Words of the Bible

“Be Considerate of Others”—A Teaching of Mother

We are walking the path of faith, looking forward to the everlasting kingdom of heaven. So we need to examine our daily life and check whether or not we are living a worthy life in God’s eyes. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecc 3:1). If we want to be able to confidently say that we have lived a life of no regrets when we arrive at the gate of heaven after our earthly life, we must give thanks and glory to our Elohim and obey Their teachings every day. Mother has given all the good teachings to Her children. Among the teachings of Mother, let us think about “being considerate of…

Love Among the Members of the Heavenly Family

Family is related by blood, bound to each other with love. Home is the place where the members of a family live together; it is the place where they learn to love. Just as the sanctuary established on the earth in the days of Moses was a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 8:5), the earthly family is also a copy and shadow of the heavenly family. So we call God our Father and our Mother, and the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Mt 6:9; Gal 4:26; Ro 8:12–16). Through the earthly family, Heavenly Father and Mother have allowed us to realize that there is the spiritual family and to be members…

Collective Intelligence, Wisdom Learned from Insects

An ant colony marches in an orderly manner, carrying crumbs. A line of ants quickly connects the starting and ending points as if they know the precise route. The sweets which are dozens of times bigger than the ants disappear in a flash in the movement of the swarm of ants moving in perfect order. However, when you watch an ant moving alone, it moves in all directions desultorily, awkwardly avoiding whatever is blocking its way; it doesn’t look that smart. However, when these ants gather together, they collect food at once. It is amazing. Ant, an excellent mathematician The intellectual ability that is gained through cooperating or competing is called collective intelligence, which exerts tremendous power far beyond the…

The Love of God

God has taught us to “be joyful always” and “give thanks in all circumstances.” The reason why we should be joyful always and give thanks in all circumstances, despite the reality that our society becomes bleak as the times change and things develop, is because God loves us endlessly without forsaking us, sinners, and renews us every day by cleaning us from our sins and transgressions. There are people who do not feel joyful or thankful even though they are living a life of faith, and there are those who feel greatly joyful even for small things and give thanks for everything. What causes this difference between them is whether or not they understand God’s love. It must be so…

The Work of the Holy Spirit & the Work of Evil Spirits

The Protestant churches regard healing illnesses or speaking in tongues as the proof of receiving the Holy Spirit. Not only the Protestant churches but also the Catholic Church say that the shedding of tears from the Virgin Mary statue or curing the sick is the work of the Holy Spirit and they evaluate the performance of miracles when they select a saint. Are all miracles and wonders the work of the Holy Spirit? How can we distinguish the work of the Holy Spirit from the work of evil spirits? Let’s find the Biblical answers about this. Jesus asked us not to be deluded by miracles Those who insist that miracles are the work of the Holy Spirit give their reasons…

The Heavenly Family and Love

Among so much wisdom and knowledge that are essential for our life, the most valuable and gracious teachings are contained in the Bible which is the word of God. The Bible says that it is really important to know God, to have strong faith in Him and to foster beautiful and eternal hope, and that what we need the most is the virtue of love. It is love that we need more than anything else in our life of faith as well as in our earthly life. Christ came to this earth to seek His children and endured the suffering of the cross. The basic motive for Him to do so also came from love. It says in the Bible…

The Greatest of All Is Love

People say that love is the most beautiful thing in the world and there is nothing stronger than love. Considering the Biblical teachings and the nature of things, nothing is impossible for love. We know this theoretically. However, sometimes we fail to practice love because of our clumsy expression. Let us put love into practice wholeheartedly as the children of heaven in obedience to the new command of God, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” The age when love grows cold God foretold that many people’s love would grow cold and they would become selfish rather than considerate of others in the last days. However, God really wants us to practice sincere love for…

Those Who Live for the Moment and Those Who Live for Eternity

The Bible testifies that God’s children, who will inherit salvation, are citizens of heaven (Php 3:20). As heavenly citizens, we must set our minds on things in heaven rather than things on earth. God does not want us, His children, to be bound to our physical life alone. So God teaches us to live for eternal things that we will enjoy when we return to heaven. As everyone has certain rights and duties as a citizen of a country on this earth, so each and every one of us has certain rights and duties as a citizen of heaven. Let’s find out what our life on this earth means to us and what we should do now for eternal life…

Passover, the Law of Freedom

None of the sixty-six books of the Bible are the individual opinions or philosophies of the prophets; rather, they are the records of God’s teachings given for the salvation of mankind. With the hope of salvation, we should firmly believe this and diligently study the word of God. The Bible refers to our Mother, Jerusalem, as the “free woman.” Furthermore, it says that we are no longer slaves to sin but have been set free by Christ (Gal 4:26; Jn 8:32–36). As we believe in God the Father and God the Mother who are free, we too, as Their children, are free. Now, let us take some time to study the Bible and give thanks to God for granting us…

