Some time ago, I watched an interesting program, which showed how deserts like the Sahara only required water to blossom like a rich oasis. One could notice various grasses, herbs and plants growing without first having to plant or sow them. The reason is that the seeds are there now–being preserved in the dry sand until moisture arrives in order for them to germinate. The seeds from grasses, plants, herbs and trees are carried there by the wind. It is interesting that seed will keep “alive” for a long time if kept in a dry location. Scientists have found wheat in the pyramids of Egypt, which was over 3,000 years old. When they planted the seed in soil and watered it, it grew and produced more wheat. The same applies to seed in the desert. All that is required is water.

From this example, we can draw an analogy with humans. We know, of course, that God does the calling. When we respond, repent and are baptized, we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The human mind has now been seeded by God with the fruit of His Spirit, and all that is required to bring the fruit to fruition is the working of God’s Holy Spirit in us. The process begins for us to produce and manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are all character attributes of our loving Father and Jesus Christ.

The more water you give to a parched desert, the more vegetation it will produce. The more of God’s Spirit we receive, the more fruitful we become. The key is to ask for more of God’s Spirit in order to produce more fruit to the glory of God. Luke 11:13 tells us: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” We must ask and God is faithful to give. Then we are in a position to produce the fruit of the Spirit to the benefit of our fellow man, so that, when they see these manifested in and through us, they may give glory to God.

Remember the principle: The more Holy Spirit is flowing through us, the more fruit we will produce. The real question is: How are we doing?

I recently corresponded with a person I have known for some time. He doesn’t support any group and is, for all intents and purposes, an independent. When I mentioned that to him, he said that was a phrase coined by Mr. Armstrong, as if, therefore, it had to be wrong. The person felt this way: “I am a believer. I am a part of the spiritual body of believers.” The question is, is that enough? After all, demons also believe, yet they tremble. James 2:19 says: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble!”

I felt somewhat frustrated by our discourse in certain matters and made this observation: Independents seem to believe that a miraculous metamorphosis occurs in their minds. They think that their biblical knowledge undergoes exponential growth to the point where they no longer need a minister to tell them what the Bible teaches, or to correct and exhort them. They are quite content to stay home, to support no group in particular, and to think everything is just fine.

Notice, however, what Ephesians 4:11-13 says: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

Please notice that this growth is achieved by GOD, using His ministry. We are further admonished in Hebrews 10:25, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. These clear admonitions apparently fall on deaf ears when it comes to some independents.

This is what Mr. Armstrong thought about independents: “What about a single member, ‘a joint, or part,’ going off by itself–or following a man instead of the Church of God that is in direct continuous succession from the apostolic Church founded by Christ, in A.D.31? He is like a joint or a piece of wood or stone, entirely outside of, and therefore no part of the body of Christ that shall marry Christ” (The Incredible Human Potential, ed.1978., pp.123, 124-125).

When we look at the original independent, it was none other than Satan, whose line of reasoning followed a path similar to this: “I was put in charge of the earth and I really don’t like being directed on how to run my show. I have pondered this deeply and really feel that the way of get is superior to the way of give. My mind is so increased with knowledge of this new understanding that I will share it with my leaders who will pass it on to their followers. This way of get must be imposed on God and the rest of the angels who just don’t get it. The time has come to make war against the Creator God to take over the universe and to impose my great understanding and knowledge on Him and His angels. He must be deposed of His power and rulership, to enable me to carry out my plans.”

The rest is history.

God placed His ministry in His Church for the benefit of the whole body. Let us never think that we would be better off as independents! Rather, let each of us–as members of the body–grow in grace and knowledge, in willing participation and in a growing understanding of this vital endtime work of God’s Church!

Christ asked His apostles the question, “Who Am I?”, in a slightly different format. Matthew 16:13 records Christ’s saying: “‘Who DO MEN SAY that I, the Son of Man, am ?'” Their answer was, as preserved in verse 14: “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then pressing them a little further, He asked them point blank, in verse 15: “‘But who do you say that I am?'” Peter answered that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ not only concurred with Peter’s statement, but He told him this was revealed to him by God (compare verses 16-17).

If someone was to ask you who you are, what would your answer be? Would it be that you are the son or daughter of your father, Mr.___, who came from a certain part of Canada or the US or Europe or another part of the world? That you are a mechanic or a computer programmer, a builder, or of another occupation and trade? These answers may be accurate, but they would be incomplete.

Ask yourself, “Who am I?”

What does God, through the Bible, say we are? 1 Peter 2:9 calls you a chosen son or daughter of the living God, a priest, a holy individual, and a special person. If you continue to the end, you will be fulfilling and carrying out kingly and priestly functions. 1 John 3:1-2 calls you a child of God.

