Dear Brethren and Friends,
As I write this, my wife Sheryl and I are just back a few days ago from a wonderful Feast of Tabernacles observance. Brethren experienced an excellent Feast everywhere around the world—from all reports. There were outstanding activities, loving fellowship and inspiring sermons. But, we must be sure to keep that enthusiasm going! We must not let down. For our God wants us to fully reflect Jesus Christ in everything we think, say and do.
So now that we are back from the Feast, how can we best gain the spiritual strength to do this? Do you remember the “WWJD” bracelets the young people used to wear? Many professing Christians assumed that they want to follow Jesus Christ’s example. But do they, really?
This is a vital issue! For the inspired word of God makes it very clear that a genuine Christian will follow the inspired example set by Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 2:21, God’s word tells us, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the Apostle Paul was inspired to tell his fellow Christians, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” In 1 John 2:6, obviously speaking of Jesus Christ, the beloved Apostle John tells us, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.”
Those are only a few among the many scriptures indicating that we should follow Christ’s example and live as He lived. In addition, most of you know my “favorite” scripture: Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (KJV). This explains the foundational concept that Christ must live within us through the Holy Spirit. For Jesus Christ was the “light” that God sent into the world. He now makes it possible for us to truly obey God and “walk with God” by living His life within us through the Holy Spirit. Frankly, that is the only way to become truly Christian. And it is the only way any of us can truly overcome our human nature and actually obey the Ten Commandments. That is what real Christianity is all about!
Actually, since Christ and the Father are “one,” they both live within us through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). And Jesus Christ repeatedly challenged His followers to actually do what He taught them: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
A Total Surrender Involved
So, dear brethren, will we surrender ourselves to actually do what Jesus Christ taught? And will we genuinely surrender to let Christ live His life within us through the Holy Spirit? Remember also, Christ does not (and will not) change in any basic way His character and approach as He lives within us. For God inspired the Apostle Paul to tell us in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
If you, personally, have proved to yourself that the Bible is the revelation from God and is—in a very real sense—the mind of God in print, then you will want to live by every word of God just as Jesus Christ instructed (Luke 4:4). In that vein, when anything of any consequence comes up in your life, you ought to sincerely and earnestly ask yourself: “What would Jesus really do?” Over the years, for instance, a number of brethren have expressed the desire to “get away from it all” and move up to some remote location in the mountains of the northwest. Is that wrong? Not necessarily so. But, how would this new location help your children—if you have any—to have the proper schooling and proper opportunity to have normal relationships with other young people—especially in God’s Church?
And what about you? Is there a congregation of the Living Church of God close by? Or do you think you can “get by” just as well without attending Sabbath services? Most of you know better. Frankly, all of us need the regular association of God’s Church and fellowship with God’s people in order to grow and be balanced in our Christian lives. And we need to be able to express the opportunity to serve by actually doing this in a regular way by being around other Christians—even though, theoretically, we might “feel” more “peaceful” and “spiritual” by being all alone out in some uncluttered mountain setting.
Did Jesus Christ go out into the mountains and stay there all alone for months or years at a time? No! All day long He was with people and was helping, giving, serving, healing and teaching them the way of God—plus setting the example He did for all of us.
If you are faced with the opportunity to “make more money” by changing careers or going into a new job, again, ask yourself, “What would Jesus really do?” Does the new job—despite its extra salary—involve making compromises with you keeping the Sabbath day, with being around good and decent people rather than those who may be drinking, cursing, telling dirty jokes or otherwise dragging you down spiritually? Think of all these things before changing careers or changing households or whatever!