The Relationship Between God and Us

The fact that God calls us “My people” and “My children” has significant meaning. Let us suppose there is a wise and generous fish capable of leading many other fish. No matter how talented, honored, or respected that fish might be as a leader in the fish world, it would be insignificant from a human perspective. Likewise, from the perspective of the Most High God, no matter how generous, talented, or knowledgeable a person may be, it is all insignificant unless that person has the relationship with God. Although we were like worms, God took pity on us and made us His children through His covenants, laws, and regulations. Since God has granted us salvation and eternal life, we must…

Why Shouldn’t I Be Baptized?

“Go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Taking instruction from the angel of God, Philip arrived at the desert. In the solitary place, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home was sitting in his chariot, reading the Scripture. As the Spirit told Philip, he went to that chariot and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” “How can I,” the eunuch answered, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did…

What Is Baptism?

Marriage is the beginning of a new life for a couple. At the wedding ceremony, they vow to share joys and sorrows as husband and wife for the rest of their lives. Likewise, baptism is the first step in coming to God and the ceremony for making a covenant with God. Through baptism, God forgives all our sins, and we promise to turn away from our sinful ways of life. We also promise to live as God’s people serving Him faithfully for the rest of our lives. Baptism is the turning point of our life because all our past sins and transgressions are forgiven. After baptism, we should follow the teachings of God until we go to Heaven. This is…

Where Did We Humans Come From and Where Are We Going?

Ever since human beings came to inhabit the earth, civilization has been continuously improving. However, there are still innumerable mysteries that humans have not been able to solve. Among them, it is the truth of the human soul that so many people throughout all ages and countries have been most curious to know: Where were we before we were born on this earth? Is death the end of everything or is there another world after death? Unable to find the answers to all these questions of life, they are vaguely afraid of death; since they do not know where they are going, they are not sure what the future holds for them. God took pity on those human beings who…

Passover, the Key That Opens the Gates of Heaven

There are many churches in the world that say they believe in God. However, only the Church of God celebrates the feast of the New Covenant Passover, which contains the promise of salvation. As the Bible says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6), many people do not understand the Bible correctly and regard the Passover as something trivial and unnecessary. They think that the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to them automatically if they just believe in God. Through the words of the Bible, let us study about the meaning of the Passover to discern truth from falsehood. Those Who Shut the Kingdom of Heaven in Men’s Faces When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, the…

I am taught that the history of the Israelites was written to teach us. Israel was destroyed by Rome in AD 70. The people of Israel were very proud of being God’s chosen people. Yet, why and how were they destroyed? And what lesson does this history give us today?

It was around AD 30. The religious leaders of Israel accused Jesus―God who came to this earth in human form for the salvation of mankind―and brought Him before Pilate, the governor of Judea. The Jews, who were gathered at the place of judgment, raised their voices and kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate found Jesus innocent of all charges, but he was afraid that the crowd might riot if he did not crucify Him. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility!” “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” (Mt 27:25). The shout of the Jews, who had…

Before It Gets Too Late

The Four Things That Matter Most is a book written by Ira Byock, who has been in hospice care (a type of health care that helps terminally ill patients to spend their last moments of their lives in peace) for over four decades. In his book, he gives suggestion to terminally ill patients and their families. It is to say four phrases: “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you.” He came up with this after witnessing many cases that the patients and their family members regret later for not having confessed what was in their hearts. In fact, a man, who had not talked to his father for twenty years, let go of old hurts…

DNA, the Blueprint of Life

“Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God’s most divine and sacred gift.” On June 26, 2000, an initial draft of the human genome was released. The then U.S. President Clinton left the statement above while announcing the completion of the initial draft of the human genome project which had been the biggest issue in the field of science for the last decade of the 20th century. Let’s look into the mystery of the human genes which even brought awe to many people. Gene, the key of mystery Genome is a compound word of gene and chromosome, indicating all genetic information that…

Disaster and the Passover

We hear the news of numerous disasters on a daily basis. Among many kinds of disasters, what is the greatest disaster? To save us from a very specific disaster, God prescribed the Passover as medicine for mankind. Then, what is this disaster? Disasters occurring in the world have no effect on us after we die. However, according to the Bible, there is a disaster that lasts for eternity; even though people want to end their extreme torment and die, it is impossible. For this reason, God, who earnestly desires to save us from such a horrible disaster, has given us the New Covenant Passover. The Everlasting Disaster Many people throughout the world are suffering from unforeseen accidents and natural disasters.…

Passover, The Last Supper

Do You Know the Passover of the New Covenant?