{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12188/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12188","id":"gutenberg_12188","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12188","summary":null,"tags":["Bible","Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life","Right and wrong","Sin"],"text":"The Key to Peace\n\nBy A. Marie Miles\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Great peace have they which love\nthy law: and nothing shall offend them.'\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\nOne day, in a very brief conversation, my grandson asked me a question.\nI did not get to talk with him much, so later I felt really inspired to\nwrite some things which were upon my heart, that his question had\nprompted. Of course I have gone into more detail than he would have had\nto know, but felt it was good to stir up thoughts of what he did know.\n\nAfter I gave it to him to read, I remarked that I might print it some\nday and hoped that it would be a help to someone else. He returned it to\nme and I am sending it forth with a prayer that these Bible truths will\nbe a help to some soul.\n\nAt this writing, I am 64 years of age and I feel I am living on borrowed\ntime. In 1973, it seemed that the Lord was going to take me, but He\nhealed me and I am doing all I can for the Lord. I recommend the Lord to\nevery soul. He has been precious to me down through my life, with many\nblessings in the times of trouble and heartache.\n\n--Sis. A. Marie Miles May, 1978\n\n\n\n\n*The Key to Peace*\n\n\n_God's Word is the key to satisfy\n  The heart's inner longings_.\n\nDear Grandson:\n\nYou asked a valid question when you asked, \"How do we know what is right\nand what is wrong?\" I told you that we find the answer in the Bible as\nto what is right and what is wrong.\n\nYou then said, \"But the Bible is a big book. Where can you find where it\nsays a certain thing is right or wrong?\" Again, that is a very valid\nquestion. I know that the Bible is a big book. I trust that the\nfollowing will help you.\n\nFirst, I want to say that I deeply appreciate the fact that you are\ninterested in knowing what is wrong and right, and knowing upon what\nbasis to place your own personal understanding. This will help you find\nthe key to peace in your soul. Each of us is individually responsible to\nGod. The Bible says, \"For there is no respect of persons with God.\" Rom.\n2:11. \"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus\nChrist according to my gospel.\" Rom. 2:16. \"Who [or God] will render to\nevery man according to his deeds.\" Rom. 2:6. You can see we must know\nhow to live in this world, according to the plan of God, to be cleared\nbefore the great Judge in that last day, when all men shall stand before\nHim.\n\nWhen I first opened my Bible to type the above Scriptures I saw this\nScripture that I had underlined in my Bible, which at one time impressed\nme greatly. I feel that it must be for you too, as the Psalmist had a\ndesire like yours, so in his prayer he said, \"Teach me, O Lord, the way\nof thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me\nunderstanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my\nwhole heart.\" Psalms 119:33,34. Then I always liked the verse above\nthese verses, which I also have marked, and have quoted many times to\nothers. \"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against\nthee.\" (verse 11). So we do need to desire to know what is right and\nwhat is wrong, seek after understanding, and it will be given to us.\nAfter we know and understand, we want to remember to obey God's Word.\n\nThere is no book like the Bible. When I speak of the Bible I definitely\nrefer to the King James Version. Today, there are many versions of the\nBible, and the devil is using this to confuse people, and cause them to\nlose faith in God's Word. I personally can say, that I have searched out\nthe King James Version of the Bible, have obeyed it, and I have found a\ndeep, sweet peace in my soul. By obeying it, I found contact with God\nwhich makes me know it is true. Your great-grandfather (Fred Pruitt)\npreached from it, lived by it, and saw many others saved from their\nsins, who lived and died by it, with victory over sin and the devil. Oh,\nyes, it does bring joy to a person and fulfills that deep longing in\nevery person for peace and satisfaction in this life!\n\nIn studying the Bible, we find a Unity of Thought which makes us know\nthat One Mind inspired the writing and arrangement of all the books.\nTruly it is THE WORD OF GOD! It is different from any other book in the\nworld. It is a divine book and not just a human book. We reject, with\nabhorrence, that it is like other books. The Bible is an account of\nGod's efforts to reveal Himself to mankind. It is a record of His\ndealings with man and His revealed will concerning him. The Bible is for\ninstruction and guidance in all the ways of life. From all the facts\nthat the Apostle Paul gathered he said, \"All Scripture is given by\ninspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness.\" II Tim. 3:16. Thus we\nfind it to be true.\n\nThe special messengers of God, by whom the Bible has been written, were\ngiven the power of performing miracles, by which their inspiration was\nattested and their messages made authoritative; but the \"more sure word\nof PROPHECY\" (2nd Peter 1:19) furnished the greatest external proof of\nits inspiration. To this, more than to anything else, Christ and the\napostles made their constant appeal. Matthew, narrating the deeds of the\nSaviour, gives us the standing phrase, \"that it might be fulfilled which\nwas spoken by the prophets\" while Peter affirms, in words unmistakable,\nthat the \"holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.\"\nII Peter 1:21.\n\nChrist is the center and heart of the whole Bible. The Old Bible or\nTestament is an account of a Nation. The New Testament is an account of\na Man, who is Jesus Christ. The Old Testament foretold Christ's coming\nand founded and nurtured a nation by God to bring Christ into the world.\nThere is no book like the Bible.\n\nThe poet has said,\n\n\"O precious Bible! burning words from heaven,\n  We'll ever cherish thee in our heart,\nSweet is the counsel by thy pages given'\n  On life's dark ocean, our only chart.\nO precious volume! only in thy pages\n  We read the duty of all our race;\nOnly thy sunbeams, shining through the ages,\n  Reveal the wonders of saving grace.\"\n\nOh, my grandson, it is a glorious thing to understand what God requires\nof us and to live by it! To accept Christ as our Saviour, Lord, and\nMaster, to strive sincerely and devotedly to follow in the path that He\nhas mapped out for us in this life, is the most wonderful, the most\nreasonable, and the most satisfactory way to live. It means peace in our\nhearts, peace of mind, contentment, happiness, hope, and an assurance of\na life beyond the grave that shall never end. What a glorious plan God\nhas made for all who will love and serve Him with all of their hearts!\n\nOh, how sad to see so many go through life and face death without a hope\nof living in heaven with God forever in the end of time! How can anyone\nbe so ignorant or be filled with such a lack of wisdom! It is beyond me.\nWe all have to die, which is a proven fact. What then! Why try to get\naround it? It seems that every person should open his heart and mind to\nthe Word of God and accept Christ with an open mind and consider it the\ngreatest privilege in this world to live for Christ, the Creator of all\nmankind. We should be like Job of old who said, \"I have esteemed the\nwords of his mouth more than my necessary food.\" Job 23:12.\n\nMany times we read in the New Testament that \"it came to pass.\" The\nprophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled. Read the 53rd chapter of\nIsaiah and he describes Christ's crucifixion and atonement work with\nsuch accuracy of detail that the inspiration of the prophet is assured.\nHe wrote this 712 years before Christ was born. He only had from the\nprophets before him the fact that God had told them that God was going\nto send a Messiah. So only God could inspire Him to write in such detail\nabout his sufferings and death. Oh, there are so many proofs that the\nBible is true! Jesus spoke about the Old Testament, \"For had ye\nbelieved Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye\n*believe not* his writings, how shall ye believe my words?