Greetings brethren!

I hope you had a wonderful Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. I had the pleasure and privilege of spending Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread with our members in Sri Lanka and the Last Day of Unleavened Bread with our members in Singapore.

This morning I am proctoring or monitoring my daughter, Hannah, as she takes a national exam to evaluate her academic progress for the year. The exam will rank Hannah’s progress for this past academic year in relation to all the other candidates taking the test/exam. We should receive the exam results within a month and I expect her to do very well.

As Christians we are admonished to examine ourselves prior to partaking of the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:28). I trust that each of us followed the apostle Paul’s admonition. As you examined/tested yourself, how were your results? Were you pleased with your progress from last year? Notice the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the members at Corinth; “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6 NKJV). As you examined or tested yourself, did you find evidence of Jesus Christ living His life in you?

Our goal is to allow Jesus Christ to live His life in us through the indwelling of God’s spirit. Unlike the exam results for my daughter, if we compare ourselves with others we will not have an accurate read on our spiritual development (2 Corinthians 10:12). Our goal is to become a “perfect man” or mature Christian; the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). We begin by receiving the gift of God’s Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands after baptism. Then we must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). In addition to praying for growth, we must use the tools that God has given unto us for this purpose; Bible study, prayer, meditation and fasting. As we use these tools, we will experience the spiritual growth that God desires and our test/exam will be a positive experience and will meet the expectation of our Father in heaven.

By the time you read this article the General Conference of Elders will be underway or completed. This year Mr. and Mrs. Florante Siopan will be attending from the Philippines. Please remember them in your prayers as they travel. I look forward to seeing many of you later this summer!

© 2009 United Church of God, AIA - Pilipinas