Right and wrong are fundamental determinants for adhering to the principles of living. Humans often lose sight of this axiom due to their inability to define wrongness in contrast to rightness. What do we mean by wrongness in comparison to rightness? Clarity eliminates all uncertainties and enables humans to coexist harmoniously, achieving the desired peace. The difference between wrongness and rightness is not distinct from the divine perspective, except that God maintains precision in separating the two.
The sin of humanity originates from neglecting God’s words, even though God is the ultimate authority on the principles of living. The root of rebellion is pride, which leads to deviation from God’s laws and is driven by the desire to usurp God’s authority. God holds the highest place in everything because He created all things. The day when all humans recognize each other as deserving of equal treatment, all human problems will be resolved.
Jesus’ crucifixion aims to eradicate that aspect of humanity that elevates ego over the dignity of fellow humans. The belief that human evils can be controlled externally is misleading; as humans are fundamentally uncontrollable. Rebellion is ingrained in the minds of carnal humans, making it impossible for physical humans to attain righteousness, regardless of background. The liberators often prove to be as bad, if not worse, than the former colonizers. These evil outcomes result from conflating wrongness with race or personality, achieved by generalizing rather than being specific in describing what is wrong.
Propaganda is often effective among those who believe that such behaviour demonstrates political astuteness due to introversion. This arises from the failure to recognize that the state of rebellion is not confined to race or personality. God did not create evil humans. Driven by a desire for attention, individuals may become cunning to outmanoeuvre others. While they may achieve short-term success, they often create more problems in the long run.
The methodology of maintaining righteousness involves applying precision, rendering deviation impossible. In the Book of Deuteronomy, God provided clear instructions to the Israelites, who were expected to choose life over death. They were to be precise in following what they were instructed to do, as God’s laws are always technical and unchangeable. For instance, if the law of combustion is unchangeable, it follows that any law given by God cannot be changeable. This implies that the principle of adhering to God’s law is to consistently maintain and focus on what is standard when pursuing life.
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NKJV).
There was nothing extraordinary about the statutes given to the Israelites. God provided them with a formula for living a successful life, which anyone could have followed and prospered. However, the only obstacle to God’s laws is that they are unfashionable. The physical condition requires conformity with worldly standards rather than Heavenly standards. The worldly standard is the opposite of life, as it is materialistic and subject to perishing. Without experiencing Heavenly conditions, physical humans have no reality of what the Heavenly realm entails. This is the condition that affected the Israelites.
Prayer can be defined as a petition directed to God submitted by humans. However, among the Old Testament statutes, there is no specific instruction on how prayer should be conducted, except that it should be directed to the invisible God. The Old Testament contains numerous instances where God is depicted as responding to prayers. These prayers were meant to reach God through the High Priests and were effectively conducted in the Temple. Confined to the spiritual realm, prayer was intended to reach the deity, considered distinct from physical humans. Physical outreach to God was traditionally viewed as sacred, typically accessible only through a priest. Thus, prayer was intended to reflect an individual’s spiritual condition.
Additionally, the earliest Hebrew writing did not use vowels to address God. While Jews used vowels when speaking Hebrew words, they did not include them in the written form. The simple consonants “YHWH” are all that are provided for this particular name of God. Modern English translations of the Old Testament indicate the use of this specific name by capitalizing all the letters in “LORD.” This is how some English translations attempt to convey the Hebrew name for God, “YHWH.” Hence, prayer had a peculiar form of addressing God.
The principle of communicating with God lies more in the mind than in the vocalization of what cannot be identified physically. In the New Testament, Jesus provided a guideline that emphasizes appreciating God’s spiritual concept of prayer rather than public manifestation. Prayers are supposed to be conducted in private, ensuring they are addressed to God alone, following the given pattern. The unheralded truth is that one cannot understand God without first understanding oneself. Recognizing oneself as a child of God enables effective prayer. This perspective reduces the excessive words often used in public prayers.
