Berachah

How does a person cultivate inner beauty? How does one gain character? Why is true character so important and precious to God? How can character help a Christian woman win and hang onto her husband? A person cultivates inner beauty by learning the principles of the Word and striving to live by those principles. Also by walking close to God through prayer and worship. One gains character when we become consistent in our walk with the Lord. If we waver all the time we will not be a good testimony. Character is being consistent day in and day out. Also we need to ask God for Wisdom in all that we do. It is important to God because by our character we show Him that we are becoming more and more like Him. A woman of character will live her life out before her husband in a godly way even in the privacy of the home. It will turn the Husband to notice the difference and desire to show respect to his wife.

Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance? The questions seem to point us to what I call moderation. I am not an expert on womens attire, but I do feel it should be acceptable to the Lord and not something that is conspicuously calling ones attention to self. This shows the heart of a person and in todays society there seems to be a tendency to not dress up at all. Go causual. I think there is a modest and moderate standard al of us can follow and we have a general conception of what that is. Some guidelines however must be in order for the leadership.

Back in the Garden of Eden when man fell he lost his dependence and became independent. This is the very nature of man to be independent and selfcentered. In fact one way to define sin is to call it selfishness. So man is by nature independent. And as Christians it will always be a battle as long as we are in this sin-cursed world. We must be submissive but never in contradiction to the Word of God. And we need the wisdom of God in areas that are not clear. When anything comes along that demands compromise with the world we must speak up and take a stand. We must always remember to speak the truth in love. We must also gaurd our hearts that we do not allow bitterness or hatred to get in.

(2:24b) If Jesus died to set us free from sin's power, why does sin have such power over us still? According to 2:24b, how must we deal with sin? In practical terms, how can we "die to sin"? In everyday language, what does "live for righteousness" mean? Not only are we saved past tense but we are in the process of being saved present tense. That is we are saved from our sin and its guilt but we are daily working out our salvation. We are in the process of sanctification. I do not believe we have to sin all the time. Often it is an excuse to say it is because we are in this world. That can be a cop out. I am not saying we are yet perfect but I do believe we can live holy lives in His strength and athough we might fall on ocassion we have an Advocate with the Father. We should be living lives that are full His holiness and to lthe fullest extent of our understanding. We need to stay in the Word as it is our guide and when we not only read it but do our best to live it we are living for righteousness.

This may seem like a simplistic question, but give it thought before you answer, and then answer thoughtfully. What is the significance to you personally that Jesus bore your sins in his own body on the cross? The significance is Heaven or hell. My eternal destiny is at stake and without the cross I had no place to exchange my sin for His Love and Mercy. Thank God he poured out His Grace on me and forgave me, unworthy though I was, and now I am His child and born again and free and have an assurance of making Heaven my home. Thank you Jesus!

Only if Jesus was perfect could he meet the requirements for our salvation. Because He was sinless he was able to fulfill the law which I could never do. He paid the price for me that I could find forgiveness. What a wonderful Savior! How to understand His suffering I could never know. But His taking our sin on Himself made it imposssible for a perfect and holy God the Father to look upon Him. There was a resulting separation between them causing Him to cry out "Why hast thou forsaken me?" I don't believe that sinless man could stand this tremendous load of sin and it was this that caused Him to die along with the physical torture.

I believe Jesus suffered both physically and spiritually for me personally. But of course for every individual personally. If I had been the only person on planet earth, He would have died for me. This is not an egotistical statement. Actually it is a commentary on His great Love. It is incomprehensible to the human mind. We can only take it by faith and know that each pain and drop of blood and all that He went through was for me and you. When I suffer I know I am sharing in His suffering yet my suffering is really nothing compared to His. I will never understand it and perhaps I will spend eternity learning of His Love for me. All I know is that I am thankful that He remembered me.

How does Christ's example speak to your situation? How is your behavior going to be different because of what you see in Jesus' character in this passage? Christ's example show me that I must always be yielded to him and my flesh must be crucified daily. I must let Him live His life out through me and not yield to fleshly reactions which are selfcentered. I see in Jesus the need to grow in Him and be more like Him each and every day. I have not arrived and there is so much more of me that I need to put under his dominion. I must come to the cross daily.

