V RaptureChrist Newsletter
February 1, 2012

The first things you learned were probably from your mother. Most babies are nurtured by a mother or an adult who takes care of its needs.

As the baby grows, the child starts to learn from the adults who surround him and starts to imitate their language. When the baby starts walking, he gets more independent of the nurture he is given by other humans around him. Soon the baby learns how to communicate with others, eat by himself, use the toilet, dress and undress himself, go up and down stairs, open and close doors, and use simple equipment.  Almost all that a child learns is from other human beings who surround him... mainly his mother.

By the time the child starts school, he already has acquired some social behavior which will stay with him the rest of his life. If he was raised in the home of Christian parents, he will act the way his parents taught him. He will say thank you, he will be polite, he will not know obscene language, so he will not use any derogatory terms. He would have learned by that time not to be jealous, not to desire what is not his, not to take things that do not belong to him. He would have learned to be responsible, honest, to keep his room tidy, to collect his toys after using them. He would be used to praying together with his father and mother... and other siblings or relatives as the case might be. He would be welcoming a daily blessing from his mother as he went to sleep... and so on and so forth. Psychologists say that by the time the child is eight years old, he is already formed.... his nature is already cast.

If on the contrary, this child was not raised in a Christian way, he would have been tutored by parents or other adults who did not follow those guidelines, and the child could have, by the time he was six, learned to behave in an uncourteous manner, to be jealous of others, to take things that did not belong to him, to lie, to respond to his parents in an improper way, and therefore to respond to other children or other adults in a manner unbecoming to a young gentleman.

When the child starts school, he is exposed to a larger group. This might have started already by the use of the TV at an early age. If the parents are not choosy and let the child interact with other human beings, and be exposed to improper behavior or ideas, this child would start to imitate all of this immoral conduct and will start to change.

There is a saying... As the twig is bent, so the tree grows.

Therefore, it is the duty of Christian parents to guide their children in order to avoid that they would become  changed by this evil world. God should always be the one guiding us, preferably from an early age. He is our father.
 
Isaiah 63:16 For you are our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer, from everlasting, is your name.

As we read His word, God will continue guiding us.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Jesus is our elder brother, and we must follow His example.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Hebrews 2:11-13 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

The ten commandments, given to Moses by God, are the basis of our legal system.  Laws against stealing, bearing false witness, murder, and adultery are part of our system of law, but they are also part of the legal system of every civilized social group because all men know that those aforementioned actions are evil.
 
Since the time that Cain murdered his brother Abel, humans have known what is right and what is wrong.  Some societies have become more permissive, and allowed immoral acts, at different times, but deep within us, we know what is right and what is wrong... and this is spelled out in the word of God.
 
The Devil, though, in a similar way as he seduced Eve, and he convinced Cain to murder his brother, wants to trick humanity into disobeying our heavenly Father.  Satan desires that we would follow his path (misery loves company) and the tune is "you can decide for yourself what you want, nobody needs to tell you what to do."

Only our heavenly Father, the all knowledgeable, is able to make wise decisions.  We humans are easy prey for the Devil without our heavenly Father's guidance.
 
On earth, we are first guided by our human parents.  We learn to walk, to talk, to eat, with our parents' help.  But in spiritual matters, we need the guidance of our heavenly Father.  He has left us His instruction  manual (the bible) on how to interact with Him and with other people. 
 
This is important because our God has a father-child relationship with us. Jesus is our elder brother, and we all will become one big family. Therefore, learning to get along with our human family, and later on with other human beings, is the beginning of our destiny -- to become part of the God family.

Eventually, we will all live together like a well behaved extended family.
 
Revelation 21
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
 
Let us be of good cheer, knowing that day is soon approaching.