FASTING,
PRAYING, STUDYING AND LIVING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD
MAY 27, 2021
Early
June greetings to all the Saints on planet Earth,
We
hope and pray the first five months of 2021 have been good to you and your
families. We realize a number of Saints are still struggling with the virus.
Pray they will soon be healed.
As
an old saying goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"
and brings us one day closer to the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. We must be constantly aware, however that each day is an indicator of
how we are disciplining our lives for the Kingdom.
We
know, from the words of Jesus, in Matthew chapters five and six that our effort
for the Kingdom must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees of His day. I
think Apostle Arthur Oakman makes it pretty plain in his Endowment Series
Lecture Number Four, "Gifts of the Spirit." He was speaking to priesthood and used the
word, gentlemen. I will use the word, Saints.
"Saints,
don't sell yourself short. For above and beyond this world in which we live,
there is a spiritual universe. somehow, by the grace of God and the new birth,
a portion of it dwells within us--so we are creatures both of this world and
the world to come. there dwells in each one of us the spirit of this world and
the Spirit of the Kingdom of God, and these two war one with another. The
Apostle Paul calls it the flesh and the spirit. He is not talking about the
actual physical carcass of a man because that is not the origin of sin--he is
talking about the life that is lived after the lusts of the flesh.
Constantly
we have to make the choice between one and the other. THIS MEANS FASTING AND
PRAYING. This discipline is the creative act which God asks of us. This
discipline is that which He would have of us, and He will give us the power to
do it.
I
don't need to tell you what fasting is. It is the organization of your life
about some central principle; it is dedication; it is rejoicing; it is prayer.
What does it matter whether we live or whether we die, if by living or dying we can glorify God and
extend His Kingdom?"
That
central principle, no doubt, is Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments.
That is our task, to not get "lost" in our fasting, praying, and
studying that we lose sight and hope for Zion. Jesus must always remain the
main focus of our efforts and thus our lives.
JESUS IS THE ANSWER
FOR THE WORLD
TODAY.
WITHOUT HIM
THERE IS NO OTHER
JESUS IS THE WAY!
God
bless each of you,
In
Christ,
Paul
Gage