\" John 5:46,\n47. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He wrote things that\nwere told to him from the beginning. It all harmonizes with the rest of\nthe Bible. The early people were careful to keep accounts and told them\nto their children. They were written when writing was available (or\nbegan).\n\n\nWhat Is Sin?\n\nWhen I was a child and teen-ager, I was taught by my parents what the\nBible said was right and what was wrong. Many other doctrines in the\nBible were taught to me. I read them in the Bible, believed them, lived\nby them, and was blessed in my soul and life. There came a time in my\nlife that I began to desire for God to teach me personally what was\nright and what was wrong. I never doubted that the Bible was true but I\nwanted to say that I believe this or that because God's Word says so. I\nbegan to search things out in the Bible. I believe God wants each of us\nto have this firm foundation to stand upon. So my dear grandson, you are\nnot different from your grandmother. When I finished my search I was\nglad that I could say I believed this or that because it says in the\nBible thus and so. I didn't believe it because someone else said it, but\nbecause God had said it. This is the way I want you to know it.\n\nThere is one thing that I had when I began my search, that was the Holy\nSpirit as my teacher. The Bible tells us definitely that \"the natural\nman receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are\nfoolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are\nspiritually discerned.\" I Cor. 2:14. Since the Bible was written by\n\"holy men of God\" who \"spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit\" and\nit is not \"of any private interpretation,\" then we need to have the Holy\nSpirit to reveal, or help us to understand all of the Word of God. (II\nPeter 1:20,21). Yet there are a lot of the basics that we can know. I do\nhope that you will understand what I write to you by the help of the\nHoly Spirit.\n\nFirst, let us know what sin is. In other words that would be what is\nwrong. When we find out what is wrong then we can know what is right.\nSin means \"Willfully breaking religious or moral law.\" (Web. Dic.) The\nBible also gives us the definition of sin. In I John 3:4 it says,\n\"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth [or breaks] the law [of God];\nfor sin is the transgression [or disobedience] of the [God's] law.\" Then\nin James 4:17 we read, \"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and\ndoeth it not, to him it is sin.\" We see that sin is either a direct\ndisobedience of God's Word or a willful failure to live by its\nrequirements. It is a serious thing to disobey God's law because it\ninvolves the destiny or end of our soul. It means living in either\neternal torment or eternal bliss. To commit sin is a terrible thing and\na very serious thing. That is the reason we need to search the\nScriptures to find out how to live pleasing to the Lord in this world.\nWe can't do this within ourselves. God had a plan for us by sending\nJesus Christ to die on the cross for our salvation, so through Christ we\ncan live right.\n\nIf sin is disobeying God's Word then we must find out what it says in\nthe Word of God so we can live up to it. First we want to find out why\nwe sin, and then get rid of the cause.\n\nYou, of course, know what the Bible tells us about Adam and Eve in the\nbeginning and how they obeyed the devil who talked to them through the\nserpent. He got Eve to disobey the only commandment that God had given\nthem. She ate of the fruit, which was forbidden, and gave to Adam and he\ndid eat. (Gen. 3rd chapter). They no longer could talk to God as before,\nbut hid themselves. Sin separates us from God. God called to them and\nsaid, \"Where art thou?\" They said, \"We hid ourselves because we were\nnaked.\" God said, \"Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the\ntree whereof I commanded you not to eat?\" Of course, we realize that\nbecause of sin, they knew they were naked. Before they had sinned, they\ndidn't think anything about their nakedness. But after they sinned they\nmade themselves clothes of fig leaves. No doubt they thought quickly of\nsomething or they would have chosen something more substantial than\nleaves. The leaves would soon dry and crack, but they were so ashamed of\ntheir nakedness because of their sin. Not only did they need a covering\nfor their bodies but they also needed a covering for their souls. God\ncan't look upon sin with any pleasure. Sin will cause us to be cast out\nof His presence. But oh, the Lord is so very merciful and He told Adam\nand Eve that He had a plan for them, so their sins could be covered as\nwell as their bodies.\n\nIn Genesis 3:15 we read that God promised a Saviour. God spoke to the\ndevil, who had spoken through the serpent, and said, \"I will put enmity\n[or warfare] between thee [the devil] and the woman, and between thy\nseed [Satan and his servants] and her seed [Christ and His followers];\nit [Christ] shall bruise thy head [Jesus broke or crushed Satan's\npower], and thou [Satan] shalt bruise his heel.\" In other words we find\na promise in this Scripture of Jesus being born. Jesus was the seed of\nthe woman. In Luke 1:31-35 we read how the angel told Mary that she\nwould have a child even though she was a virgin. God would be the father\nof this child. The angel said, \"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and\n... that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son\nof God.\" Through Christ, sin could be conquered because He was the Son\nof God, and not from the seed of man, yet He was called the Son of man\nbecause He took upon Him flesh or the nature of man.\n\nThe seed of Satan are those who have yielded themselves to him and are\nhis servants. Jesus said to some who opposed Him, \"Ye are of your father\nthe devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.\" John 8:44. So we\nnote that the warfare would be between the seed of Satan and his\nservants and the seed of the woman, or Jesus Christ and His followers.\nNow who will conquer? God said that \"her seed, it shall bruise thy\nhead.\" Jesus Christ would crush or break the power of Satan over mankind\nand men would be able to become sons of God. Isa. 53:5 tells us that\nJesus \"was bruised for our iniquities [or sins].\" Praise God for Jesus\nwho conquered the enemy of our soul!\n\nWe have established the fact that sin displeases God. He punished Adam\nand Eve and put them out of the garden, yet He gave them a promise of a\nSaviour to come. It was over 4000 years before Jesus came. During this\ntime they offered a Lamb, which was a type of Jesus, as a sacrifice for\ntheir sins. Today Jesus is our Saviour.\n\nLet us note that in the 21st verse in Gen. 3, God killed an animal and\nmade Adam and Eve \"coats of skin\" to wear. It says that God \"clothed\nthem.\" _Clothed_ means \"to cover.\" Here we find that it is a command for\nus to wear clothing. Paul in the New Testament tells us to dress in\nmodest apparel. (I Tim. 2:9). In other words we are to be clothed. It is\nstill a sin to go without decent clothing today as it was in the Garden\nof Eden.\n\nNow one thing that God showed me in my search, was that because Adam and\nEve sinned, that sin passed down upon all the human race. Adam was\ncreated holy and pure but when he sinned, he lost that purity. When he\nhad a son, the Bible tells us that his son was \"after his [Adam's]\nimage\" or had the principle of sin within him. (Gen. 5:3). The Apostle\nPaul tells us \"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and\ndeath [spiritual death] by sin; and so death [or spiritual separation\nfrom God] passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.\" Romans 5:12.\nWe see that every child who is born has that sin principle within him.\n\"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive\nme.\" Psa. 51:5. Then we read in the Bible in another place where it\nsays, \"The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as\nthey be born, speaking lies.\" Psa. 58:3. Thus the Bible explains that\nchildren are born with a bent, or inclination, toward sin, but if they\ndie without first coming to a knowledge of sin, they are saved through\nJesus' blood. There comes a time in a child's life when he knows he has\nsinned. He understands it and then he is responsible. The Apostle Paul\nsays, \"sin is not imputed [or charged or ascribed] when there is no law\n[or understanding].