Good News
May 1979
By Leroy Neff
Prayer is the completion of a two way conversation between God and man. God speaks to us through His Word, and we speak to Him through prayer.
Three times a day
If you were an. engineer at a power plant and had to solve the problem of a sag in a utility line, the solution would be obvious. Add a third pole as a prop, and the power flow would be uninterrupted.. This same problem can occur spiritually. For example, most Christians pray in the morning.That's the first pole. And almost all Christians pray at night. That's the second pole. But around midday the spiritual battle can rage the strongest. For increased spiritual strength add a third prayer. You say you pray all day long when you drive to work or while you do the dishes? That's not what I mean! It's fine to 'walk with God, but I'm talking about prayer on your knees, giving God your undivided attention.Most of us eat three meals a day to be nourished physically. The Bible example is prayer three times a day for proper nourishment spiritually. David, :'a man after God's own heart," set us this example. "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and
cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Ps. 55: 17). Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed" (Dan. 6: 10). This was his habit. You can get off course by the middle of the day. The Holy Spirit needs to be replenished. Without this extra prayer you tend to forget that you are in a spiritual battle, and that you must frequently relate what you are doing to God's standards. Since you began reading this, your mind has come up with at least half a dozen good reasons why you can't pray three times a day. Get on your knees and ask your Creator to help you see its importance for you personally.
- By Ron Lohr
But the Scriptures give us other evidence beyond this. David prayed three times a day (Ps. 55:16-17) at "evening, and morning and af noon." Daniel also
prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10). This apparently was related to the hours of prayer at the tabernacle and later at the temple, the hours of 3 p.m., 9 a.m. and 12 noon. You will find other references to these times in Acts 3:1 and 10:30.
There are two main ways we learn spiritual lessons. One is by experience. Some say it is the best teacher. No doubt it is the most effective. But it is best to learn from God's instruction and save yourself unnecessary pain and suffering.
If we had an audience with a great ruler, or person of great influence on this earth, we would be very excited and probably feel privileged. Think how far greater it is to be able to come into the presence of God, the ruler of the vast universe. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise" (Ps.100:4). "But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). When you enter God's throne room, remember that Jesus Christ is seated at His right hand. Twenty four great spirit beings are also there, with cherubim, seraphim and an innumerable host of angels as well. The driving force of the universe is listening. Pray with energy and zeal.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Happiness Is-
Quotes from above article
Good news oct/nov 1980
Clayton Steep
The happiness God has, that which He offers to us, was meant to be with us constantly. It was meant to become a permanent part of us - of our personality and character.
He created us because He wants to give us the opportunity to live as He lives, to be in His Family.
So desirous is He for us to be in His Kingdom that He has given that which was of most value to Him - the life of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Why? In order to make it possible for Him to give us eternal life, yes, but more -- that He might be able to give us "all things" (Rom 8:32)! All things - let your mind dwell on that for a moment!
Yes God gets His pleasure - His thrills - from giving to us. Jesus said, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). And to enter into the Kingdom is to enter "into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt.25:21,23).
Through Christ's sacrifice our sins and iniquities are forgiven, never to be remembered again (Heb. 8:12). We are recounciled to God. that makes for happiness. Therefore we can "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Rom. 5:11).
"Blessed are those... who walk in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 119:1. RSV). Obedience brings great peace of mind (verse 165). It prepares one to receive etenal life (Matt. 19:17). And that's happiness too!
God's laws are a delight (Ps.1:2). They exist for our good (Duet. 10:13). "The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps. 19:8). "Blessed is every one that...walketh in his ways...happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee" (Ps. 128:1-2).
One of the greatest keys to happiness is being thankful. We start off each day with a bonus - life - because, let's face it, nobody owes us life! But of even more value than life is knowing God and partaking of His salvation.
Nothing else in life really matters. Other blessings may come and go. Wealth, material possessions, health - they all have wings. We should be grateful when we have them, serving God "with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abuundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47). But when they are gone, we still have that which counts most: God, His Word, His Church, His Spirit.
The apostle Paul realized this and admonished Christians to always give thanks (Eph. 5:20). "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thess. 5:18).
Paul always found a lot to be grateful for. He could say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11). Thankful contentment is happiness!
Christians have the promise of eternal life. This is a hope the
people in the world do not have (Eph. 2:12).When we who are called begin to feel burdened down we can remember that the present distress is only a temporary condition. While other people's hearts are failing them for fear and worry, and while the world falls apart around us, we can lift up our heads because our redemption draws near (Luke 21:25-28).
That's why the apostle Paul tells us to be "Rejoicing in hope" even
though at the same time we may need to be "patient in tribulation" (Rom.12:12). For a short season we may be "in heaviness through manifold temptations." Yet knowing we will be grateful throughout eternity for what these trials produce in us, we can "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Pet. 1:6-9).
The world can offer no thrill or happiness as exciting as
anticipating the moment when our change will take place and real life will begin.
We have a God we can trust. We can take all our problems to Him.
He has never failed. "Take delight in the Lord.... Commit your way to
the Lord; trust in him, and he will act" (Ps. 37:4-5, RSV). "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
[obey - John 14:15] God" (Rom.8:28). Since the promise is that all
things work together for good, there is nothing left to worry about, is there? Talk about freedom! Talk about peace of mind! "The
righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles" (Ps. 34: 17).
Jesus Christ proved" that He could overcome every obstacle. There is no problem in the world that He cannot solve for us. That is why He tells us, "Be of good cheer [in other words, be happy!]; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
Although there are additional ways in which the Bible describes true happiness, they may all be summed up in one definition: Happiness is -doing God's will. It really works. "If ye know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17)!
Good news oct/nov 1980
Clayton Steep
The happiness God has, that which He offers to us, was meant to be with us constantly. It was meant to become a permanent part of us - of our personality and character.
He created us because He wants to give us the opportunity to live as He lives, to be in His Family.
So desirous is He for us to be in His Kingdom that He has given that which was of most value to Him - the life of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Why? In order to make it possible for Him to give us eternal life, yes, but more -- that He might be able to give us "all things" (Rom 8:32)! All things - let your mind dwell on that for a moment!
Yes God gets His pleasure - His thrills - from giving to us. Jesus said, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). And to enter into the Kingdom is to enter "into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt.25:21,23).
Through Christ's sacrifice our sins and iniquities are forgiven, never to be remembered again (Heb. 8:12). We are recounciled to God. that makes for happiness. Therefore we can "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Rom. 5:11).
"Blessed are those... who walk in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 119:1. RSV). Obedience brings great peace of mind (verse 165). It prepares one to receive etenal life (Matt. 19:17). And that's happiness too!
God's laws are a delight (Ps.1:2). They exist for our good (Duet. 10:13). "The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps. 19:8). "Blessed is every one that...walketh in his ways...happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee" (Ps. 128:1-2).
One of the greatest keys to happiness is being thankful. We start off each day with a bonus - life - because, let's face it, nobody owes us life! But of even more value than life is knowing God and partaking of His salvation.
Nothing else in life really matters. Other blessings may come and go. Wealth, material possessions, health - they all have wings. We should be grateful when we have them, serving God "with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abuundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47). But when they are gone, we still have that which counts most: God, His Word, His Church, His Spirit.
The apostle Paul realized this and admonished Christians to always give thanks (Eph. 5:20). "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thess. 5:18).
Paul always found a lot to be grateful for. He could say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11). Thankful contentment is happiness!
Christians have the promise of eternal life. This is a hope the
people in the world do not have (Eph. 2:12).When we who are called begin to feel burdened down we can remember that the present distress is only a temporary condition. While other people's hearts are failing them for fear and worry, and while the world falls apart around us, we can lift up our heads because our redemption draws near (Luke 21:25-28).
