PT 1 - SIMPLE, NOT EASY - 4 STEPS TO FLOURISH WITH GOD. 003

Being a Christian is not easy, but it is simple. I think we sometimes get confused and think that because it isn’t easy it cannot be so simple. However, I believe there are simple principles and steps which one could take and wrestle with that will result in a fruitful and lifesaving walk with God. Just remember that though these 4 steps are simple, they are not easy, and though I fear that I may sound like a hungry salesman, I will say it anyway, if these 4 steps are followed – they will – result in a fruitful lifesaving walk with God.

“The truth must be apprehended by the intellect, received into the heart, and its principles incorporated into the character; and then there must be a constant effort to win others to accept it, for God holds men responsible for the use they make of the light He imparts to them. {5T 272.2”

Here are the steps.

1. Truth must be apprehended by the intellect (Mind/Understanding)

2. Truth must be received in the heart (Heart/Desire)

3. The principles of truth must be incorporated into the character (Experience/Daily living)

4. There must be a constant effort to win others to accept it (Fragrance/Attraction)

Simple, not easy.

The first principle has to do with the mind. The first step to having a fruitful walk with God is to really appraise your system of beliefs. What do you actually believe and why? Do you believe because of culture and tradition? Are you intellectually grounded in what you believe so that you cannot be easily swayed by some whimsical idea? If not, then figure that out, ASAP. Christianity is very straightforward.

The ten commandments are the moral code of earth, the first four commandments are about our love to God (the vertical connection), the last six commandments are about our love to mankind and the rest of creation (the horizontal connection). The two categories (the first 4 and the last 6) are perfectly connected. This means that even though the last 6 have to do with our love to mankind and the rest of creation, if we break one of them, (i.e. we murder, or lie or steal) we not only harm our neighbour, but we also harm God.

1 John 4:20 - If someone says, “I love God,” but hates his neighbour that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

Likewise, if we break one of the first 4 (i.e. we break the Sabbath) we not only do we disrespect the God of creation, but we also lose a vital opportunity to help others in the specific ways that Jesus did on the Sabbath (See Matthew 12). By the way, don’t let your flesh rise up and say that every day is the Sabbath, and that Jesus went about doing good on every day. We are not Jesus, if left to our own judgment, we’d be so absorbed with our earthly pursuits that we would only work for God when convenient for us. An attack on the Sabbath is simply the enemy's effort to confuse God's very simple system.

Together the vertical and horizontal make a cross and represent a complete system of selflessness.

However, we have failed. We continue to fail to live up to the standard of the ten commandments, we have sinned. Sin is defined in the Bible as breaking the ten commandments.

1 John 3:4 - Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

Because of this God did a few things, and none of those things involved Him giving up on us.

- He sent His Son Jesus to pay the consequence we should have paid, thus giving us a second chance.

- Through His Son Jesus, He has showed us how to practically do the 4 steps mentioned in this post, He showed us how to understand, love, experience and share God!

- He sends His Spirit to actually enable us to follow the example of Jesus in living above sin though our love to God and each other.

Simple, not easy.

Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says, it is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Philippians 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.

Until then ask God to help your mind to comprehend His incomprehensible yet beautiful, truth. IJN amen.

Extra

1 John 3:4-6 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

Ephesians 3:14-19 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

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