Mormon Direction

To pass through the eye of a needle is a metaphor that has troubled me for sometime, trying to understand the meaning and reference used by Jesus Christ, until one day when I was reading a book entitled, “What the Scriptures Teach us about Prosperity” (by S. Micheal Wilcox). The author wrote the book to relate the scriptural teachings about wealth and prosperity. How the enticements of worldly wealth can cause us to fall from grace and loose faith. His book came to a place where he spoke of Jesus Christ using a metaphor of the camel passing through the eye of a needle to reference the burden of riches and condemning aspects of worldly wealth.

Previously I understood that the camel and needle reference speaks of a great difficulty in reference to wealth, but the actual understanding eluded me, despite all the scripture reading I had done. It was not until the camel-needle reference was matched to my own spiritual experiences that I arrived at an understanding of what Jesus meant. To pass through the eye of the needle refers to the trials and tribulations of spiritual life with Jesus Christ. Jesus told the rich prince to give away his wealth to charity and take up the cross and follow him, that was the trial. As the story goes, the rich prince could not do this and he walked away disappointed and that was the tribulation, the prince could not bring himself to accept and endure this sacriface.

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Good & Right Things Ignored

I received an email from Google, at least I believe it was from them, about the class action lawsuit against Google by Gmail. The lawsuit was filed by Gmail users who claim that when Google launched their Google Buzz network, Google automatically included and exposed data and contacts of Gmail users to the public. According to the lawsuit, Gmail users accused Google of violating many of the U.S. and California electronic data usage and storage laws as well as other laws pertaining to fair business actions and professional codes. Google denied the allegations. It took many months before Google and the plaintiffs achieved a settlement. You can read this on the “Google Buzz User Privacy Blog” . The settlement appears to apply only to U.S. citizens. You can read more about it on the FAQ page.

What does this have to do with my blog here?

Nothing directly, but the manner and process by which people had to get their privacy rights respected is the point of topic here and with that comes the principles of God about “rights” and responsibility to do the right thing at all times. Basically I am addressing Christian concerns.

All people have the right to privacy, right not to be harassed or violated, right for respect and fair treatment.

It is sad to see that people have to sue others or take legal action against others for breaches of privacy or for breaches of their rights. I have seen this all over the Internet, people posting personal information about others without legal right and other places as Google allowing the violation of privacy or violation of rights to occur on their services doing nothing about it.

What this brings me to say is there is a widespread disrespect and disregard for what is right and proper and this is rampant in the world and on the Internet. Some call it freedom speech, but when a freedom causes infringement on others or harm to others, it is no longer a freedom, but a flagrant violation. God would have nothing to do with people who act in this manner toward others. It is contrary to the economy of God and his Kingdom to allow such behavior to exist. Such flagrant disregard for others is clearly unrighteous, evil and purely selfish and prideful. All aspects of a damned personage.

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The scriptures say that we are to provide a sacrifice to heavenly Father and this can be done in many ways, such as what was said in Romans 12: 1 or Ephesians 5: 2.

The word of God speaks of self-sacrifice, one where we are to subjugate ourselves to the ways of God and to put aside the ways of the world. Some of these “self-sacrifices” refer to placing ourselves into a humbled state, a contrite spiritual state which subjects ourselves to his Spirit (Psalms 51:17), which is also seen  in one of the most well known scriptural verses, “..he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it ( Matt. 10:39).”

It is clear that God is telling us to forsake mortal tendencies of life and embark onto a spiritual path and way, but how many really do this as they claim faith in God and his Spirit?

Indulgence or sacrifice?

The battle between being spiritual, the offering of oneself to God, or submitting ourselves to indulgences of the flesh and of the world. How easy it is for anyone of us to loose ourselves in indulgences, big and small and not even think of what we are really doing. Simple things, coffee, chocolate, junk food, cakes, or even drink (speaking generally), this is to name a few.

Think about it. When you fast for two meals, do you not desire to drink and eat? To have that treat, that potato chip, cup of hot chocolate or that slice of pizza?  That is an example of the human nature, that of the natural man or woman, the carnal mind and heart, wanting things of the flesh and the world, but when you refuse those desires to continue the fast, then you are spiritual, submitting oneself as a sacrifice to heavenly Father.

Now let us seriously consider as to whether the everyday thing is an indulgence or sacrifice. What things are you doing in your life that would be counted as an indulgence? Having need to eat that chocolate every day, or have that tea every morning, or that need for something that is gained from the world or from the flesh, the pleasures.

It is so easy to get into ideas of “self-pampering”, or “I deserve this” or “treat myself”, etc. These philosophies are taught by many “self-help” gurus that claim this is increasing personal power. How easy the corruption of God’s principles and practices can occur so subtlety and quickly because they appeal to the very thing we all have, that is the “ego” which is where pride resides.

God knew that unless we act in “self-sacrifice” we would be caught up by the world and the flesh, locked into the carnal mind and end up with a heart  of stone, spiritually speaking. Self-sacrifice assists us to humble ourselves and develop a contrite spirit, not to submit ourselves to indulgences, but to submit ourselves to the Spirit, which are spiritual things.

The important thing is to learn when things are not an indulgence and when they are. Making excuses to indulgence, even justify it as “free will or choice” is a selfish act because it serves no one but yourself. Athletes know the importance of self-sacrifice when it comes to performance. True they do it to perform better, it is for themselves, but the manner which it is done is the same. They do not indulgence in things that will hamper their “discipline”.

When God said that our bodies must be like a temple, that means we are to develop and maintain our physical nature unto God. Keep healthy, exercise and every so often, subjugate the body to a fast and to spiritual ways and things. Overcoming the things of the flesh is what opens us up to the Spirit, because by subjugating the flesh and the natural man or woman within, putting aside indulgences and excuses to indulge, shifts the body mind and soul into a spiritual focus and all good spiritual focuses are of God, which invites the Spirit. As athletes do this to perform, we can do the same, spiritually speaking for our faith unto God.

So what would it be for your faith, indulgence of sacrifice?

To be of God, a person cannot be of a bad spirit. These two cannot co-exist in a person at the same time. A person must abide in the principles and commandments of the Lord in order that they be of God. To represent God, meaning to speak for him, requires a higher responsibility. Yet, there are people out there that will claim they are of God or with Jesus or they represent God. They may know the word of God in the Bible and be able to quote scripture and speak from that standpoint. They may appear to be very intelligent, charismatic, appealing, but how can a member of this Church know who they are really dealing with? Some may feel confused as to whether a person is of God or not?

I hope that I can provide some help, some insight to help fellow members deal with the deluge of self-proclaimed Christians. I will begin by relating this by way of a story.

One day a man was brought into the jail cell for being drunk. When locked behind a cell door, he started to ask for things and was denied. He got angry and accused the prison guard of being a “$&*?;” (using foul words), and told the guard that he (the guard) was a homosexual and an “as***” (foul words). The prisoner then claimed to the guard that the guard should ask God if he (the guard) was an “as***” (and used further references to God in a derogatory manner).

Was this man a “man of God”? – Was this man telling the truth?
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