That's why the apostle Paul tells us to be "Rejoicing in hope" even
though at the same time we may need to be "patient in tribulation" (Rom.12:12). For a short season we may be "in heaviness through manifold temptations." Yet knowing we will be grateful throughout eternity for what these trials produce in us, we can "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Pet. 1:6-9).
The world can offer no thrill or happiness as exciting as
anticipating the moment when our change will take place and real life will begin.
We have a God we can trust. We can take all our problems to Him.
He has never failed. "Take delight in the Lord.... Commit your way to
the Lord; trust in him, and he will act" (Ps. 37:4-5, RSV). "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
[obey - John 14:15] God" (Rom.8:28). Since the promise is that all
things work together for good, there is nothing left to worry about, is there? Talk about freedom! Talk about peace of mind! "The
righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles" (Ps. 34: 17).
Jesus Christ proved" that He could overcome every obstacle. There is no problem in the world that He cannot solve for us. That is why He tells us, "Be of good cheer [in other words, be happy!]; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
Although there are additional ways in which the Bible describes true happiness, they may all be summed up in one definition: Happiness is -doing God's will. It really works. "If ye know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17)!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
What Kind of Example are You Setting
Quotes from magazine
How do we grow in this thing called faith? It is simple. We just do what Israel did not. Whenever trials come upon us, we face them as opportunities to build faith, rather
than as calamities to be feared. We know that although the physical circumstances may look disastrous we look to an invisible circumstance that can affect the outcome.
God is that invisible reality standing beside us ready to make "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).
Our daily troubles are opportunities to build faith. Problems intrude into all our lives. Our trials can come from almost any area of life school, work, home or play. We also have Satan's influence and the pull of the world to continually cope with. We have to contend with our own human nature. Unless we fearlessly approach these trials as
opportunities to build faith in God, life can become a tremendous burden. None of us enjoy adverse circumstances in our lives, but if we can accept them as necessary in building faith, then we can at least approach our trials with. a positive rather than negative attitude. Peter said "the trial of your faith" is "much more precious than ... gold" (I Pet. 1:7).
Why? Because faith is the essential element we must build in order to do the Work and enter the Kingdom of God. Without faith we would all fail. At times life seems filled with many "Red Seas," some little and some so big they look impossible for us to cross. But let us learn the beautiful truth that ancient Israel did not- that there is no "Red Sea" too big to cross with God. Let's view each day of our lives, with all its joys and sorrows, as just another step toward the Kingdom of God.
June-July 1980 Good News
What Kind of Example are You Setting
By David Carley
How do we grow in this thing called faith? It is simple. We just do what Israel did not. Whenever trials come upon us, we face them as opportunities to build faith, rather
than as calamities to be feared. We know that although the physical circumstances may look disastrous we look to an invisible circumstance that can affect the outcome.
God is that invisible reality standing beside us ready to make "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).
Our daily troubles are opportunities to build faith. Problems intrude into all our lives. Our trials can come from almost any area of life school, work, home or play. We also have Satan's influence and the pull of the world to continually cope with. We have to contend with our own human nature. Unless we fearlessly approach these trials as
opportunities to build faith in God, life can become a tremendous burden. None of us enjoy adverse circumstances in our lives, but if we can accept them as necessary in building faith, then we can at least approach our trials with. a positive rather than negative attitude. Peter said "the trial of your faith" is "much more precious than ... gold" (I Pet. 1:7).
Why? Because faith is the essential element we must build in order to do the Work and enter the Kingdom of God. Without faith we would all fail. At times life seems filled with many "Red Seas," some little and some so big they look impossible for us to cross. But let us learn the beautiful truth that ancient Israel did not- that there is no "Red Sea" too big to cross with God. Let's view each day of our lives, with all its joys and sorrows, as just another step toward the Kingdom of God.
June-July 1980 Good News
What Kind of Example are You Setting
By David Carley
Love Thy Neighbor Just What Does It Mean
Quotes from the Article
Trials and tests are common in all our lives. We have trials, and so does our neighbor. While Christ was undergoing the trial of His life, He was praying for Peter, a key disciple whom Satan wanted to destroy. And yet Christ Himself was about to be sacrificed. What a selfless love! Christ instructed Peter, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32). This is the type of love we must manifest toward our neighbor.
The same as loving God
God actually puts Himself in the place of our neighbor. Whatever we do to our neighbor, we are actually doing to God (Matt. 25:31-46). Do we always consider, as we deal with another human being, that we are doing to God whatever we do to that person? This knowledge should have powerful impact when we consider our relationship with our neighbor!
Do we begin to see the importance God places on relationships between human beings made in His likeness? Every human being is a potential member of the God Family, and we must not do anything to deter our neighbor from fulfilling God's purpose in his life. This must be the underlying premise upon which we base our every thought and deed toward our neigh bor.
Good News Feb.82
Love Thy Neighbor Just What Does It Mean
By Ellis LaRavia
Trials and tests are common in all our lives. We have trials, and so does our neighbor. While Christ was undergoing the trial of His life, He was praying for Peter, a key disciple whom Satan wanted to destroy. And yet Christ Himself was about to be sacrificed. What a selfless love! Christ instructed Peter, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32). This is the type of love we must manifest toward our neighbor.
The same as loving God
God actually puts Himself in the place of our neighbor. Whatever we do to our neighbor, we are actually doing to God (Matt. 25:31-46). Do we always consider, as we deal with another human being, that we are doing to God whatever we do to that person? This knowledge should have powerful impact when we consider our relationship with our neighbor!
Do we begin to see the importance God places on relationships between human beings made in His likeness? Every human being is a potential member of the God Family, and we must not do anything to deter our neighbor from fulfilling God's purpose in his life. This must be the underlying premise upon which we base our every thought and deed toward our neigh bor.
Good News Feb.82
Love Thy Neighbor Just What Does It Mean
By Ellis LaRavia
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Are You Just " Enduring To The End"?
Some in God's Church simply intend to "tough it out" until
Christ returns. Literally, they are "ENDURING to the end"
(Matt. 24:13) - but not the way Christ intended. Are you
making their mistake?
by Richard A. Wiedenheft
Good News Magazine
July-September 1973
THINK BACK to the time just before your first contact with the message proclaimed by God's Church. Your life had probably become somewhat frustrating and purposeless. You had problems and worries. You saw inequities and wrongs all around you. Perhaps you wondered, "What is it all about?"
Something was missing!
And them came the thrill and challenge of God's truth. You saw in it the answers to many gnawing doubts, the solutions to problems - real, positive, workable principles that could make your life fuller, happier and more abundant.
You seized God's way with zest and put those principles into action - at the cost of your hobbies, perhaps of your job, your friends, even your family. But it was well worth the sacrifice because your life now had meaning and direction - and you had the promise of eternal life! You abounded with the zeal that God calls the "first love" for His truth.
Routine of Christian Living
As the days, weeks and months rolled by, however, you discovered that you were still you, that life still had its frustrations, disappointments and heartaches. Even as a converted and changed Christian, you continued to have trials and tests, some of which were burdensome and wearing.
And so your "first love" began to fade, your original childlike excitement now tempered with the mature realization that God's way is not a magical, mystical solution to all ills - that it requires hard work on your part.
Are you now therefore one of those who are simply "waiting it out" - tolerating your problems and shortcomings - hoping that somehow when Christ appears in the clouds your whole mental attitude will be instantly changed? Are you looking for God's Kingdom to bring you "instant happiness"?
Brethren, don't be deceived. God is not going to end all our problems, trials and tests for us while we are rising to meet Christ in the air - we must be working on and conquering them now, by our own hard effort magnified and made effective through God's spiritual help!
God promises eternal spirit life and rulership in His Kingdom only to those who in this life develop righteous spiritual character - who practice love, joy, peace, happiness and overcome and solve their problems now!
