretful and discouraged about his past, but he didn’t dwell on those things. He worked diligently to move forward.
How are we dealing with the fact that we are starting to see how end-time prophecy is being fulfilled? Are we scared? Are we happy? Are we joyful? Are we blasé and indifferent? What is our perspective as we watch the world unraveling?
Do we understand that prophecy in and of itself is very sensational, but yet we should not be seeking prophecy for prophecy’s sake alone? Prophecy should help us to discern the times that we are living in and help us to temper our mindsets and attitudes and to give us additional motivation and zeal to do the Work and the Will of God. Paul was keen to tell this to Timothy, a young minister, in 2 Timothy 3:10-17. Wisdom and salvation are mentioned in verse 15. They are vitally important in keeping us going each day. If we are doing these things, then they help us to decide what we should be doing.
We need to acquire and keep the right and proper perspective at all times. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 warns us to take careful note, think deeply, study hard, and lean in more and more fervently on God. God doesn’t want us to fail. Our own failings take us away. 2 Timothy 2:15 asks us to be diligent in presenting ourselves to God as worthy of the calling given to us.
So what is our perspective in regard to our calling? What are we doing about it? Where do we stand? These types of questions can only be answered truthfully by each Church member. If we find that the answers are not good and promising, then it is high time that we make the necessary corrections while we still can.
Joy of Living Today
We are told as Christians that we need to be Joyful. In fact one of the fruits of the Spirit is Joy! But what does it mean to be joyful in a Christian way? How can we achieve in obtaining this crucial part of God’s Spirit? What does it take and what are the consequences for not obtaining it and then also for it dwelling in our lives?
How can one follow the Bible with so much tenacity when it is branded especially in the Old Testament with some very terrible things?
A: One does not have to go searching very far on the Internet to find people who are taking the writings of the Old Testament out of context and finding fault with the words of God. People will go to any extreme to rule out the need for God and His laws. The issues that people take umbrage with range from murder, sacrifices (including human sacrifices), slavery to rape, just to name a few. Some say that the Old Testament was harsh in its exacting. But they fail to realize it was mainly dealing with people’s hardness of heart.
Quoting from our Q&A: “God revealed the law of the Ten Commandments to the people, but since they did not have the Holy Spirit, they were unable to keep the spiritual intent of the law. However, God expected them to keep at least the letter of the law, but they were also disobedient in that regard. They sinned gravely, and sin is the transgression of the spiritual law (1 John 3:4). Because of their sinful conduct, God introduced a sacrificial system of ritual laws and regulations to remind them of their sins and to make physical amends (Hebrews 10:1-4). This system of ritual laws was only temporary (Hebrews 10:8-10). It included the laborious task of offering animal sacrifices, and sometimes it included very rigorous physical penalties, such as death by stoning. Dealing with carnal human beings, God knew that only harsh measures could prevent them from totally rebelling against Him and from living a terrible life of depravity and violence (compare Ecclesiastes 8:11). Nevertheless, even those measures did not help, and they ultimately became totally and completely corrupt (Ecclesiastes 9:3).
“It was never God’s desire to ‘force’ people to obey Him. It was never His desire to introduce harsh physical penalties for disobedience. He never wanted a sacrificial system. He did not desire animal sacrifices, but rather, that men lived in a way that such sacrifices [and penalties] would not be necessary (Psalm 40:6; 50:8-14; 51:16-17).
“God had created man as free moral agents, with the faculty of deciding for himself whether or not to follow God’s rules. God had offered Adam and Eve the gift of the Holy Spirit (symbolized by the Tree of Life), but they rejected that gift and ate instead from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, representing the concept of determining and deciding for themselves what seemed right to them. The consequence was that man began to call good evil, and evil good (Isaiah 5:20), ending up in his unspeakable depravity and his destruction in a worldwide flood (Genesis 6:5-7).“
We can easily see that many of the things that happened in the Old Testament were not what God wanted. When trying to discredit the Bible, people don’t and cannot see the entire plan of God laid out. They have no clue that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8; 1:8-12). God doesn’t change. He still expects the Ten Commandments to be followed, both in the letter, but more importantly, in the spirit. For instance, Christ made clear that it is not only wrong to murder someone, but hatred is equally forbidden.
Nor do people realize that there is a distinction between the ritual laws introduced in the Old Testament, which had reached their finality and were abolished when Christ died for us, and the spiritual law, which is still in place. Christ did NOT come to abolish the entirety of God’s Law, but rather, Christ came to magnify the Law through the Holy Spirit. (For more detailed explanation, please read our free booklet, “Old Testament Laws Still Valid Today?”). For the last 6,000 years or so, man has been allowed to reap the rewards of his own choices. The Old Testament helps to show that the ways in which people chose to act and the things that they chose to do were not necessarily right. 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, speaks about the warnings to Israel. Verse 11 says: “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
In some cases, God expressly condemned certain conduct, such as human sacrifices. In other cases, the Bible just reports the events without specifically stating that the particular human conduct was wrong, but the reader is supposed to know that it was wrong, when it clearly violated the Ten Commandments and the statutes and judgments, defining the Ten Commandments even more (for instance, when people lied). Sometimes, the Bible may give us additional information or hints, when stating that there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. God had simply permitted human beings to make their choices, without intervening and preventing them (for instance, in the case of polygamy or slavery). In still other situations, God even used wrong choices (such as warfare) to bring about His specific purpose (for instance, to fulfill His unconditional promise to Abraham to bring his descendants into the Promised Land).
People fail to see that when the children of Israel in the Old Testament obeyed and heeded the teachings of God, they were blessed, healed, and taken care of all around. For instance, look at King Solomon who had peace in his kingdom. There was no reason for war and all the atrocities that come along with war, because God kept it peaceful.