\" Romans 5:13.\n\nNow you have come to the time in life when you are responsible. You know\nwhat sin is. I remember when I realized that I had sinned. I had a big\nimagination but the time came when I knew the difference between\nimagining things and telling lies. The Bible says that \"all liars shall\nhave their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.\" Rev.\n21:8. So telling lies is wrong and is a sin, as well as many other\nthings that we will mention later.\n\n\nJesus Destroys the Works of the Devil\n\nWhen we realize that we have sinned and know that sin will keep us away\nfrom living in eternity in the presence of God, we are filled with\nsorrow. First, we do not want to be cast into the \"lake of fire,\" nor be\nwith the devil and his angels as Jesus has warned. He spoke of those\nbeing \"cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where\ntheir worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.\" Mark 9:44.\n\nThe next thing we think of is how Jesus loved us so much, He came\nwillingly to take the punishment for our sins. Sin had to be punished.\nMan could not redeem us from our sins as all men had sinned. Jesus was\ninnocent and without sin. He was with God from the beginning but He was\nborn of woman, and took upon Himself flesh and blood. He lived here in\nthis world, was mistreated and finally put on the cross to die a\nhorrible death, although He was innocent. Why? Because He loved you and\nme. \"God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live\nthrough him.\" I John 4:9. \"He that committeth sin is of the devil, for\nthe devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God\nwas manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever\nis born of God doth not committ sin, because he is born of God.\" I John\n3:8,9. Through Jesus' death on the cross, sin can be forgiven and we can\ncome into the presence of God.\n\nWhen we realize that we have sinned and are sorry for that sin, we come\nto Jesus, and with \"godly sorrow\" ask Him to forgive us. Jesus hears our\nprayer and forgives us of our sins. By believing that He took our\npunishment for our sins, in dying on the cross, we are forgiven by God,\nand all is clear between us and God. Our sins are under the blood of\nJesus. In olden times, in the Old Testament, they offered a lamb, but\nafter Jesus came He was the Lamb who was sacrificed on the cross once\nand forever for sins. John the Baptist said, when he saw Jesus, \"Behold\nthe Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.\" John 1:29. He\nwill take away our sins, when we confess them to Him, and in prayer,\nbelieve that He takes them away. I surely can't forget when the Lord did\njust that for me. It was wonderful to know that all was clear between\nGod and me. I could sleep better and it was wonderful to know that if\ndeath overtook me I would be ready to go.\n\nWhen I realized that I needed to be sanctified, or the sin principle\nneeded to be cleansed out of my heart, I sought the Lord to give me the\nHoly Spirit. You can't ask forgiveness for the sin that passed down upon\nall men from the fall, or the sin of Adam and Eve. It has to be cleansed\nout of your heart by the purging of the Holy Spirit. There are two works\nin the heart. First we are saved from our volitional sins and then we\nare sanctified or cleansed of that sin principle or carnal nature. Peter\nspeaks of some receiving the Holy Spirit and said, \"purifying their\nhearts by faith.\" God had given \"them the Holy Ghost.\" Acts 15:8,9. Then\nwe can have power over all the power of the devil. The works of the\ndevil are destroyed out of our hearts. Praise God forever! It is a\nwonderful experience.\n\nOh, how we love our Lord and Saviour for all that He has done for us!\nHow sad we would be if He had not come to this world to take our\npunishment. How thankful we are for the Holy Spirit that was promised to\nus after Jesus went away. He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, or\nthe Comforter, could not come unless He went to the Father. (John 14).\n\nWe read how God gave the disciples the Holy Spirit, after Jesus arose\ninto the skies, after His resurrection from the grave. In Acts, second\nchapter, they were waiting in the upper room and the Holy Spirit came\nupon them and God performed a miracle. They spoke the wonderful news and\n17 or 18 different nations heard about it in their own language. It was\non the day of Pentecost when people from all of these nations had come\nto the temple to worship God. Many of them believed on Jesus as the\npromised Saviour, were saved from their sins, and were filled with the\nHoly Spirit. It's a glorious experience and is for everyone who has been\nsaved from sin.\n\n\nSins Named\n\nMy grandson, let us look at the Bible and see some sins that are\nmentioned.\n\nIn Galatians 5:19 we read that adultery is a sin. In verse 21 it is\nclearly stated that \"they that do such things shall not inherit the\nkingdom of God.\" So there is no doubt about these sins. _Adultery_\nmeans, \"violation of the marriage-bed.\" Romans 7:2,3 says \"For the woman\nwhich hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he\nliveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her\nhusband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another\nman, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she\nis free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be\nmarried to another man.\" We know that when a couple marries, it is for\nlife or until one of them dies. Read Matt. 19:7,8, where Jesus reaffirms\nthis truth.\n\n_Fornication_ is the \"illicit sexual intercourse of unmarried persons,\"\nwhich is also adultery. This is a sin. Many today are just living\ntogether. This is a sin and a stench in the nostrils of God. It is\nterrible and so immoral, even if many today are doing it. \"But\nfornication, ... let it not be once named among you, as becometh\nsaints.\" Eph. 5:3. \"Flee fornication.... What? know ye not that your\nbody is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of\nGod, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore\nglorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.\" 1st Cor.\n6:18-20. You see our bodies are to be kept pure and clean. That means\nour minds are to be clean and pure also. Sometimes the devil will bring\nevil thoughts to our minds but we must not think upon them. Think pure\nthoughts.\n\nGod created our bodies and every part is for a purpose. We want to keep\nour bodies free from impurities. There are urges in our body, and\nsometimes a drawing to the opposite sex, but we must not let that urge\nhave control. We must keep our bodies under control. The Apostle Paul\ntells us what he did. He said, \"But I keep under my body, and bring it\ninto subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others,\nI myself should be a castaway.\" I Cor. 9:27. Jesus also tells us \"that\nwhosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery\nwith her already in his heart.\" Matt. 5:28. We need to be very careful\nof our thoughts, and where our eyes wander. Keep the right kind of\nthoughts. A mother told her son when he was taking a trip, \"Son, never\ndo anything to place your body where your soul would not be the master.\"\nPetting and kissing among young people will lead to wrong thoughts and\nlead them into traps. We need to be careful and watchful about all of\nthese things. \"Keep thyself pure.\" My dear Grandson, we are in a battle\nin this world against all evil. The devil wants to destroy our souls and\ncause us to miss eternal life with Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls.\nThe devil has many agents in the world who also help him. In the schools\ntoday your teachers are taught how to change your thinking. They will\nslowly but surely work on you day by day to do so. Beware of this. Don't\nlet anyone destroy your faith in God, in the Bible, nor in what it\nteaches as being the Eternal Word of God. Guard this faith and live by\nit. It means your eternal destiny. Whether anyone says God's Word is\ntrue or false, it will still be true. Men's thoughts and ideas will\nnever change God's Word.\n\nThe next sin is uncleanness. The dictionary says that _uncleanness_\nmeans \"morally impure, foul, filthy, unchaste and obscene.\" The Bible\nsays, \"God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.\" I\nThess. 