God's People Should Be Happy
Jesus explained to His disciples that one who is faithful in little will be faithful in much (Luke 16:10). If we learn here and now to lead full, happy, purposeful physical lives, to master and overcome our afflictions, God knows we can be happy for all eternity in His Kingdom.
In John 10:10 Christ told the Pharisees: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." God intended our physical life to be an abundant one - not necessarily full of wealth and earthly possessions, but full of love, joy, peace and happiness.
"Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . ." are among the fruits of God's Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Notice that love, joy and peace head the list. These are the spiritual works by which God is judging us.
Can we really evidence love, joy, and peace if we are just "waiting it out"? Obviously not. Putting up with our shortcomings and allowing circumstances subject to our control to toss us about - hoping that Christ will return before our endurance runs out - is not the way to peace and happiness!
When Christ returns He wants to find His servants "so doing" (Matt. 24:46) - actively and aggressively making changes in themselves; actually solving problems - not simply "marking time" and putting up with their lacks - not relying on someone else to push them into overcoming. He wants to find in us ever-increasing joy and the sense of purpose that comes only with spiritual growth.
Take a test.
Can you say that since you were put into God's Church you have been very blessed - and that you are being spiritually blessed more all the time?
If not, something is amiss.
If you don't feel very blessed and happy - and increasingly so as time passes, you may be "missing the boat."
Trials, Yes! Unhappiness, No!
Certainly God did promise trials and tribulation for true Christians. Anyone who will live godly is in for some rough times.
But even in the face of trials, a Christian should not become unhappy and frustrated. James commanded, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials]; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
No crisis or dilemma seems cause for us to shout for joy - at least not in the immediate physical sense. But we are commanded by our Creator to rejoice in the long range good that a trial can produce. We can have the vision and foresight to know that God is absolutely in control, allowing a problem only for our ultimate spiritual good.
Trials can be traumatic; but they need not destroy the overall contentment and joy we have in knowing we are now learning how to live so we can reign for all eternity with Christ.
Nothing must be allowed to blur our vision of our goal. Then, nothing can destroy our happiness! Christ exhorted His disciples: ".. . rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you" - or because of any supernatural abilities we might be given - "... but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). That is our cause for great rejoicing, regardless of our physical circumstances.
Be Deeply Converted
Although the temporary physical blessings of this life can add to our happiness, we must never let the lack or desire for them destroy or ruin our rejoicing. No attempt to base our life and happiness on physical things which an so easily be taken from us can ever succeed.
But to be able to get our minds off the physical things of this world, we must be deeply converted - we must strive to rid ourselves of the habits, aspirations and vanity of our carnal lives. We must understand and despise the carnality we see in our own minds. We must be willing to accept correction and admit our weaknesses and faults.
We should pray for God to show us our errors and shortcomings, to correct us in His mercy; and we should also ask God's ministers to help us see where we need to change.
Admitting error, accepting correction, then striving to overcome, must become a daily challenge for us --knowing that we are qualifying for an eternal goal which is the foundation of our happiness.
With this spiritual goal in mind, we can greatly appreciate any physical blessings God has granted us and use them to the fullest. Sin and unhappiness come from misuse or abuse - but happiness, peace and joy come from the proper appreciation and use of all that God has created.
Enjoy the taste of delicious food; be inspired by beautiful music; be thrilled by the fellowship of other members of God's family; appreciate the glory of God's creation. In proper balance drink in of all of God's physical creation, but always seek His Kingdom first (Matt. 6:33).
Solve Your Problems
As true Christians, we must actually solve the problems of this life. Never think or say, "I can't do things any different. That is the way I am," or, "I can't help it if conditions are that way" - and slip into a do-nothing attitude.
Too many of us are satisfied with second place - with less than a fulfilling marriage, with less than obedient children. We bounce from job to job without direction. We allow circumstances to shape our lives. We slip by from paycheck to paycheck just keeping our financial noses above water. We allow our own physical bodies to remain too fat, or enervated, or in pain, when it lies within our power to correct the situation - if we only would exert the effort to do so.
Are you developing and using your mind, broadening your mental horizons, learning in fields you have previously ignored or had no opportunity? Then again, perhaps you are already too broad in your interests and need to narrow them down and begin to specialize in certain fields.
Granted, there are limitations to what we can alter in this life - but are we really changing to the utmost? It's true that change is often arduous, embarrassing and traumatic, but are we really measuring it as we should in comparison to the jubilation beyond?
Are you solving and overcoming problems - putting them into the past? Or engaged in a simple endurance contest?
Accentuate the Positive
"A basic human tendency is to see the negative side of things. It doesn't matter who you are, you can always find something to be discouraged about if you want to. There is always trouble in the world, in the nation, in every community. There are aches and pains, discouragement and disappointment in our personal lives.
But one thing is sure: worrying about these problems, brooding about them, being unhappy about them, won't make them go away.
So what should we do?
We must learn to thrust our problems into the hands of God through prayer and meditate about the positive aspects of our life and His way. We of all people do know who we are - we know where we're going. We have the absolute promise that ".. . all things work together for good to them that love God . . ." (Rom. 8:28). Before us lies the greatest goal that a human being could imagine - the promised goal of being in God's family for all eternity.
Brethren, let's accentuate the positive!
Let's recapture the original zest and happiness we experienced when we first began to walk in God's way of life.
Remember, this physical existence is the training and testing ground for an eternal spiritual life in God's glorious family. Eternal happiness is available only to those who learn true happiness here and now!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brought to you as a study resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock
Christ returns. Literally, they are "ENDURING to the end"
(Matt. 24:13) - but not the way Christ intended. Are you
making their mistake?
by Richard A. Wiedenheft
Good News Magazine
July-September 1973
THINK BACK to the time just before your first contact with the message proclaimed by God's Church. Your life had probably become somewhat frustrating and purposeless. You had problems and worries. You saw inequities and wrongs all around you. Perhaps you wondered, "What is it all about?"
Something was missing!
And them came the thrill and challenge of God's truth. You saw in it the answers to many gnawing doubts, the solutions to problems - real, positive, workable principles that could make your life fuller, happier and more abundant.
You seized God's way with zest and put those principles into action - at the cost of your hobbies, perhaps of your job, your friends, even your family. But it was well worth the sacrifice because your life now had meaning and direction - and you had the promise of eternal life! You abounded with the zeal that God calls the "first love" for His truth.
Routine of Christian Living
As the days, weeks and months rolled by, however, you discovered that you were still you, that life still had its frustrations, disappointments and heartaches. Even as a converted and changed Christian, you continued to have trials and tests, some of which were burdensome and wearing.
And so your "first love" began to fade, your original childlike excitement now tempered with the mature realization that God's way is not a magical, mystical solution to all ills - that it requires hard work on your part.
Are you now therefore one of those who are simply "waiting it out" - tolerating your problems and shortcomings - hoping that somehow when Christ appears in the clouds your whole mental attitude will be instantly changed? Are you looking for God's Kingdom to bring you "instant happiness"?
Brethren, don't be deceived. God is not going to end all our problems, trials and tests for us while we are rising to meet Christ in the air - we must be working on and conquering them now, by our own hard effort magnified and made effective through God's spiritual help!
God promises eternal spirit life and rulership in His Kingdom only to those who in this life develop righteous spiritual character - who practice love, joy, peace, happiness and overcome and solve their problems now!
God's People Should Be Happy
Jesus explained to His disciples that one who is faithful in little will be faithful in much (Luke 16:10). If we learn here and now to lead full, happy, purposeful physical lives, to master and overcome our afflictions, God knows we can be happy for all eternity in His Kingdom.
In John 10:10 Christ told the Pharisees: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." God intended our physical life to be an abundant one - not necessarily full of wealth and earthly possessions, but full of love, joy, peace and happiness.
"Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . ." are among the fruits of God's Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Notice that love, joy and peace head the list. These are the spiritual works by which God is judging us.
