Learning From Example

Were you not close enough to a great king to learn by his example?
~ Saladin, Kingdom of Heaven.

In the movie, Kingdom of Heaven, the king of Jerusalem is always trying to make and keep peace, even among generational enemies. When the old king dies, a new king comes into power, and things change. The new king, filled with pride, actually thought he was just as smart as the old king, and therefore did not learn the example that was right in front of him. And when he did his own ideas, he did not get the same results. In fact, he lost the kingdom, and his people had to suffer! 

It has been said: There are many paths which lead to the top of the mountain, and although this may be true, there are easier paths, and harder paths. There are safer paths, and there are paths which are more dangerous! And if the Lord Yeshua Himself, comes to show us the path back into the presence of the Father, and Yeshua shows by the results that His path works, and tells us that His is the only path which will get us back into the presence of Father, and proves this by the results of His path, then should we believe Him and follow His path? 

The new king, filled with pride, thought his method was just as valid as the method of the previous king, yet it did not produce the same results. This led to great suffering of his people, and the loss of the kingdom, the loss of his life, the loss of Jerusalem. All because he thought his ideas were just as valid as the ideas of the great king before him. 

Are we close enough to the Great King Jehovah to learn by His example? If not, how do we know what ideas are in line with His proven method, or what ideas are our own? I submit, it is the Spirit of Holiness which we must acquire, in order to know what ideas of which the Saviour does approve. The great Spirit of Holiness will lead us into Holier, and Holier paths. The way to tell is, if the results are Holy. 

I remember a time when a young person in my stewardship told me of a different approach than the one I was using, to which the Spirit of Holiness bore immediate witness. I instantly apologized and changed to that Holier approach, and the results were undeniable! There have been many such examples in my life, which have alleviated suffering as a direct result. 

When a person comes into your life, who has the results you desire, and offers to share the method to get those results, how do you respond? Do you inflate your pride, and say, "My way is just as valid as your way!" Or, do you immediately give up your way, for the proven method? 

Even if a person has not yet witnessed the life of the Saviour, and exactly how He did things to get the proven results, we can apply to the Holy Spirit of Promise, and be led into Holier and Holier paths, which will alleviate suffering caused by our own approach. 

Are you not close enough to the Great King to learn by his example?

Diet Vs Lifestyle

When we are young, we often have a joyful lifestyle more conducive to a lean body. All the running around, happily playing with the other children, the constant growth, keeps us much more healthy. This is often the same in the Gospel. In the beginning, we are learning, growing, running around making new friends, becoming a part of things. This keeps us healthy and growing in the Gospel. We can get into good Gospel shape!

Then when we grow up, we tend to slow down on these different features of a healthy lifestyle, which leads to the extra weight, cynical attitude, depression, lack of growth, and overall poor health. The same in the Gospel. As we "grow up" and settle down in the Gospel, we gain a few extra vices, cynical attitude, depression begins to set in, experience a lack of growth, and generally obtain poor Gospel Health! Well, we need to change all that!

Let us re-visit the beginning:

In the beginning, we were introduced to an exciting new goal, a new way of looking at things, new things to accomplish. This is the same today, let us make an exciting new goal!

Second, we learned and learned. We fed that goal. We focused pretty hard on the goal, and fed ourselves loads of new material, researching all the things we needed to accomplish that goal. With all the moving toward our new goals, we naturally did not ingest the old inputs. This got us healthy! And we moved forward quickly.

Third, we exercised a lot! We got involved. We got a new calling, we started going to more meetings, we shaped, and shared, our new outlook with many people, we participated!!!

Fourth, We spent a lot of time in prayer, and meditation, contemplating every aspect we could. We stretched our minds and hearts. We found peace to our souls, in the promise of Eternal Life!

And all this revolved around our Love for our Heavenly Father and His Son! In which regard, we were constantly analyzing ourselves, striving to improve, looking at the harsh reality of ourselves, and changing ourselves deeper and deeper, in response to which, we felt that ever burning witness of the Holy Ghost, the messenger of Heavenly Father, letting us know that we are on the right path, that we are loved, that the course of life we are pursuing is acceptable to Him! What a beautiful memory.

And all this can be yours again. Let us re-new ourselves, and run the gauntlet again!

May God bless you all. 

The Best Diet Programme

Question:
What is the best diet, that will give me the best results, in the shortest amount of time?

Answer:
Whole foods, portion control, a lot of proper exercise, proper sleep, no stress, etc.  And all these things must be done properly and properly scheduled.

The easiest and best way to get the results is, to do the programme.  Any person who does the programme will get the results.

Of course, this honest programme does not sell well.  The best selling fitness programmes are those which promise incredible results, with no effort.

"Just take our pill, and watch the fat melt away!"

"You can eat anything you want on our diet!"

"Just take our supplement, and you never have to get off the couch again!" 

Instead of looking for the easy way, perhaps it is best to look for the proven way.
Proven results of a proven way is the best way!

Results are the measure of the effectiveness of the programme.  No one got skinny by eating and sitting.  Yet, everyone got into shape by eating only whole foods, limiting intake, a lot of exercise, uninterrupted sleep, no worries, etc.

Any person who does the proven programme, gets the proven results!

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