Blog #103 August 05, 2025
God is different from us just as we are different than God. I know this sounds redundant, but for many, this is the first and sometimes the only thing they ever really learn about God or His Kingdom. I find it easy to believe that an unknowing world would accept this as fact, but it challenges my opinion of Christianity to realize that many believers uphold this principle as truth. If we accept the idea that God and His children can never be alike to become an immutable unchangeable truth, we labor for a lie and Christ died for nothing. The Gospel of the Kingdom we bring to the world disputes this very point and claims something very different.
Moroni 7:53 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son Jesus Christ, that ye may become the sons of God, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is, that we may have this hope, that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
When we allow the Spirit to direct our growth we will view the world in a very different way. In God, we will learn to see the world both as it is and how it can be when acted upon by the truth of God. Take for instance a disagreement between two people. The world teaches us to fear those that oppose us and to meet every challenge with the powerful emotion hate. Hate seeks to cause conflict and is unforgiving in its competitive fervor. It demands of us that we judge others harshly. When people disagree the Spirit of God guides us away from conflict, because it is the birthplace of vengeance and retribution. In God we learn to set aside our pride and in humility to God and God's ways, seek common ground letting truth be our goal.
Philippians 2:3-4
2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
God's Spirit frees our hearts and help us to reach out in a way brings both reconciliation and redemption.
Matthew 7:2-3
7:2 Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.
7:3 For with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
In God again, our eyes will be opened. Those we found offensive, become those who need. We will be drawn to them that their needs might be fulfilled. Another’s happiness will bring us joy, humility will become honorable, and servitude appropriate.
1 Peter 5:2-3
5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
The faith we find so dear will grow to be more in our life than just words. In the strength of our growing faith we will become a testimony of God’s work in the world of man. God through His children will reveal to all, the true value of His wisdom. All that the world holds dear will not buy the joy that God offers his children for free. Our labor in the ways of the Kingdom will tell the world of a faith that lifts us up and a Father that we love. Our growth in these ways will assure them that our faith can be theirs and that the Father we love can be their Father too.
Leviticus 26:11-12
26:11 And I will set my tabernacle among you; and my soul shall not abhor you;
26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Both Solomon and Peter spoke to the influence that the Spirit of God brings to the life of those growing in God. Both reflect on who we were and seek to help us understand who we can become when we allow God to influence the decisions we make each day. God teaches us how to act that the world might recognize His place in our lives. He wants His lessons to be so much a part of who we are that our first response to the ways of the world will be the ways of God.
Proverbs 14:26-27
14:26 In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge.
14:27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
2 Peter1:2-4
1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Our covenant with God gives us His Holy Spirit. Within that grace, we begin to recognize God in a way other than judgment. In the Spirit, God becomes a Father seeking to give His children sanctuary. As we grow in that truth we realize that we have found a refuge in which we can be confident. His truth revealed becomes a fountain that will cleanse us from the scourge of sin that seeks to claim our life. In the time before we understood our covenant, we sought to honor God with the glory of righteousness according to a temporal understanding, but in Christ, we realized that without covenant our best efforts at righteousness were insufficient. Without God's Spirit we can never grow to become more like the Father. Such is the blessing of Christ's death on the cross at Calvary. When we choose to covenant with God through the sacrifice Jesus Christ, God sends His Holy Spirit to help us grow in oneness with Him. As God’s children, we are His, and He is ours.
Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Understand truly that through the Spirit we change. Yes, what we do changes. Each and every day we will find ourselves becoming aware of the needs of others and acting in ways that will fulfill their needs. More than that, who we are also changes. Open your eyes and witness yourself not only acting in the ways of God but also reacting without thought, to the ways of the world in ways that speak of God in our lives.
2 Peter 1:5-6
1:5 And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
1:6 And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness;
Our growth is to be defined by diligence, for only in diligence can we turn virtue and knowledge into understandings that will lead us to the wisdom God seeks for us to possess. Temperance and patience travel this world as companions. To have one we must possess the other. In temperance, we learn patience and patience is required to fully appreciate the spiritual necessity of temperance. Godliness is that very act of reaching out in love when no love is deserved. It is born of the same humility that produces both temperance and patience. It is devoid of envy or any form of competitive assessment. Godliness is the seed, which bears the fruit of oneness. In oneness we love both "because" and "in spite of".
In these attributes, we lose sight of such terms as rich and poor, and we begin to have joy in the labor that brings us together as a people seeking to glorify God. In this, the gathering of wickedness finds no place to belong and death ceases to have relevant meaning. We begin to understand death in the way of the Father. We may cease to be temporally, but we know our eternity is safe in God.
2 Peter 1:7 And to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.
In our growth, we separate ourselves from the lust of the world and we strive for those things that join us to God forever. Godliness joins us in purpose. Brotherly kindness allows us to be a part of the family of God. Charity the final attribute we seek becomes almost a given. Is it charity in my heart if I cannot refuse it? Is it a sacrifice if I give it as willingly as I give my body its next breath? We will no more be able to refuse anything needed by another than a limb is able to release the apple before it is ripe. Our efforts in God will cease to be an onerous task, for they will become our efforts, our purpose, and a need deep within our hearts.
2 Peter 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brethren, realize all that is needed for us to become one in God and the people known as Christ Church. We must gather that we might receive. We must seek that we can find. We must knock as a people if the door is ever to be opened. If we seek to overcome all in the world that would seek our demise, we must conquer all that is within us that would deny God and His presence. When we realize that we cannot find this on our own, we must gather to those who would seek it with us. When we as a people realize that the mountain is too high, we must join hands with God through His Spirit, and walk this path with Him. Through this we will find the oneness we need, the common understandings we cherish, and fulfillment of the purpose of God that has become our purpose, too.
Romans 15:5-6
15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according as was Christ Jesus;
15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As His Church in its truest form, we leave behind all that would separate us from the God of creation. In His wisdom, we leave behind the scourge of His wrath. In humility, we turn away from all that would cause us shame. When we as a people gather and allow His purpose to become ours, we become that people which He has searched for since the time of Enoch. We become one together and worthy of the name Zion.
Genesis 9:22-23
9:22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;
9:23 And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch.
Wear the name of Christ Church with a quiet joy, reaching out to others that we might share this joy, forever.
FRED
Create With me Our Testimony of God at Work in the World of Man.