Who looks after our veterans?

 

In Acts 2:1, it is written that “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” This is the start of their grace with the power of Holly Spirit and the official start of their mission to spread the gospel until the end of the world by baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while reminding them about the commandment of the lord, to make them disciples of the lord. 

 

The mission starts with the power of the Holy Spirit which is promised by the lord as he ascends to heaven. Yet as they waited for the promised power of God, they were together and with one accord. The most important point in their gathering is that they were with one accord. They were in a spirit of harmony, mutual love, and unity, while waiting for the inevitable, as promised by God. After all one of the major prayers of the lord is that his disciples should be one in spirit as the Lord Jesus and the Heavenly Father are one. His last order before crucifixion was that they should love each other. The Lord Jesus did also add that they are known to be his disciples if they love each other.

 

It is clear, therefore, that unity of spirit and also love is important in the assembly of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the spirit of the lord is not a fragmented and contradictory spirit but the unified spirit of one God. The Jesus in one is the same Jesus in another person. Is it possible for the spirit of Jesus in one body, temple, to stand against the spirit of Jesus in another body, temple? This is one reason why love is important in the assembly of the lord. Yet love is not only needed to make Jesus happy but because the holy way, the way of the lord, and the way of salvation is love. Holiness and love are keys to salvation, as it is written.

 

As unity of spirit is important, the spirit that unites us is more important. I am sure devils love each other, on a devil scale. Gangsters and outlaws also love each other, on a felon scale. Their love is not pure and perfect, and their unity is conditional, yet still, they can work in one accord. See Haiti where street scams are running society by the barrel of the gun to life of insecurity and outright poverty. That is why being on one accord is important but we have to assemble on the will of God not to rebel against God. If we are united in one accord against the will of God, we will see what happened to the Jewish people for the last 2000 years happening in our lives. You don’t want God hunting you, as nothing you touch will flourish, and if it flourishes, you will accumulate it for your enemy. You will be an outcast and trash of this world because God himself is managing everyone for your suffering. You really, really, really, and really don’t want to see that.   

 

That is why we need to make sure first and foremost that we have a common accord around the will of God. The main problem, however, is: knowing the right accord. The disciples of the lord were trained by the lord for 3 and half years before his death, and 40 days after his glory. There were things that Jesus taught them in 3 and half years of his earthly life; while for things that they could not understand, he needed to raise himself from the dead first before they could carry it. In the same logic, some things have to wait for the manifestation of God’s power, before they can be corrected, and we need to accept each other with humility, and respect to work on areas that unites us in mean time. Yet some things do not belong in the kingdom of God and assembly of the lord, which are ways of dogs, pigs, snakes, and vipers. Those things need to be cleared in the assembly of the lord.         

 

Despite the need to avoid major mistakes, we need to unite on the good work of God too. A life of holiness and love is necessary for faithful. We are not under the law, yet the existence of the grace of God has to be reflected in our holiness and love that we have. Unless the temples of the lord, we, are built with detailed biblical knowledge of God and the way of God, unless our soul and mind are built to love what is holy and to hate what is sinful, and unless God’s love is reflected in our love of God, fellow servants, and even those who hunt, and hate us, what is the purpose of looking for more presence of God in our life?  

 

You are already given the Holy Spirit to build you, and before more grace of the Holy Spirit can come, the initial work has to be acceptable. To the one who has more, more is given; to the one who has less, he will lose what he has. Fruit and performance are important in heaven. The good question is: are you building the nice temple of a king’s palace for the Lord Jesus Christ, or are you building a prison temple for the lord? Is Jesus to live with several outlaws, which are the devils, in prison, or is Jesus to live in honor and dignity in your life? The house of the lord, the temple of the lord has to be built right, given the level of grace that you are given now.

 

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to honor Jesus. Jesus is witnessed by water, blood, and the Spirit. First John gave witness, then after Jesus in flesh gave witness about himself, and finally the Holy Spirit came to witness to the lordship of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is neither for local development nor for a magic show, it is a witness to the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is increasing to make us more like Jesus. It is about taking Jesus to the world, not the world to Jesus. If all is about Jesus, therefore, we have to unite on the commandments of the lord. That is the center of our unity. There is no other gospel or special gospel, now or in the future, but the Gospel in the bible. Our destination is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no road to Jesus except Jesus himself. It is all about Jesus Christ.

 

The last thing that the disciples were sure of was that Jesus is Lord and God, according to the bible, and they were ready for the main mission of the lord. The mission is to spread the gospel to the whole world, by teaching the commandment of the lord, and to make people disciples of the lord. Making billions of imitators of the lord is our mission. How can we make billions in the image of the lord, unless the lord is printed in our life, however? It is not that we don’t sin but we don’t live and grow toward sinful life. Anyone who is with God cannot sin and our sin comes not from the light, which is inside us, but from part of us which is not completely dead. We have to slowly die and Jesus needs to take over through the spiritual growth process. What unites us, therefore, is the process of killing ourselves and raising us in the image of Jesus, so we can be more and more in him without sin.

 

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to witness to the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. If it is increasing, it is to make us more and more like Jesus. Jesus is the essence and our goal is to imprint the image of Jesus in every faithful. Our salt and light is the life of Jesus, which is reflected in our life. If we unite, we have to unite on making people from the world disciples of the lord in the image of the lord. That is our mission. If the power of God is manifested with higher intensity, it is not about us. It is not about traveling the world. It is not about local development or national identity. It is to kill us more, so we can be more like Jesus. Then we have to run from village to village and from town to town to evangelize the world in the image of the lord. It is a call for work, not a picnic and vacation.