4:7. This means that we are to keep ourselves pure in thought,\nword, and deed. Keep a rebuke in your heart against dirty jokes and\nthose things that lead to impurity. The Bible says, \"Unto the pure all\nthings are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is\nnothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.\" Titus\n1:15. Homosexuality would come under this sin. The Bible plainly\ncondemns this sin. In Romans we read about the corrupt man and it says,\n\"God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own\nhearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:... For this\ncause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did\nchange the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise\nalso the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust\none toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and\nreceiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet\n[fit]. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,\nGod gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not\nconvenient; being filled with all unrighteousness.\" Romans 1:24-28. It\nis very plain that homosexuality is a terrible sin. God has a purpose\nfor the use of each member of our bodies and it is not to be used in\nsinful ways. Sex is for a purpose and that is to bring children into the\nworld and for the purpose of love-making between married couples. But it\nis not to be abused and temperance is to be used. Temperance is one of\nthe fruits of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:23). Each member is to be used for the\npurpose that God has intended. Remember this and the Lord will give you\nunderstanding.\n\n_Lasciviousness_ means \"lustful, wanton, loose; a person who excites\nlustful emotions in others.\" Let us study this with careful thought. The\nworld today advertises the fact that this or that will give \"sexual\nappeal.\" This is lasciviousness. Wearing clothing that does this is sin.\nActing in a way to cause others to have lustful emotions is a sin. That\nis, if a person purposely acts in this way, or dresses in this way.\nSpeaking words and making signs that does this are sins. Oh, God is\ncalling for a pure and holy people! His church, which is made up of holy\n(sinless) people, is without spot and blemish and has been cleansed and\nmade pure through the blood of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:27). We must be\npure to be in it.\n\nThe next sin mentioned is _idolatry_ which means \"divine honors paid to\nidols, images, or any created object.\" (Web. Dic.) It also says it means\n\"excessive admiration, or love, for any person or thing.\" To worship any\nimage or man-made god is sin. There in only one true God and we must\nworship Him in spirit and in truth. Also we do not want to have an\n\"excessive love\" for any person or thing more than our love for God.\nSome people allow *things* to keep them from having a true love for God.\nThis is a sin. If you let money, possessions, or any person keep you\nfrom serving the Lord with all of your heart, then you have an idol. The\nApostle John said, \"Little children, keep yourselves from idols.\" I John\n5:21. We are to \"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all\nthy soul, and with all thy mind.\" Matt. 22:37. Surely that means a lot,\ndoesn't it? There can't be one thing or person between us and God. He\nmust absolutely be first in our life. Oh, my grandson, it truly is a\nwonderful thing to put God first! He is so precious to my soul and I\nknow He will be to yours as you love and serve Him with all of your\nheart! Jesus has said, \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his\nrighteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.\" Matt.\n6:33. What God adds is just perfect even though at the time we might not\nunderstand it.\n\nThe next sin is _witchcraft_. Today many people are turning to magical\npowers and are having communion with evil spirits and the devil. This is\nwhat witchcraft is. Fortune tellers, spiritualist readers etc. are all\nof the devil and should never be considered nor tampered with. Many\nhave, in fun, or wanting to know something, imbibed an evil spirit and\nwere tormented by it day and night. God will protect His people if they\nwill look to Him and not yield to evil spirits. It is dangerous. Read\nLev. 19:31; Deut. 18:10:12; Acts 16:16-19; 8:11-21; 13:6-12.\n\nHatred is a sin. Even if someone does us a wrong we must forgive them or\nJesus has said that He would not forgive us. (Matt. 6:14,15).\nIll-feeling toward someone is a cousin to hatred. We need to forgive and\nask God to help us to love everyone regardless of what they do to us.\nWrath is also a sin and many times is connected with hatred. We must not\ngive vent to our anger but bring it under control. God has help for\neveryone who will pray to Him and seek after Him.\n\n_Variance_ means \"a verbal strife followed by strained or severed\nrelations: wrangle or squabble: to dispute angrily.\" This is connected\nto hatred and wrath.\n\n_Emulations_ means \"to strive to equal or excell with a view to out do;\nambitious or envious rivalry.\" In other words stepping on someone else\nto get ahead of them or others. Oh, the Lord wants us to be considerate\nof others!\n\nStrife and envyings come under this same thing. We must love every soul\nand not try to disregard their feelings or desires. Be happy for others\nto get ahead and \"rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with those who\nweep,\" is what the Bible tells us to do.\n\nMurderers are those who wilfully kill and are sinners. They must seek\nforgiveness to be ready for heaven. If a person accidentally kills, that\nis not a sin, but it is a tragedy. It is the person who purposely kills\nwho is a murderer and a sinner. To take one's own life is a sin, that is\nif the person is in his right mind. We know that some people's minds are\nafflicted (or wear out), and they are not responsible, yet there are\nsome close lines even in these cases.\n\nDrunkenness is a sin. _Drunkenness_ is the \"state of being drunk with\nstrong drink or alcoholic liquor so that the use of the faculties is\nmaterially impaired.\" (Web. Dic.) Oh, the sorrow and trouble that\ndrunkenness has brought to little children, homes, wives and husbands,\nmothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and nations! It is a terrible\nthing! Today there is so much dope being taken. It is a terrible thing\nto abuse one's body. God will not hold a person guiltless who abuses his\nbody in any manner. Read Prov. 23:29-32. God has deliverance for all who\nget into this sin if they will only seek after God. But my dear\ngrandson, flee from all of it. \"Touch not the cup.\" Never even taste it\nand you will never be a drunkard. Some say they can take it or leave it,\nbut many did that for awhile and today they are on \"skid row.\" They lost\ntheir health, their wealth, their children, and their companions. Their\nlife is wretched. Some might say, \"It would not happen to me,\" but they\nmust flee from it as they would a serpent that is ready to strike.\n\nSmoking cigarettes and taking anything that harms the body is a sin. The\nBible says, \"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy:\nfor the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.\" I Cor. 3:17. What\ncould be plainer? My dear grandson, I am expecting you to flee from all\nof these sins which are against the body which will destroy your body\nand soul in eternal torment for all eternity. Remember that eternity\nnever ends. There is no time in eternity. Death seals your doom. It will\npay to live each day in a way that we will be ready to meet God, or will\nbe ready in that hour of death. It might come unexpectedly.\n\nSeditions and heresies are sins. False teachings which are contrary to\nthe Bible teachings are heresies. They are sin. We want to live\naccording to the Bible and know its doctrines so we can not be led into\nheresies. So many are being deceived by false teachers. People today\nbelieve everything they hear and do not search the Bible to see if it is\ntrue. We must not believe teaching from false teachers. Some will say,\n\"But that person has studied the Bible many years and he ought to know.\"\nHe may have a degree in theology etc., but that doesn't make any\ndifference. We still must stay upon a firm foundation and find it in the\nWord for ourselves. There is a chain running through the Bible that\nlinks truth and it must not be broken, or it will not be truth. We are\ninstructed in the Bible to \"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a\nworkman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of\ntruth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto\nmore ungodliness.