Walking the earth in these end times, my friends, people are shocked to see so much confusion, deception and lawlessness. So many who I meet are tired of life’s problems, while the others are freely messing up their lives with no point of return because the winds of change say that the world is at the peak of human existence: We know everything about life, we can do all we want, fly to any place we wish, we can see and hear everything indoors and outdoors, everything is manageable, life has never been better. Seems a fantastic achievement by man, doesn’t it?
No! We’ve reached the end my friends. For look what I see…
“To the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4).
Those who are tired of life, say to me, “Arthur, what’s wrong with the world? Everything’s falling apart; earthquakes, tsunamis, sink-holes, things aren’t working out, mate!” And the latter guys who are chillin’ and enjoyin’ say, “Arthur, mate, why don’t you drink and smoke, come with us to pubs, clubs and casinos, you’re wasting your life, mate, you’ve got just one life, you’re young, don’t think too much, just live! No probs you’re married, you can still have a girlfriend!”
Whenever I face such temptations, my friends, I think, maybe I am in the wrong place with the wrong people, or maybe I’m put here in the right place to be tempted and tried to see what choices I make. These thoughts run through my mind and suddenly I come across this…
“Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).
Then to all of them, I smile and say, “My friends, if only, you’d take the time to read the Holy Bible, you’d know the path I’m walking on, you’d know what happened in the past, what’s happening right now and what will happen in the future in this world we’re in, with pinpoint accuracy. You read newspapers to know what is happening. Read the Holy Bible, for then you will know what will happen tomorrow, you won’t need newspapers to learn, but only to confirm. What has been written has come to pass with one-hundred- hundred percent accuracy, and yet I see so many don’t know the Word of God which God our Father has revealed for our sake, because He loves us and doesn’t want to keep us in darkness. He loves transparency, and so, He shows us what will come to pass. Look…
“For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass” (Ezekiel 12:25).
My friends, being in the mechanical engineering stream, I usually speak logically explaining that everything makes sense; there’s no magic, it’s all logic. There’s no gray area, it’s a clear white or black, a yes or no. In my previous article “The Only True Purpose of Our Life on Earth” I had mentioned that we have an example set before us by God our Father, and this example is Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Many of you have received that article with joy, because I wrote about my firsthand experiences as a letter to you.
My friends, I won’t preach or write a book on a plain doctrine, which has not been applied to my life and impacted my walk positively. Just as without the application of science and technology, engineering doesn’t exist. Likewise, without the application of God’s Word and Holy Spirit, holiness and righteousness doesn’t exist. I’ll maintain my personal experience as a basis in this article too, my friends, so that you all can understand easily. I’m not a pastor and I strongly believe that the only pastor is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, no one else.
“Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah” (Matthew 23:10).
Bodybuilders have Arnold Schwarzenegger as their role model in terms of fitness. Has anyone given thought about who could be our role model for character? When I read the Holy Bible for the first time, the character of Jesus inspired me. He became my role model 24/7. My friends, originally JESUS was not a human being, He was and is the divine Son of God. Only God our Father knows Him, no one else.
“No one knows the Son but the Father” (Matthew 11:27).
JESUS is a mystery to those who don’t know Him, because they’ve not pursued His character. They think that He was just like us, weak and given into temptations and that He did all things the world does. This is not true, they’d realize they were wrong only after they seek and find the truth about Jesus.
To Christians, Jesus is a mystery too, but unfolding day by day, as He reveals Himself to us. My friends, Jesus will reveal Himself to us only if we want to know Him. In fact, He wants us to know Him. The moment we pursue the path of knowing Him, He understands us, and gradually reveals His character to us.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Jesus being the divine Son of God has many roles. I sought to find out and understand His roles. My fiends, here’s hat I found about JESUS (with Scripture references).
