Exercising Wisdom and Prayer as we Wait on the Lord

This post was actually written one year ago before I began this blog. I hope all who read it will be encouraged to persist in their prayers for unsaved loved ones, making use of only the opportunities given to point them to Christ. We must understand the importance of waiting patiently on the Lord to do His work in the hearts of our loved ones- in His way and in His timing- which is always perfect.

April 16, 2016

I love spending time with my grand kids. Many valuable lessons can be learned from spending quality time with these little ones. I had our oldest two granddaughters over the other day to make some cute little mini dolls. They were very eager to make these little dolls as birthday gifts for their younger sister. We had spent a fair bit of time surfing the net the week before to find just the right doll to make, and as I had wanted to be sure these little dolls were going to turn out properly when the time came for my granddaughters to make them, I made one myself the day before. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped and the girls' estimation of it confirmed to me that it didn't turn out quite the way they thought it should either. However, due to making the first one, I did understand the changes that needed to be made in order for the girls' dolls to turn out much better - to all of our satisfaction. The reason the first doll wasn't what it should have been was because I had made the head too big and it flopped back and forth 'like a wave of the sea- that is driven and tossed by the wind'. It was not at all stable. I thought of this in relation to our spiritual lives. When we fail to seek God as we should, we also can be like my first little dolly, so unsteady and unstable. The only way we can be stable in all our ways (spiritually speaking) is to seek God diligently through his word, praying that the Holy Spirit would give us a right understanding of that word, and the grace and ability to live in obedience to God’s teaching.

In James we are told, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double- minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). God wants so much for us to seek him through his word as indicated in Luke 13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing”! However, only those who have a real desire to seek God through his word will do so, and it certainly should be our desire to see all of our family members seeking the wisdom of God through his word. Unfortunately, we cannot make this happen.

I had promised my granddaughters that I would fix the first little dolly, making her head stable so they each could have one to play with together.. and I can- and will do this, with a little bit of effort. However, when it comes to giving any one of my family members a heart that would desire to seek the wisdom of God through the study of his word, so they can have a stable mind- in Christ, I cannot do that. Though I would certainly love to see all of our family members seeking God through a desire to glorify Him in all that they do. While we must take our responsibility seriously in teaching and training our children in the ways of the Lord, {“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words....shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)), ultimately we are dependent on the grace of God to give our loved ones (of whatever varying ages they may be) hearts that would desire to seek Him. We must be fervent in praying to this end and not give up. Jesus encouraged consistent prayer when he told his disciples “..a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (See Luke 18).

The only other thing we can do besides showing love to those members and praying for them, is to take every opportunity given- to point them to Christ, without trying to make those opportunities ourselves. When we try to make things happen in our own strength, we could just end up making things much worse, by possibly even driving our loved ones farther from us and God- rather than giving them any desire to draw nearer to us and God. May God forgive us for those times when we try to make these things happen in our own strength. We must show God's love to our loved ones and we must pray diligently- and consistently for those ones who do not know the Lord, and we must also be willing to wait on his leading to point them to him, “..but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Whether or not our loved ones truly come to know Christ as Savior is entirely up to the grace of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2 :8-9).

Working out One's Salvation

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12). How does one ‘work out’ their own salvation? We know this cannot mean that we must do good works in order to be saved, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Even our best acts are no better than a ‘polluted garment’ (ESV), so we are helpless to do anything that would make us worthy of God’s attention, let alone His saving grace, for “There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).

I believe the term working out our salvation is referring to diligently seeking God since the greatest command is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). If our desire is for eternal life, we will seek to know God through His word and strive to live in obedience to His teaching. John 3:36 tells us that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Jesus said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56). We know this is not meant to be taken literally. In verse 57 and 58 of John 6, Jesus said, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Jesus is speaking in a spiritual sense. “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6: 35). He is the Word made flesh “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and we must in a spiritual sense, feed on Him through the Word, if we are to live.

As those who are in Christ, we will understand the meaning of the following verse in Hebrews 4:12 which tells us that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” and we will take to heart the verse in 2 Timothy 2:15, which tells us to“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” In John 14:6 Jesus’ words are, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Since Jesus is the ‘bread of life’, the ‘Word become flesh,’ the only way to access the Father by Him is through diligent study of God’s word. Proverbs 8:17 reads, “those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17). The only way to seek God is through the study of His Word and in prayer. The more serious we are in our desire to know Him better, the more diligent we will be in our study of His word. Matthew 5:6 tells us that,“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” If we truly hunger after something we will pursue it until we are able to satisfy our desire for whatever it is we are hungering after. If we are genuine in our faith we will truly hunger and thirst after righteousness, and as we grow and mature in the faith, we will better understand the wickedness of our own hearts, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? Knowing how easy it is to deceive ourselves into thinking we are doing right, let us keep in mind the following admonishment in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Good Friday?