\" II Tim. 2:15,16.\n\nThe next sins that are given are revellings and such like. _Revelling_\nmeans \"a noisy or riotous feast; or to feast with joyous or clamorous\nmerriment, boisterous festivity.\" In other words it means a loud,\nboisterous manner of acting, or being in a crowd that acts that way. In\nI Pet. 3:4 it says for us to have a \"meek and quiet spirit, which is in\nthe sight of God of great price.\" This is in harmony with God's Spirit\nand His Word.\n\nI do trust that you have an idea of what God is expecting of us. In\nother words, we have listed what the Bible teaches about some things\nthat are wrong, and what is right. As you said, the Bible is a big book\nand we can't find everything, unless we are familiar with it, so I trust\nthese few things have been a help, as you study them. Remember that we\nneed to have Jesus to help us daily to obey the Word of God and be ready\nto meet the Lord. First, it takes being saved from our sins, being\nfilled with the Holy Spirit and praying and studying God's Word. It is a\nprecious life when we are in the center of God's will. When we are\nsaved, we can have the fruits of the Spirit in our life which are named\nin Gal. 5:22,23. They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,\ngoodness, faith, meekness, temperance and many other good things that\nGod will give to us as we live and serve Him.\n\nRomans 1:29-32 mentions more sins. It says that those who turn\nthemselves over to the devil to work his evil ways are \"filled with all\nunrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,\nfull of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters,\nhaters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,\ndisobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers,\nwithout natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the\njudgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death,\nnot only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.\" What a\nterrible list of sins! Oh, we must flee from any of them. If you get\nyour dictionary and look up the meaning of each one of these you would\nsee how sinful sin is. No wonder God looks down upon sinful mankind and\nis grieved. Now mercy is held out to all who will turn to Him and\nthrough Jesus Christ seek forgiveness and turn away from sin, but the\ntime is coming when mercy will be withdrawn. This old world will be on\nfire and only the holy and true will be taken to that prepared place for\na prepared people who have sought God. Oh, I surely want to be ready in\nthat day and hour, don't you?\n\n\nSeeking Forgiveness Was the Key\n\nWhen I was about twelve years of age, the teacher asked me to erase the\nblackboard after school. After I finished, I walked down one aisle\nbetween the seats. On one girl's desk I saw a match box, and in this box\nwas a tiny doll. I had seen her play with this doll and I thought it was\nthe cutest doll I had ever seen. I never had dolls when I was small, as\nmy folks could not afford to buy me one. I would wrap up a stick or\nsomething and carry it around for my doll. So this doll attracted me\nvery much. As I looked at it, I wanted it so very much.\n\nBefore I tell more about this incident let us read a Scripture in the\nBible which tells us about being tempted to sin. In James 1:14,15, it\nbrings out how it works. \"But every man [woman or child] is tempted,\nwhen he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath\nconceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth\nforth death.\" Let us see what the word tempted means. _Tempt_ means \"to\ninduce; entice; allure.\" The devil works through us to tempt us. First,\nwe are tempted by our own lust. Lust means an \"overmastering desire.\"\n_Entice_ means to \"attract by offering hope of reward or pleasure.\" So\nwe see that the devil will induce us to do wrong by placing an\novermastering desire for something, which he convinces us will bring a\nreward or some pleasure.\n\nNote the next verse says, that when this lust or desire for a certain\nthing is _conceived_, which means \"formed in the mind,\" or it is decided\nby the person that he is going to do a certain thing that is wrong, then\nthat brings forth sin. Now sin is finished [completed] when the act is\ncommitted. After the act is committed then it brings forth death to the\nsoul. In other words, sin separates a person from God. That means\nspiritual death. If a person continues to live in sin, or in spiritual\ndeath, and then dies a physical death, he would be eternally separated\nfrom God. But thank God, this need not be. The key to being restored to\nGod is found in God's Word. Since sin has to be punished, we find that\nJesus, the Son of God, was willing to come here, live and die and arise\nfrom the grave so we can have forgiveness for our sins, as we, with\ngodly sorrow, seek for it.\n\nNow I will continue with the incident in my own young life. First, I\nwant to say that from a child I loved the Lord and my parents taught me\nwhat sin was and I didn't want to displease the Lord. But I was not\nabove temptations. So when I saw this little doll, I was tempted by the\ndevil. I had an overmastering desire to have that doll and I was enticed\nby the hope of the reward of having it for my own and thought no one\nwould know about it. So quickly I picked it up and took it home. You\nsee, when I let lust, or that overmastering desire, become conceived, or\nformed, in my mind, and I took the doll, I committed sin. Sin was\nfinished and I was cut off from God. Spiritual death took place in my\nheart. No longer could I come to God and have communion with Him. Sin\nhad separated me from God. So as the Scripture says, \"when it [sin] is\nfinished, it bringeth forth death.\"\n\nI brought the doll home with me, but oh, I didn't feel good in my heart!\nI knew I had sinned and I wished I had not taken the doll, but I had it\nand was on my way home. I came into the house and my watchful mother saw\nit. She asked, \"Where did you get that doll?\"\n\n\"Old Tennessee gave it to me,\" I quickly said, which was a lie. Another\nsin was added to my first sin. The devil not only gets a person to sin\nbut he gets them to commit other sins to cover up the first sin. Thus,\nhe leads people on and on, and deeper into sin they fall. (Old Tennessee\nwas an elderly black man who drove a horse and wagon by our home, filled\nwith junk that he had collected. Sometimes, when he would stop and talk\nto us children, he would give us some of his junk which we would value.)\n\nI took the doll upstairs to my room and put it in my dresser drawer. I\ndidn't want to play with it. It didn't look so pretty anymore. My heart\nwas heavy. I didn't rest very well that night as I dreaded going back to\nschool. I just knew the teacher would guess that I had taken the doll.\nTo my surprise, nothing was said the next day about the doll. I avoided\nthe girl and hurried home after school. But yet the fact of stealing\nthat doll weighed heavily on my heart. A few days later I took the doll\nout in the alley and took a brick and smashed it all to pieces and\nburied it, but that didn't take away the sin or the guilt. I had sinned\nagainst God and was still a liar and a thief. Oh, how bad I felt! I had\nbeen taught to pray from a little child, and had always prayed, but\nevery time I would try to pray that sin would come up before me, so\nfinally I quit praying.\n\nSchool was soon out and a few weeks passed by. Bro. John Wilson came to\nour house from Missouri and held a few nights' meeting at the chapel.\nOne night he preached on hell fire. Oh, I could almost feel the fire of\nhell around me! I trembled, but hurried out as soon as meeting was over\nand the invitation had closed. I went home and to bed as soon as\npossible, but not to sleep. I rolled and tumbled on my bed. The weight\nof sin was so heavy on my heart that it seemed the mattress was on top\nof me instead of me on the mattress. I knew I was on the road to hell.