Can we really evidence love, joy, and peace if we are just "waiting it out"? Obviously not. Putting up with our shortcomings and allowing circumstances subject to our control to toss us about - hoping that Christ will return before our endurance runs out - is not the way to peace and happiness!
When Christ returns He wants to find His servants "so doing" (Matt. 24:46) - actively and aggressively making changes in themselves; actually solving problems - not simply "marking time" and putting up with their lacks - not relying on someone else to push them into overcoming. He wants to find in us ever-increasing joy and the sense of purpose that comes only with spiritual growth.
Take a test.
Can you say that since you were put into God's Church you have been very blessed - and that you are being spiritually blessed more all the time?
If not, something is amiss.
If you don't feel very blessed and happy - and increasingly so as time passes, you may be "missing the boat."
Trials, Yes! Unhappiness, No!
Certainly God did promise trials and tribulation for true Christians. Anyone who will live godly is in for some rough times.
But even in the face of trials, a Christian should not become unhappy and frustrated. James commanded, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials]; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
No crisis or dilemma seems cause for us to shout for joy - at least not in the immediate physical sense. But we are commanded by our Creator to rejoice in the long range good that a trial can produce. We can have the vision and foresight to know that God is absolutely in control, allowing a problem only for our ultimate spiritual good.
Trials can be traumatic; but they need not destroy the overall contentment and joy we have in knowing we are now learning how to live so we can reign for all eternity with Christ.
Nothing must be allowed to blur our vision of our goal. Then, nothing can destroy our happiness! Christ exhorted His disciples: ".. . rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you" - or because of any supernatural abilities we might be given - "... but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). That is our cause for great rejoicing, regardless of our physical circumstances.
Be Deeply Converted
Although the temporary physical blessings of this life can add to our happiness, we must never let the lack or desire for them destroy or ruin our rejoicing. No attempt to base our life and happiness on physical things which an so easily be taken from us can ever succeed.
But to be able to get our minds off the physical things of this world, we must be deeply converted - we must strive to rid ourselves of the habits, aspirations and vanity of our carnal lives. We must understand and despise the carnality we see in our own minds. We must be willing to accept correction and admit our weaknesses and faults.
We should pray for God to show us our errors and shortcomings, to correct us in His mercy; and we should also ask God's ministers to help us see where we need to change.
Admitting error, accepting correction, then striving to overcome, must become a daily challenge for us --knowing that we are qualifying for an eternal goal which is the foundation of our happiness.
With this spiritual goal in mind, we can greatly appreciate any physical blessings God has granted us and use them to the fullest. Sin and unhappiness come from misuse or abuse - but happiness, peace and joy come from the proper appreciation and use of all that God has created.
Enjoy the taste of delicious food; be inspired by beautiful music; be thrilled by the fellowship of other members of God's family; appreciate the glory of God's creation. In proper balance drink in of all of God's physical creation, but always seek His Kingdom first (Matt. 6:33).
Solve Your Problems
As true Christians, we must actually solve the problems of this life. Never think or say, "I can't do things any different. That is the way I am," or, "I can't help it if conditions are that way" - and slip into a do-nothing attitude.
Too many of us are satisfied with second place - with less than a fulfilling marriage, with less than obedient children. We bounce from job to job without direction. We allow circumstances to shape our lives. We slip by from paycheck to paycheck just keeping our financial noses above water. We allow our own physical bodies to remain too fat, or enervated, or in pain, when it lies within our power to correct the situation - if we only would exert the effort to do so.
Are you developing and using your mind, broadening your mental horizons, learning in fields you have previously ignored or had no opportunity? Then again, perhaps you are already too broad in your interests and need to narrow them down and begin to specialize in certain fields.
Granted, there are limitations to what we can alter in this life - but are we really changing to the utmost? It's true that change is often arduous, embarrassing and traumatic, but are we really measuring it as we should in comparison to the jubilation beyond?
Are you solving and overcoming problems - putting them into the past? Or engaged in a simple endurance contest?
Accentuate the Positive
"A basic human tendency is to see the negative side of things. It doesn't matter who you are, you can always find something to be discouraged about if you want to. There is always trouble in the world, in the nation, in every community. There are aches and pains, discouragement and disappointment in our personal lives.
But one thing is sure: worrying about these problems, brooding about them, being unhappy about them, won't make them go away.
So what should we do?
We must learn to thrust our problems into the hands of God through prayer and meditate about the positive aspects of our life and His way. We of all people do know who we are - we know where we're going. We have the absolute promise that ".. . all things work together for good to them that love God . . ." (Rom. 8:28). Before us lies the greatest goal that a human being could imagine - the promised goal of being in God's family for all eternity.
Brethren, let's accentuate the positive!
Let's recapture the original zest and happiness we experienced when we first began to walk in God's way of life.
Remember, this physical existence is the training and testing ground for an eternal spiritual life in God's glorious family. Eternal happiness is available only to those who learn true happiness here and now!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brought to you as a study resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock
Saturday, August 30, 2008
What is Your Idol?
A UNITED STATES senator preached a sermon in a Methodist pulpit in Los Angeles, Calif.
Of all things, imagine a well-known senator saying that patriotism is a false god to many people! And he was right.
"Love of country can transcend the love of God," he said, "and we must, in time of stress, avoid making patriotism a religion."
He said a number of other things I could have said, myself. Among the idols professing Christians worship, he cited prosperity, science, patriotism, peace - and some people actually make an idol of the Bible, strange as that may sound. Some, he said, worship the Bible for itself, NOT as containing TRUTHS necessary for salvation, and, I add, as a GUIDE to a WAY OF LIFE.
What is your idol? What are you really dedicated to? Is it earning a living - making money? What absorbs your mind, your thoughts, your time - what are you really devoted to?
Is it God - above all else? Or is it your hobby, your wife or husband, your children, your home, your sports - or amusements and entertainments?
What do you keep your MIND on most of the time? What most occupies your INTEREST? Is it friends - society? Is it PEOPLE - Or is it THINGS?
It surely couldn't be GOD, could it?
Probably not. And, if not, then it is an IDOL. You are breaking the First Commandment. You have this other god before Him.
Just WHAT IS RELIGION?
Is it merely an incidental interest, secondary to many other things, such as earning a living, your home, your family, your friends, hobbies, sports, entertainments? Possibly secondary to television or movies?
Religion is your CONNECTION WITH GOD - your relationship with Him.
Religion is realizing the PURPOSE of your life - the reason why God had you to be born - the reason you draw the breath of air and exist - the PURPOSE or end GOAL of your life, and HOW to live that life so as to arrive there.
I have written of the seven laws of SUCCESS. You may have the free booklet on The Seven Laws of Success by writing our office nearest you. They are really the seven laws of LIFE. They are the seven laws of RELIGION. Yet most people do not know or practice or apply a single one of them.
The first is to have the RIGHT GOAL.
That GOAL - God's PURPOSE for having put the breath of life in you - is that you be born of GOD, to share with Him the GLORY of creation, to inherit His divine NATURE, to be LIKE HIM - to do what He does, to accomplish what He accomplishes, enjoy what He ENJOYS - peace, happiness, joy, resplendent GLORY in LIFE EVERLASTING.
No other goal could be as great. It is superlative.
But what are you,now? Just a mass of matter, put together like a machine. Your present existence has to be constantly SUSTAINED. You have to keep drawing a breath of air into your lungs about every four or five seconds. You have to eat food on the average of at least three times every day. You have to take care of eliminating the impurities from food, and of bathing and cleansing your body.
Maybe you don't really have to "brush your teeth after every meal" as a certain toothpaste TV commercial keeps repeating like a phonograph record that got stuck.
But you do have to maintain and sustain your physical anatomy to keep on existing - and even then you are aging and degenerating every day and every year - and the most certain thing in this existence we call "life" is that this machine process is going to run down - You ARE GOING TO DIE.