JESUS is:
1. The Creator. (Genesis 1:26) (John 1:3)
2. One with God our Father. (John 10:30) (John 14:10)
3. Divine Son of God. (John 1:18)
4. Bread of (Eternal) Life. (John 6:48)
5. Door of Heaven. (John 10:9)
6. The Truth (embodies the Spirit of Truth, never lies, no white lies). (John 14:6-7)
7. Light of the World (source of good and enlightenment). (John 9:5)
8. The Resurrection. (John 11:25)
9. The Good Shepherd. (John 10:11) (John 10:14).
10. True Vine. (John 15:1) (John 15:5)
11. Judge. (John 5:22)
12. Lamb of God (payment for our sins). (John 1:36) (Revelation 5:6)
13. The Way to the Father. (John 14:6)
14. The Instructor (pastor, priest). (Matthew 23:10)
15. The Savior/ Messiah. (Isaiah 9:6) (Luke 2:11) (John 4:42) (Titus 2:13)
16. Healer. (Matthew 4:24)
From the sixteen roles of JESUS mentioned above, we must remember that we can’t take on any of it. Those are His roles. That is His position. We are His followers. So, my friends, we ought to be like Him in character, not roles. I see many trying to take on some of the roles of Jesus and enjoying the glory, which is due to Him. Jesus takes this very seriously. It offends Him. Contemplate on this…
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise” (Isaiah 42:8).
To understand the character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I dug deeper to find out and understand His ways, His behavior, His principles etc. You all know, after we’re born-again of the Holy Spirit, we exhibit the same character of Jesus, inside out because the heart, mind, soul and spirit have been transformed from within. My friends, the reason why we seek to understand His character is to verify that we’re truly born again Christians/believers, and further, whether we’re not putting (our) self-will before God’s will.
Sure thing, we’re free by redemption being taken out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light, we must realize it’s not the fallen Lucifer and his fallen angels controlling us, it’s our self-will which could go astray from being inline with God’s will. The powers of darkness know this fact about Christians very well. Focus…
“Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own desire, and enticed. Then when desire hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).
After digging deeper, to understand the character of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I found out that His characteristics, based on His ways, His behavior, and His principles:
1. Obedient Son of God. Obedient to God the Father, doing God’s will at all times.
(I could speak and write without ceasing, on the depth of His obedience to the Father.)
2. Trustworthy, unshakeable, speaks the truth at all times. No white (to derive good) lies.
3. No loose talk (no jokes, mockery, no abusive/profane language).
4. No drunkenness (deriving selfish pleasure from alcohol, tobacco, drugs).
5. Hard working, not lazy.
6. Always kind, merciful and compassionate.
7. Fiercely brave and longsuffering (to death on the cross, knowing it before creation.)
8. Loving (Agape, selfless love).
9. No jealousy.
10. No enviousness.
11. No hatred (loved those who nailed him, no revenge, no sarcasm).
12. No lust (sexual).
13. No greed (for possessions).
14. Humble and patient (no pride).
15. Generous (a heart for the poor and sick).
16. Focused on needs, not luxuries (born in a stable, not a palace).
17. Made the Father (God) known (spread His Word).
18. Always forgiving (only love forgives).
19. Serious about life and the quality of it (not light headed).
20. Talks and walks God’s way of life (holiness and righteousness).
21. Masculine (for men to understand; homosexuality is a spiritual disorder, which can be healed by repentance and prayer. I’ve seen many healed).
After going through these twenty-one points listed above, we can understand the reason why God the Father has Jesus as our role model and our goal for spiritual maturity and the standard for our character. My friends, we need to monitor our thoughts, words and deeds 24/7, because God does the same with each of us. God checks us to know our spiritual maturity, on how far we’ve made it to the standard.
If we see that we’re not exhibiting the above characteristics, there’s nothing to worry about and there’s nothing to amend on our own human ability, all we need to do is pray to God, acknowledge our weaknesses, sorrowfully repent and ask for His grace. My friends, God gives us His grace without measure to make us spiritually complete and mature like Jesus. In fact, God wants us to understand our weakness, acknowledge, and ask Him for grace. This process builds our relationship with Him. As for our worldly needs (food, shelter, clothing, job) He provides them all by default. So He wants us to focus on our spiritual needs which is not the norm in this world. Without spiritual maturity, the natural man lives and dies, and that’s his end, just like animals.
Time is running out, my friends.
Jesus, the standard for character existed before man was created.
God’s business of building His family is coming to a close.
Let’s get serious! Let’s focus on Jesus, our role model and standard!
We need to make it our top-most priority to become God’s children, before it’s: “Time’s Up!”
Love you all,
Arthur Joachim Rodricks