Visit Another World
More and more I feel like I’m living in two starkly different worlds.
There’s the world I see on the news, on the Twitter feed, and on the streets of our cities. This is the world of the Fauci-China virus and vaccine tyranny, the world of totalitarian government and militant Marxism, the world of relentless deceit, lies and corruption. It’s a world of rapidly rising inflation, supply-chain collapse, food shortages and imminent civil war. It’s a world where a belligerent, imperialist China and Russia circle pathetic, cowering America.
This world is miserable. Spend too much time considering it, fail to put it in proper context, and you soon begin to feel low and hopeless.
Then there is this other world. Most of humanity doesn’t know about it and has never visited it. In this world, government is perfect. It’s a world of law and order, which produces peace, stability and prosperity. This world is entirely free of corruption and deceit. There’s no confusion about gender, sex or family. There are no drug problems, no violence, no perversion, no dysfunction. This world is perfect in every way.
The effects on the mind when you visit this world are palpable. You are more cheerful, more positive, optimistic and hopeful. Spending time in this world builds your health spiritually, emotionally and even physically.
The more I think on it, the more I realize: The only way to survive the former world is to spend as much time as possible in the latter.
The Apostle Paul admonished us to spend time in this latter world in Philippians 4: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (verse 8; Revised Standard Version).
Paul is talking about studying the Bible. Nothing on the face of this Earth is more “true,” “honorable,” “just,” “pure,” “lovely,” “gracious,” “excellent” and “worthy of praise” than the Word of God!
The late Herbert W. Armstrong taught that the Bible is the mind of God in print. The Bible paints a picture of an entirely new and different world from the one we live in. Most importantly, this wonderful world is real—it will soon be established right here on Earth!
Experiencing the world of the Bible takes imagination. We have to take our minds off the present, out of the moment, and off our physical environment.
This might sound impossible. But it’s not. In fact, we do it all the time. Every day, countless millions spend hours watching television and movies, playing video games, browsing YouTube. When we engage in these activities, aren’t we basically entering another world? But these man-made worlds often aren’t all that different from this present world. The scenery might be different; perhaps we are projected into a lifestyle, role or plot line we may never personally experience. But the behavior of the characters, their nature and motives, their moods, attitudes and emotions, are exactly the same as the ones around us in this world.
It’s not real smart how we attempt to escape the present by immersing our minds in screen worlds that are filled with the same vulgarity, perversions, corruption, lies, gore and violence that make this world so miserable. In our attempt to escape the present, we end up back in the present.
But the world we enter when we study the Holy Bible is different. Psalm 119:130 reads, “The unfolding of thy words gives light” (rsv). Studying God’s Word, His thoughts and doctrines, His plan for man, brings light into our lives. The word “light” here means shine or break of day. When we study God’s Word, it’s like a new day dawns in our lives.
This word can also refer to setting something on fire. Studying the mind of God will fire our minds with hope and enthusiasm for God and His plan! And this fire of excitement and hope is unquenchable; if we feed it daily, it keeps burning, making us perpetually, fundamentally positive and hopeful—even in moments of disappointment or trial. Jeremiah wrote that God’s “word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jeremiah 20:9).
Psalm 119:25 says, “I lie in the dust; revive me by your word” (New Living Translation). Another translation says, “I lie defeated in the dust.” Isn’t this a bit how you feel when you look at the state of this world and think about its future? Defeated. Despondent. Depressed. When we feel this way—and we all do (or will)—remember this solution: We can only be revived, brought back to life—infused with eternal hope—by the Word of God!
Where do I start? you ask. Why not start by reading Mystery of the Ages, by Herbert W. Armstrong. This book explains this world like no other book does, except the Bible. You can also search our archive on theTrumpet.com; we have many articles on this subject. And if you really want to enter the world of the Bible, enroll in our free 36-lesson Bible correspondence course.