Many local churches and ministers on the radio and internet speak of how our Lord was crucified on Friday. I have wondered how this idea came about, for it has been around for a long time. It seems this is one of those times when the scriptures have been looked at by a different culture, and that cultural understanding has been forced upon the text and been accepted as fact by the majority of Christian believers.

Mark 15:42; New King James Version (NKJV) “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,” The Greek word for preparation is the same as the Greek word for Friday. It is clear that Mark is talking about Friday, and he and Jews of his day clearly understood what he was saying, but do we understand what Mark is talking about. The charts below show the difference between our present understanding of time (the first chart, showing a 24 hour day starting midnight Sunday through Saturday) and (the second chart) the traditional Jewish understanding of time starting after the sun was down (colored corresponding day), and (the third chart) how these days overlap. (the Jewish day varied slightly with changing of the seasons)

 

Most Christians in North America understand that the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) starts on the modern Friday evening but never stop to think, what does that do with the Jewish day of preparation (Friday). The answer of course is that it starts on the day before, or on the modern north American Thursday night. We need to have a right understanding as to which day this is actually referring to. If we look at the following verses of Genesis 1: 1-31, it may help us to better understand. (NKJV); 1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day”.

In each of the verses in bold lettering (verses 5,8,13,19,23,and 31) we find the same wording each time; “ the evening and the morning were the – day.” This is the pattern that Jewish culture follows. The writers of the New Testament would never have comprehended our understanding of time. For thousands of years, since the beginning of time, as Genesis teaches us, the understanding was that the new day started in the evening. In the law, you were unclean till the end of the day, till twilight (often translated as even). Then because evening was the start of the new day, having fulfilled the cleansing rites, you were considered clean again. Even to this day, the Sabbath begins on our Friday evening not our Saturday morning as some would expect. So when we read in Mark: Mark 15:42 (NKJV) 42 “And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph”. Mark is not saying it is the evening of our Friday night or he would have said “it was evening it was the Sabbath”. He says it is the evening, which would be the beginning of “the Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath”, which in our culture would be Thursday evening. This would make the day that Christ was crucified to be Thursday, and not Friday, as most of western Christianity claims. The problem with not correcting this misunderstanding is that it gives critics of the Bible the opportunity to cast doubt on the accuracy of the scriptures by citing Christ's words in;

Matthew 12:40; “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”. Friday to early Sunday morning does not make three days and three nights, no matter how many verbal acrobatics we use to try to explain it away.

Matthew also agrees that it is in the evening (the beginning of the day of preparation) that Joseph asks Pilate about the body of Jesus.

Matthew 27:57; “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.” ESV

In the following verses of Luke and Matthew we are told that Jesus died at 3 o'clock or shortly after. Luke 23:44-46; 44 “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.”

Matthew 27:45-46; 45 “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John tells us that the Jews ask Pilate to break the legs of the three men on the crosses, yet, when the soldiers get to Jesus, they find He is dead already and in piercing His side discover He had been dead for several hours. The separation of blood and water as mentioned in verse 34 gives evidence of this. Hence, it is well into the evening, and it is as John says, the Jewish “day of preparation.”

John 19:31-34 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 “So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water”.

The verse that has many people questioning, is John 19:14

John 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

This verse as written here seems to contradict the rest of John and the other gospels. But this is clearly not the Sabbath preparation, but as John states, it is the preparation of the Passover. It is the day that the lamb would be slain and the feast of unleavened bread would begin at the end of this day.(the evening or beginning of the next day) When it comes between our tradition and scripture we need to be quick to let our tradition go.

For your consideration

To the Glory of God.

Leigh

Baptism- as Water of Affliction

I used to think that Jesus’ words in John 3:5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” were referring to the two births- physical and spiritual; however I have come to understand this is not what Jesus is teaching us here.

Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that he was about to be betrayed and would suffer mocking, scourging and crucifixion, when the mother of Zebedee’s children came to request of him to allow her two sons to sit on either side of him in the kingdom, “Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father” (Matthew 20:22-23).

The disciples did not understand the baptism Jesus was speaking of here. They likely were thinking of John’s baptism of Jesus, which was merely to fulfill the law. While they could not fulfill the law, they certainly could undergo an outward sign of baptism. However, the baptism of John did not save anyone, as can no other outward form of baptism. Only those who are baptized with the ‘water of affliction’ will be saved. 1 Peter 3:13- 20 speaks of suffering for right and wrong and in verses 20-21 we read, “….. when once the long-suffering of God did wait, in days of Noah -- an ark being preparing -- in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water; also to which an antitype doth now save us -- baptism, (not a putting away of the filth of flesh, but the question of a good conscience in regard to God,) through the rising again of Jesus Christ,” (YLT).

