“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things (every need) will be provided for you” (Mat. 6:33). The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was Christ’s message as He walked this earth (Mk. 1:14). He commanded that His apostles preach the kingdom message and perform miracles in order to prove that what they were saying was of the Almighty (Mat. 10:7,8). Jesus followed His own rules of ministerial conduct by preaching the message God gave Him to preach and healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, etc. Jesus never failed to fulfill the will of His Father. His appointed and anointed messengers follow in His personal and ministerial footsteps. Other disciples support them by praying for them.

In First John 2:6 we are commanded to live as Jesus lived (“walk as He walked”). How is this possible? Church leaders tell us that it is impossible to obey God’s Ten Commandment Law. Yet Jesus told the rich man that in order to be saved he must do so. The man would not receive eternal life because of m “… one thing” he was told to do which he refused to do–“ONE THING” SEPARATED HIM FROM ETERNAL LIFE. Nothing has changed.

How can we obey the Words of the Lord as did Jesus of Nazareth? Only a minutely few believe that we can actually do what Jesus told the rich man to do. Let us go to God’s Instruction Manual to find out how to do what we must do in order to be saved and born again at the return of Jesus Christ. Read Born Again. Key word–Born.

First, we must seek to have the Kingdom of God manifested in our lives. This is summed up in two words: RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS relative to our words, thoughts and acts. This is brought out in Romans 5:21 and 6:22 where we are told that THE END RESULT OF LIVING A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS WILL BE ETERNAL LIFE. Note it: the END RESULT will be salvation, not an emotional decision made as the choir asks “O why not tonight?” For your information, the so-called “alter call” accompanied by somber music, etc. was not part of the early church’s activities. This and other traditions were added as church people gradually turned away from the Holy Scriptures and to Satan’s various church doctrines. Salvation is not an emotional act, but rather a process. Read about the process using Process as the key word.

In answering the question relating to Jesus’ power to obey God, the answer begins with PRAYER. The power of prayer is evidenced throughout the Holy Scriptures. If Jesus, the Son of God, had to spend much time in prayer, what does that say about us? A vitally important question we must ask ourselves is: how much time do I spend in prayer each day compared to the time I spend staring at a screen or listening to a radio, or reading a novel, or playing a game? These are things we do during our spare time when we can choose how we want to utilize it. Admittedly, this was one of the many failures I had to make right before God would allow me into His inner circle comprised of His Very Elect saints–the Church of God (not to be confused with the denomination that calls itself by that name). Read The True Trinity. Key word–True. Now that we know what is possible, how do we turn possibility into a manifested reality? How, while living this life in the midst of Satan’s world and his constant call for us to join it, do we spiritually live in God’s presence as we go about our daily lives? Read “Come Up Hither.” Key word–Hither. Again, the question is, how?

Through the Apostle Paul, the Lord answers the question in his letter to the church at Ephesus in chapter two verse six where the apostle tells us that by His grace God has spiritually raised up His obedient saints to where Jesus abides in heaven and has seated them on His Father’s throne with Jesus because they are “in” Him, meaning that they obey the Law as He did while on earth as a human being. Only Law-keepers are “in Christ.” The question now becomes: HOW DO WE OBEY GOD’S LAW AS HE DID–HOW DO WE “WALK AS HE WALKED?” If it is impossible, as we are told by the church’s false prophets, why did God command us to do so? The standard response is that He gave us a command we could not obey in order to reveal His grace toward us by having Jesus obey Him for us on the cross so that we won’t need to obey Him. The theory is that Jesus, knowing that we could not obey God, obeyed Him in our stead. The reasoning goes something like this: God allowed Adam to make a sinner out of every human being ever born so that man has no choice but to sin. He (God) then sent the Word (God of the Old Testament) to die on a cross so that each time we sin we give Him (God) the opportunity to display His grace. Therefore, sin is not only inevitable, it is also part of God’s plan. In other words, God and Satan have formed a partnership–Satan gets to make everyone sin so that, for those who are “saved,” God gets to display His grace. It is the original “win-win situation.” The Apostle Paul refutes this heresy in Romans 3:5-8. Read this passage slowly and carefully.

In the spiritual realm, prayer is where all good things begin. Jesus was a man of prayer. In His short life He spent many hours in prayer to the Father. We need to acknowledge our dependency on the Father as did Jesus Who declared that everything He did was through the power of God, including the Words He spoke. Read John 12:44-50. Again, how do we “walk as He walked?”

It all begins with prayer. An excellent example of the power of prayer is found in Matthew 17:17-21. Here we find that a man has brought his demon-possessed son to Christ’s disciples to have them cast it out. They tried but failed. The twelve of them together could not cast out the demon. The man brought the boy to Jesus Who promptly cast it out. The disciples then asked Him why they were unable to deliver the boy. Jesus replied that there are some demons that can be cast out only by “PRAYER AND FASTING.” Jesus obviously had spent much time praying and fasting. I have found that very few people follow God’s instructions relative to “WHEN (not if) YOU FAST ….” (Mat. 6:16). I understand why those who call themselves Christ’s brethren refuse to obey His command to fast. I once fasted 34 days while consuming only water. I spent many hours in prayer during those hard days. I spent that time in an air conditioned apartment with my family. Jesus fasted 40 days while alone in the wilderness of Judea. I can only imagine what He went through. I am humbled by His sacrifice.

Relative to Christ’s instructions regarding the powerful demon, note which instruction Jesus mentioned first–PRAYER. Being a doer of His own Words, Jesus made no decisions before spending much time in prayer. For example, before choosing His 12 disciples He spent the entire night talking with the Father Who told Him which 12 to choose. There is no substitute for prayer. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus notes the importance of being alone with the Father when praying. Here He tells us to enter into our “closet” (room) and close the door. We must, whenever possible, “come aside” with the Lord, leaving the rest of the world behind. It is time well-spent. L.J.