For, if you are sincere in all of the above, you want Jesus Christ living within you in every phase and facet of your life, and in everything you do! Are you going to have a baby? If so, have you considered that even many modern medical reports say it is generally preferable to “go natural” in being sure that the mother breastfeeds her child? From Scripture we see the examples and the general principle is that it is better to “go natural” in nearly everything you do, in a balanced way, since that is obviously what Jesus Christ and His human parents did and what God provided for His own Son who came into this world in a manger and was born naturally. Yes, we can and should take advantage of actual improvements in health care and sanitation and so many other practical developments since Christ’s time on the earth. But, rather than blindly following all kinds of “modern” ideas about genetically modified foods, popular psychology and other human reasonings, a Christian will find it better to see what the Bible actually says in really living Christ’s way, which includes not only living God’s way but training your children to do so—bringing them up according to what the Bible actually says, and not what some modern liberal psychologists have proposed. Yes, this even means punishing them when necessary for their own good, in the loving application of godly discipline!
Think!
For most of you are literally surrounded by all of this modern “psychobabble” which tells you that you should not chasten your son; you should not “go natural” in breastfeeding and should not acknowledge that the man is to be the head of the family—or literally hundreds of different facets of life that are slowly but surely being perverted as Satan’s society takes over and has far greater impact than ever before!
When—perhaps under Satan’s clever influence—you begin to think that it is “too difficult” to fully keep the Sabbath day, be sure to ask yourself again the basic question: “What would Jesus really do?” For God Himself came down into the human flesh not only to die for us—showing His ultimate love—but to set us an example as to how we ought to live in nearly every detail. Jesus certainly kept the Sabbath on a regular basis (Luke 4:16). Jesus took the time in the early hours of the day when it was still dark to rouse Himself out of bed and pray fervently to Almighty God on a regular basis (Mark 1:35).
When faced with a major decision, Jesus “went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12).
When faced with huge emotional and spiritual trials, Jesus often prayed fervently and literally cried out to God with great emotion and fervor. For the Bible speaks of Jesus, “who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear” (Hebrews 5:7).
Have you, personally, worked on developing the habit of getting up early to pray on a regular basis? Have you, personally, learned to cry out to God and put your whole heart into your prayers in times of stress and need? What would Jesus do? Jesus Christ did do those things—setting you and me an example! If we truly surrender to let Christ live within us, we will study His example, study all of God’s word and actually do what it says!
Do You Genuinely Forgive Others?
A basic problem that many of God’s people have had for decades—and even centuries and millennia—is their avoidance of genuinely forgiving others. Jesus Christ instructed us, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15). Each one of us must follow this instruction and genuinely forgive those who have hurt us, learn to “get over it” and move on with our lives. This is what God’s word clearly tells us in many different instances. It is what we must learn to do!
Do not always try to “vindicate” yourself and find out who said what in some bad thing you heard and then try to track down who said it, and why, and somehow “get even” or “vindicate” yourself by making it turn out well for you. That is not necessary. In fact, it often only “stirs the pot” and causes the problem to become much worse in the end. Remember, God Himself will definitely vindicate you in the end if your heart is right. God’s word tells us, “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (Proverbs 26:27).
Also learn to forgive even your husband, your wife, your children or co-workers—those who are always around you—even over “little” things that may become irritants over time. Learn to be genuinely humble and realize that you, also, probably “irritate others” from time to time. So learn to love these other human beings as fellow sojourners on the path of life and forgive the little irritations and inadequacies. Keep your mind on the “Big Picture” and remember that these precious human beings are also made in God’s image, to be part of His family forever—along with you. So, you must learn to forgive them!
In the future, God’s word certainly indicates that we will be terribly persecuted as a Church and individually as well. Learn to forgive even truly “evil” men who may later persecute us, torture us or even harm our own children! Remember how even the Son of God, while He was dying a torturous, terribly painful death, cried out to God, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Will you follow Christ’s example when things become really tough?