One cannot discuss God and be indecisive simultaneously. Deception has its own principles. In other words, a person cannot project flowery content that is attractive to humans and receive God’s approval at the same time. God’s enemies are those who project goodness mixed with falsehood. There is nothing flowery about God’s content. The starting point is to appreciate being created in God’s image so that one does not have to look elsewhere when seeking interaction with God. The voice within a person’s intellectual capacity is more credible than external voices. A person effectively communicates with God in solitude.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:
“Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:5-13 NKJV).
Among the various laws and commandments, the Children of Israel were never given a statute concerning prayer. They effectively interacted with God through a priest. They may have copied from adjacent communities, but commonly prayed to a God they did not fully understand. Only a person who appreciates having been created in God’s image can truly appreciate God through his or her internal convictions. God’s essence is greater than any external source. If created in God’s image, why would a person believe that a bishop or a prophet should be regarded as higher than oneself?
This should not be interpreted as self-exaltation or disdain for other fellow humans. It merely projects the truth that God’s essence is encapsulated within the concerned personality. Even when listening to other speakers, God’s child knows the difference between when God speaks and when Satan speaks. This makes it impossible to deceive such a person. Jesus revealed that God had spoken, when He commended Peter, saying, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 16:17). However, Jesus also identified Satan’s influence when Peter, swayed by Satan, spoke words that appealed to ordinary humans but were contrary to God’s will (Matthew 16:23). Thus, Jesus could not be deceived by the devil.
Arguably, what currently prevails is that charismatic speakers are given credit even when their words do not align with God’s truth. Conversely, non-charismatic preachers are commonly denounced, even if their message aligns with God’s truth. The easiest way to gain an audience is by saying what people want to hear, rather than what God wants them to hear. Unbeknownst to ordinary humans is the underlying hostility between God and humanity. Many of those who publicly profess to love God and manifest it with flowery utterances are, in reality, deadly enemies of God. This is an open secret to those aware of their internal divine communication.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
“As a partridge that broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It will leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be a fool” Jeremiah 17:7-11 NKJV).
Prophet Jeremiah could not have expressed it more accurately than in this discourse. It has nothing to do with how electrified a person might feel after being mesmerized by a charismatic preacher. God looks deeper into the person’s heart. The material things that make a person ecstatic have little to do with what goes on in their mind. Figuratively, the heart and the mind are projected as the same. However, the mind carries the intellectual capacity to reason, while the heart upholds what is loved most, so as not to be exchanged for anything.
Deception affects individuals who carelessly agree with statements that contradict their internal beliefs. Those deceived and convinced to make substantial savings fall into such traps when driven by carnal desires. It is particularly those things that seem to promote personal ego that are more deceptive. The potential acquisition of money is especially alluring, as it offers an opportunity to receive praise from others. Humans commonly admire flamboyant individuals with wealth, even though such moguls would have acquired their wealth dubiously. Thus, Jesus likened money to another god.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:19-24 NKJV).
Jesus spoke words that do not resonate with worldly individuals, as accumulating wealth gives a false sense of security for the future. However, Jesus contends that such a viewpoint lacks wisdom, as wealth is vulnerable to theft. This becomes evident when considering that humans cannot take their wealth with them after death. While we can be diligent in managing our wealth during our lifetime, there is no certainty about its fate after we are gone. Secular financial advisors cannot reveal the truth about truly lasting treasure. The real value is discerned through spiritual insight rather than physical vision. True prudence lies in heeding God’s teachings through Jesus.
The main obstacle preventing ordinary people from accessing the truth is the confusion between wisdom and folly. Many foolish ideas are accepted as wise by society, while genuinely wise concepts are often dismissed as projecting foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:25 NKJV). This confusion leaves most individuals vulnerable to danger, even though God’s message has been available since the resurrection of Jesus. God’s communication remains clear and unchanged, despite the dismissals by influential figures in the world. The message appeals to those who value their inner conscience over the belief that some people are inherently wiser than others, as all are created in God’s image.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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