Rose22

A prosperity doctrine is fundamentally the opposite teaching of Jesus...It will mislead the Christian to have the wrong intent in following Christ. Prosperity will be taught as monetary gain ...whereby true prosperity is spiritual...By way of blessings bestowed upon Us by Christ and by inner prosperity ( fruits of the spirit) and the prosperity of the kingdom of God ( within us) All throughout...the Bible teaches us the importance of renouncing riches in favour of the riches stored up for us above...we must be happy givers....

Paul's basis for His contentment was Love of Christ which encompassed much trust and Faith...He had learned acceptance...of plenty or want..He was content in either state. Knowing all things are possible through Christ...He was always able to see the bigger picture. I don't think this contentment undermines ambition as such..but rather increases Pauls ambition to always press on towards the goal...the upward call of Christ. For us to know this contentment we must die to self and live as Christ..radiating Him and making Him our very centre....never taking our focus off Him for a second. It's a life long effort...not an overnight thing...

When the Phillipian's gave to the Church through Paul they were investing into their spiritual bank account.they were credited by way of Gods Blessings..by giving we recieve. I think temporal Blessings maybe a metaphor for clear conscience...

When the Phillipian's gave to the Church through Paul they were investing into their spiritual bank account.they were credited by way of Gods Blessings..by giving we recieve. I think temporal Blessings maybe a metaphor for clear conscience...

God assures us that He will meet our needs...( not our greed) and that we are not to worry....but rather be as the birds of the air...trusting never doubting....God requires of us to share what we have with others...to respond when we see someone in need....this is pleasing to God...and in return He pours out His blessing upon us...which are to overflowing... This promise is part of my relationship with Christ....trusting that whatever He sends is perfectly matched to my needs...having Faith that He knows Me better than I know myself because He is the Architect of My exsistence and He fore knew Me...is enough..is everything.

To be a true Disciple of Christ we must be aware of our allegiance and citizenship because it makes us realise that by dying to self We fully live in Christ. We set our eyes and hearts on heavenly realms as opposed to earthly things. We desire to please only God and not self. We are saved from debauchery and death by sin. I think if the Church would ever preach politics instead of Gods word it would simply fall into destruction.

For Me rejoicing is a deliberate action! I love rejoicing in the Lord....giving thanks and singing praises...giving glory to God....it always feels of the Heavenly realms to Me when I do this or even see others partaking in doing it! It's wonderful! The effect of rejoicing is intense feeling of Joy and Deep expression of Love of God. It cements the relationship between You and God. And encourages the Holy Spirit to dance within You....

When we ask anything of God in Prayer it is important to be thankful...It's being grateful for the gift of our communion with Him....It reaffirms "real two way" relationship. It also humbles us to thank Him in anticipation for prayers answered. I think thanksgiving in prayer really strengthens our relationship with God. And reaffirms His mighty power. It highlights our dependancy upon Him for everything. It deepens our Love and gratitude for Him and helps us to trust even more....

God has made Himself a gate and a door for us....ways of entry into Him....when we choose to go through the door or the gate by prayer we enter into God's presence....It is here we make known our requests to Him...This is sacred two way communication...a relationship between the Divine and us...a very real relationship. The more we practice doing this the closer our relationship becomes and we feel safe which instills Trust...it is important to know that sometimes God answers our prayers and requests in His timing and also by silence....Trust that both are for our highest good because He so loves us. In John 14 Jesus declares "My peace I give You" He has already done His part now We must do ours and be instruments of that peace..

Mind control is really about stillness so we can enter into presence...which is "GOD" we need to focus and be vigilant if we are to live lives centred on Christ....Even Christ himself often went off into a lonely place to Pray to the Father....let us never take our gaze from Him....but rather ask for strength to focus only on Christ. I have decided to focus on Prayer which for me is the intimate communication between realms....I now enter into early morning prayer and that way I also receive the blessing of the dawn chorus! And I pray before sleeping which really calms me and enables me to have undisturbed rest...which is wonderful...I talk to God constantly throughout My day and give gratitude and in a way this too is prayer.....but not without awareness....