How does being an employee "conscious of God" affect the way we act and react to injustice in the workplace? Can a conscientious Christian be a complainer? Why or why not? How do you usually react to prolonged, unfair treatment at your work? As Christians we are to act like christians wherever we are. The workplace is no different than anywhere else. Biblical principles apply at work and we must always be mindful of who we are and our testimony before the world. We are not to be "complainers", but we are to have wisdom as to what to do in different situations. There is no pat answer to apply to all problems but we are always to ask of God for His wisdom for such matters. How we discuss matters with the employer is important as we can hurt many by the consequences. I deal with prolonged unfair treatment by first giving myself to prayer about the matter. If required, by discussing the problem with the employer without a lot of finger pointing or as little condemning as possible. If God has given me a solution, I offer that as a suggestion.

As Christians we are to be people of integrity. We are to reflect God's glory in the workplace. We have an opportunity to testify by our labors that we are honest and upright people. Our work enables us to care for our own needs, and also, for those in need. Serving God while we are with other Christians is one thing, but to display to the world in a secular setting a christian testimony is all important.

In what way is God's glory dependent upon us living submissive, obedient lives? How is God hurt when we get rebellious? As Christians we are to adorn the Lord and bring Him praise. God's glory implies not only a revelation of who He is but also an actual invasion of His presence among His people. And of course our response is to ascribe to Him glory or praise. We are to glory in His Name. We are to worship Him and praise Him for His wonderful presence among us. But His presence is not only among us or all around us, but it is in us as Christians! It is experienced by regenerated people. His glory is displayed to the world through our lives! As we live submissive and obedient lives we show the world the qualities of God. We are agents of Grace displaying in our character His glory to others around us. What an awesome responsibility! In fact as we live our lives unto Him we are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory! We are new creations on a journey being transformed into His likeness displaying God's glory to the world around us. We are channels through which the Holy Spirit can communicate God to others. How is God hurt when we are disobedient and rebellious? We hurt His purposes for our lives and the lives of others. We become a stumbling block to others instead of a stepping stone to reach out to God. How important then, to live life in obedience and in the fullness of His glory. The eternal destiny of others is at stake. God forbid that we never frustrate His purposes but that we grow in Him each day and fulfill God's destiny for our lives.

(1:18-19) Have you ever felt you were of no worth or of no value? What does 1 Peter 1:18-19 say about your worth? What does it say about God's love for you? What does it indicate about the long-term value of your balance sheet and financial assets? What are your true long-term investments? Why? Before I found Jesus, I felt I was worth nothing. I felt totally worthless. In fact it was that feeling or perception I had of myself that drew me to the Lord. When I discovered His Love for me, I realized that to Him I was worth something. In fact if you could put a pricetag on a Christian, it would say "Jesus". Why? Because He gave His life for me and shed His precious blood for me. When I came to that understanding I knew that life could be worth living. How does that affect me in the long run? Well it means that when I stand before an Almighty God, Jesus has settled my account by clearing my debts by His own precious blood! Without Jesus I had a sin debt that all my self goodness could not pay. But Jesus took my sin, and cleared my account and I will enjoy the Glories of Heaven and His presence forever! I OWE IT ALL TO JESUS! PTL!

Why are people in our culture so upset when they sense they are being judged by someone else? How do you reconcile final judgment with God's love for the world? Why must final judgment be at the core of the Good News of Jesus Christ? What happens to the Gospel when final judgment is left out or ignored? People in our culture have a "mind your own business" attitude. We are very independent and feel we are as good as the next person. However, when someone judges us we must go to the Word of God and see if there is anything we need to deal with. The Word is the final standard for our lives and the judgement of others is only meaningful if harmonizes with the Word of God. God's Love cannot be pure and true unless it deals with sin and unless justice prevails. If God were to "wink" at sin then He would contradict Himself as a God of Love. If final judgement is left out of the gospel message, people would live not holy or separated lives but would sin without fear of a Holy God. We would presume upon the Grace of God.

Holiness means to be separated from sin and separated unto the Lord. To live a life of holiness I must have His life in me and yield my life to Him. My obedience is of extreme importance as my life must reflect what is in me. My life, i.e. my obedience, must be a testimony of an inward work. My biggest struggle is always the fleshly desires which would pull me away from His Will to doing my own will. This is why none of us can say we have fully "arrived" in this matter of holy living. We are growing and learning and maturing each day. Holiness is a sanctifying process and is a daily work and a progressive work.