Actually, we have to simply keep pumping life into ourselves constantly - daily - to continue existing - to continue consciousness.
Yet most people keep on, day after day, year after year, pumping that existence into themselves, with NO MORE PURPOSE than to try to be comfortable, free from pain, and to be pleasing the five senses - with their minds on the passing physical and material things of the moment - things that are not lasting, and are soon gone.
Unless God's own CHARACTER is being formed and developed in your mind and your life, replacing the carnality that is there now, you shall have missed your GOAL.
God's PURPOSE is to CREATE within you, during this life, a new and perfect CHARACTER, so that you may be given eternal life - self-containing, inherent life.
If you are converted - that is, if you do once establish actual contact with God - He supernaturally puts within you His HOLY SPIRIT. This impregnates you with HIS LIFE - begets you as His child, actually yet unborn.
Actually, what many professing Christians call "being born again" should be termed "being begotten."
Technically, to be "born of God" means to be changed in composition from flesh and blood matter to SPIRIT - no longer mortal, no longer human.
But it does put within you a NEW NATURE, entirely opposite to HUMAN NATURE with which you were first born.
You are, as Scripture says, given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE"(II Pet. 1:4). Of course the old human nature remains, and your mind makes the continual decisions whether to yield to the downward pull and appetites and established habits of human nature, or to resist it by yielding to the new divine nature - to BE LED BY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.
This, then, BECOMES your very life!
You can only succeed if your GOAL is kept constantly - continually - before your eyes.
When you drive a car, if you take your eyes and attention off what is in front of you (and sometimes coming from the side or behind) even for two or three seconds, you may find yourself "coming to" in a hospital, dying and saying "It all happened so suddenly!"
Driving carefully means BEING ALERT - being DILIGENT every second - KEEPING YOUR EYE and your mind and attention on the matter of DRIVING - not on conversation or other things.
In the same manner, if you let other interests, material pursuits, steal first place in your mind and heart and interest, even for a few days, you are in danger of a SPIRITUAL SMASHUP that will let you wake up being plunged into the LAKE OF FIRE, which will mean eternal DEATH.
That's why God doesn't want you to have these other gods BEFORE Him.
For your own sake - in your own interest - you must keep Him enthroned and enshrined constantly ABOVE ALL.
You must study His WORD in order to be instructed by Him.
Instructed in what? Instructed in true KNOWLEDGE - knowledge of God's PURPOSE for you - knowledge of and about God - and knowledge of HOW TO LIVE. Jesus Christ said you must actually LIVE BY the words of the Bible. It is your GUIDE TO LIVING - your INSTRUCTION BOOK the Maker sent along to instruct you HOW to OPERATE this mechanism that is YOU.
More, you must study His Word - your BIBLE - to find what you now believe that is wrong, and what you are now DOING that is wrong - to be CORRECTED and reproved by it. You must study it to let it INSTRUCT you in the ways of God's RIGHTEOUSNESS - His WAY OF LIFE. And then you must devote yourself to LIVING IT!
Still, without regular and constant PRAYER, you cannot maintain CONTACT with God. And when that contact is broken, you are CUT OFF from Him - and His spiritual LIFE, LOVE and very NATURE ceases flowing into you.
For, understand, these divine attributes of His Spirit DO FLOW! They are IN MOTION. They do not stagnate.
You either GROW spiritually - in knowledge - in grace - in God's character - or you deteriorate back toward becoming a mere physical animal, to die in ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in the lake of fire!
But if God, and the things of God - His revealed knowledge - His law - His love - His WAY for you to live - are constantly foremost in your mind, your thoughts, your interest, then you are PRAYING ALWAYS - that is, in a constant SPIRIT OF PRAYER - a constant MENTAL ATTITUDE of prayer.
The contact with God must be perpetual!
This kind of Christian life - the only kind that truly is Christian - requires, as the Bible emphasizes repeatedly, zealous DILIGENCE. YOU must CONCENTRATE on it. You must be DEDICATED to it. It requires utter CONSECRATION. It requires total EARNESTNESS.
Yes, it requires the application of the other six laws of SUCCESS - education, in which the Bible is the main textbook; good physical health; DRIVE, or concentrated DILIGENCE and EFFORT; resourcefulness; sticking to it - enduring; and continual contact with, and the guidance, help and power of, GOD.
True spiritual mindedness is not a sticky sentimentalism. It is NOT a certain emotional mood. It is not the use of a certain religious phraseology, saying constantly, "Praise the Lord," or, "Glory, hallelujah."
I have known many people whose TALK is so very "spiritual" - but whose hearts were as far from God as the prophet Isaiah described (Isa. 29:13).
Jesus Christ was a perfectly SPIRITUAL man. But He did not go about using such mushy language.
He was not a girlish, effeminate, sentimental or emotional weakling. He was a strong, virile, masterful, yet kind and gentle, MAN.
He possessed LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, PURPOSE, SUPREME STRONG WILL - and yet these masculine qualities of strength and power were perfectly blended with wisdom, judgment, knowledge, understanding, justice and also patience, compassion and mercy. He was filled with PEACE, LOVE, FAITH.
And His WILL, strong as it was, was totally yielded and obedient to GOD. All this was the character of GOD.
He is our PATTERN. We must imitate Him - copy Him.
Look at the men of God in the Old Testament - Abraham, Noah, Joseph, David, Daniel, Elijah. They were all different from Christ in one respect - in which you and I must also be different - they had human weaknesses, and all did sin, yet these men all repented and strove to overcome.
But they were all men of strong PURPOSE, strong WILL guided by God; all possessed leadership, but also love and faith and a consecrated OBEDIENCE to the will of GOD. But they were not effeminate, sentimental men indulging in an affected, put-on, religious-sounding way of talking.
Look at the apostles Peter and Paul. They were the same. You don't find any of this pseudo "spirituality" in them - yet they were truly SPIRITUAL men, devoted to obeying God and serving the needs of the people.
But one thing to watch and guard against every second, in the way of attitude, is resentment, bitterness, hatred.
Don't let ANYTHING, no matter how unjust, make you sour and bitter.
That is the deadliest mental and spiritual POISON. We must LOVE even our enemies who perpetrate the greatest outrages - though we do not condone their evils.
If you ever think I'M wrong about anything, don't get sour or bitter about it - let God correct and punish me - vengeance is His, you know.
Resentment against me won't either punish me or benefit you, but it could consign you to eternal punishment!
Whether you believe it or not, I have come, by years of experience learning the HARD WAY, to have supreme faith that God will never neglect to correct or punish me wherever I deserve it! You may TRUST Him to do it!
Remember what a GLORIOUS GOAL we have before us!
How GRATEFUL we ought to be! How our hearts ought to be FLOODED with love and gratitude to the great God for His matchless LOVE toward us.
I'm sure we don't grasp what a supreme price He paid to make it possible. He wants us to be CHANGED - to overcome and root out this debasing, rotten carnality we all have in us - and to GROW into His righteousness, that we may SHARE His GLORY.
And, you know, I believe God wants and longs to share the supreme GLORY that He has with you! Make it your supreme overall life VOCATION, and WORK HARD AT IT!
The Japanese spy who stealthily and secretly obtained all the information the Japanese needed to bomb Pearl Harbor said that he was not a very brilliant man, and learning came hard to him, BUT HE WORKED HARD AT IT, relentlessly, with zeal, and with purpose, and with diligence. He SUCCEEDED - in terrible DESTRUCTION - in plunging the United States into World War II - and, finally, in the ignominious defeat of his own nation.
Let us work hard at our calling and mission of being real Christians. We shall succeed, with God's help - in final and eternal GLORY!
Of all things, imagine a well-known senator saying that patriotism is a false god to many people! And he was right.
"Love of country can transcend the love of God," he said, "and we must, in time of stress, avoid making patriotism a religion."
