Are you building a relationship with God, or are you just waiting for God´s blessings, while burning everything around you? There is a lot to say for work, not that you can get yourself into heaven by good works, because God´s forgiveness and salvation is a gift that you can´t just work for. However, mathematically, theoretically, philosophically, and practically you should not just sit around and wait for God´s blessings to come knocking on your Christian door. There are a few things that a good Christian can do to clean up his act, his mind, the physical condition of his body and thus his state of attention, and to train his mind to think on the things of God. Study to show thyself approved unto God.

Matthew 6:20

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-6-20/

Memorizing and studying, I suppose it could be interpreted this way, or by doing good deeds, giving to the poor, helping the sick, comforting the afflicted. Charity covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Peter-4-8/

So, there are many things that a good Christian can do, while waiting for the return of Christ, or waiting for sanctification, or hoping and praying for Providence to smile on your condition in life. If you wait long enough there might be an improvement in your finances that might or might not arrive, unless you are giving to a Mega-Church, which preaches that riches will find you suddenly if you become a member. Don´t count on it. A sudden influx of wealth might not be very healthy for just any Christian. While completing your "bucket list" of great places to visit and things to do before you die with all that newfound wealth, you will probably not have very much time to spend studying your Sunday School lesson, reading your Bible, memorizing scripture and generally preparing to meet God. Building your Christian knowledge is actually getting to know God and Jesus Christ in a better light. Your health might improve or actually just not deteriorate at such a rapid rate as it normally would have, if you study the Old and New Testament of the Bible. A person´s mental attitude and their frame of mind has a lot to do with their character, the way they handle difficult situations, and of course the way you deal with your own inadequacies. We all face sickness, loss of loved ones, and other personal problems that present sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles. With the help from God, knowing of His presence, His assurance, and Jesus´s love for us, we seem to be able to meet the challenges that normally, if we were not Christians, we would find very very disturbing. Building a valuable repertoire of the teachings of Jesus Christ that we can keep in our hearts and minds is better than burning up and destroying all the wickedness around us. After all, that is God´s job to wreak vengeance upon the evil and immorality in high places. It may not happen in the time of our choosing, but you can believe that God does administer his retribution upon all the wickedness of the world in his own time. Our main concern is to keep our own souls prepared to be judged in the hereafter, but also in the present, if God so chooses. Building our relationship with God is to study his guide, words, laws, actions, deeds, and fore warnings from the Bible, which he has given as an inestimable gift to man.

February 6, 2022

Cliff Rhodes Christian Ministry