QUARTERLY JOURNAL
Click On the Image to Read More & Comment!!

I Want to Be Like Jesus

Jesus Christ is God’s Word in the flesh, “He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God”, Rev 19:13 CSB. The robe that Jesus wore was dipped in the blood that he sacrificed on the cross for our disobedience. Man’s solutions like religion, ideologies and doctrines not found in the Holy Bible are like fig leaves for disobedience which fall far short of what God requires for a restored relationship with Him. Fig leaves are not the answer to our disobedience, “Then they both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. So, they sewed fig leaves together and made garments for themselves”, Gen 3:7 CEB. God gave us a sign in the beginning that only a blood sacrifice would satisfy the Lord’s hatred for our disobedience. Only God’s answer is the right answer and Jesus Christ is that answer. The sacrificed needed for our disobedience was made by God first, “The Lord God made the man and his wife leather clothes and dressed them”, Gen 3:21 CEB. But God doesn’t want us to learn through disobedience, “…do not be children immature, childlike in your thinking; be infants in matters of evil completely innocent and inexperienced, but in your minds be mature adults”, 1 Cor 14:20 AMP.
 
When we disobey one of two things happens to us. We either hide from God like Adam & Eve because of shame or God allows us to do the things we want based on our own ideas about life which are corrupted by sin, People did not think it was important, consider it worthwhile or see fit to have a true knowledge of or acknowledge God. So, God abandoned them to allow them to pursue their own worthless thinking by a depraved and corrupted mind to do things they should not do”, Rom 1:28 EXB. Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten son and he was the Creator of everything in the universe (St. John 1:1-18). We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ because God chose us to be His children before we were born, “And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it”, Eph 1:5 ERV. In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people. God planned for us to be His people, because that is what He wanted. God is the one who makes everything agree with what He wants (Eph 1:11). As brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and children of God we were given the Holy Spirit which allows us to discern God in our lives, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”, 1 Cor 2:14 KJV.
 
People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help, “Since you are now God’s children, he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, “Abba, Father.” Gal 4:6 ERV. We recognize God’s Spirit in others when they say, “I believe that Jesus is the Messiah who came to earth and became a man.” That Spirit is from God. The unbeliever, the heathen and those that have rejected the Lord’s doctrine refuse to say this about Jesus Christ. That spirit is not from God. This is the spirit of the enemy of Christ. The one who lives in us is greater than the one who is in the world. The unbelievers belong to the world, so what they say is from the world. The world listens to what the lost say because people prefer darkness rather than light (St. John 3:19).  But we are from God. So, people who know God listen to the doctrine of Jesus. But the people who are not from God reject the Lord’s doctrine. This is how we know the difference between the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false (1 John 4:2-6). Also, God makes sure that those that belong to Him will understand His Word and those that belong to the Adversary Satan (the children of Belial) do not understand the truth about Jesus Christ, “Only you can know the secret truth about God’s kingdom. But to those other people I tell everything by using stories.  I do this so that ‘They will look and look but never really see; they will listen and listen but never understand. If they saw and understood, they might change and be forgiven.”, Mark 4:11-12 ERV.
 
The truth about Jesus was a secret from the very beginning until God decided the time was right to share the truth with His creation, “That secret truth has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the one who created everything. His purpose was that all the rulers and powers in the heavenly places will now know the many different ways he shows his wisdom. They will know this because of the church. This agrees with the plan God had since the beginning of time. He did what he planned, and he did it through Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ we come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this because of our faith in Christ”, Eph 3:9-12 ERV. At one time God overlooked the fact that people did not understand the truth but not anymore. Now God is telling everyone to change and turn to Him (Acts 17:30). The time for people to give their lives to Jesus Christ is right now! “Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” Listen, think about this: You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Your life is like a fog. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away”, James 4:13-14 ERV. “If you hear God’s voice today, don’t be stubborn as in the past when you turned against God.” Heb 3:16 ERV. “So, the opportunity is still there for some to enter and enjoy God’s rest. But those who first heard the good news about it did not enter, because they did not obey.  So God planned another special day. It is called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later using the words we quoted before: “If you hear God’s voice today, don’t be stubborn.” Heb 4:6-8 ERV.
 
 
Submitted By Trustee Stanley Ridley


Fellowship

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”- 1 Corinthians 1:9
 
Fellowship is a special relationship that we have with God our Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the rest of the Christian family. Fellowship is simply the friendly communion and relationship we have with each other and it should not be taken lightly because it is one of the most important elements of our Christian walk. Fellowship is one of the most intimate interactions within the Christian family and helps strengthen the body of Jesus Christ. To emphasize the importance of fellowship God even commands us to greet each other with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26). As a matter of fact, scientific researchers have found that hugs can positively affect the emotional stability of people.[1]
 
A family void of emotional stability through kind words of encouragement, the physical interaction of warm embraces and holy kisses can be an extremely weak family.  In many broken families these loving elements are replaced by bitterness, dislike, anger and in some extreme cases, hatred for one another.  Unresolved conflicts can lead to bitterness and divisions in the Christian family that can disrupt the progress of the church (Hebrews. 12:15). God considers fellowship so important that if we don’t successfully resolve conflicts we have with other brothers and sisters in the Christian family we risk our relationship not only with God but also our identity within the Christian family, “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican”, St. Matthew 18:17 KJV.  Disobedience to God’s Word can negatively affect our fellowship within the church body and our daily Christian walk in the world.  King Saul disobeyed and God refused to answer Saul’s prayers (1 Samuel 28:6).  Unanswered prayers can leave a believer confused.  Disobedience to God’s Word can also cause fellow believers to avoid those living contrary to God’s commands, “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed”, 2 Thessalonians 3:15 KJV.  A broken relationship with the Father and Christian family members is not a good place to be for any believer.  We are weakened when we don’t have fellowship with God and other believers. 
 
God doesn’t want us to have a ‘God and me’ attitude that’s why he emphasizes the importance of fellowship.  There are no preferences in the body of Christ.  We can’t try to compensate for those we dislike by loving one Christian brother or sister more than another.  We need to love all of the Saints in the body of Christ with the same Godly love.  If there is anyone in the Christian family that we love less than others then that’s the relationship that God wants us to focus on.  If God commands us to love our enemies and do good to those that hate us (Matt. 5:44) then there’s no doubt that He has high expectations for family members within the body of Christ.  The Lord won’t even accept our gifts until we get our fellowship right with our other brothers and sisters in the church, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift”, St. Matthew 5:23-24
 
Let’s all make fellowship a key focus of our Christian walk.  After altar call, find someone new to greet.  Let’s share kind words with those that we don’t normally talk to.  Let’s build new relationships and express God’s love to everyone and not just those that we are always friendly with.  Let’s fellowship with everyone in God’s house!
 
 
Submitted By Trustee Stanley Ridley
 

[1] https://www.studyfinds.org/study-hugs-happier-harder-days/



Prayer is Not a Monologue

Prayer is conversation with God. He hears us when we pray. He listens, and He answers when we ask questions. He wants to talk to us- but know this: You can’t hear God until you know Him. Knowing God is determined purpose. You have to invest tine in getting to know Him, like He does us!

 

Submitted by Deaconess Irene Gardon