When God the Father called us into the Body of Christ, our eyes were opened to a much greater purpose for life than we had ever imagined. It was obvious that the way we had been going was in the wrong direction. God granted us repentance so that we could be reconciled to Him and a new way of life was opened to us.

We saw that our sins, of which we were mostly unaware or thought trivial, had a claim on our eternal life and that only Christ's sacrifice could pay the penalty and allow reconciliation to the Father after we repented and turned from sinning. We were baptized, burying the "old man" of our vanity and selfish desires in a watery grave. Then, being symbolically washed clean, we were raised up out of the waters to start on the new life that God gives us with Christ in us—the hope of glory.

We were being given the opportunity to repent and change to an entirely new way of life that we had never known before. Jesus stood as our Redeemer, and His sacrifice covered our past sins, as well as mistakes of the future when we again asked for forgiveness. Now we were on the path toward eternal life.

We came to see that there was more to salvation than we first realized—such as keeping the Ten Commandments—all of them. We saw that we should not eat some of our once favorite foods, so we quit eating pork, oysters, shrimp, catfish, rabbits, etc. Our friends and family thought we had lost our minds.

We quit keeping Christmas, Easter and Halloween, and they were sure we had lost our minds. Then we added insult to injury by keeping what they called the Jewish Sabbath and Holy Days—but they were wrong. Those were really God's Sabbaths and God's Holy Days.

We packed up our children and went off to distant locations each year to attend the Feast of Tabernacles, and people in the churches we used to attend thought maybe we went there to sacrifice animals or get drunk and indulge in orgies. But we did not. We were faithfully keeping the commandments of God Almighty according to the New Testament.

We weathered all these rumors and insults. The most frustrating was when friends and family distanced themselves from us because we were an embarrassment to them, as we turned from their way of life.

So we go to church faithfully every Saturday as people turn their faces the other way because they think us odd. We keep God's laws as obedient children and we look forward to the resurrection, with faith and hope of reigning with Jesus Christ forever.

Surely with all we have done and are doing, we will go into the Kingdom of God—won't we?

Are We Ready?

What if we suddenly hear the cry, "Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!" (Matthew 25:6), and find that we are not ready?

What are we to do if our oil supplies are so low that our lamps are going out? That is to say, what if we have so little of the Holy Spirit working in our lives that we are not ready for the Kingdom of God?

What if we suddenly see within ourselves how we have not kept our lamps full and burning brightly? At God's rebuke, wouldn't we be shocked and filled with great fear?

Turning to those whose cups are full of the oil of the Holy Spirit, we might cry out, "Quick, share some of your oil with us!"

"Go to the sellers and buy for yourself, we have none to spare," they say.

"But, who are the sellers?" "Where are they?" "We don't have time!" "We thought our lamps were full." "You elders, do something for us!"

"We can't. You must go to God: fast and pray. He is the only one who can give you the Holy Spirit. You must draw near Him with your whole heart and soul."

We know the end of the story—don't we? It is in Matthew 25:10-12: "While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

"Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'"

"I Do Not Know You"

Why would He say that?

If you were one of these, what would you do? Would you justify yourself saying, "Have we not obeyed Your word for many years? Have we not prophesied in Your name? Cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" (see Matthew 7:22-23).

The sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach would grow deeper as Jesus would begin to explain, "I never knew you, because you did not open to Me when I knocked at your door to come in and fellowship with you. I would have brought the Holy Spirit to you on a regular basis to keep your lamp burning brightly so you could have grown in grace and knowledge and overcoming. You did not walk together with Me as intimate, loving, joyful brothers and sisters. The Father and I expected you to come to Us with your whole being—I in the Father and you in Me—all of one mind and one heart" (compare with John 17:20-23).

The Father's purpose is to change you from being human to being divine—a member of His own family (Hebrews 2:10-11). For this to happen, Jesus says, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mark 12:30-31).

Examining Our Hearts

"Well, didn't we do that?"

Jesus might say, "Not really. You were never close to Me nor to the Father. You stood afar off and just performed for us. You only talked to us occasionally in formal prayer. True love is not trying to impress someone. That is self-love. True love is outgoing. It is comfortably intimate—endearing. When you love someone, you show it by your actions, your words, your attention. We always knew your heart was not that way."

Brethren, have you ever tried to work up this kind of love? It is not possible. Love must come from God. God gives true love. He also gives us repentance, understanding, wisdom, faith, hope and outgoing charitableness through His Holy Spirit. We cannot work it up by ourselves, no matter how hard we try. It is an unearned gift. It comes through grace—a free gift of God to those who truly love and obey Him (Ephesians 2:8). We have nothing that God has not given us. But He does not give the Holy Spirit to those who do not know Him (1 John 2:4-6).

To know God, we need to come to Him often with a whole heart, adoringly, in the close and loving way that true holy families come together. The Holy Spirit must circulate in our hearts and minds, somewhat like the blood circulates in our veins. That is what life's purpose is all about!

The Holy Spirit in Our Veins

We have many, many examples in the Bible that show the necessity of having the Holy Spirit to accomplish God's will.

• Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
• Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
• Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, from His mother's womb.
• Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit to overcome the devil's temptation in the wilderness.
• The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance for their first time at Pentecost.
• When the apostles prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
• Ananias went to Saul so Saul could receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

By Prayer and Fasting

Isn't being filled with the Holy Spirit what Jesus meant when He answered the disciples who could not cast out the demon for lack of faith? Jesus said, "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21). That is how you get close to God in order to have the necessary faith. But it must be heartfelt prayer, not just routine prayer.

Fasting should be done frequently to keep us spiritually strong enough to withstand temptations that suddenly come upon us. Once or twice a month is not too often for those who are in good health. (Diabetics and others with life-threatening ailments are cautioned by their doctors against fasting.)

Prayer and Bible study are obviously necessary for all, if they want to be near to God. Our busy schedules often intrude, but the old adage applies here: "Where there is a will, there is a way."

We do not fast to impress God with how righteous we are trying to be. We fast to draw close to Him and be led by the Holy Spirit in His ways. We fast for help in putting down the old self and to surrender entirely to Him—holding nothing back. Fasting also makes us realize how persistent the pulls of the flesh can be.

Jesus might also say, "I stood at the door of your heart and knocked, but you never opened to Me. You labored and were weary and heavily laden so I invited you to come to Me so I could give you rest, but you never came. If you had taken My yoke upon you and learned from Me, you would have found Me gentle and lowly in heart, and found rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. You are mine, because I not only created you and all you have, but when you were dead in trespasses and sin, I bought you with a price. I died in your place for you. Turn to Me with all your heart. You are Mine but you act like you are your own! What must I do for you to love Me?" (based on Revelation 3:20; Matthew 11:29-30; 1 Corinthians 6:20; Isaiah 5:3-4).

In Need of Nothing?

Brethren, are we content to believe we are rich, righteous and in need of nothing, when all the time we are living according to our own understanding, comfortable in our own way, thinking our own thoughts, keeping the Sabbath in a way that seems right to us and feeling we are in need of nothing?

Isn't this what Jesus meant when He said, "You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked [of the Holy Spirit]—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments [which picture holy spiritual righteousness], that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve [the Holy Spirit], that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:17-21).

"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Matthew 25:13). UN