He said a number of other things I could have said, myself. Among the idols professing Christians worship, he cited prosperity, science, patriotism, peace - and some people actually make an idol of the Bible, strange as that may sound. Some, he said, worship the Bible for itself, NOT as containing TRUTHS necessary for salvation, and, I add, as a GUIDE to a WAY OF LIFE.
What is your idol? What are you really dedicated to? Is it earning a living - making money? What absorbs your mind, your thoughts, your time - what are you really devoted to?
Is it God - above all else? Or is it your hobby, your wife or husband, your children, your home, your sports - or amusements and entertainments?
What do you keep your MIND on most of the time? What most occupies your INTEREST? Is it friends - society? Is it PEOPLE - Or is it THINGS?
It surely couldn't be GOD, could it?
Probably not. And, if not, then it is an IDOL. You are breaking the First Commandment. You have this other god before Him.
Just WHAT IS RELIGION?
Is it merely an incidental interest, secondary to many other things, such as earning a living, your home, your family, your friends, hobbies, sports, entertainments? Possibly secondary to television or movies?
Religion is your CONNECTION WITH GOD - your relationship with Him.
Religion is realizing the PURPOSE of your life - the reason why God had you to be born - the reason you draw the breath of air and exist - the PURPOSE or end GOAL of your life, and HOW to live that life so as to arrive there.
I have written of the seven laws of SUCCESS. You may have the free booklet on The Seven Laws of Success by writing our office nearest you. They are really the seven laws of LIFE. They are the seven laws of RELIGION. Yet most people do not know or practice or apply a single one of them.
The first is to have the RIGHT GOAL.
That GOAL - God's PURPOSE for having put the breath of life in you - is that you be born of GOD, to share with Him the GLORY of creation, to inherit His divine NATURE, to be LIKE HIM - to do what He does, to accomplish what He accomplishes, enjoy what He ENJOYS - peace, happiness, joy, resplendent GLORY in LIFE EVERLASTING.
No other goal could be as great. It is superlative.
But what are you,now? Just a mass of matter, put together like a machine. Your present existence has to be constantly SUSTAINED. You have to keep drawing a breath of air into your lungs about every four or five seconds. You have to eat food on the average of at least three times every day. You have to take care of eliminating the impurities from food, and of bathing and cleansing your body.
Maybe you don't really have to "brush your teeth after every meal" as a certain toothpaste TV commercial keeps repeating like a phonograph record that got stuck.
But you do have to maintain and sustain your physical anatomy to keep on existing - and even then you are aging and degenerating every day and every year - and the most certain thing in this existence we call "life" is that this machine process is going to run down - You ARE GOING TO DIE.
Actually, we have to simply keep pumping life into ourselves constantly - daily - to continue existing - to continue consciousness.
Yet most people keep on, day after day, year after year, pumping that existence into themselves, with NO MORE PURPOSE than to try to be comfortable, free from pain, and to be pleasing the five senses - with their minds on the passing physical and material things of the moment - things that are not lasting, and are soon gone.
Unless God's own CHARACTER is being formed and developed in your mind and your life, replacing the carnality that is there now, you shall have missed your GOAL.
God's PURPOSE is to CREATE within you, during this life, a new and perfect CHARACTER, so that you may be given eternal life - self-containing, inherent life.
If you are converted - that is, if you do once establish actual contact with God - He supernaturally puts within you His HOLY SPIRIT. This impregnates you with HIS LIFE - begets you as His child, actually yet unborn.
Actually, what many professing Christians call "being born again" should be termed "being begotten."
Technically, to be "born of God" means to be changed in composition from flesh and blood matter to SPIRIT - no longer mortal, no longer human.
But it does put within you a NEW NATURE, entirely opposite to HUMAN NATURE with which you were first born.
You are, as Scripture says, given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE"(II Pet. 1:4). Of course the old human nature remains, and your mind makes the continual decisions whether to yield to the downward pull and appetites and established habits of human nature, or to resist it by yielding to the new divine nature - to BE LED BY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.
This, then, BECOMES your very life!
You can only succeed if your GOAL is kept constantly - continually - before your eyes.
When you drive a car, if you take your eyes and attention off what is in front of you (and sometimes coming from the side or behind) even for two or three seconds, you may find yourself "coming to" in a hospital, dying and saying "It all happened so suddenly!"
Driving carefully means BEING ALERT - being DILIGENT every second - KEEPING YOUR EYE and your mind and attention on the matter of DRIVING - not on conversation or other things.
In the same manner, if you let other interests, material pursuits, steal first place in your mind and heart and interest, even for a few days, you are in danger of a SPIRITUAL SMASHUP that will let you wake up being plunged into the LAKE OF FIRE, which will mean eternal DEATH.
That's why God doesn't want you to have these other gods BEFORE Him.
For your own sake - in your own interest - you must keep Him enthroned and enshrined constantly ABOVE ALL.
You must study His WORD in order to be instructed by Him.
Instructed in what? Instructed in true KNOWLEDGE - knowledge of God's PURPOSE for you - knowledge of and about God - and knowledge of HOW TO LIVE. Jesus Christ said you must actually LIVE BY the words of the Bible. It is your GUIDE TO LIVING - your INSTRUCTION BOOK the Maker sent along to instruct you HOW to OPERATE this mechanism that is YOU.
More, you must study His Word - your BIBLE - to find what you now believe that is wrong, and what you are now DOING that is wrong - to be CORRECTED and reproved by it. You must study it to let it INSTRUCT you in the ways of God's RIGHTEOUSNESS - His WAY OF LIFE. And then you must devote yourself to LIVING IT!
Still, without regular and constant PRAYER, you cannot maintain CONTACT with God. And when that contact is broken, you are CUT OFF from Him - and His spiritual LIFE, LOVE and very NATURE ceases flowing into you.
For, understand, these divine attributes of His Spirit DO FLOW! They are IN MOTION. They do not stagnate.
You either GROW spiritually - in knowledge - in grace - in God's character - or you deteriorate back toward becoming a mere physical animal, to die in ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in the lake of fire!
But if God, and the things of God - His revealed knowledge - His law - His love - His WAY for you to live - are constantly foremost in your mind, your thoughts, your interest, then you are PRAYING ALWAYS - that is, in a constant SPIRIT OF PRAYER - a constant MENTAL ATTITUDE of prayer.
The contact with God must be perpetual!
This kind of Christian life - the only kind that truly is Christian - requires, as the Bible emphasizes repeatedly, zealous DILIGENCE. YOU must CONCENTRATE on it. You must be DEDICATED to it. It requires utter CONSECRATION. It requires total EARNESTNESS.
Yes, it requires the application of the other six laws of SUCCESS - education, in which the Bible is the main textbook; good physical health; DRIVE, or concentrated DILIGENCE and EFFORT; resourcefulness; sticking to it - enduring; and continual contact with, and the guidance, help and power of, GOD.
True spiritual mindedness is not a sticky sentimentalism. It is NOT a certain emotional mood. It is not the use of a certain religious phraseology, saying constantly, "Praise the Lord," or, "Glory, hallelujah."
I have known many people whose TALK is so very "spiritual" - but whose hearts were as far from God as the prophet Isaiah described (Isa. 29:13).
Jesus Christ was a perfectly SPIRITUAL man. But He did not go about using such mushy language.
He was not a girlish, effeminate, sentimental or emotional weakling. He was a strong, virile, masterful, yet kind and gentle, MAN.
He possessed LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, PURPOSE, SUPREME STRONG WILL - and yet these masculine qualities of strength and power were perfectly blended with wisdom, judgment, knowledge, understanding, justice and also patience, compassion and mercy. He was filled with PEACE, LOVE, FAITH.
And His WILL, strong as it was, was totally yielded and obedient to GOD. All this was the character of GOD.
He is our PATTERN. We must imitate Him - copy Him.
