LOVE NOT ENOUGH, WISDOM NEEDED
This leads us to the second trait that Jesus Christ wants us to develop in addition to being “blameless [innocent, sinless] as a dove”: BE WISE AS A SERPENT.
Because of our innocence or ignorance of the evil, oppressive, clever ways of Satan and his men, we could be easily caught in its net. And all too often this has happened. For example: how many innocent young men were corrupted into many vices of the cities as soon as they arrive there with the purpose to work? How many of our innocent young daughters and sisters are now enslaved in prostitution dens because they were promised by the crocodile recruiters that a good and decent job was waiting for them in the city?
When my young cousins started to the city, I told them of the warning of an old man aired in one radio soft opera. Here it is:
The old man, warning his academically intelligent young son who was to leave to study in UP having won a scholarly, told him: “My son, beware of the city. It is an octopus with many powerful tentacles. Allow not even one of its tentacles to touch and strangle you. Otherwise, the other tentacles will have occasion to also give you an embrace of immediate death!”
Each tentacle represents a sin or vice.
But the son was intelligent in knowledge of the world taught in the classroom only. He was dumb of the knowledge that leads to life as well as that which could save him from the pitfalls of life – this knowledge of life is called wisdom.
So lacking in wisdom, but growing in scientific and technical intelligence, our young man who graduated valedictorian from his high school class, was met by the first tentacle: pride of life.
This is how it happened.
Many of his classmates were children of rich men. His humility was not enough. And so he was ashamed to be seen wearing a poor man son’s clothes. So, he mounted into a catching up with the Joneses. He pressured his fisherman father to send him more money than he did. His father was surprised but didn’t know what was the additional money for. But trusting his son, he doubled his effort to earn (His mother had long since died. And he is the only child). He is always his father’s inspiration in the dark deep sea at night. He dedicated all his sacrifice to his beloved son.
Looking like a son of a rich man now, his son joined the rank of the rich. So, the tentacle of materialism has now bound him – without him knowing it!
The next tentacle that took hold of him, this time more unprepared that made him to tumble down, is drugs. His rich classmates were more shrewd in using drugs, but he was so lacking in prudence that he became more addicted to it than they were. And this presented a greater problem because he could not afford to support this expensive vice. And so, it harmed him more than his rich friends. His rich friends have enough food to it or can buy enough food. By contrast, his allowance for food was much reduced due to his growing dependence on drugs. In other words, he was now eating less and less, so that his body grew thin and weak and his health was affected; he got more often sick.
Moreover, as a result of the drug and lack of food, his mind was subjected to troubles and his grades were affected. He was losing his scholarship! His friends were supported by their rich parents.
As his demand for more money was being felt by his father, his father began to wonder more and more, most especially that his son had now stopped writing him and had not gone home for two semesters. Too bad, he is too poor and too ignorant to go to the city and find his son. So he waited and waited and prayed. Until one day, his son arrived – very thin and sickly… his eyes red and protruding.
“What happened to you, son?” came the very surprised question of the father.
The son did not answer. His behavior had greatly changed. He was no longer that humble and attentive happy son that he was some two years ago. He is more angry now. He got easily irritated, did not answer his father, and had become very demanding. This troubled his father deeply.
What made matters worse, his son kept on asking money even if he was no longer in the city. And the father was wondering why his son was not coming back to the city for the incoming semester. He did not tell his father that he had lost his scholarship.
The drug dependency has made the worst of him. When he craved for the drug, he would squeeze his father to give him money. And one afternoon came, when his father had lost his patience and was ready to confront his son, by hook or by crook. An argument ensued. Then a fist fight. The bedeviled son got hold of a knife and stabbed his old father!
The son did not find his senses until he realized that he was already in the jail. And it took the life of his father before he recognized that indeed the city is an octopus – so large, so all-encompassing and dangerous an octopus!
And many still don’t recognize its tentacles. If they have not been physically killed by this octopus, I lament for the fact that they are already morally corrupted and spiritually killed by this octopus!
When Jesus asked, “At the time near My return, shall I find faith?” that is already that kind of murder. Faith as well as love would be murdered! Faith and love would die in the hearts of many. For He prophesied that in the end time, “many will turn away from the faith” (e.g., will no longer believe in a God or in Christ so as to do His will) and “because of so much iniquity [immorality and wickedness], the love [for God and neighbor] of many will wax cold.”
While the Lord recognize that the children of this world are more shrewd than the children of God, we should take that as a warning. And not allow that to remain as the case or the norm! We should beware! Be more vigilant. Because this world’s glitters – its gold, its fame, its luxury, its sweet life, are a bait if we are not careful. Each is a tentacle!
Our love for God and our fellowmen should be greater than our love for self. If not, then we will misuse this world’s earthly wealth to make ourselves more and more selfish and indulgent, lustful and greedy, thus, violating the divine law “You shall love Jehovah your God in the persons of the poor and you shall love your neighbors as yourself.” And so we have found ourselves already in the breast of the octopus with its hugs of death!
For this reason, we must add GODLY WISDOM to meekness, so that we will not be outwitted and deceived by Satan and his cohorts anymore.
What is that godly wisdom? It is composed of so many truths that we need to get told and taught. But as a starter, do not go too far from the revealed law (“You shall love Jehovah your God above all with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your might and your neighbor as yourself”) for that is the first wisdom. As a matter of fact, the basic divine wisdom. By it, we derive to know a lot of things.