There is a saying: A person will rise to his expectation. If you are constantly told you are inferior or not too bright, you will in all likelihood be or become that way. On the other hand, God has already determined what we are and will be in the future–if we do our part. So it is our responsibility to rise to HIS expectation and conduct ourselves as priests, holy individuals, special in God’s eyes (which we are), and as children of God, to rule with Christ in the Kingdom.

There is another saying: The cream rises to the top. God looks at us as “the cream.” We don’t say this to be puffed up. Rather, we need to consider that regardless of our position in this life, “God has chosen the weak… of the world” for His purpose (1 Corinthians 1:27). However, we are destined for greatness. 1 Corinthians 3:23 tells us that we are Christ’s. We are destined for glory and rulership. We should never take our eyes off our future goal.

The answer to our original question, “Who am I?”, is this: “I am a special person in God’s eyes, a potential king and priest and much more than that. I am a begotten child, a son or daughter of God, to be born as an immortal God being, when Christ returns.” We must never forget that!

In the miracles that Christ performed to feed the people, bread was always involved. One example can be found in Matthew 14:13-21. On that occasion He fed five thousand people. Another example is recorded in Mark 8:1-9, where bread was once again given to feed four thousand people. It is quite evident that bread in those days was a major staple of life. It wasn’t like the bread we have today, made with bleached white flour, with the nourishment all but eliminated by the polluting hands of man. Rather, the bread common to man in Jesus’ time consisted of whole grains with the full benefit of the wheat germ and enzymes God has placed in wheat, barley and other whole grains.

This may give us a better understanding why David, when he and his men were literally famished, was given the showbread to eat, since it had valuable and lasting sustenance. This incident is referred to in Luke 6:3-4 by Christ. Historically, we read about the event in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

From a physical standpoint, bread is a critical part of a person’s diet. We realize, of course, that “bread” in the Bible can and does include “food” in general — it does not literally have to exclusively mean, “bread.” This is magnified by the model prayer in Matthew 6:11: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We see here that it is daily bread or sustenance that we are to pray for.

However, physical bread is not enough. A further remarkable statement is made by Christ regarding bread in Luke 4:4: “But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”‘”

It is evident that man’s physical existence is linked to physical bread or food, but his eternal existence is linked to the spiritual bread, the Word of God–in other words, the Bible.

We need to eat this spiritual bread daily just as one prays daily for his physical bread. We need to digest God’s Word, think about it, ponder it and make it a necessary part of our very being.

At the time of Christ, no man would consider not eating bread for a prolonged period of time, unless he was fasting. We should not go prolonged periods without reading and meditating on God’s Word. Rather, we should follow David’s example, when he stated in Psalm 119:15-16. “I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget YOUR word.”

The way we do this is by daily Bible study and by making the Bible a part of our thinking, our being, our way of living.

Remember: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Several years ago, I saw an interesting movie. Its real message wasn’t evident until the last three minutes. It involved a man with two sons who, over the years, because of major issues between the two sons, had drifted apart.

The man who lived on the west coast was the owner of an automobile on the east coast which needed to be driven to his new residence. This was no ordinary car. It was a beautiful fully restored older vehicle — I believe, a Cadillac — and it looked just like a new car. He asked his eldest son to pick up the car with his younger brother.

As the two young men drove five days across the nation, they got into all kinds of problems. They were bickering at first because of the animosity between them, but it slowly changed. By the third day, the younger brother got into a squabble with a few other men at a bar, and the older brother came to his rescue. They had to flee the scene with their dad’s car, and they were chased by the other men, resulting in damage to the car — scratches on the paint job and dents in the fender.

However, the brothers had finally developed a deep bond for each other. When they arrived at the west coast, the eldest brother went alone to deliver the car to his dad. He knocked at the door with a bit of fear and trepidation. The father came out, walked towards his car, and the son was very apologetic about the damage on the car. To his complete surprise the father said: “Never mind the car, how was the trip with your brother?” The eldest son indicated it went well and that although it started off a bit rough, they had bonded as brothers. The only reply from the father was: “That’s great, that’s just great.”

The father died from cancer three months later, and that’s when the eldest son realized why the father wasn’t concerned about his restored car as much as the relationship between the brothers. To the father, the relationship between the two of them was more important than the car, as he did not want to die while there were bad feelings between his sons.

This movie reminded me of Matthew 5:23-24, where we read: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

We are keeping the Passover on Friday night. How is our relationship with God and with our brethren? Have we reconciled with God, since it is His law that we transgress when we sin, and reconciliation is through the blood of His beloved Son Jesus Christ? Passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, and Romans 5:10-11 make this very clear.

Christ, as our elder brother, was willing to die for our sins so we could be reconciled to God. In this life we can get caught up in the physical things and get our focus on wrong and unimportant matters. However, we read what is really important, in 1 John 4:7-11:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born [better: begotten] of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

The Passover season is a time to get focused on the important things and to be truly reconciled to God and, as much as depends on us, to our brethren, with the realization that reconciliation through the sacrifice of Christ is far more important than anything else.