\nFinally, toward morning, I told the Lord that if He would spare my life\nuntil I heard the alarm go off in my parent's room that I would get up\nand go ask my father to pray for me to get saved and I would seek\nforgiveness for my sins from God. This calmed me, and I lay there\nwaiting. When I heard the alarm, I ran to their room and knelt beside\ntheir bed. I began to weep and beg Papa to pray for me to get saved. He\nprayed for me and I prayed. I asked the Lord to forgive me of my sin of\nstealing and lying and promised I would make it right. I told the Lord I\nwould tell the girl I had stolen the doll and pay her for it. God took\nmy word for the act and He forgave me and flooded my soul with peace.\nOh, I had found the key to peace for my inner longings! The key was a\ndesire to find peace and then obeying God's Word which said, \"If we\nconfess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to\ncleanse us from all unrighteousness.\" I John 1:9. That key opened the\nlock to my heart and let Jesus come in. Jesus has said, \"The words that\nI speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.\" John 6:63b. Oh,\nthe peace that filled me and I became a new creature in Christ Jesus! I\nwas happy again.\n\nI had promised the Lord that I would make my sin right when school\nstarted. So one day I was sitting behind this girl and I tapped her on\nthe back. I told her about my taking the doll and offered to pay her for\nit. She said, \"I often wondered where that doll went to, but I didn't\ncare anything about it anyway.\" I insisted on paying her but she said to\nforget it. Oh, the relief that I then had because the devil fought my\nmaking it right by telling me that she would tell every one in school\nabout my being a thief. I never heard anything more about it.\n\nThen I had to make the lie right, for I had told my mother and all of my\nbrothers and sisters that old Tennessee had given it to me. One time in\nfamily worship I started to tell it and broke down and wept, but kept on\ntelling about it. I asked forgiveness and my father said that they all\nforgave me. I didn't know until years later that none of them understood\nanything I said because I had cried so hard, but I thought they did and\nthat was what counted. I had obeyed the Lord who makes us know that we\nare to make our wrongs right.\n\nWhen Jesus came to Zacchaeus' house and he sought salvation from Him,\nZacchaeus said, \"If I have taken any thing from any man by false\naccusation, I restore him fourfold.\" Luke 19:8. We must make our wrongs\nright. If we do, and have repented and confessed our sins, we can hear\nthe same words that Jesus said to Zacchaeus, \"This day is salvation come\nto this house, ... For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that\nwhich was lost.\" (verse 9, 10.)\n\nI am thankful to say that this was the only thing that I ever took in my\nlife and it was a great lesson to me. Oh, how wonderful it is to be the\nLord's! If we love and serve Him, we can have peace in our souls. We\nmight have many problems and troubles in this life but if we have peace\nin our heart and are in contact with God, these things can't take away\nour peace and we can face life. The Bible says, \"Man that is born of a\nwoman is of few days, and full of trouble.\" Job 14:1. Troubles will come\nto us but if we obey God's Word, we can have peace in our soul and be\nready to meet the Lord when He comes in the clouds of glory.\n\nI do pray that all who may read this will take the key, which is the\nWord of God and through obedience use it to unlock your heart and let\nthat Word fill your heart and life, and you will have peace. Every\nlonging will be satisfied as you continue to obey the Word.\n\n\nThe Keys to Continued Peace\n\nWhen a person has confessed his sins with godly sorrow, and they are all\nunder the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, he is \"born again\"\nand has become a new creature in Christ Jesus. (II Cor. 5:17). How\nprecious it is to know that \"old things are passed away\" and \"all things\nare become new!\" His wrongs have been made right, as far as possible,\nand according to his knowledge. Then he needs to walk in this kind of\nway and life. It takes some watching and praying to keep the peace in\nthe soul that God has given. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit\ncan one continue in contact with God. After a person has fully\nsurrendered himself to the Lord and has the cleansing work of the Holy\nSpirit in his soul, he is equipped to go forth and fight the devil who\ngoes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet.\n5:8). The devil is no respector of persons. He is more than a match for\nthe child of God but when the child of God seeks grace and help from\nGod, the devil has to flee. He now needs to know how to face the devil,\nso he can be \"more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus.\"\n\nWe read in James 4:6-8 that first, we need to know that God gives grace\nor help to the humble. We need to humbly realize our need of God's help.\nThen we are to submit ourselves to God, draw close to God and \"he will\ndraw nigh to you.\" Every step we take toward God, He will take one\ntoward us. After we are in the will of God and have implored His help,\nwe can then, in the name of Jesus, \"Resist the devil, and he will flee\nfrom you.\" One brother said he talked to the devil just like he did to\nhis dog. He said, \"Get out of here!\" The devil had to pack his bags and\nleave.\n\nWhen a person is saved, one of the first things the devil tells him is\nthat he isn't saved. This is a famous trick of Satan and it's sad to\nsay, that he uses it over and over and it has worked on many souls. We\nneed not be \"ignorant of his devices.\" It's a pretty sure fact that you\nare saved or the devil would not bother about you. So don't let that\ntrouble you, but \"resist the devil,\" or he will take your peace.\n\nPrayer is another thing we must do to keep our peace. God knows what we\nneed before we ask Him, but His plan is for us to ask. Prayer is not\njust always asking God for something, but it's a means of fellowship\nwith God. It's a communion between God and us that brings love, joy,\npeace, comfort and all that we need. It's a heart to heart talk to God.\nIn prayer we tell our Lord and Saviour of our great love for Him. In\nprayer we never cease to praise Him for dying on the cross and taking\nour punishment for our sins. In prayer we, so to speak, just lift our\nhearts and minds up into that heavenly realm and we touch heaven. A\nthrill of heavenly love flows from God down into the very depths of our\ninner being. Power, strength and grace is given, and with a deep inner\njoy we go forth and face the world. Others might wonder how we can have\nthe courage to face the hard things, but it's because of grace gained\nthrough prayer. Prayer should never be neglected or we will feel our\npeace slipping away.\n\nPrayer can be a groan, a sigh, a dropping of a tear, a smile, an inner\npraise going up to God, laughter in the spirit, or an inward or audible\n\"praise the Lord!\" Prayer is the sincere desire of the heart or an\nattitude of the heart. Surely we can \"pray without ceasing,\" as we keep\na heart full of love for our Lord and a feeling of utter dependence upon\nHim. In living in this way, our peace will be abounding.\n\nAnother foe we must watch is self. Often it has been said that we must\ndie out to self, but it goes deeper than just saying it. Self longs to\nlive, but it must be crucified. We must remember that \"ye are not your\nown, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,\nand in your spirit, which are God's.\" I Cor. 6:19,20. If we belong to\nGod then we do not belong to ourselves. We must be aware of the fact\nthat self will make many concessions to live. Self sometimes will allow\nits owner to do many sacrificial deeds if it can live. It will even bear\nhard things, but it must go. Self must be crucified. We must die to good\ndeeds, and to bad deeds, successes, failures, exaltations, humiliation,\nfriends and foes. Oh, it must not be us but Jesus that will be lifted up\nin our lives! The Apostle Paul said, \"I am crucified with Christ:\nnevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life\nwhich I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who\nloved me, and gave himself for me.\" Gal. 2:20. So it must not be self\nthat lives but Christ must live in us.\n\nWe need to watch our thoughts to keep our peace. We are told that God\n\"wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because\nhe trusteth in thee.\" Isa. 26:3. When our peace is disturbed we need to\ncheck to see where our mind has been or what we were thinking about.