Granny Answers Your Questions: 5

Question 16. In school they are forcing us to do dance class. Last year my Dad got me out of this torture of a class, but my best friend became disappointed with me because I let my dance group down. I know that not dancing is in the baptismal vows but I am not baptized yet. Should I ask to get out of dance class this year too, or is it okay to dance occasionally?

Granny's Answer: Dancing, as it is today in our world, is not right; it is offensive to God. Jesus is very soon returning and we must have our hearts ready to stand for the truth and to meet God in peace. This needs to be the most important thing in our lives if we want to be saved, to obey God and learn what His will for us is. If Jesus does not have all your heart–He does not have any of it; this is something to think about. You are at the age when you need to give careful thought as to whether you, yourself are going to give your whole heart to Jesus and serve Him, or follow along with the crowd and serve your own self and feelings. The Christian Life costs something; but only if we go all the way with Jesus can He give us the rich blessings He wants us to have! With Jesus truly in your heart you have everything; without Him, even if you had everything the world offers–you have nothing.   

Here is what the Messenger of the Lord told us about Dancing.

 Dancing--a School of Depravity.--"In many religious families dancing and card playing are made a parlor pastime. It is urged that these are quiet home amusements, which may be safely enjoyed under the parental eye. But a love for these exciting pleasures is thus cultivated, and that which was considered harmless at home will not long be regarded dangerous abroad. It is yet to be ascertained that there is any good to be obtained from these amusements. They do not give vigor to the body nor rest to the mind. They do not implant in the soul one virtuous or holy sentiment. On the contrary, they destroy all relish for serious thought and for religious services. It is true that there is a wide contrast between the better class of select parties and the promiscuous and degraded assemblies of the low dance house. Yet all are steps in the path of dissipation.

David's Dancing Not a Precedent. David's dancing in reverent joy before God has been cited by pleasure lovers in justification of the fashionable modern dance, but there is no ground for such an argument. In our day dancing is associated with folly and midnight reveling. Health and morals are sacrificed to pleasure. By the frequenters of the ballroom God is not an object of thought and reverence; prayer or the song of praise would be felt to be out of place in their assemblies. This test should be decisive. Amusements that have a tendency to weaken the love for sacred things and lessen our joy in the service of God are not to be sought by Christians. The music and dancing in joyful praise to God at the removal of the ark had not the faintest resemblance to the dissipation of modern dancing. The one tended to the remembrance of God and exalted His holy name. The other is a device of Satan to cause men to forget God and to dishonor Him." Adventist Home 518

 You need to get the book, 'Messages to Young People' and read it carefully yourself, and as you do, ask God in the name of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to be your personal teacher. Do this when reading the Bible also and you will be amazed what He will show you! What Jesus wants you to have is ever so much better than ANYTHING the world has to offer.

Also, If you were to go ahead and take that class now after your father no doubt claimed reasons of faith to get you off last year, you would be dishonoring your father and also your faith! This is breaking the 5th commandment and also denying Jesus. A Belief that a person puts on and takes off like a jacket is no belief at all! That is what the Bible calls a hypocrite!

God be with you!

Granny Temcat

Question 17: I have this friend who is always getting mad at me. She gets angry at the smallest thing like getting better grades than her. What really sets her off is when I have other friends. Though I feel she often drives me away into the arms of other girls in my class, I don't know what to say to her when she becomes upset. I try my very hardest to not make her angry, I hate getting in fights. One day in school she got mad at me because I did my homework and she didn't. I simply do not see my fault. Though I try to put the blame on her for everything, I cannot help but wonder what Jesus would do. . .

I have found this dillema challenging to cope with and also a challenge to deal with my friendship. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to the start before she and I were even friends. I don't want to hurt her and I also don't want to keep being hurt. What should I do? What should I say? What would Jesus do?

Granny's Answer: Dear Temkit Reader;

I am going to explain some things that will seem maybe hard and judgmental, but they are true and you need to know them. First off, to the question 'what would Jesus do" you have to realize that when people got angry with Jesus and tried to fight with Him, He left them to themselves, and went somewhere else. He did not hang around, trying to do things, so as to not make them mad at Him.  

People who get angry at you because you do things right and they do it wrong are showing the same spirit as Cain, who was angry and finally even killed his brother because of the same reason. Notice that Cain never repented even when God tried to talk it over with him!! 