Paul could be bold in His asking of others to imitate Him because He set a perfect example...by which to follow and ultimately He wanted His Brothers and Sisters to obtain the ultimate goal of the upward call of Christ...He reminded them of how far they had all come..and by being united they could gain in strength to achieve the same intent. We tend to be hesitant to do this because we know we fall short of imitating Christ... God uses imitation in building disciples by setting the example to be followed..He Shepherds His flock so they can all learn by example...this is a Fathers Love..the greatest Teacher... People who tell Me I inspire them are the ones who may be more likely to imitate Me...

Yes I have received the upward call of Christ and What I've learned is that with each call Comes responsibility...to do what He asks of us..but We know that He is a "just and fair God" and Would not ask of us anything without giving us the means with which to do it! Wether it be in the form of Grace, courage, wisdom or Mercy...He will afford it to us to enable us to carry out the calling....now that's Amazzing love! God's call is only dimmed by our focus being elsewhere...and by not entering into stillness with Him..."God Prescence" that's when He speaks.... We can renew our Hearing by spending time with Him in stillness....By reading scripture and being aware of a particular passage or word "speaking to us" this is Gods own voice... We need to be attentive and vigilant... We are assured of the prize...all who press on towards the ultimate goal...which is Heavenward....it's beautiful ...a very fruitful relationship....any time I get weary I hang on to Pauls beautiful outpouring....

Yes I have received the upward call of Christ and What I've learned is that with each call Comes responsibility...to do what He asks of us..but We know that He is a "just and fair God" and Would not ask of us anything without giving us the means with which to do it! Wether it be in the form of Grace, courage, wisdom or Mercy...He will afford it to us to enable us to carry out the calling....now that's Amazzing love! God's call is only dimmed by our focus being elsewhere...and by not entering into stillness with Him..."God Prescence" that's when He speaks.... We can renew our Hearing by spending time with Him in stillness....By reading scripture and being aware of a particular passage or word "speaking to us" this is Gods own voice... We need to be attentive and vigilant... We are assured of the prize...all who press on towards the ultimate goal...which is Heavenward....it's beautiful ...a very fruitful relationship....any time I get weary I hang on to Pauls beautiful outpouring....

Righteousness obtained through Faith differs greatly from righteousness obtained through law observance' The latter is a form of self righteousness....centred on self which one could attain outside of Christ...because the righteousness Paul confesses He has is from God which is borne from our Faith in Christ Jesus....which is of the spirit and not of self. It is through relationship with Christ that we learn this knowledge. The concept of justification by Faith is difficult to grasp for so many because of ego or doctrinations that are in a lot of Churches today...People tend to be lazy when it comes to Christ...Paul is a beautiful example for us to follow...We must COMPLETLEY die to self..in order to truly enter into intimate relationship with Christ and that way fully surrendered to the absolute truth of being saved, sanctified and made righteous by His precious Blood.

I think there is a thread of "confidence in the flesh" possibly running through our Church...but fundamentally the congregation has a deep love of God..and are committed to their Faith...to judge is coming from self which I do not want to do.

Pauls passion for Christ makes it impossible for Him to remain neutral about His Religious Pedigree. He firmly believes it is mere waste...what really matters to Him is not living Faith from the ego self ...pride, self richeousness ect..but rather from a Heart turned to Christ by Grace..and a desire to know Him intimately..this is not religion...it is relationship! Which was everything to Paul..He lived the word of God and Gave Glory to God from that place.. He considers it dung, loss and an obstacle..because it's divisive....Paul always trashes any thing that separates us from the love of Christ....Paul was right to do this because all faithful love comes from the heart and not the head!

Paul could see clearly the problems within the Phillipian's Church..It was divisive, not of one accord. Paul pleaded to them to have unity and oneness for the sake of Christ. He wanted to turn their heart's and minds to have the same single intent.In order to build up and make strong the Church through unity and Paul teaches about Timothy's Character as being reliable, compassionate and able to endure sufferings for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. He uses Him as a fine example so that they may understand more clearly what it really required of them. Paul saw in Epaphroditis a fellow Disciple of Christ who was willing to die Himself in order to have God glorified....It was important to Paul that He was honoured for this as He had done so much on behalf of them. Paul wanted them to learn by example exactly what it means and what it takes to do what is asked of us Through Christ.

