Every person who is to appear with the Lord at His return to the earth, who is to be raised (or transformed) and caught up to meet Him in the air, has learned to live by the Words coming from God's mouth. There shall be no disobedient soldiers in the army of the Lord, no individual who thinks, speaks, or acts according to his or her own will.

This is the rest of God. This is the goal we are to pursue after we have been forgiven through the blood atonement and have received God's Holy Spirit.

The Lord is ready to redeem us today, that is, to cleanse us from all tendencies to live by bread alone and to not stay in the place where we can hear what God is saying to us.

It is true that some people hear from the Lord in words while others do not. This makes no difference. If we commit our way to Him, the Lord has promised to guide us. This is all that matters.

It also is true that the Lord Jesus, the Judge, seems to be closer to us today than was true several years ago. I have been a Christian for fifty-five years, and I notice that now when people slow down enough to listen they often hear what Jesus is saying. But I do not want someone to be discouraged who does not hear in this manner. The Lord guides people in various ways, but all of us have been commanded to abide in Christ.

Man shall not live by bread only but by the ever present voice of God. To not do so is sin.

Who or what we serve. We have termed the first branch of sin, "how we live." We have termed the second branch of sin, "who or what we serve."

Satan stood before his Maker and asked for worship. So it is that the second branch of sin has to do with service, worship, and pleasure.

God has commanded us to worship and serve Him only and to delight ourselves in Him. When we do not do this we are sinning.

This is the realm of who and what we worship.

In the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans, Paul informs us Christians that we have a choice. We can choose to be a slave to righteousness or we can choose to be a slave to sin.

Don't you know when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

If we choose to obey our sinful nature we will die spiritually.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:13)

If we choose to obey righteousness we will inherit holiness and eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

To be continued.