Date: 03/20/2023

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to Him be the Glory, Power, and Dominion forever and ever and to the Holy Ghost that is yet abiding in the body. This week let us look at “Our Attitude”.

Our attitude toward God should be rejoicing in the great treasure we have found in Jesus Christ! Willing to give up everything to follow Him! Holding back nothing that might hinder us from seeking Him!Viewing nothing that we possess, not even our lives, as having any value compared to the incredible riches of knowing God. As Paul states in Acts 20:24: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” We must, “ Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews12:14).  This scripture tells us that holiness is personal, a life of warring against sin in thoughts, attitudes, and actions. It is essential that we give up everything to be Christ-like. We are to declare righteousness in all manner of conversation. His moral perfection, and his obedience to the will of God, are credited to our account through faith. Even though it is faith alone that saves us, the faith that saves is not alone. Genuine faith, saving faith produces a zeal for holiness and a hatred for sin, As Jesus said, again in the Beatitudes, “ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Saints, seeking the Lord, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, are two sides of the same coin. Hebrews 12:14 also tells us that holiness requires intentional effort. “Make every effort,” it says “to be holy.” It doesn’t happen automatically; it doesn’t become infused into us by some process of spiritual osmosis. We must work at it. In fact, the Bible portrays it as more than just working; more than just laboring. It’s warfare. And that means it’s not always a calm, peaceful, genteel activity.  It is only for those who are willing to let God expose the ugliness inside of us, so that he can do the necessary work of healing, cleansing, and purification, by the power of his Holy Ghost. And he will do that, if we let Him; if we acknowledge our sin, confess and repent. 

In closing, we all need to pray the prayer David prayed in Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts”.  Because the nature of sin, is that it deceives us. We are blind to our own faults. We overlook and excuse our own sins. We make allowances for them, and minimize them, and call them by other names. Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)” Next week “Let us examine our emotions/feelings”. And remember, “…with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

In His Service,

Bishop Dr. Calvin Worthem

General Chief Overseer/Senior Bishop