Live according to the truth revealed by Jesus; this is called walking in the light. Hold to Jesus’ teachings.
Practice continuous self-improvement based on faith entrusted to us by God; this is a teaching to keep us productive.
You have heard of talents and development of our talents. The main talent is faith. Build your self-development on that.
Stay calm and focussed on today: this is a teaching of Jesus. Pray away troubles without worry, leaving tomorrow till tomorrow.
Keep hypocrisy out of your actions and words as much as possible: this is a teaching of Jesus. Otherwise you will lead others astray.
Control anger so it does not unjustly harm others: this is a teaching of Jesus. Otherwise you will be mirroring the devil.
Be persistently kind to the poor: this is a teaching of Jesus. Otherwise the tables will be turned on you in the hereafter.
Treat others the way you want to be treated: this is a teaching of Jesus. In doing so you will be obeying the counsel of God.
Primarily love God: this is a teaching of Jesus. Keep God’s words visible at home; teach them to others. Love God with all your voice.
Work hard and honestly to provide for needs instead of leeching off others or stealing: this is a teaching of Jesus and the apostles.
Stay content and never greedy: this is teaching of Jesus. Life is no more abundant with more possessions.
Reflect often on the teachings of Jesus and welcome them when they come back to mind. They are spirit. They are life.
Pray short prayers: that is a teaching of Jesus. God won’t tolerate worldly wordiness, and in church it is showy and out of place.
Pray humble, candid prayers: that is a teaching of Jesus. God won’t tolerate boastful prayers, even if it sounds impressive.
Pray with thanks for answered prayers: that is a teaching of Jesus. It is shameful to forget to praise God when God heals or grants justice.
Pray privately: that is a teaching of Jesus. God rewards prayers not seen by others, prayed only for the approval of God.
When praying in church, keep it humble: that is a teaching of Jesus. Asking forgiveness as a sinner gets God’s respect.
Pray humbly in truth. Truthful humility is the language of the throne-room of Heaven. It can be endorsed with heavenly power.
Let God’s power teach and lead your manner of praying, by Heaven influencing you when you believe Christ died for you.
Take the language of Heaven into your prayers and from there into your daily speech. Truthful humility is that language. Never lie.
Ask God for justice; that is a teaching of Jesus. This avoids taking matters into our own hands and avoids violence.
Pray what you believe God will lovingly answer; that is a teaching of Jesus. Otherwise unbelief will contradict your prayer.
In your prayers, take a moment to forgive others; that is a teaching of Jesus. Then God will find no barrier to forgiving you.
In your prayers, ask for the Holy Sprit like a child would ask for bread; this is a teaching of Jesus. God gives freely.
Avoiding medication and, instead, asking God for healing; this is a teaching of Jesus. The medical ways have a shady past.
Following Christ requires a particular pattern of behaviour, both privately and in relation to others. Truth is central to this. Truth is real. There is the Holy Spirit who searches out truth and testifies to it. If everyone lies about an event there is still the event itself. The lies do not negate the reality that happened. The Holy Spirit searches out the truth of events and can bear witness in full accordance with that truth. When we receive the testimony of Jesus we receive spirit truth and can live by this testimony. This is called walking in the light. When we believe in Jesus and hold to the testimony and sayings of Jesus we become a child of truth and of light. We also become joined to a body of other children of truth and light and we must speak truthfully among ourselves. We are all one body with Jesus Christ as the head, the lord of this household of God.
Baptism is an important step of obedience, once we realise following Jesus is for us. We let others correct us or tell us how to be a better person more pleasing to God and acceptable to Jesus the Master, letting them educate our minds to be more truthful, knowledgable about Jesus and the Father and everything in the truth.
The truthful testimony we give to each other orientates us to be spiritual and ready for an eternity with Jesus, the Father and the other believers and even the holy angels. We let others guide us in the true teachings of Jesus to make big adjustments in our lives to accommodate eternal goals. There is all this that we should learn which comes from holding to Jesus’ teachings.
The ways to be integrated with a church make keeping further teachings of Jesus and apostles of Jesus necessary. Our minds need to learn to reject dishonest thoughts so they do not come out of our mouths or pollute our attitudes.
It is not always possible to stop our dishonesty and it can require miracles to convince us of the ways of heaven and the Holy Spirit to persuade us to be truthful, influencing us to see the virtue of honest, candid humility and the unworthiness of lying and exalting our egos. The power of Christ and of the message of His dying for you on the cross can open you to this heavenly influence. This comes as a free gift of God as you hold to Jesus’ teachings and the truth that is in Jesus sets you free. In turn, freely encourage and build up the other believers with sound doctrine and kindness, helping believers adjust their behaviour obediently, not causing them to stumble by yours, keeping hypocrisy out of the culture of the circle of believers with whom you associate.
Worldly influences often threaten to overpower our minds and sully our associations and meetings. Meditation helps to put these aside and give precedence to truth and the influences of Heaven, preparing our minds for prayer and making room for spirit to well up from within as God gives us the Holy Spirit as Comforter. Meditate to acquire calm inner hopeful joy and peace, thinking on true and wholesome things. It helps in overcoming the world by giving room to the persuasions which come from the God and Father of Jesus Christ.
Singing is another great help too and can be a sacrificial offering of praise to God. Good works can be an offering to God as well. Loving wholesome actions towards those in need and to share encouragement is vital, essential in life in the body of Christ. Christ commands it. Church can sometimes be difficult to attend for various reasons. Things we know we receive from God might be unacceptable to some churches who have become convinced of philosophies that make them resistant to other ways of thinking. Worldliness can have a strong influence on churches and their principles. This has been a historic problem along with divisions and schisms. Sometimes the problem might be our own behaviour being unacceptable to church folk and it might be for good reason taught them by God and good conscience.
Accept rebukes if given honestly and wisely. Sometimes more than a rebuke is needed and we must even accept being asked to leave until we can clean up our ways. Lately lockdowns prohibit some kinds of church meetings too. If you find attending church too difficult or if it discourages your sincere faith, there may be online services to which you can give attention, and even communion is sometimes celebrated online, a memorial of Jesus in bread and wine showing the body and blood shed by Jesus on the cross. It is good to be able to celebrate this memorial in actual meetings with other believers. It is good to see that others too partake this body and this blood of Jesus and share the covenant status it gives us permanently with God who raised Jesus from the dead. The risen Jesus shares the fellowship and brings fellowship with God to us too if we perpetually hold to His teachings and commands. We can look forward in hope to the resurrection Lord Jesus will bring us when He comes in glory to judge us and lead us.
In holding to the teachings of Jesus Christ, at some point it becomes necessary to accept the miraculous side of Jesus’ teachings. It is part of discipleship to do an equivalent of walking on water, exercising miraculous faith in God. Then things starts to get very real. Words alone do not change the surroundings but words of faith inspired to faith by Jesus’ words, this does affect the natural world in which God has placed us. Let faith in God take discipleship up a level. Jesus Christ taught all this. The results can provide a basis for belief in Jesus continuing throughout life. Then incorporating such faith into daily work too affects outcomes and increases wealth according to God’s will in service to God according to the Master Jesus. This can really increase what God provides, and the outcome is that of being a faithful steward. Service in worldly wealth services is rewarded with spiritual service and greater responsibility. Being faithful with worldly wealth leads to being faithful in spiritual things. It is quite a career in itself to follow Jesus: Not a church worker career like a hired hand; a voluntary whole life commitment that never stops.