\n\nThe mind is the battle ground. The devil has access to the mind as well\nas God. We are tempted through the mind. The devil will present wrong\nthoughts and then the Lord is right there to bring us good thoughts or\nsuggest the right thing to do. We need to separate our thoughts. We need\nto cast out the wrong thoughts and only think on the good thoughts from\nGod. The devil is like a persistent salesman. He will talk and talk at\nthe door and if you are not careful he will get the door open and have\nhis foot in it. If you give him any encouragement he will be sitting in\nyour living room and have his wares all spread out before you. So we\nmust not let the devil get past the door of our mind. Just tell him\nright off, \"I am not interested.\"\n\nWe think of the children of Israel in Egypt, when God told them to put\nthe blood of the lamb on their doorposts one night, so their eldest son\nwould be spared when the death angel passed over. Ex. 12:12,13. The\nblood on the door was the powerful warning to keep evil from the\nIsraelites on that night when the Egyptians were visited and death was\nin every home. Just so, dear Grandson, the blood of Jesus on the door of\nour heart and mind will keep the devil from coming into our mind,\nsitting down and displaying all of his wares of evil. When tormenting\nthoughts, thoughts of fear, thoughts of unjust deeds of others done to\nyou, thoughts of self-pity, anxiety, doubts, unforgiveness, mistrust of\nGod, or evil of all kinds appear to take up your thoughts, just resist\nthem and point to the blood on the door of your heart. Those thoughts\nwill have to flee. Sometimes a person can think upon an unjustice done\nto him and it will grow bigger and bigger. The mistake is made by not\nresisting it in the beginning and forgiving the injustice. God's ways\nare right, if we will follow them.\n\nWhen bold and daring thoughts move in and are persistent, trying to fill\nevery corner of our mind, we need to point to the blood. They have to\nleave. Bring the mind under subjection to the blood and think of good\nthings. \"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall\nkeep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren,\nwhatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever\nthings are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are\nlovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if\nthere be any praise, think on these things.\" Phil. 4:7,8.\n\n\nObedience to God's Word\n\nBe careful to obey the Word of God, and do not let others influence you\nto do wrong. Be strong and courageous to stand for right and truth. Dear\nGrandson, there will be many in the world who will sneer at you for your\nstand for right. Some will persecute you, but don't let this influence\nyou to let down your standard from God of what is right. God expects us\nto obey Him. Others might try to make you think that the way they have\nfigured it out is right, but still we must obey the Lord.\n\nWhen I was about 13 years of age I learned a lesson on obedience and\nresisting others influence that I never forgot. I let others influence\nme to disobey my father's command. It was presented to me in a way so\nthat it seemed that it would be all right, but yet it was a direct\ndisobedience.\n\nUnexpectedly, my parents were to be gone on Sunday. Early that morning\nmy father came upstairs to my bedroom, and told me about their going,\nand told me to take the three younger children to Sunday school and\nchurch services, and then come home, prepare dinner and stay at home\nuntil they returned in the late afternoon.\n\nAfter the morning services, some of the young people wanted me to go\nhome with them for dinner and then in the afternoon they were going to\nanother town close by, and have young people's meeting. I repeated what\nmy father said and told them that I couldn't go. One girl especially\nbegan to beg me to go by saying that she was sure my father would not\ncare. I still refused to go, so she talked to her mother about it. Her\nmother told me that she would take care of the three smaller children if\nI wanted to go with the young people to the meeting and she was sure my\nfather would know they were in good care. This over-persuasion was hard\nto turn down, so I went home with them for dinner and to the young\npeople's meeting in the afternoon. I didn't feel very good over it as I\nknew what my father's command was and I knew that when he told me to do\nsomething he expected me to do it. Needless to say, when my father heard\nabout it, I was punished for disobeying him. He also had prayer with me,\ninstructing me to seek God's forgiveness. The good intentions of others\ndid not sway him. He told me I should not let others influence me to\ndisobey him, regardless of what they presented. It grieved him very much\nto think that I didn't do as he had told me, and he said that he didn't\nknow if he could trust me again. I was very sorry and grieved also, as I\ndid want him to trust me.\n\nMy dear grandson, God is grieved when we let others influence us to do\nwrong, even though it may seem right to them. They might present a\nplausible thing, but if God said for us not to do it, we must not. We\nmust obey God. We are individually responsible to God to give an account\nfor our deeds. We can't tell God that others thought it was all right.\nThat will never excuse us.\n\nWe read of Saul, the king of Israel, who let the people persuade him to\nkeep the sheep, oxen, etc. of the wicked nation of the Amalakites, when\nGod had told him to completely destroy everything. The people said that\nthey should take the best and offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord.\nThis might have seemed plausible, but it was a direct disobedience to\nthe Lord's command. The Lord told Saul, \"to obey is better than\nsacrifice.\" Saul's punishment was great. Samuel, the prophet of the Lord\nsaid, \"thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath\nrejected thee from being king over Israel.\" I Sam. 15:20-26.\n\nGod expects us to obey Him and when we do, we will have peace in our\nsouls. Disobedience will bring the disfavor of God upon our soul and it\nwill have to be punished.\n\nJesus has said, \"If ye love me, keep my commandments.\" John 14:15. Love\nfor God will make us careful to keep His sayings and He will give us a\npeace that the world cannot take away from us. We can't find soul peace\nin the world. And after all, my dear grandson, we want to live so we can\nlive with our inner self. God created us with a part of Himself in us.\nThere is something within us that looks up to a Creator. Some will\ndisregard the true God and worship the gods of stone etc. They think\nthat will satisfy the longing in their souls but it doesn't. Only when\nwe are in contact with the true God can we find real peace.\n\nNow my dear grandson, and all who read this, take the true key to peace\nand let it open your heart and by prayerfully seeking God, you can have\npeace in your soul. I love the souls of all mankind and want everyone\nwho will desire peace in their heart with God, to make it into heaven by\nobserving the Word of God.\n\n--Grandma Miles (A. Marie Miles)\n\n\n\n\n\"I Can Handle It\"\n\n\"What does Jeff's death mean to me? Well, some kids will probably stop\ndropping flippies for awhile. I mean, you got to watch that stuff and\nknow what you're getting so you don't take some with too much rat poison\nin it. Me, I know what I am doing, I can handle it.\"\n\nThis was the answer to a question asked of one of Jeff Stewart's friends\nwho came to the cemetery, with other barefooted friends, who were\nclutching wild flowers, to place on his grave. Jeff Stewart was the son\nof a Methodist preacher and had refused to listen to his parents. They\nhad pled with him in tears to turn away from drugs. He had gotten into\nit through others' influence, but when his parents tried to help him, he\nwould generally say, \"I can handle it.\"\n\nJeff Stewart was a handsome boy, so said his mother, and a B student. He\nwas only 17, but had died of an overdose of barbiturates on August 22,\n1970 in a shack that he and his drug addicted friends had built on a\nside street in Hopewell, New York. In the midst of \"rock music\" he and\nhis friends \"smoked marijuana\" and \"dropped acid,\" (LSD) regularly.\n\nAt times Jeff wanted to get off drugs and had told his mother that he\nwished he had never started taking drugs, was a little boy again and\ncould start life all over.