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Training for the next life - itgwfdisciple - 09-12-2011
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The training begins
If you ever decide to get baptised then you will find yourself on the winding path and surviving on this path, requires training. Many people seem to think that to survive on this path they would need a lot of help from other people, but you might be surprised to find that the Bible contains all of the advice that you should ever need. You will benefit from reading the whole Bible through at least once, it will take a while, but this will indicate that you are willing to see things through to the end. On subsequent readings you should find that some parts will seem to get clearer and, if you pray for wisdom, you should also find a new meaning in some of the passages that you have already read.
Love thy neighbour
One of the more important aspects of travelling on the winding road is how you treat other people. In the Bible you can see that Jesus had a deep insight into how the human brain works, so a lot of his advice was based on how to avoid the spreading of evil due to our actions. In Matthew 5:38-45 Jesus says "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." and you can see from this that Jesus expects us to absorb evil in order to stop its spread. If Jesus had not given these seemingly new commandments, then Christians would still be in a position where they can perform evil actions, if evil has been done to them, and this would inhibit the spread of the gospel to the unconverted, because they would hear the nice words coming out of the Christians mouths, but would then have to observe the not so nice actions if the Christians are then backed into a corner.
Now you might think that Jesus was the one who introduced the commandment, but if you look in Leviticus 19:18 where it says "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." you will see that the commandment came straight from God and Jesus was only reminding them of something that they had forgotten.
In Colossians 3:12-15: it says "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. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." and we see here that we are again asked to be very nice and forgiving people. These words also make it seem as if Jesus expects us to act as if we are already in the kingdom of God, so that the unsaved people of this world can get a taste of how nice the people there will be.
Giving up this life
I would say that getting used to a life where people can do whatever they want to you, while the only thing you can do back to them is to pray for them, is by far the hardest aspect of the training for getting to the Kingdom of Heaven. If anyone tells you that it will be easy then you might want to ask them if they have read the words of Jesus and if they have then tried to follow them. You might also think that this will make your life a lot harder than you want it to be, but it seems that this is what Jesus expects of you. He says in John 12:25 "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." and this seems to indicate that it is a requirement that a christian should hate their life in this world in order for them to stand a chance of gaining eternal life.
In I John 2:15-17: John says "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." and here we see that this world should become a place that we are not happy with once we have decided to follow God's words and to do His will.
So if you find that your life seems to be a bit harder, after you have become a true believer, and that the glamour of this world has faded, then this indicates that you are on the "narrow way, which leadeth unto life", rather than the "wide way, that leadeth to destruction" which is a good thing according to Jesus.
Working for the Lord
When you read the words that Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-34 "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." you see that getting to the kingdom of God is the main thing that you should be trying to do in your life and thoughts about how to pay the bills etc should only have a small place in your mind.You will also notice that Jesus' words have created a bit of a mystery, most people that are seeking the kingdom at the moment are probably in a nice job and do not have any problems paying the bills, so why should "seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness" cause a person to have to worry about food, drink and clothes? If you look at the way that Christianity is practised, by the majority of people at the moment, you will find that they are having an easy time of it and that they are usually following a standard ritual that does not cause them to have any problems that would need God's help to sort out. You might also find that they are complaining that they are not getting as much from God as they had hoped and when you go into some churches you can see this from the subdued reactions that some of the preachers are getting.
In Matthew 16:24-27: we read "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." and we can see here, yet again, that Jesus still expects our lives to get harder, rather than easier, once we start to follow his words and you can also see that when he comes back he will be rewarding every man according to his works, so you can see that the work that you do for the Lord should be more important than everything else in your life.
In James 2:17-18: it says "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." and here we can see that faith by itself is dead, being alone. This could be an explanation for why the people, mentioned above, who follow a standard ritual when they go to church, are not feeling fulfilled.
When you do finally decide to follow Jesus, and his words, then I would advise that you should try to avoid following the standard ritual, that many people seem to accept, and to concentrate on trying to do as much work for the Lord as you can, while also helping out your fellow men. Spreading the gospel, to as many people as you can, is also another good way of showing that you love your neighbour as yourself, because this shows that you would prefer it if they could join you in receiving eternal life, rather than them not getting the chance because you do not feel it is worth talking to them. If you are not sure about the other things that you can do then the Bible is your main source for information and the words of Jesus and the Apostles can give you some clues about the things that you can do to help.
You might also find that the words in II Corinthians 9:6-8 "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" will also help you as you go through your training for the next life.