God is holy and He must be worshiped as holy. When we Praise our wonderful God we must never lose sight of His holiness. He is without sin, He is flawless, without error, without mistake, and fully righteous. HE IS UTTERLY HOLY! Sadly there is much praise and worship that is going on today that does not regard God as holy. There are nice songs being sung, and nice feelings being felt, and nice emotions being expressed, but too often not in terms of the holiness of God. These "nice" things may be little more than emotional exercises that make one feel good. But the object of our praise must be a God that is holy. We need the perception of His holiness. It will produce a Godly fear. We will realize that He alone is holy and we are unholy. We need His righteousness. We have nothing to offer without Him. Read Psalm 96:9 All of this will cause us to live a life of Thanksgiving. Because He is holy and we are unholy He has extended to us his mercy and grace. We are thankful that He does not give us what we deserve. God is a living, eternal, glorious, holy, merciful Spirit. He is the object of our Praise and Worship. We come to Him in contrition, humility and brokenness as sinners saved by His Grace against the backdrop of His utter holiness.

The mindset of the priest is to please God not self. So much of christianity is selfcentered and serves God for what we get out of it. It is selfserving and expects God to come at our beck and call. Of course we receive wonderful benefits, but as a priest unto God we serve Him to please Him and make Him the center of our lives. We step down and place the septre in His hand. Our greatest desire is to be aceptable unto Him. The mindset of the world is to get all they can from what they do. If there is no profit then we look for something else. But the mindset of a priest unto God is to serve and love God because of who He is and with a thankful heart for His great Salvation.

I have of couse felt that I am nothing and without the Lord I am. What have I to offer anyone? Absolutely nothing. But God saw the potential in me and and also anyone who will come to Him. Thus Jesus gave His life a ransom for me. How much am I worth? The price tag has written on it"JESUS"! He shed his blood for me and paid the price of redemption. Thank you Jesus for the Cross and the sacrifice you gave. My investment in in eternal things. Lay not up treasures on this earth, the Bible says, but in Heaven. Credit to my account what Jesus did. You can mark it PAID IN FULL! Hallelujah!

In this culture there is taught the belief that we are independent. The Bible says that we as Christians are one family and for someone to judge us upsets us and causes us to feel we are losing ore independence. It reveals our pride. We call it being "nosey". However we should listen to the counsel of others and if it is justifiable then do something about it. Anything that is said about us in Judgement must line up with the Word of God. All judgement must be in harmony with the Word of God as the Word is His Will for us. You cannot have God's love without His judgement. God's love requires his justice or it wouldn't be true and pure love. God cannot wink at sin for if He did He would not be God. Love without Judgement would be overlooking sin. This He will not and cannot do. Final judgement is part of the Good News because Satan and his cohorts will finally be judged. All judgement before the final judgement is partial and not complete. If it were complete now, it would mean we are in Heaven as all sin would be gone and Satan would already cast in the Lake of Fire. I believe God judges today but only partially. It is mixed with Grace. The final Judgement will be complete and final. The Good News is that now is the hour of Grace but one day God will mete out final judgement. We deserve hell but praise the Lord we have Jesus who stands in our stead!! If we stay true to Him, on that final day He will be our advocate.

Holiness is separation unto the Lord. I am holy in that I am in Christ and He is perfectly Holy. However as long as I live in this world I will have to deal with the flesh and crucify it daily in order to live a holy or separated life unto God. One way to live a holy life is to make my lifestyle one that shows Christ to others. Obedience to the Lord is all important here and I must follow Him in order to live a crucified life. I am to live out a life of holiness and love in this world. My biggest struggle with holiness is the flesh which I must deal with daily.

The Coming of Christ is our Blessed Hope! It is the goal, the reward that lays before us. It is when we will see our blessed Lord face to face in all His Glory! We are encouraged to live a life of holiness or separation unto the Lord so that we will hear Him say "Well Done thou good and faithful servant enter into the joys of the Lord." Our lives must be lived in obedience to Him because we are living in the light of eternity. We are not to be caught up with this world's system or carried away with what this world has to offer. We are to occupy til he comes. That is we are to spread this Gospel to others but never lose sight of the fact that one day He is coming for His own. We are not to be slack in our labors for the Kingdom here in this world, but we are to remember that we are strangers here and our citizenship is in Heaven!

