{"id":1714,"date":"2019-12-15T18:44:25","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T17:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/verein-abraham.ch\/blog\/en\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2019-12-15T18:44:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T17:44:58","slug":"divine-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verein-abraham.ch\/blog\/en\/2019\/12\/15\/divine-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"DIVINE STANDARD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
allef-vinicius-unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Regarding standards, we speak of a standard of living or of education, for example.  We are quite aware of the extent\nto which these standards vary, with significant differences according to region\nor country. Persons who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and king are\nfrom that moment citizens of God\u2019s kingdom! In this kingdom the standards of\nthe King Jesus Christ always apply. His standards are not hidden. They are open\nand available to every person at any time, in and through the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\ncannot be overlooked that the divine standard has been lost, even in the\nchurch. It was replaced by a standard which \u2013 although broadly acknowledged and\napplied \u2013 now either has nothing more to do with God\u2019s standard or is merely a\nfoggy shadow of it. An example for a divine standard is a life without fear!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is\nno fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with\npunishment. The man who fears is not made perfect in love\u201d (1 John 4:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So God\u2019s\nstandard in his kingdom is, for example, that its citizens can live free of\nfear. This should not be confused with the fear of the Lord, to which we are\ncommanded. But what we now see, hear and experience is a church, are Jesus\u2019\ndisciples who \u2013 full of fear and doubt \u2013 have conformed to the world\u2019s\nstandard. At least they have not grown beyond it. Many Christians suffer just\nlike those who do not know Christ under diffuse fears \u2013 fear of death, illness,\nloss, rejection, inferiority, the future, etc. Could it be that we have not yet\ndied with Christ, as planned? (Rom. 6:8) And that we are not yet penetrated by\nthe Father\u2019s love which drives out these fears?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course\nno one will attain the ideal state (standard) in this life. We are and remain\nin a process of change (Rom. 12:2), a process which is paved with battles and\nobstacles. And yet we can and should all make a difference here and now,\nmodeling to the world a life free of fear. Nothing can ever separate us from\nthis love (i.e. from Jesus and the father), as he promises us in his word. Is\nthat merely a \u201cpious wish\u201d? No, it is and must become real in our everyday lives.\nFor what can I lose when nothing now belongs to me? My life (spirit, soul,\nbody) belongs to him. My marriage partner and my family belong to him. My\ncongregation and my ministry belong to him! Everything I have belongs to him.\nSo why do we live as though all of that was in our possession and we are thus\nafraid of losing some of it?
\nHis standard is, \u201cI no longer live, but Christ lives in me\u201d( Gal. 2:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s word\ndoes not leave us in the dark regarding the standard for his church, either. We\nsee this in the Apostle Paul\u2019s work. He founded churches on the apostles and\nthe prophets with the five-fold ministries, installing elders who were required\nto have certain characteristics. We can see how they lived in fellowships, met\nin homes and grew organically.  There\nwere also clear instructions regarding Jews and non-Jews within the churches.\nThe standards we now have on the basis of God\u2019s word were laid down then by the\napostles and leaders with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help (Acts 15:28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then we\nmade something completely different out of this. We founded a religion\n(\u201cChristianity\u201d) and squeezed it into a structure and a building called\n\u201cchurch\u201d \u2013 whether Catholic, evangelical or other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\nChrist did not want a new religion or large buildings. He wanted to bring\npeople back to the father. We abandoned his standard for the church very early\nand set up our own. And this prevailed because it was widely recognized and\naccepted \u2013 and still is, even though this church \u2013 erected according to human\nstandards and preserved under all circumstances \u2013 became the worst persecutor\nof those who wished to live according to divine standards (Jews and heathen).\nHere we see once again that the standard of a large crowd is not necessarily or\nautomatically identical with God\u2019s standard. It is usually even a sure sign\nthat we are on the wrong, broad path which leads away from God\u2019s kingdom\n(Matth. 7:13-14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What then\ncan we do in this situation, or rather what can the Lord do?
\nI am deeply convinced that our condition led the lord Jesus Christ to cause the\nenclosed message (letter to the church of Jesus) to be written, translated into\nas many languages as possible and sent to his worldwide church. It is a call to\nreturn to the basics (standards) of a new, redeemed life as sons and daughters\nalready here on earth and then forever in his kingdom. Between 2010 and 2016 we\npreached this message in more than 80 nations and regions of the world. In\norder to reach still more people, the Lord gave us the task of writing the\nmessage in the form of a letter. It is now available in 17 languages (English,\nFrench, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Arabic, Rumanian, Finnish, Portuguese, Urdu,\nPolish, Italian, Greek, Bulgarian, Dutch, Swedish, Kirundi). An additional\nlanguage (as well as many others) is urgently needed: Chinese. Can you help us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gave\nthis message to the German-speaking region of Switzerland in 2010. Therefore it\nwas read out loud and proclaimed on the Lake of Constance ferry for the first\ntime on September 1. It should go from here first to the German-speaking region\nand from there spread in concentric circles in Europe and finally in the whole\nworld. Just as hatred, death, misery and exploitation went out to the world\nfrom our area, now blessing should go out. Blessing in the form of his message.\nPlease read it and pray about it: let yourself be challenged by it. It is\nexplicitly permitted to copy, print, give to others and send it. You can\ndownload all the versions mentioned from our web site. Warm thanks. Our prayer\nis that we return to God\u2019s standard. May his message and this edition of\nAbraham News awaken, respectively strengthen our desire for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W.W.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regarding standards, we speak of a standard of living or of education, for example.  We are quite aware of the extent to which these standards vary, with significant differences according to region or country. Persons who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and king are from that moment citizens\u2026<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/verein-abraham.ch\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/allef-vinicius-LnFhkTQpyQs-unsplash_web.jpg?fit=332%2C227&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7dYdD-rE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":737,"url":"https:\/\/verein-abraham.ch\/blog\/en\/2015\/12\/01\/der-ruf-um-mitternacht\/","url_meta":{"origin":1714,"position":0},"title":"THE MIDNIGHT CALL!","date":"1. 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