Hello everyone! Isn’t it amazing how fast two weeks go by? We have been enjoying some more-like-spring weather. The sunshine sure is a blessing. Here in "Grey County" we don’t get a lot of sunshine in the winter. It makes us appreciate it more when it comes. J

I would still like your birth dates, for those of you who have not sent them in yet.

This is a little tough, especially for the younger generation. I want to imply a little thought that I found interesting while at church. Our pastor mentioned something rather interesting about the 4th commandment. Yes, it says not to do your own pleasure and work on the seventh day, but it also says thou shalt work six days. If by any means one does not contribute to the daily life with anything over the six working days, the 4th commandment is transgressed. Interesting how that works. God bless everyone and encourage everyone to respond more promptly. ; )

"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" Romans 6:22. In this Scripture there are listed three conditions for eternal life. Let us take these three conditions and dissect them, so that our understanding can grow and so we can learn to apply these conditions and reach our goal, eternal life.

1. Being made free from sin.

Now how are we made free from sin?

A. By repenting* of our sins – "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;" (Acts 3:19). "…Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7).

B. By believing in Jesus – "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (John 20:31). "…He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). "…He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:" (John 11:25). "…Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper" (2 Chronicles 20:20).

C. By coming to Jesus – "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

D. By confessing our sins – "I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin" (Psalm 32:5). "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

E. And by being cleansed through the precious blood of Christ – "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). "…We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;" (Ephesians 1:7).

All of these conditions, that have just been mentioned will make us free! "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). "If ye continue in My word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8 :31, 32, 36). "…He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

2. Servant of God.

How are you to be a servant of God?

A. By consecrating ourselves to Him – "…Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD,…" (Exodus 32:29).

B. By obeying Him – "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16). "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34).

C. And by sinning no more – "…Jesus…said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14). "And Jesus said…, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:11).

3. Ye have your fruit unto holiness.

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit…. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:1, 2, 5). "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22, 23).

End Result.

Now God says that if you will daily apply these things that the end is eternal life! "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;" (Deuteronomy 11:26). What will you choose?

* Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life. {Steps to Christ pg. 23}

My passage with key points: Hebrews 12:1b to 3

"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and the Finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, let you be wearied and faint in your mind."

Key Points:

We should run!

There is not a moment to lose. See MH 208.

We should measure our pace. (run with patience)

We will have to keep running for a long time. Don't stay up late, get up too early, eat too little, read too much, in short, run, but don't sprint. You can't afford exhaustion.

Don't make up your own race!

The race that we are to run is the one "set before us." A love for the new and exciting causes lots of problems. Ask where is the old path, the good way, and, ummm, run-walk in it :)

Looking unto Jesus is not an occupation for before and after the race.

We can not think that our precious experience with Jesus at our conversion will do until we see Him face to face in glory. It is while we are running that we are to be looking.

Think about Jesus as a logical worker and take courage.

Some men will build without counting the costs. They may start, but they can not finish. Jesus taught that. He counts the cost. When He starts building, He is well able to finish. What is one building He has started? It is you. He is the "Author" of your faith and wants you to think about Him that way. Then you can be sure that He is able to finish the work in your heart. If He was not able to finish it, He would not have started it. So He wants you to think of Him as the "Finisher" of your faith. Oh, the beauty of the promise! Our case is in Good Hands.

Jesus was motivated by joy.

We need a motivation in life. What motivated Jesus to endure the cross? It was joy. But what kind of joy? The same kind that is a fruit of the Spirit, the joy that comes from faith. But how does Joy come from faith? By being happy in the things that the Word promises, things that are not yet here. Jesus took joy in the hope that we would be with him. It had not happened, but He trusted that it would.

Take Joy in what is set before you.

If we go chasing after our own joys, they will not do us well for very long. Jesus took joy in finishing the race that was set before Him, and that was the joy that was set before Him. Endure the means to reach the ends. The "ends" will never justify the "means" if the means are wicked. But they will justify them if the "means" are painful, or shameful, or hard, or difficult. What does this mean? It means that if the result you are seeking for is great enough, then it is worth suffering for. So Jesus "endured the cross" though he could not embrace it. So must we. Consider the end well and let it motivate you to endure.

Be prepared to face ridicule when making your most difficult stands.

That is when Jesus faced it. There are many men that would sooner lose their life for Jesus at the stake than they would endure a little scorn and ridicule from apparent friends. Satan will never bring those men to a stake. He will bring them to a social get-together.

Jesus is in heaven to help us!

He is set down at the right hand of the throne God. "Higher and higher they extended the hand of faith, with the mighty argument, it is Christ that died, yeah, that is risen again, yeah, that is even at the right hand of the throne of God, who also makes intercession for us."

Consider Him lest you be weary and faint in your mind.

Thank you all for your answers! There are many lessons to be gained from a single verse, or few.

The verse I picked is Hebrews 12:14. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

We can see the Lord!

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4

The reward of the righteous:

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true…" Revelation 22:1-6

In order to have this, we need to follow peace with men, and have holiness.

"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:27

Things that defile and are an abomination:

-eating unclean meats (Leviticus 11)

-graven and molten images (Deuteronomy 7:25; 27:15)

-divination, witches, etc. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

-women wearing that which pertains to a man (Deuteronomy 22:5)

-the froward (Proverbs 3:32)

-proud look, lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet swift to run into mischief, one who sows lies and discord (Proverbs 6:16-19)

-wickedness (Proverbs 8:7)

-a false balance (Proverbs 11:11)

-lying lips (Proverbs 12:22)

-sacrifice and way of the wicked (Proverbs 15:8, 9)

-pride (proverbs 16:5)

-divers weights and measures, a false balance (Proverbs 20:10, 23)

-the prayer of him that turns away his ear from hearing the law (Proverbs 28:9)

-eating swine’s flesh, and the mouse (Isaiah 66:17)

-breaking the Sabbath day (Exodus 31:14)

- evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:19, 20)

-an evil tongue (James 3:6)

We can have holiness!

Jesus said, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:22-32

How do we have peace with man?

"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." Psalm 34:14

"And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Genesis 13:7-9

Here we see that in order to keep peace between Lot’s shepherds, and Abraham’s, there had to be a separation. Abraham unselfishly gave Lot his choice of land.

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another… It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." Romans 14:19, 21

I think the principle this is bringing out is that of not being a stumbling block. We can keep peace by not doing those things that will be a block in someone else’s way.

"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)

Notice here that we are to keep peace with those "that call on the Lord out of a pure heart". We cannot always be at peace with those who know not God or obey His truth, because the things we do will be offensive to the wicked. And, "We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)

We should keep peace where we can. We can compromise opinion, but NEVER principle. God and His law do not change.

Please send in your answers before or on March 30th so they can be published in the next issue.

Do you have any inspirational stories, poems, recipes, prayer requests, etc. that you would like to share?

"The Lord has appointed the youth to be His helping hand."

God bless you all and I look forward to hearing from you!

Kyla

"God’s Helping Hand" Editor