Cont....of answer.. Leaders who serve out of preference I feel may not be as committed and wholehearted about serving Him. " you cannot serve 2 masters" .

The significance of serving JESUS as " slave" lies in the word "serve" JESUS came as a King to us and made himself a slave for us...by that, I mean " what didn't He do for us? In serving Him as slave, we in turn are embodying Christ out of reverence and Love..His spirit is moving within us when we can gladly say that We, like Him, will gladly lay down our lives to Him. It's an all consuming, all surrendering devoted Love and it's beautiful. To Serve Him as a preference is indicative of a Heart not consumed by Love for Him..a Soul not moved by the Holy Spirit. A mind not truly set on Him.... It speaks of our commitment as being resolute as The Father's is for us.

Complaining and arguing is already a sign of division...not only within the Church but individually..with God. In order for the Church to stand strong there must be ongoing effort for unity which creates space for wholeness and solidarity. This enables the Church members to " shine as stars in the night sky" to be a beacon of light in the darkness...for others. Stars are light..they shine and they all shine together in their thousands..... People look up in awe and wonder knowing its Gods own legacy...something incredibly special. We have to be true representatives of Christ and shine our light as bright as we can to become a shining example to others.

In this particular passage..." Working out their own salvation" is a call for unity as a whole..in order to represent Christ as light in a dark world..they are called upon to work towards bringing forth the fruit of their salvation....to die to self and embody Christ in order to bring solidarity to the Church..for Christ.. To be Love..to be an example for others to follow...to be truth... They are to work it out " with fear and trembling" knowing Christ will come again....and on that day they will stand face to face with Him....He has sanctified them as holy members of one body....and they must forgo selfish indulgence and live for Christ to fulfill His will.

In this particular passage..." Working out their own salvation" is a call for unity as a whole..in order to represent Christ as light in a dark world..they are called upon to work towards bringing forth the fruit of their salvation....to die to self and embody Christ in order to bring solidarity to the Church..for Christ.. To be Love..to be an example for others to follow...to be truth... They are to work it out " with fear and trembling" knowing Christ will come again....and on that day they will stand face to face with Him....He has sanctified them as holy members of one body....and they must forgo selfish indulgence and live for Christ to fulfill His will.

The Word of life is God's word...Truth...Love...salvation....all bring life, give life and words to live life by and ways to honour life... We must Hold fast to His word in order to find sustanence for our Journey with Him.so that we may draw ever closer to Him and through it ...become who He wants us to be.. Our most valuable lessons are taught to us through His word...it is everything... Holding out requires us to take His word out into the world...all four corners...It requires us to embody Christ in order to become a light in the world for others to step into when faced with darkness of any kind... This is fulfilling the word of God and is our duty as Christians. This is incredibly important when relating it to the purpose of the Church because we are part of His body...part of the whole..We must stay together..committed...to holding fast to Gods word and delivering that to the congregation...being mindful of the very heart of Gods word which in essence is Love...

Yes there is no question that I have gone through obstacles and struggles to My Faith....but I have learned that in our sufferings We enter into the sufferings of Christ...In such moments He is closer than ever ...because when we are weak We are made strong by Christ...If we look at such sufferings as " drink offerings" poured out before God...it in return honours God because We have accepted we can do nothing alone but everything comes from Christ...Did He not make Himself the very same for us? When we partake in the drinking of His most precious Blood? It concludes that by being poured out..We are emptied...and ready to be filled by Him...We have become humbled by Him... This brings immense value to our struggles because Like Paul..We recognise that they are never in vain...

Yes there is no question that I have gone through obstacles and struggles to My Faith....but I have learned that in our sufferings We enter into the sufferings of Christ...In such moments He is closer than ever ...because when we are weak We are made strong by Christ...If we look at such sufferings as " drink offerings" poured out before God...it in return honours God because We have accepted we can do nothing alone but everything comes from Christ...Did He not make Himself the very same for us? When we partake in the drinking of His most precious Blood? It concludes that by being poured out..We are emptied...and ready to be filled by Him...We have become humbled by Him... This brings immense value to our struggles because Like Paul..We recognise that they are never in vain...