Look at the men of God in the Old Testament - Abraham, Noah, Joseph, David, Daniel, Elijah. They were all different from Christ in one respect - in which you and I must also be different - they had human weaknesses, and all did sin, yet these men all repented and strove to overcome.
But they were all men of strong PURPOSE, strong WILL guided by God; all possessed leadership, but also love and faith and a consecrated OBEDIENCE to the will of GOD. But they were not effeminate, sentimental men indulging in an affected, put-on, religious-sounding way of talking.
Look at the apostles Peter and Paul. They were the same. You don't find any of this pseudo "spirituality" in them - yet they were truly SPIRITUAL men, devoted to obeying God and serving the needs of the people.
But one thing to watch and guard against every second, in the way of attitude, is resentment, bitterness, hatred.
Don't let ANYTHING, no matter how unjust, make you sour and bitter.
That is the deadliest mental and spiritual POISON. We must LOVE even our enemies who perpetrate the greatest outrages - though we do not condone their evils.
If you ever think I'M wrong about anything, don't get sour or bitter about it - let God correct and punish me - vengeance is His, you know.
Resentment against me won't either punish me or benefit you, but it could consign you to eternal punishment!
Whether you believe it or not, I have come, by years of experience learning the HARD WAY, to have supreme faith that God will never neglect to correct or punish me wherever I deserve it! You may TRUST Him to do it!
Remember what a GLORIOUS GOAL we have before us!
How GRATEFUL we ought to be! How our hearts ought to be FLOODED with love and gratitude to the great God for His matchless LOVE toward us.
I'm sure we don't grasp what a supreme price He paid to make it possible. He wants us to be CHANGED - to overcome and root out this debasing, rotten carnality we all have in us - and to GROW into His righteousness, that we may SHARE His GLORY.
And, you know, I believe God wants and longs to share the supreme GLORY that He has with you! Make it your supreme overall life VOCATION, and WORK HARD AT IT!
The Japanese spy who stealthily and secretly obtained all the information the Japanese needed to bomb Pearl Harbor said that he was not a very brilliant man, and learning came hard to him, BUT HE WORKED HARD AT IT, relentlessly, with zeal, and with purpose, and with diligence. He SUCCEEDED - in terrible DESTRUCTION - in plunging the United States into World War II - and, finally, in the ignominious defeat of his own nation.
Let us work hard at our calling and mission of being real Christians. We shall succeed, with God's help - in final and eternal GLORY!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Gossip And Accusation Must Stop
Good News - 1978 July 31, Page 1
PREFACE BY GOD'S APOSTLE
by Herbert W. Armstrong
Perhaps the No. 1 problem -- yes, and even the No. 1 and most prevalent SIN IN God's Church today is careless GOSSIP and rumor spreading. Whether or not realized, it often becomes accusation and slander.
If a hostile student demonstration, such as organized and promoted by Communists, had appeared on the Ambassador campus I would have made it my business to identify the LEADER and get rid of him. Once such actions lose their leadership they disintegrate. It's the same on our problem of rumors -- especially those ugly rumors that discredit or accuse, actually, perhaps unrealized, a form of character assassination.
I fully realize that often this is mere carelessness -- a sort of thinking through the mouth -- with no deliberate intention to harm. But it DOES HARM! And sometimes it is intended to harm!
The subject came up in a conversation with David Antion. At my request he has prepared the following memorandum on GOD'S LAW covering this subject.
This sort of thing MUST BE STAMPED OUT OF GOD'S CHURCH. Our Leader and HEAD of the Church, Jesus Christ, is TURNING GOD'S CHURCH AROUND, though He uses His human servant in so doing.
However, because 1) we have perhaps carelessly neglected emphatic TEACHING on this subject, and 2) much of such gossip or rumor has probably been done carelessly without full realization of the seriousness of it, I have decided to hold off direct and definite punitive corrective action UNTIL THIS THING HAS BEEN EMPHASIZED by the ministry, and in print, before the membership.
I realize that even many of us, including myself, may have been guilty of this through carelessness, thoughtlessness or neglect. I have decided, therefore, that first we must PUT EMPHATIC EMPHASIS on this matter in teachings, sermons and articles.
But this is to be followed by DIRECT ACTION, seeking out the SOURCE -- the one who started the rumor, false accusation or whatever, and then making an example of that person, if necessary, before the whole Church. I feel that this is CHRIST'S WAY of stamping out this evil from God's Church, and I act, therefore, in His name.
Following is Mr. Antion's memo to me on this subject.
____________________________________________________
Here is the memo you asked me to write when I was in your office last Friday. It is on the subject of what God's Law has to say about false witnesses and accusation.
As you have taught for many years, the statutes of Scripture are derived from the GREAT LAWS of God in the Ten Commandments.
The Ninth Commandment
The Ninth Commandment -- "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" -- is the basis for the other statutes and judgments in this category in the Bible.
Most people assume that the Ninth Commandment is only against lying. Though it does cover lying (Revelation 21:8, Colossians 3:9) it is mainly against false accusations made against another!
You have also taught that the main object of the last six commandments is love of your neighbor (Romans 13:9-10). And the Ninth Commandment forbids making a false witness against your neighbor -- thus harming him. The Moffatt and the New English Bible say, "You shall not give false evidence [against your neighbor]."
Not a light thing
Does God consider it a light thing for a man to falsely accuse his neighbor (brother)?
And what about Jesus' words: "Judge not that ye be not judged"? We know that we can judge a person's actions as being either in conformity or not with God's law. But can we judge his heart?
"But why doest thou judge thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). And in verse 13, "Let us not therefore judge another any more."
The apostle James must have had trouble with judging and accusing in his day, for he writes: "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are thou that judgest another?" (James 4:11-12).
Those who would speak evil of another and judge their brothers are in reality judging the law and speaking evil of GOD'S LAW! And like you have said, "The one who accuses us usually is guilty of the very thing he accuses others of."
False accusations divisive
If a minister got up in the pulpit and spoke evil of the Law of God (which is holy, just and good), he would be dismissed from the ministry! But what happens to him if he judges the intent, thought and beliefs of his brother?
For too long God's Work and God's MINISTRY have been divided BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND JUDGING! It is time that God's Law be applied and that God's own judgments be enforced against those who judge and falsely accuse.
It was false accusers that got Jesus crucified! Should God's Church house them now? Should it allow false accusers (thus encouraging them in their deeds) to continue their satanic actions?
What is the motive?
Many people don't mean or intend to be malicious with their words. They are just careless and neglectful. They say and pass on information without checking it out -- without responsibility! For some it is just habit. But God's Law also deals with neglect. And one can forfeit his life through neglect! (See Exodus 21:28-36.)
Sometimes people accuse because they want to get another person in trouble and see him thrown out of his job or the Church.
Whatever the motive, whether neglect, carelessness or malice, Jesus' words still ring true: "But I say unto you, that every idle [Moffatt says 'careless'] word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).
Another translation says it this way: "I tell you this: there is not a thoughtless word that comes from men's lips but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment" (New English Bible).
God's judgment
BUT WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO FALSELY ACCUSE?
HERE IS GOD'S JUDGMENT: "If a malicious witness appears against a man to accuse him of evil-doing, then the two parties in the dispute shall appear before the Eternal, that is before the priests and the presiding judges: The judges shall investigate the matter carefully, and if it turns out that the witness is malicious and that he has given false witness against his fellow, YOU MUST TREAT HIM AS HE MEANT HIS FELLOW TO BE TREATED: SO SHALL YOU ERADICATE EVIL FROM YOUR MIDST. THE OTHERS SHALL HEAR AND FEAR AND NEVER AGAIN BE GUILTY OF SUCH A SIN" (Deuteronomy 19:16-20 Moffatt translation).
But what should happen to the person who makes these accusations?
