Jude

I can't say that I ever felt I was without value...but now that I am writing, memories do come to mind of feelings of insecurity. I'm self employed, and if business is slow for more than a week or two, I begin to wonder what I have done wrong. That is what's happening now, as a matter of fact. January is always slow. Just this morning, after reading over this part of the lesson, and sitting quietly in prayer, my first thought was to ask the Lord to envigorate my business. Before the thought could fully form though, a stronger impulse overcame me to simply give thanks for Jesus' sacrifice, and the fact that we are all ransomed with the blood of Christ, which is more precious than this world's most precious metals and that what is most secure is to simply put my trust in the Father to guide my days and and to trust the work that I have been given to do.

It seems our group continues to grow. I especially appreciated the response of hausmouse. you make an excellent point, I think. I still do have some difficulty accepting the teaching of a judgemental God. It was suggested to me one time long ago that God sends no one to hell. People send themselves there by not accepting the gift, paid for and freely offered, and turning their backs on God. With backs turned on the light of God, all that is left is darkness.

I liken it to a person having a brush with death, or a serious illness, which will often snap folks out of complacency. A person will tend more to appreciate each day as the gift it is...and not take it for granted. Or conversly, to answer the question more directly, if we don't really expect Christ to come soon, many of us may well become complacent. There is also a simularity to something we discussed last week, that many of us have experienced grew closer to God through hardships. As to the first part of the question ("what about Christ's coming should get our undivided attention?"). my answer is that we don't know the day or the hour, so we must always be ready to meet our Lord. Why should it inspire Hope? I'd say that once anyone has tasted the love of God, the prospect of being eternally emersed in that Love is something to look forward to. As to self control and soberness...I would add attentiveness, so that our actions won't be an impediment to our readiness.

The basis of "inexpressible joy" I think is God's love for us. I agree with a few of the people whose posts I already read that this joy is from the knowlege of Salvation, or Faith, and knowin that we were chosen. But there is something else, I think. I think there is love kindled in our hearts by the holy spirit...a gift...that is (as was already pointed out) independent of the ebbs and flows of our daily lives and events. It is the presence of God within us. It is a constant, sweet and everlasting ember.

My goodness YES! probably most notably, the series of events I touched on in my introduction. I give thanks to God every time that day comes to mind though because that desperation, and my call to Him, landed me in his presence. I can't seem to put into words the love I feel for Jesus for what He gave me that day, and am sure I cant even imagine the depth and richness of His love for us. Since that day, there have been more rough roads to travel and though those times were in turn so very hard, or sad, or frightening, through those experiences each time I instinctually I turned to Jesus our Lord for comfort or reassurance. I have thanked Him for allowing those hardships because, otherwise, for many years, I neglected to allow God His proper place in my life...when life ran smoothly, I would forget. I have already read the rest of the posts, and so I know this question has been answered very well...thank you for what you have all shared...I would only say that in my experience too, glory is brought to Jesus Christ through my telling of the stories, so that those who aren't remembering His love, or who have turned their back on Him, are reminded.

the power of God, and our faith.

Does Faith require obedience? I would say they are seperate components of our walk with Christ. Faith reflects acceptance of Jesus. Obdience may well follow on the heels of faith, with some. With others, it develops in time, increasingly through sancification...through spiritual maturity or passion. We have all probably seen the bumper sticker "I'M SAVED, NOT PERFECT" So, my answer to the extra credit question is that faith doesn't (first)require obedience. We are saved by grace, and not by works. The thought occurs to me that when we recieve Jesus' sacrifice we are saved from eternity in hell, and that is a gift, and the work that follows affords us an ever clearer and fuller experience of Holiness unto perfection.

I have appreciated each of the other posts and with regard to this first question, at least one of the participants mentioned TRUST, which seems key to me. I would add that one who identifies with this "present homeland" has an exclusive attachment to the things of the world, and has forgotten how transient and fragile this existence and the things of it are. I once heard that life is like watching a movie in a theatre...when the movie is over, the lights come on. Of course, I have been caught in that loop. One time, I had become swollowed up in trying to support my family, had put my nose to the grindstone, so to speak. I had added work to my day that was unrelated to my vocation, my calling. I was working hard, even putting some of my family's needs on the back burner. I realized, (through a moment of grace, I might add) that I wasn't trusting God with the work He had given me to do. To get back on track, I needed to take a step back, take a deep breath, and as an act of Faith, put my trust in God.

Greetings friends, I live in the far northern part of California. I happened upon the joyfulheart website just the other day, so the timing for joining in this study of 1 Peter was lovely. My spiritual journey has been a long and winding one. The short version is that in my early 30's, living alone in the wilderness with 4 young children and my husband working away for weeks at a time, for 9 months of the year. One day that summer, I reached a point of desperation and called out to Jesus for help. I was immediately blessed with a palpable sense of His presence, love and assurance that I wasn't alone. I am blessed by that moment of grace to this day. I realized in that moment that my disenchantment with my experiences of Christianity was not about Jesus. Jesus loved me and had just been waiting patiently for me to ask for His help. For many years following that day, I stuck with my opinion that the widespread decension among Christians stemmed from people trying to intrepret the scriptures, so I decided not to try to know the Word, but to just focus on Jesus' great commandments...to love God and love each other. I figured that would keep most of us busy for the rest of our lives anyway. Just in the last few months, though, I have found myself wanting to know the scripture intimately and once I started studying, a hunger has risen in me that has surprised me and for the first time in my life, I think, I am experiencing the Spirit alive in the written word. So, I am looking forward to sharing study of 1 Peter with all of you.