Joy is expressed as an emotion that is evoked by remembering God and His saving work in our lives as believers. Also, in the context of this chapter, Joy springs forth from our expectations that God will act to shield us when trouble comes. Joy comes not only from the great fact that He has saved us and that He protects us, but Scripture is clear that it also comes from our walk of obedience. From our abiding daily relationship which is maintained by our obedient response to His Word. Although it is expressed as an emotion, true Joy is essentially a spiritual experience. It is found in our relationship to the Savior of our souls and in the maintaining of our fellowship with Him. It is an inner work of the Holy Spirit who is enabling us to work out our Salvation in spite of the tests and trials along lifes way. The "pursuit of happiness" is the seeking of externals as the source of happiness. However, true Joy does not depend on circumstances or external happenings. The Joy of the Lord in the believer's heart overrides circumstances. It can cause you to have a song of Joy in your heart in the night. (Eg. Paul & Silas) Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It is an inner gladness and a deep pleasure, an internal bliss. The Joy of the Lord is not the same as the joy of the world. Worldly joy is based on temporary pleasures. It is incomplete and unfulfilling. It has a missing ingredient. There is no assurance or true satisfaction. In worldly joy there is that haunting awareness that circumstances can change or something might come along to disturb their joy. The believers Joy is divine Joy that is not dependent on externals but on what our wonderful God has done for us and in us. It is based in our trust in the Lord. It is the Joy of the Holy Spirit! In fact it is God's very own Joy! It truely is Joy unspeakable and full of Glory! Praise the Lord!

Yes I could recite the tests and trials I have gone through and am presently going through. The valleys of life can be deep and discouraging, but God is with us through it all. His Mercy Love and Grace becomes more meaningful with each test. I have never understood that these testings are to reveal to God my weaknesses for He is well aware of all of them. But testings come to show me my need of Him. I am the one who needs to know my need to draw close to Him. God wants to mature and develop my Faith to the point that I will trust Him in spite of the circumstances and the consequences. I need to know if I will trust Him in 'midnight hours" of life. If I am weak in Faith then I must crucify my self-sufficiency and learn to trust in Him more. A Faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. If you cannot test it, how can you know its genuine or real. Every trial I have gone through has strengthened and purified my Faith that I might be more like Him. For I cannot make it by myself. I must have Him. I do not know what tomorrow brings, but I know who holds my hand.

This verse (5) is particularly relevant for Peter's audience since many of them were experiencing intense persecution. First, it says that we are shielded by God's power against those forces that would try to destroy our lives and our Salvation. Second, it says that the essential condition that is required for us to receive God's protection is Faith. God's shielding us is not automatic. It does not work arbitrarily, but it comes only through the Faith of the believer just as Salvation comes only through Faith. Eph. 2:8 Thus a living, vital Faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior is our responsibility in receiving and maintaining God's protection. Our part is Faith; His part is to shield us by His Power. Here the verse goes on to speak of Salvation as in the future or "in the last time." I believe that, yes we believers are presently saved, but there is a future dimension of salvation and that is the inheritance that is laid up for us in heaven (see verse 4).

Only Christ alone can forgive or save us. The Bible says we are saved by faith in Christ and we work out our salvation by faith. "The just shall live by his faith." Romans 1:17 Our obedience or righteous works is an expression of our faith. Obedience is evidence of our faith. Or to say it another way, our faith must be seen in our works. James said he would show his faith by his works. James 2:18 When we are saved we do not go on living our lives as before, but we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things pass away and all things become new. II Cor. 5:17 "For by grace are you saved thru faith", and Paul goes on to say, "not of works lest any man should boast." In other words, we cannot save ourselves, whose perfect? Only one and He alone can save! But our Salvation is displayed by humble and Christlike obedience. In summary, though works do not save us, there is a manifestation of works that evidences our faith. James says that without works our faith is dead! 2:17 To say that works or obedience is not important makes no sense at all. To have no maifestation of obedience is unnatural to the believer. The normal Christian life is filled with expressions of our faith to the Glory of God. Thank God for His wonderful Salvation!

Christians who are caught up in this world's system, to the point of neglecting spiritual things, are spiritually near-sighted and carnal in their walk with God. They miss out on the benefits of the Peace and Joy that comes in serving the Lord in full surrender. I Cor. 3:3 says they "walk as mere men". To keep our lives focused on Jesus requires continual vigilence. The things we concentrate on and focus on is what we will desire the most. Eg., if we focus on food and desserts we will soon give in and go off our diets. Some people focus on *********** and soon get entangled in chains of **** and perversion. If we focus on this worlds system too much we will find ourselves involved and living for earthly rewards. We will lay up for ourselves treasures on earth. But if we center our lives in the Word of God, prayer and fellowship with other believers we will be able to keep our priorities straight. And the more we give ourselves to these things the more we will be able to live a holy and sanctified life to the Glory of God. As the Chorus goes: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and Grace."