For instance, by dissecting the law, we can know that:
· “You shall love” means not “fear”. Love, not fear, is what the Father wants from us. If you love a person, you will go to him, more so, run towards him and embrace him; but, if you fear a person, you will run away from him! That is the vast difference between love and fear.
· “Jehovah” which literally and by Hebrew’s two root words means “I am” [hence, exists forever; hence, eternal] and “I cause” [that is, “I create” or “I beget”, hence, the Creator or Father], therefore, Jehovah means “Eternal Father” shall be
· “ your God” and no other. In Exodus 20, He declared, “I am Jehovah [or your Eternal Father]. You shall have no other gods [or masters] before or beside Me.” In Matthew 23, Jesus forbids having a human master or teacher, not even to call our human father ‘father’ because “you have only one father and one master and one teacher who is in heaven! The relationship that He orders and allows among men is that “we are all brothers to one another”. In Hebrew, father is ‘jeoua’ while the word used for human father is ‘jeoutza’ which actually means ‘pro-creator’ [or foster father]![1]
· “above all” means our love for Him must be greater than anything else! And the measure is the feelings, not the profession of the lips! Feelings, not thoughts. Love is first and foremost a feeling!
· “above all” also means “with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your might” which refers first, to all our feelings, then, next, to thoughts and actions. Lip-love is not acceptable. It must come from the deep of our heart, fill our mind and direct our actions. 600fold of our feelings must be love for God;
· “and your neighbor as yourself” which means “33fold love for others and 33fold love for our self”! Or because our neighbors are more in number than our self (including family), it should be 60fold love for Neighbor and only 6fold love for Self, hence, a humble Self.
Do not worry, the Lord says that “6fold love for Self” will never make us starve. It may deprive us of the many amenities and luxuries of the rich but our basic needs will not be endangered (food, clothing, shelter) but in exchange for our sacrifices (or for denying material leisure and sensual pleasure made possible by the money and material things of this world), God will give us true peace of mind and genuine lasting joy in our heart – things which the rich are seeking for without finding, because they did not take the right path to it. Above all, our reward is eternal life in His Kingdom in heaven!
With continued meditation as to its meanings, reach, depth and implications, the law will reveal to us much wisdom, more than what hundreds of great universities of this world can give to us.
It can lead us to understand that the opposite is 600fold love for Self, 60fold love for Neighbor and only 6fold love for God; hence, in total contrast to the law of love where love for God should be highest! Hence, it is the perverted 666! And since Self-love rules the world today, in business, in government or even among many Christians, therefore, it is the perverted 666!
Besides thought-influx during meditation or inspiration and additional understanding during application, the Lord has also committed His explanations in writing to expound and further explain the Law of Divine Love.
I am one of the recipients of those volumes of revelations which the Lord personally dictated in voice to the heart of a 19th century humble man named Jakob Lorber, a Jew living in Austria. Many volumes were written. It is found in the internet: www.franky1.com
If Austria and Germany will open their hearts to such rich knowledge as to how to love God above all and how to love the neighbor as themselves, then, these nations as well as any other nation who will do the same, will rise both in prosperity and generosity (charity)!
There were – there had been – great nations or empires but only in prosperity, not in generosity (charity).
To ambition to be great is often an order of pride. Those who had attained such kind of greatness inevitably and ultimately fell! But there is one greatness that will not cause us to fall. And this greatness is the greatness (richness) in humility and wisdom (knowledge from God). Both shall lead us to love God and our neighbor as well as ourselves more and more.
These humility, wisdom and love will lift us to the heights – yes, including material prosperity which is the least among the treasures that the Father has in store for all of those who love Him.
Greatness produced by divine love, humility and divine wisdom shall never fall! Other kind of greatness and fame are false and their foundation are sands, therefore, they shall fall and will never rise again!
Our weakness as some consider “meekness” a weakness, we shall recapture and preserve and be now directed to the invisible yet living Christ. Let us be meek and humble to Him first and foremost. And in our obedience to His law of love, we shall become wiser and wiser in matters regarding our physical, mental and emotional health as well as in matters regulating our relationships with one another.
And let us stop being humble and obedient to anything the church commands that is wrong!
And all the blessings that Jehovah promised in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 shall be ours and our descendants’ if we achieved the goal which the Father set for our patriarch Cain to pursue just before he was sent to become a vagabond in the earth. This goal is: Love [from the Father with its blessings] will be only with those who will seek it in the future not only in their misery and distress, but also in their happiness and freedom [and prosperity].[2]
What exactly was the reason why Israel lost all the initial blessings they enjoyed during the time of Moses, Joshua and the early kings? The same cause: “Because you did not serve Jehovah your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity [but forgot Him], therefore, [you will be held captive or enslaved and] in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies Jehovah will send against you [that is, will allow to conquer you]. He will put an iron yoke in your neck until he has destroyed you.”[3]
WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL IN TIMES OF PROSPERITY!
That is the goal! The great goal! The primordial angels were all in great splendor! And they, led by Lucifer, left their estate and forgot God, became ungrateful to Him!
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Here are some resources on jakob lorber. Newsletter with readings. ebooks. books. www.jakoblorberbooks.com
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