 

That mission is not expected to be the mission of honey and sugar, it is a mission of service, suffering, prosecution, and crucifixion. As you push deep into the devil's territory, with more power and grace, they are going to hunt you with everything they gate. Such kind of service is not for those who are dreaming about a car, house, and vacation. It is for those who are making themselves ready for a painful life in service of the lord. To work for God is work, it is not picnic and visiting the world. We have to be ready for work, not vacation. To be ready, you have to be ready in the knowledge of the book, the bible; you have to be ready in character and manner; and you have to be heaven-centered not earth-centered. Most disciples of the lord were from Galilee but their mission was not about Galilee. We need to think about the enormous heavenly kingdom rather than the worthless dot on the worldly map, known as Galilee. To be attached to this world is to stand against God, as it is written. Look down on this world because your kingdom is in heaven and this world is your footstand, as you are the body of Christ. Don’t look in admiration to the dirt below your foot, look up to heaven and work for heaven. Do you want to win in this world? Be with God, and look down on this earth and its desires, as they will never last forever. Who can win the world but the one who is born in spirit? So invest in your spirit, not in your flesh.       

 

If you are building yourself for such a heavenly mission, could it be possible that you can be indifferent to the welfare of the veterans of the mission? If by looking at John, the disciple, in his old age, you always wish to follow in his footsteps; could it be possible for you to be indifferent to the welfare of John in his old age? Why don’t we care about our veterans who lived by the book for the kingdom of heaven, the bible? They work for heaven in poverty, suffering, and prosecution, without demanding anything for themselves and without retirement funds. We are their fruit, who are crowned in luxury being indifferent about them. If we are crowned with the luxury of the kingdom of God, should not all of us be crowned together?

 

If we think a servant cannot live in poverty for ourselves, what about them? They are the servants of faith who work for our salvation. Are they less valuable than our parents of flesh? Why don’t we care about them? It is because our mind is earthly, not heavenly, and we are lost in our ignorance. Jesus is inside them, crying when they are lonely and fragile without support, being sick with their sickness, being hungry when they are hungry, in prison when they are in prison, and being sad when they have no support network around them. They work for the lord and God sent their retirement fund through us, and we buy toys, ice cream, luxury life, and we are in competition for the biggest toys of this earth, and lord is watching their suffering, pain, and loneliness. I am sure you can doubt my word, but can you doubt Jesus and his word? You will never make it to heaven if you are indifferent to Jesus inside them, as it is written.    

 

Leave the increased flow of the Holy Spirit that we expect, what about heaven? Are we sure that we are citizens of heaven? Are we sure our name is in the Book of Life? Does it matter if we make prophecies and signs, and we teach the name of the lord and his commandments? Does it matter at all? If Jesus is worried about the welfare of one average faithful like us, how much will he worry about the welfare of Paul, Peter, and John? Why don’t we think about them and their welfare? It is because we are earth centered not heaven centered. It is equally true also that we are not given the right education for a long time, and we are lost due to a lack of knowledge. We are sent to christen the world in the name of the lord, yet we were christening Jesus in the name of prosperity, good life, and world dominance.

        

The historical assembly of the lord, in the first and second centuries, used to provide welfare support to the large army of poor faithful. In this age, even if we cannot feed the 5000 followers of Jesus in the desert, because we need toys, is it too much to support the 12 disciples, if they need it? All may not need financial support, but many do need sustainable financial support. If Abraham and Jacob have to give 10% to God, why are Abraham and Jacob of this age not paying their 10% to Melchisedec of our faith? Why are not all assemblies of the lord allocating a certain percentage of their monthly or annual income to this purpose, so the elders of the faith can be supported sustainably? You have several associations to unite you, why is this less important in your agenda?

 

When you are in front of the lord, what do you expect the lord to ask you? How many toys do you buy? How many buildings do you build? How many flowers do you plant? How many clean streets do you make? Are those things passports to heaven? If you want those things, do them but not while Jesus is hungry, thirsty, and alone without social support in prison of old age isolation. Do you do those things while your families of flesh are hungry, thirsty, and lonely? Why is Jesus less important in your sight, compared to your biological families? Jesus is hungry, Jesus is thirsty, and Jesus is in a social prison of old age isolation? Why is that we don’t care?        

 

If you want to build schools, it is good; but after you support the elders. You have 90% of your revenue to do whatever you want. School, flower, clean street, toys for you, big church, and whatever, do it. But first, feed Jesus because he can cast you to hell fire. It does not matter what kind of signs and prophecy are performed through you, with hungry, thirsty, and imprisoned Jesus, you will not make it to heaven. Why? Because Jesus said so! Don’t fool yourself because you will never fool the lord Jesus on judgment day.

 

Mister Joseph, the family of Jacob is facing drought and you are sent in advance to secure their safety and welfare. Look after them. All do not need money, yet all do need social respect, social recognition, and routine visitation if they are lonely. How costly or how hard is it to do those things? Why don’t you make it part of your routine work to socialize with them and to show respect to them? It would be forward payment for your old age, and judgment day of the faithful, which I think will happen soon on this earth through the redistribution of power of God, and will definitely happen in heaven.