\n\nThere is a struggle going on in the minds of every young teen-ager. At\ntimes he is a carefree person but then at other times he tries to act\ngrown up or feels that he knows what he should do and the path he should\nwalk. These are difficult times in a teen-ager's life. Influences from\nwithin and from without will cause him to decide upon his course.\nParents see this indecision and they try to guide their teen-agers in\nthe right direction. The pastor, Sunday school teacher, and the young\npeople's leader are all interested in the teen-agers and are trying to\nshow them the right way. At times the teen-ager thinks his parents or\nother spiritual instructors are right, but the crowd at school, and\noften the teacher, use their influences to pull him the other way. Day\nafter day he is making decisions. The wrong influences seek to turn the\nteen-ager away from morality and God's Word but they do not give\nanything to take its place in his heart or erase guilty feelings.\nTherefore he finds emptiness within, so is compelled to continue to\nseek something else to satisfy him. Then he is led deeper into grosser\nevils, trying to \"handle\" his inner longings.\n\nSome might say, \"But how do you know?\" I know because I went through\nthose years and I know the influences to which I was exposed. One time I\nwanted a certain thing or would want to do a certain thing but then\nlater I didn't like or want it. Some at school would present their ideas\nand my parents and spiritual advisers presented their ideas. In my mind\nI was continually weighing out what was right or what I really wanted to\ndo.\n\nAs we think of the young boy who died of continually taking drugs and\nfelt that he could \"handle\" his own life, we see how he chose to travel\nthe wrong road. Even though his buddies saw what had happened to him\nthey were so stuck on drugs that they, too, thought they could still\n\"handle\" their lives. What a mistake they are making and I am sure you\nare convinced of that fact. None of us are able to *handle* our own\nlives. When we are born we have within our very nature a bent toward\nevil. That bent toward evil has to be curbed. God gave children parents\nbecause they needed help to face life and to curb that which was within\nthem that would lead them to the wrong path. Children and teen-agers\nshould recognize this fact and listen to them. Even if you do not want\nto admit it, you can't *handle* your own life without the aid of your\nparents. Furthermore you can't handle your life and walk the right path\nwithout God's help. The devil works through the influences of others to\nlead you astray. Only through the power of God can the power of the\ndevil be broken, the bent toward evil be destroyed, and you be able to\ndo the right or choose the right path. Never feel that you can *handle*\nyour own life. No man, woman, child, or teen-ager can *handle* his life\nor obey the Word of God, which teaches him the way to live in this life\nand be ready to die, without help from outside of himself.\n\nIn my early teen-age life there were two verses of Scripture that I had\nlearned by memory which were a guide to me. One was, \"Children, obey\nyour parents in the Lord: for this is right,\" Eph. 6:1. The other one\nwas, \"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,\nthat whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife.\" John 3:16. The first one made me know that God would bless me if\nI obeyed my parents. Many times my idea of what they required wasn't the\nthing that I wanted to do, but I obeyed. Why? Because I loved Jesus. I\nwas convinced that I was doomed for hell, but Jesus had loved me so much\nthat He came to this world, lived, and died on the cross and arose again\nfor my salvation. If it had not been for Jesus taking my sins and loving\nme so much I would be eternally lost. That was a great influence in my\nlife and today I am very glad that I obeyed my parents and also let\nJesus handle my life and lead me in a right direction.\n\nWhen teen-agers rebel they are headed for trouble and oh, what great\ntrouble! Let us remember the young man who thought he could handle his\nlife but had a tragic ending and was eternally lost. Dear Grandson,\nremember the Bible has the answer to every problem, and Jesus will help\nyou handle your life if you will let Him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Two Italian boys of New York City were returning from a swim. They were\neach about fifteen years of age. Pietro had picked up a piece of copper\nwire and thought he would have a little fun with the third rail of the\nNew York Central track, along which they were walking.\n\n\"He poked away around the wooden covering of the rail, but nothing\nhappened.\n\n\"'That's funny,' he said. 'I guess I didn't touch the right spot.' Then\nhe pushed the point of the wire down underneath the covering.\n\n\"There was a flash of blue flame and a shriek of pain as 11,000 volts of\nelectricity shot through the wire. In a moment Pietro's clothing was on\nfire and his hair and eyebrows were burned off. He tried to drop the\nwire, as it hissed and sputtered at white heat, but it wouldn't let go.\nHe tried to pull it away, but it stuck to the rail as if it were\nsoldered there. The other boy tired to pull him away, but he was hurled\nto the ground with a terrific shock. Then the brave fellow threw his\nrubber coat around Pietro and pulled him loose.\n\n\"Pietro started to run but fainted and fell. They took him to the\nhospital, and the doctor said, 'One chance in a thousand to recover.'\n\n\"The boys said they knew there was something dangerous about that rail.\nThey had heard other people say so, but they didn't think it would hurt\nto play around with it a little.\n\n\"Just so, sin is dangerous. It scorches and burns and kills, like the\nlive third rail. People know it, and yet they play around with sin.\nMany times there are signs near high voltage wires--_Danger, Do Not\nTouch_! God has put up some signs, too. In His Word He warns against the\ndanger of sin. If we want to be safe, and happy, we will heed these\nwarnings.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"A minister of Geneva, on a trip to Paris, one day fell into a\nconversation with a man who began to reason with him about Christianity.\nThe minister answered every argument with a quotation from\nScripture--not venturing a single personal remark or application. Every\nquotation his companion evaded or turned aside, only to be met by\nanother passage. The skeptic became enraged. 'Don't you see, I don't\nbelieve your Bible! What's the use of quoting it to me?' he shouted. The\nminister's reply was another thrust of the Sword of the Spirit, 'If ye\nbelieve not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.' Years passed, then\none morning the minister received a letter. Opening it he read, 'You\ntook the Sword of the Spirit and stabbed me through and through one day,\nand every time I tried to parry the blade and get you to use your hands,\nand not the Heavenly steel, you simply gave me another stab. You made me\nfeel I was not fighting you, but God.' It was signed by the former\nskeptic in whom the 'seed of the Word' had finally been mixed with\nfaith.\n\n\"Even as the natural seed changes soil into plants, so the living seed\nof the Word changes the character of the individual who comes in contact\nwith it. For example, in the night of the Dark Ages when the Word of God\nwas planted by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of chosen men, it brought\nforth the fruit of the Reformation. There was a rediscovery of the\ntruth, that salvation is not by ritual or works, but by faith in Jesus\nas our Saviour.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMy grandson, I will close these instructions to you, as well as to all\nwho read them, with a prayer for each one. As a teen-ager I found that\nit paid to live for God. As a mother I found that God was there to help\nme in all the needs of life and as a grandmother and a possible\ngreat-grandmother, I find great joy in living for God. It pays to put\nGod first in our lives. \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his\nrighteousness and all these things will be added unto you,\" is the safe\nway to live because Jesus, our Lord and Master, who has all wisdom has\ntold us.\n\n--Grandma Miles (A. Marie Miles)","title":"The Key to Peace","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12794}