So let us keep this Passover with a deep feeling of appreciation for the sacrifice which Christ made for all of us.

This question was asked at the end of the Motion Picture, “Saving Private Ryan,” which was released a few years ago, depicting war in a graphic and realistic way. Private Ryan asked this question of his wife in a very emotional way during a visit to a cemetery of World War II soldiers — while the movie camera focused on thousands upon thousands of casualties of war, identified by white crosses.

Private Ryan’s mother used to have three sons. The War Department had already informed the family that two of her sons had been killed in war. When the fate of her third son — Private Ryan — had become uncertain, the War Department sent out a group of soldiers to locate Private Ryan and to bring him home safely. It was felt that losing two sons in war was a sufficient sacrifice for any family. The soldiers who were sent out to locate Private Ryan were all killed in the process of saving him. They sacrificed their lives to save him. This was the reason why he asked his wife whether he had been a good man. Was he really “worthy” enough for the ultimate sacrifice these men had made for him by paying with their lives so that he could live?

The question for us today is this: Have we been a good man or woman in our lives? As in the case of Private Ryan, someone was willing to die for us so that we could live. That Person was a Righteous Man Who was willing to die for our past sins so that we would not have to suffer eternal death. This Righteous Man was more than just an ordinary person; He was our beloved Savior, the God of the Old Testament Who gave up His Divinity to become a Man, so that He could die for us.

When Christ gave His life for us, we were NOT good people. None of us were. In fact, we were His enemies, deceived by the god of this world–Satan the devil–following the carnal lusts of the flesh. We were most certainly not “worthy” to receive the opportunity for eternal life through the Sacrifice of Christ.

But we CAN become good people. It is interesting what Christ said about being a good man in Matthew 12:35: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things.” On another occasion He said: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). He recognized that it was God the Father, living in Him, Who made Him good. This is true of us also. David said, in Psalm 119:172: “For all your commandments are righteousness.” We too can be righteous if God’s Spirit in us is leading us and we are obedient to His commandments.

Very soon now we will be keeping the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. This is a special time for us, both to examine ourselves and to work on putting sin out of our lives. While we meditate on these things, let us never forget the tremendous sacrifice Christ made for us, willingly giving up His life as a God being, and subsequently His physical life, to make available to us eternal life. As we reflect on these things set before us, let us ask ourselves the same question which Private Ryan asked: “Have I been a good man?”

Do we sometimes get discouraged or have feelings of disappointment because we may think that there does not seem to be enough spectacular growth in the Church of God, which is a spiritual organism? What we have to realize is that growth can be measured in more than one way. It can be measured by focusing on “numbers” — as far as quantity of members and coworkers is concerned — and it can be measured by focusing on increase of spiritual understanding and better conduct (2 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 4:15) — as far as quality of living is concerned. Which, do you suppose, is more important in God’s eyes?

We may want to compare the growth of the Church with the foundation of a building. When it is strong, one can build on it. However, God must lay the foundation.

When David faced Goliath, it seemed to the human eye like an impossible task to defeat him. Goliath was a giant, close to nine feet tall, and David was just a teenager — he would be termed in our day as a “little runt” by comparison. Yet, this young man who did not have the impressive stature of Goliath, brought God’s enemy down. He did it with God’s help, not relying on his own strength. However, if they were taking bets at that time, you can imagine where the money would have been placed; yet, it did not turn out the way most people thought. The champion of the Philistines went down hard and with finality. You can read the entire account in 1 Samuel 17.

You can also read an interesting account in the seventh chapter of the book of Judges, in regard to God accomplishing a lot with Gideon and a small group of his supporters. God reduced the manpower down to 300 soldiers. With that small “army,” Gideon was able to overcome humanly insurmountable odds, because God was on his side. From a human point of view, it would have seemed to be an impossible task. You may recall, too, that Mr. Armstrong and his wife kept the Feast of Tabernacles, by themselves, for seven years, before God added anyone to the Church. Seven stands for completeness. The foundation had to be laid first.

After Christ’s death and resurrection, only 120 people were willing, at first, to follow Christ totally and completely (Acts 1:15). Prior to Christ’s death, there were many who had followed Him, but only up to a point. In fact, not every one of His disciples was willing to grow, by accepting more spiritual knowledge. When Christ tried to expand the spiritual horizon of His disciples, many refused to embrace His teaching and ceased to walk with Him any longer (John 6:60-66). At that time, the group of believers DECREASED in quantity, but those who stayed were willing and ready to INCREASE in quality (John 6:67-68).

We firmly believe that in God’s due time, He will add more people to Christ’s body — the Church — as He sees fit. In the meantime, let us ensure that we grow in the quality of our relationship with God. We must never despise the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10). In the end, God can and will accomplish growth in every respect (Isaiah 55:10-11).