Only what God has done within the heart of an individual counts for anything. Any outward sign is meaningless if we have not experienced a regeneration of the heart and been, “.. buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:12-14). 

 

The following verses give evidence to the fact that the water Jesus spoke of in John chapter 3 was indeed in reference to the persecution that those who are regenerate will have to undergo,“He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher,” (Isaiah 30:19-20).

The Bible speaks much of the suffering Christ’s followers will have to endure, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Even though we may not suffer physical abuse for the sake of the gospel as many have (and still do); we can be assured that emotional/spiritual abuse will be a part of our lives if we desire to follow in Christ’s steps. Second Timothy 3:12 tells us that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..”; yet Paul writes in Romans 5:2-5 that, “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

If we are followers of Christ, we will follow in His steps. In John 15:18-19 Jesus tells us that, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Luke 17:24-25 reads, “For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

As heirs with Christ, we also will suffer many things and yet we have this confidence that, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). May we be comforted with the following words of Paul (who suffered much) in 2 Corinthians 1:5, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Those who are baptized with ‘the water of affliction’ can be assured that their suffering will not be in vain, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Imitate God- Through Intimacy

After reading in Exodus 32 of the encounter of Moses with God on the mountain, I was impressed with the lessons that can be learned from this passage. In discussing this scripture with my husband, he helped me to see the most important lesson that can be derived- that being the importance of spending intimate time with God, so that we will become more like Him. When we move even a little ways from intimate fellowship with Him, we can easily follow our natural inclination to sin, as we see evidenced after Moses’ encounter with God on the mountain. 

In Exodus 32: 7-10 we read the words of the LORD, “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

From man’s perspective, it would appear that God is very angry with the people here, while it is Moses who shows compassion as he pleads on their behalf, “But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.” (Exodus 32:11-14).

God displayed a righteous anger toward the people (who in reality deserved to be destroyed), yet He chose to show His great mercy toward them by turning from His anger and showing unmerited compassion, seemingly at Moses’ request. We should note, however, that God did not change his mind during this encounter with Moses, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it” (Numbers 23:19)? Rather, He carried out His purpose in showing the people mercy, and in showing Moses more of his own heart. For after Moses moved a short distance from God’s presence, having proceeded down the mountain with the two tablets (containing the ten commandments), and closer to the scene of the people’s great transgression, he reacted in anger. Moses then recognized that the people were indeed deserving of death for their rebellion against the very law that he held in his hands; this law that God had given them that they might know how to please Him. Exodus 32:19-20 tells us,“And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.” 

 

It is interesting to note that when Moses was spending intimate time conversing with God, he showed compassion and long-suffering toward the people, yet when he moved just a short ways from God’s presence and witnessed the people’s great transgression, his ‘anger burned hot’ and he lost his temper. I think we need to understand that God is teaching Moses (as well as all who read His word) a lesson here. As long as we are spending intimate time with God, we will be more like Him, exhibiting an unusual (considering our sinful nature) compassion and even long suffering toward other’s sin. Whenever we move even a short distance from God, however, we are more inclined to give in to our own sinful desires, as did Moses in breaking the tablets of stone containing God’s law and displaying a hot anger toward the people. In moving away from intimacy with God, we will not be nearly as longsuffering toward others’ sin, instead we will be far more condoning of our own. Far more often than not, our anger is affected by our own sin, and is not a righteous anger. Even though we may become angry at one’s transgression to God’s commands, our anger is often due to the unpleasant effect that transgression has on us rather than the shame brought upon our Lord’s name. A righteous anger is displayed solely in response to the lack of glory displayed toward our most Holy God. Our anger is rarely righteous. God alone displays a righteous anger, because He alone is righteous, and does act rightly in all things. We are a sinful people who can do no good apart from Christ’s righteousness at work within us.

It is comforting to know that God is long suffering toward His people and will always exercise compassion and forgiveness toward those who remain true to Him. However, we must realize that any time we move even a short distance from that intimacy with Him, we can easily give in to our sinful tendencies. Hence the warning, “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Thus we are reminded of the importance of drawing near to God daily and consistently, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Only those who are indwelt by the Spirit will even desire to do good in the biblical sense of the term, “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God” (3 John 1:11). “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Colossians 3:12-13). As followers of Christ, we must take to heart the following verse in Ephesians 5:1,“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” The more intimate time we spend with God, the better imitators of God we will be.