In the last few years God's Church has been a house divided and filled with this deadly evil. Accusers take verbal rifle shots at others trying to get them fired or excommunicated or to damage their reputations. But the only thing that happens to the accuser is that he is told he is mistaken. Or if confronted by his intended victim, he apologizes.
He -- the accuser -- risks absolutely nothing. He damages others, almost succeeds in getting them fired, demoted, thrown out of the Church or cast in suspicion, considered untrustworthy and avoided. At the very least, he causes them to consume enormous amounts of time trying to straighten out the problem and track down the rumor.
But NOTHING happens to the accuser. He is fine -- alive and well -- and ready for another try in the future.
Slander affects relationships
One of the worst things about all of this is that often the victim of the accusation doesn't even know that he is being slandered, accused, cast in suspicion, judged. Things are said that may stick in the minds of those who hear. Though no action is taken, these slanders affect the relationship that people have with the accused person. People avoid him. Mistrust him. He is passed over for important jobs or assignments. ALL OF THIS JUST BECAUSE OF A WORD OR TWO SAID CARELESSLY, NEGLECTFULLY OR MALICIOUSLY!
Only by applying God's Law -- HIS GOVERNMENT -- to the Church can we rid the Church of this evil and have the HAPPINESS, PEACE, UNITY AND JOY that God will approve and BLESS in His Church!
PREFACE BY GOD'S APOSTLE
by Herbert W. Armstrong
Perhaps the No. 1 problem -- yes, and even the No. 1 and most prevalent SIN IN God's Church today is careless GOSSIP and rumor spreading. Whether or not realized, it often becomes accusation and slander.
If a hostile student demonstration, such as organized and promoted by Communists, had appeared on the Ambassador campus I would have made it my business to identify the LEADER and get rid of him. Once such actions lose their leadership they disintegrate. It's the same on our problem of rumors -- especially those ugly rumors that discredit or accuse, actually, perhaps unrealized, a form of character assassination.
I fully realize that often this is mere carelessness -- a sort of thinking through the mouth -- with no deliberate intention to harm. But it DOES HARM! And sometimes it is intended to harm!
The subject came up in a conversation with David Antion. At my request he has prepared the following memorandum on GOD'S LAW covering this subject.
This sort of thing MUST BE STAMPED OUT OF GOD'S CHURCH. Our Leader and HEAD of the Church, Jesus Christ, is TURNING GOD'S CHURCH AROUND, though He uses His human servant in so doing.
However, because 1) we have perhaps carelessly neglected emphatic TEACHING on this subject, and 2) much of such gossip or rumor has probably been done carelessly without full realization of the seriousness of it, I have decided to hold off direct and definite punitive corrective action UNTIL THIS THING HAS BEEN EMPHASIZED by the ministry, and in print, before the membership.
I realize that even many of us, including myself, may have been guilty of this through carelessness, thoughtlessness or neglect. I have decided, therefore, that first we must PUT EMPHATIC EMPHASIS on this matter in teachings, sermons and articles.
But this is to be followed by DIRECT ACTION, seeking out the SOURCE -- the one who started the rumor, false accusation or whatever, and then making an example of that person, if necessary, before the whole Church. I feel that this is CHRIST'S WAY of stamping out this evil from God's Church, and I act, therefore, in His name.
Following is Mr. Antion's memo to me on this subject.
____________________________________________________
Here is the memo you asked me to write when I was in your office last Friday. It is on the subject of what God's Law has to say about false witnesses and accusation.
As you have taught for many years, the statutes of Scripture are derived from the GREAT LAWS of God in the Ten Commandments.
The Ninth Commandment
The Ninth Commandment -- "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" -- is the basis for the other statutes and judgments in this category in the Bible.
Most people assume that the Ninth Commandment is only against lying. Though it does cover lying (Revelation 21:8, Colossians 3:9) it is mainly against false accusations made against another!
You have also taught that the main object of the last six commandments is love of your neighbor (Romans 13:9-10). And the Ninth Commandment forbids making a false witness against your neighbor -- thus harming him. The Moffatt and the New English Bible say, "You shall not give false evidence [against your neighbor]."
Not a light thing
Does God consider it a light thing for a man to falsely accuse his neighbor (brother)?
And what about Jesus' words: "Judge not that ye be not judged"? We know that we can judge a person's actions as being either in conformity or not with God's law. But can we judge his heart?
"But why doest thou judge thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). And in verse 13, "Let us not therefore judge another any more."
The apostle James must have had trouble with judging and accusing in his day, for he writes: "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are thou that judgest another?" (James 4:11-12).
Those who would speak evil of another and judge their brothers are in reality judging the law and speaking evil of GOD'S LAW! And like you have said, "The one who accuses us usually is guilty of the very thing he accuses others of."
False accusations divisive
If a minister got up in the pulpit and spoke evil of the Law of God (which is holy, just and good), he would be dismissed from the ministry! But what happens to him if he judges the intent, thought and beliefs of his brother?
For too long God's Work and God's MINISTRY have been divided BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND JUDGING! It is time that God's Law be applied and that God's own judgments be enforced against those who judge and falsely accuse.
It was false accusers that got Jesus crucified! Should God's Church house them now? Should it allow false accusers (thus encouraging them in their deeds) to continue their satanic actions?
What is the motive?
Many people don't mean or intend to be malicious with their words. They are just careless and neglectful. They say and pass on information without checking it out -- without responsibility! For some it is just habit. But God's Law also deals with neglect. And one can forfeit his life through neglect! (See Exodus 21:28-36.)
Sometimes people accuse because they want to get another person in trouble and see him thrown out of his job or the Church.
Whatever the motive, whether neglect, carelessness or malice, Jesus' words still ring true: "But I say unto you, that every idle [Moffatt says 'careless'] word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).
Another translation says it this way: "I tell you this: there is not a thoughtless word that comes from men's lips but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment" (New English Bible).
God's judgment
BUT WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO FALSELY ACCUSE?
HERE IS GOD'S JUDGMENT: "If a malicious witness appears against a man to accuse him of evil-doing, then the two parties in the dispute shall appear before the Eternal, that is before the priests and the presiding judges: The judges shall investigate the matter carefully, and if it turns out that the witness is malicious and that he has given false witness against his fellow, YOU MUST TREAT HIM AS HE MEANT HIS FELLOW TO BE TREATED: SO SHALL YOU ERADICATE EVIL FROM YOUR MIDST. THE OTHERS SHALL HEAR AND FEAR AND NEVER AGAIN BE GUILTY OF SUCH A SIN" (Deuteronomy 19:16-20 Moffatt translation).
But what should happen to the person who makes these accusations?
In the last few years God's Church has been a house divided and filled with this deadly evil. Accusers take verbal rifle shots at others trying to get them fired or excommunicated or to damage their reputations. But the only thing that happens to the accuser is that he is told he is mistaken. Or if confronted by his intended victim, he apologizes.
He -- the accuser -- risks absolutely nothing. He damages others, almost succeeds in getting them fired, demoted, thrown out of the Church or cast in suspicion, considered untrustworthy and avoided. At the very least, he causes them to consume enormous amounts of time trying to straighten out the problem and track down the rumor.
But NOTHING happens to the accuser. He is fine -- alive and well -- and ready for another try in the future.
Slander affects relationships
One of the worst things about all of this is that often the victim of the accusation doesn't even know that he is being slandered, accused, cast in suspicion, judged. Things are said that may stick in the minds of those who hear. Though no action is taken, these slanders affect the relationship that people have with the accused person. People avoid him. Mistrust him. He is passed over for important jobs or assignments. ALL OF THIS JUST BECAUSE OF A WORD OR TWO SAID CARELESSLY, NEGLECTFULLY OR MALICIOUSLY!
Only by applying God's Law -- HIS GOVERNMENT -- to the Church can we rid the Church of this evil and have the HAPPINESS, PEACE, UNITY AND JOY that God will approve and BLESS in His Church!
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