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Weekly Reminder...
The Weekly Reminder is an informative tool to help people who read it consider what the man of God has said. This weekend’s articles are based on what was heard on May 30 & 31, 2009 in the Westbury assembly.written by Br. Jean Leonidas
God used Br. Antoine over the weekend in such a mighty way to expound to us the word of God. Many times we come to the house of God thinking we are serving God the right way and after hearing the word of God we found out we were not. This is why it takes God to help us realize our errors so that we are able to turn and make things right. How does God do that? He does that by sending a man of God to us like Br. Antoine to help us. God works the same way as he did in the days of old by sending a messenger to let the people know their current state.
Br. Antoine was showing us last weekend how we are not doing what God is asking us to do. He said the way we come to church and worship God and the lifestyle that we lead proves our relationship with God. He quoted the scripture in James 2:26, showing us that our actions must work in accordance with our faith. He quoted Matthew 12:36-37, to show us that there will be a judgment day. He said that we are not only going to be judged for our actions but also for every idle word that we speak. There must be accountability now while we are living because as the people of God we are to watch our spirits. Br. Antoine said, "We should watch the words that are coming out of our mouth because God is going to bring everything we have said into account". The scripture said for every idle word we speak we shall be judged.
As Br. Antoine was speaking I can see in my own life where I've spoken idle words. An idle word is a word that does nothing, a word that does not have its place in a conversation or situation. Just like a car that is running but is not being driven (taking you where you want to go) is not being useful; an idle word does the same thing. As Christians we are to think before we speak and ask ourselves the consequences of our words before we speak them. The scripture says "a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). If only we can exercise ourselves to speak words that help our brothers and sisters. Br. Antoine further quoted Romans 15:2, where he explained to us that we should use our abilities to edify. He said whether it is by word or deed everything should be done unto the Lord and to edify the people of God".
Br. Antoine continued in explaining that our actions can be a bad testimony to our brothers and sisters. He gave the example of someone that is missing church services; he said "nothing should be able to make us miss a service". He quoted Mathew 11:28-30, where Christ was making a call to all those that are laboring and are heavy laden. Br. Antoine said we need to take the yoke of Christ for us to be able to serve God right because the yoke of Christ is easy. He continued by saying as long as we trust in the Lord and do what he asks us to do we can make it. What I learned from that statement is this “yoke” means obeying and accepting the will of God for our lives. Christ had a yoke He was carrying when He was here and the fact that He obeyed His Father, God was able to help Christ with that yoke. It is not any different for us, if we obey Christ and do exactly what His word ask of us to do, we will be able to sustain the suffering or burden that comes with it. We are able to serve God the way we are supposed to when we keep His commandments whole-heartedly. When we ignore God's voice (the man of God), then we are not taking Christ’s yoke but we are trying to do everything with our own strength. The scripture plainly says "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). When we can trust in God’s word, God will make His word come to pass.
It was a blessing to have been in church over the weekend. If I was not in God house I would not have been able to hear a message that would tell me what I need to do in order to draw closer to God. May God help us to realize our state and turn to Him in our actions and speech.
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