Glorify Christ in Your Mind and Body
In 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, the Apostle Paul was inspired to challenge us: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Certainly, we must truly “flee” fornication and every foul temptation or way of life that will cut us off from God Almighty! In addition, we should sincerely want to glorify our Creator by the way we take care of our body in a positive way. Will we honestly take care of the wonderful bodies that God has given us in this life? Will we discipline ourselves to do a proper amount of exercise nearly every day? Many in God’s Church simply do not do that! They become placid, fat, and awkward in the way they walk or act because they simply will not move very much in their daily lives! It is obvious. Hundreds of articles and booklets have come out over the last few years telling us of the imperative of learning to exercise our bodies nearly every day. We must learn to spend at least 15 or 20 minutes walking, doing calisthenics or in some way exercising our bodies to keep them in proper shape so that we may be able to live a productive life and serve others as well as our Creator.
Will you discipline yourself to eat properly and eat carefully? Even in God’s Church, many thousands of people—certainly in the wider overall Church of God—often drink sugar-filled soft drinks, and eat a lot of candy, ice cream, white flour products and other foods that are absolutely known to tear down the body—the temple of God’s Spirit.
Why do they do that? Because it is an ingrained habit and they simply do not “fear” or deeply respect the Creator enough to want to follow Christ’s example in that way! Some in the Church will even compromise occasionally, and eat unclean foods or foods that have been doctored up with unclean things when they should know better! Also, some simply drink too much alcohol, or lapse into smoking cigarettes, etc. Stop this! If you truly want Christ to live within you, you simply will not do this kind of thing and will rather cry out to God to help you stop and to glorify God in your body!
In Philippians 2:5, the Apostle Paul tells us, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Through God’s Spirit, we have the opportunity to have the very mind of God in us through Christ living within us. We can learn to think as He thinks, act as He acts and do what He actually did when He came into this human flesh to set us an example.
Jesus Christ instructed us: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21–22). Then He continued with this theme in verses 27–28, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Obviously, we must not kill another human being. But Christ even commands that we must not even let our minds drift down the valley of rebellion and selfishness so that we have hate in our hearts or even want to kill!
And not only must we not commit adultery; we are not even to allow our minds to dwell on a beautiful woman to the extent of lusting after her. For this sexual lust involves the attitude of adultery—in that way breaking one of the great Ten Commandments of God! We are to guide our minds in a right way so that even if a “convenient” opportunity came to commit adultery or to kill, we would simply not under any circumstances take that kind of vile action. This is what the Bible means by bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Therefore, each of us—especially our young people—must learn to simply avoid watching the kind of television shows or viewing “stuff” on the Internet that involves or would tempt them to involve themselves with such vile behavior as described above! Simply stay away. Simply do not do it—if you truly want the real Jesus Christ living His life within you!
Almighty God gives us wonderful and inspiring information in Philippians 4:4–8: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
In the above passage, we are commanded not to worry or fret about physical things or problems but simply go to God in faith—knowing that He will take care of us. Then, the “peace of God which surpasses all understanding” will be with us in a way simply unknown to most of this world!
Finally, then, we are told to meditate on those things that are simply true, noble, just, pure or of good report. Brethren, please ask God to help you actually do this and to guard your mind and think on the positive things and not constantly let negative or evil thoughts direct your mind in a way that will surely cut you off from God if not stopped at some point!
Rather, learn to focus on the wonderful promises of God and the magnificent reward He has for us in the future. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3:2–4: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
Let us genuinely follow these instructions and constantly fix our minds on the future offices and opportunities to serve we will soon have—in God’s coming Kingdom—to serve the whole world! Let us realize that our old self should have “died” in baptism and that our true life is only through Christ within us. Then, “when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
Brethren, please learn to really think on these things, picture these things and meditate on the awesome opportunities and absolute glory we will share with God and Christ through all eternity as full sons of God—if we do, in fact, surrender fully to let Jesus Christ live His very life within us! Every trial and test along the way may be difficult. But it is more than worth it if our surrender to Christ brings us the kind of magnificent glory and unending joy we will share through all eternity with God, with Christ, and with the “spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23).
With Christian love,
