MrsLeeJT

Hi- I am Lee in Coos Bay, Oregon. It's feb 23, 2004. I have enjoyed the study of Peter. Many of the questions left me frankly without an easy answer! Some that I could not aswer stayed with me. I was saved on my knees , baptized years later in a charismatic church. That is the branch I guess you could say I am most familiar or identifiable with. I was saved in 1988, but it has taken many years to get me to the point I am now, and I am not even where I need to be! I am now 35, with two children aged 9 & 10. Both girls. I am married and in desperate need of a job now! I have been applying and applying and it's so hard to wait! I am a writer of lyrics and stories- I am a volunteer editor of a magazine, but I also need paying work. My husband's business has taken a downturn!!! I need prayer, because after being in this town for over five years, I only have about 2 people I could call friends, and very few acquaintences who would remember my name. I have gone back and forth to various churches but haven't commited to any of them. None are like my old church and I have let that keep me away. Anyhow, thanks for a wonderful study. I look forward to it. Lee

I think of holiness as "being without spot, blemish, or wrinkle"...then I think of me- and realize that doesn't describe me, at least not in the natural. As others have posted, the holiness that can be ascribed to me is only by impartation- by the propitiation of Jesus Christ being the sacrificial lamb. For, By His stripes we are healed, and For our transgressions He was slain...he is our Redeemer Kinsman- but we must always be sensitive to that fact- that our redemption cost Him His life. However, He was victorious over sin and the grave and Lives Forevermore! The biggest struggle for me is to yeild to the Spirit! I am always wondering , is that my imagination or God telling me something? Or when I hear that little warning , and igonore it, it becomes so easy to ignore again- as in , my conscience becoming "seared", or desensitized to the Holy Spirit's leading. That's dangerous. I often struggle with the same sins over and over, each time saying, I'll never do that again, but often not learning to live that out in the power of God's Spirit, not my own strength. It is very hard for me to BE spiritual, on a day-to-day routine basis. It's difficult to live in that "holy" place while I live in the very real and ugly world. It's something I need help with, if anyone wishes to pray for me. Thank you! Finally, while I definitely see my growth in so many areas since becoming saved in 1988, when I was 19, I still see so many areas where I need to move up. Consistently staying in the Word is the toughest for me now. Then living out what I learn- Oh, how I need to learn to let the SPirit live in me ALL the time!! I keep so busy running to and fro with various plans, dreams and schemes, just hoping that God approves because I haven't set my will aside enough to truly hear what He wants. Probably I am afraid I won't want to do what He might want. I need to trust that whatever He might want is always the BEST! So, how do you learn to really HEAR the voice of the Lord in each situation?

There are so many good posts here in response to this question, that I don't know where to begin. I will share a story of what happened to me when I used to go to online Christian chat rooms. I would usually bring up the subject of Christ's return , and whenever I did, someone would always get upset, annoyed, or downright hostile ! I was always put in a position of defending "my" views, like I made these Biblical facts up, concerning what some of us refer to as "the Rapture". Why is this topic so offensive to so many? Could it be that some don't wish to think of Christ's near return because they feel that they are not ready to leave this life? I think we need to always live with the mindset that we are aliens here, and to look FORWARD to Jesus' return, with great expectation and longing , especially as we see what's going on in this world. Even so, Come quickly Lord Jesus, is what I pray. However, I am often surprised at the division it causes to bring it up- the whole, pre-trib, post-trib question. In fact, a lot of those chatters don't want any kind of serious dialogue about the Bible and Christ. It's often times like "Hallelujah ! Hey, did you watch Stargate last night? ANd how bout them Gators? Then there's often a lot of goofing off and flirting going on. So, I don't take that stuff seriously anymore. I am not saying there's necessarily anything wrong with online chat, or Christian chat. I am not any better than anyone else. What I am saying is that if those chat rooms are indicitive of the attitudes of the mainstream Christian, I am saddened.

Being so wrapped up in work, saving money, fixing up the house, fixing up the body, and everything TEMPORAL that we let dominate our minds. Yes, it's important to have a job, do well at it. But do we do it for God's glory ultimately... or our paycheck, pension fund, 401k...?? DO we promise God to give Him more money if he just gives US more- then we can give more to the ministry and STILL have a nice car, house, plasma TV... How do we act though, when the boss tells a raunchy joke? Do we laugh despite ourselves because we don't wish to stand apart from "the world"? Are we willing to take the risk that we may be looked at as a "Jesus Freak" and maybe risk our job , or do we keep silent, hoping that that unsaved person sitting across from us at the lunch table will get saved someday, or will get saved because we wear a cross on our necks and that should be a good witness? I am guilty of this myself. 2)Also, I think- a gradual creeping in of foreign spirits that are toxic to our own and drive away the Holy Spirit - often a spirit of jealously or unrighteous anger can "take over" , even for a time. I find that the longer I stay away from prayer and the Bible, the more likely it is that these feelings or spirits will come over me and I have less ability to fight them off like I should. (Put on the whole armor of Christ). I think Lightbuilder says it well. Like Jenni03 says, we have to die to OUR will and live for HIM. I wonder if I even know what that means half the time.