You must just stop associating with this girl because you cannot in any way help her by being friends with her. You need to just tell her that your friendship is over, because you know that you cannot chum with her without making her angry. Now, I know this will be hard because people like this will get all nicey-nice when you break up with them and make promises that they will be better and so on–but they won't change by you being friends with them. You must break off the friendship no matter what she says or does, and then by yourself, just pray for her that she will repent and allow Jesus to change her selfish heart and give her a new one.  

She may also accuse you of really nasty things when you break up with her and she will likely tell many bad lies about you to anyone who will listen. Don't even bother to try and prove the truth, just ignore it and go on your way, turning it all over to Jesus.

 You see dear, by trying so hard to please her and be nice to her, you are actually helping her to be wicked and stay wicked and selfish. These people cannot be helped this way. In fact, very rarely can a person who acts this way be helped at all. The only way they can ever be helped is to come to the place where they see how wicked and selfish they are and repent and plead with Jesus to change them. They have to do this on their own, no one can help them in any way, except to pray that they will see what they really are. I have some people like this that I pray for, but I can't really help them myself.

 What this girl has, is actually a serious personality problem. She has what some people call a Jezebel Spirit, really it is more like the Cain spirit. They will defend themselves and always blame others for their own faults and hate anyone who is showing better habits than theirs. Sadly, they will ruin and destroy anyone who is silly enough to keep trying to please them. They harm themselves also of course, but you can't stop that–don't even try! Just pray that Jesus will open their eyes and don't stand around waiting to see if they change so you can run back and be friends–no–they have to be left alone, and in this way there is a tiny hope they will be saved. People who marry people like this end up being ruined, even dying early from the stress.

So you might like to know how people get like this? Well it comes from early childhood; some of them are spoiled by their parents who gave them everything they wanted and gave in to them when they were naughty. Others are made that way by a mother who is like this, sometime a father but mostly a mother–sometimes it can be both.

 These kinds of people always like to make up imaginary things and pretend to be expert in everything when they are really a mess and not expert in anything. They expect their friends to go along with their fantasies, like as if you were an actor in a play that they are writing. They do not see you as a person; they really are unable to see people as they really are.

What I am telling you, I know from long and bitter experience, so I am not making this up. The bottom line is don't even try to be friends with someone like that, they will harm you and you can't change or help them. Even God could not fix Cain, because Cain refused to even admit he needed to be fixed! Jesus walked away from people like that, and so should you. Pray for them to have their eyes opened--that is all you can do. Pray also for courage to stand the storm that will blow when you break it off with her.

 God be with you!
Granny Temcat

Question 18: I was wondering how many angels there are?

Granny's Answer: Hi! That is an interesting question! No one knows how many. The Bible says things like this:

 "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;" Revelation 5:11.

 One thing we know for sure, there are enough guardian angels to make sure we all have one. Also we know that a third of the angels fell with Satan; but we don't have to worry because that means there are 2 good angels for every 1 bad one!

 God Bless you!
Granny
=^..^=

  

Question 19: Is a famine a terrible ordeal?

Granny's Answer: Yes Famine is a terrible thing; it means when there is no food available for the people to eat. You could imagine how hard it would be to be hungry but have no way to get any food. BUT here is the important thing that God has promised to His people:

 "He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah 33:16.

If you read all that chapter it is showing that when the wicked are left with no food that God will supply food for His faithful people.

Remember when the children of Israel were in the wilderness? God sent them Manna every day which was good food they could eat. He provided them with water also; out in the desert where they would certainly have died, God took care of them!

 So the important thing for us to do is to give our hearts to Jesus, learn what He wants us to do, and decide for sure that we will obey Him. When we decide, He provides the power for us to do it. He takes us through one day at a time, until the time will come when we go home with Him.  

Here is what Jesus told us:

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God,[learning about Jesus] and his righteousness; [doing what is right] and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:25-33.

God Bless you!
Granny

 

Question 20: Is all music bad?

Granny's Answer:  Hi! Thanks for your question! Oh No; lots of music is good! After all, the angels sing music in Heaven, it must be wonderful to hear that music!

God's people, all through the ages, have made music and sang songs to praise God and tell of how they love Jesus. Music can help us to relax and even feel better when we are sad or even sick.

Music can be a way of learning; God told Moses to put His laws and truths to music to help the people to learn them. So there are many kinds of good music, and really only some kinds that are harmful.

God Bless you!
Granny Temcat
=^..^=