It is good to consider the blessings God gives us, especially when we are going through difficult trials. Focusing only on our personal problems is often depressing—and counterproductive. The happiest people are those who focus on others’ needs and are thankful for even the littlest blessings God gives them (Acts 20:35). It may not be easy to set our minds on our blessings and on other people when we are facing one of those truly great trials, such as an unrelentingly painful ailment or the death of a loved one. But there are always blessings to be thankful for and other people we should remember—even in our most difficult circumstances.
I used to thank God for the blessing of calling me into His truth, and I still do, but I have added something else: “Thank you for preserving me in the truth!” Holding on to the truth may appear to be simple—but consider how many have abandoned it, even returning to the errors they once rejected. “But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’” (2 Peter 2:22). Peter was quoting from Proverbs, which adds another detail: “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (26:11).
Proud or Blessed?
If you have been around the truth very long, you no doubt have heard individuals proclaim confidently that they will never leave the faith—but not a few of them have gone on to do just that. I personally cringe when I hear someone boldly pronounce that he or she would never do something. Trusting ourselves rather than looking to God is a serious error, because there is an evil spirit, one much stronger than we are, who is doing everything he can to destroy us.
The Apostle Paul gave us a warning that we must not take lightly: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Paul recognized that the path to the kingdom is not a greased slide. “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (9:27).
Describing a war taking place in his mind, Paul declared the utter helplessness of his own will to overcome his carnal human nature:
I find then a law [a force], that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law [force] in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:21–24).
Do you, my dear brethren, see this same struggle in your mind? If not, why not? Are you overlooking something? Are you feeling proud, rather than blessed?
The Pentecost Connection
Paul does not leave us without hope, as he answers his own question about deliverance from such a wretched state: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (v. 25). But what does he mean, “through Jesus Christ?” Is it Christ’s death that saves us? The answer, surprising to many, is No!
On the contrary, Paul explains that by the death of Christ we are blessed with reconciliation and brought into a state of forgiveness, but we are saved by His life: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified [forgiven] by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God [no longer enemies] through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:8–10).
But how is it that we are saved by His life? Paul told the confused Corinthians that unless there is a resurrection, none of this matters! “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:16–17). We are saved through the fact that the risen Christ lives in us.
Paul told the Romans that the only way to overcome the force that wars against our desire to be obedient to God is through the power of a greater force. We must have the Spirit of the living Christ dwelling in us, “for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Indeed, “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:6–9).
Among its many lessons, Pentecost reminds us that we must have the mind and power of Christ and the Father—Their Spirit—literally living in us. This is not something figurative. It must be real. People fall away when they trust too much in their own strength, in the way they think and act. Too often they hold on to their past religious foundations, figuratively placing new wine into old wineskins. Some fail to realize that there is a crucial difference between Sunday and the Sabbath. A few make the mistake of thinking that we are merely “Jews who believe in Christ.”
Many in other Church of God fellowships—as well as some in the Living Church of God—do not understand why God has blessed them with their calling. They hold on to the old wineskin that God is calling people today mainly for their personal salvation. Brethren, it is a mortal danger to put new wine into old wineskins! Personal salvation is the by-product, not the primary purpose, of our calling. First and foremost, God is calling us now to do the Work and prepare for our future role in His Family. Let me say it again: God is calling you to do His Work, not just to get personal salvation!
Read and think seriously about the parable of the minas (Luke 19:11–27). Each servant was given a unit of money and told to do something with it, not simply to hang on to it! Notice that Jesus did not allow some servants the option of taking their blessing for granted, lazily drifting along until He returns. All in the parable were commanded to do business. The servant who sat back and did nothing lost what he was given. Do we understand that this parable gives us a glimpse into the future—and gives a warning?
The parable of the sower also carries a warning: “Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:14–15). The seed sown among thorns represents those who are distracted and not laser-focused on the blessing and responsibility of their calling. Only the last group, with good soil for their seeds, recognizes that fruit must be produced.
Yes, brethren, you and I have many blessings for which to thank our Creator. Consider that—of the eight billion people on earth today—God has individually identified and revealed Himself to you. He has called you for an incredibly special purpose—to be one of His firstfruits. He has revealed to you the one and only truth regarding the purpose of life. He has given you His Spirit that Christ may abide in you, and He has preserved you in His truth. So, express your thanks to Him, look out for the needs of others—and appreciate the blessing that you have been called to do His Work!