But then the opposite is true as well. Hebrews 3:9-11; Isaiah 53:6; and Jeremiah 4:16-22 are just a few Scriptures, outlining the problems that ensued because of Israel’s and Judah’s lack of following after the laws of God.
In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told that we must be able to give an answer for the things we believe. If we don’t know the answer to some of these errors, then we could be led away from the knowledge of the Truth. It can be easy to be swayed by people who sound like they know what they are talking about. Many arguments against the Bible found on the Internet are attempting to disprove and discredit the Bible in any perceivable or dishonest way, without showing any understanding of the Scriptures (compare Jeremiah 23:36; 2 Peter 3:16). Matthew 24:10-12 points out that this type of conduct will increase as we move towards the end of this age. Notice that because of the growth of wickedness or lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. This love for the Truth is quickly replaced with hate, iniquity and vileness.
It is the responsibility of God’s true Church to teach the Truth to its members and to others in general, as we read in Ephesians 4:11-15:
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints… till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head—Christ…”
At the end of the day, we must accept the guidance of God’s true ministers when they explain to us the Word of God in the light of the Scriptures (compare Acts 8:31; Romans 10:14-15) , and we all must individually study the Word of God for clarity and understanding in the matters mentioned earlier in this Q&A. We must understand where we stand individually in relation to God’s words and commands. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 shows us why we must make the effort to study. If we truly claim to be Christians and say we believe the Bible, we must understand what the Bible says in many different areas of life and be able to back it up with Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15).
Lead Writer: Kalon Mitchell
Renewal of Your Mind
What does the Bible really mean when it talks about renewing our minds? What are we doing every day to renew our minds in relation to our Christian calling? Does it really make that much of a difference how we think? Does God command it?
What Are We Seeking?
It seems that each week in the United States brings another school shooting, another round of senseless murders. But it is not just here—there are wars, murders and homicides around the world. Death is inevitable. When we peel back the layers of our society, it is not hard to see the cracks in the foundations. Our planet is being slowly destroyed. Our oceans and waters are becoming polluted. Our air is becoming toxic. The land and the food that it produces are poisoned and abused with chemicals.
When we stop and consider what is going on, when we take off our blinders and really look at the world’s condition, it is quite a worrying scene that unfolds. And all to what end?
There is something that we must realize when we look at this world. John 17:15-16 states that while we are “in” the world, we must NOT be “of” the world. This is such a fine line that we walk. So how are we doing on that path?
Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 that we are to be ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives of a different country, a different culture, a different way of living and, most importantly, a different mindset. Romans 8:14 tells us that as God’s children, we are to be led by the Spirit of God. In theory, this sounds good and probably gives us good intentions and some notions of motivation. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, our circumstances and our motivations, what is it that we truly convey? What is it that we truly are seeking after?
Having motivation and good ideas and intentions doesn’t produce results. We cannot confuse emotions and good motives with results. We can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we are good Christians. Hence, the mighty warning in the book of Revelation about those who are called Laodiceans. It is NOT enough to go half-heartedly through this Christian life. If we do, we will get tangled up (2 Peter 2:20). What actions, what goals, what prayers are reflecting our way of life? Are we discouraged with where we find ourselves? Do we look back and realize that while we may have thought we were giving it our all, we were in reality just doing enough to squeak by?
We read the encouraging Scriptures which tell us that WE CAN overcome and make it into God’s Kingdom, into which He Himself has called us. But the amount of effort and zeal we put into this is left up to us (Matthew 13:8-9). We should never think that God hasn’t called each of us for a reason. That main reason being, He knows we can accomplish it, because He has ordained us to be successful. Again, it is based on how much effort we put in. Like anything in life, effort we put in affects what we will get out of it. If one’s attitude is negative, angry, self-serving, jealous, hateful, unkind and unmerciful, then that is what will be reaped (compare Romans 6:20-21).
When we really believe what the Bible has to say—meaning, when we stop fooling ourselves and really dig in and set our minds towards obedience, then that is when progress comes, both in our spiritual and physical life. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states that when Christians seek God, turn from their evil ways and are obedient, then God forgives and heals, and then He is willing to hear our prayers. And what power comes from those prayers! In Mark 11:24 we find a mind-boggling example of how we should be praying. Jeremiah 33:3 reiterates God’s own words for us, as it is rendered in the New International Version: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Such an amazing opportunity and calling that is ours, individually and collectively!
Finally, we would encourage every reader to study Romans, chapter 12; to put his or her name in there; and to see where our lives stack up in comparison to what Paul is saying. Let’s make it personal. Because in the end, it is each of us who is personally responsible to God. We can continue being miserable because of sin or we can do the hard work NOW and reap happiness and a much better outcome in the future.
Bad Mistakes
Why do people give up on life? On their goals? And most importantly, on their Christian life?
The answer comes down to mind set. The things that we choose to think about, to focus on is what will be our outcome. God has already chosen us, He wants to give us amazing things, but do we allow Him to? Or are we too wrapped up in other things? What will you choose to think about?
The Work of God
The plan of God has been the work of many individuals down through the ages. Nehemiah was one such individual who God worked with powerfully to help rebuild Jerusalem. But the way in which it was accomplished is truly incredible. We can expect the same today as God is willing to work in and through us if we diligently seek Him.
Commitment
How committed are we on a daily basis in our Christian lives? Do we actively seek God and His will in our lives? It is easy to loose focus and track of what we need to do, but we can learn to become closer to God by diligence and commitment to Him and His laws, through obedience and continual prayer and Thanksgiving.
