Katy

Q1. I think the woman was saved prior to the dinner. She had come to express her gratefulness and thanksgiving to Jesus by using expensive nard and anointing the feet of Jesus. She also used her tears to clean His feet and her kisses to show just how thankful she was. So Jesus must have forgiven her prior to this time. Q2. I certainly have not been as effusive as this lady was. In fact mine love appears lukewarm by comparison! I do love my Lord and Saviour deeply, but these thoughts have made me realise that I need to show Him my appreciation more fully and deeply in future. Q3. Jesus wants us to be faithful followers. This includes, praying without ceasing, especially for our salvation, Bible study, involvement in our church, helping as much as possible, faithful attendance, fellowship with other Christians, speaking to the lost about Jesus, and doing good works.

Q1. The same theme runs through this parable as it does in the parable of the lost sheep, and the lost coin. Jesus is looking for the lost and when a person comes to faith in Jesus there is great rejoicing in heaven. So there are themes of lost, finding and rejoicing in all three parables. The Prodical Son was lost to his father and family, after he had squandered his father’s fortune and been in dire straits he comes to his senses and prepares his confess and what he is going to say in repentance to his father and then journeys home. Before he has time to ask forgiveness his father embraces him and calls for a celebration to be prepared. Q2. Our Father in Heaven is merciful and unwilling that anyone should perish. These three parables show us that Our Father is showing us that He is always seeking the lost, longing to find those who will choose to follow Him, and rejoicing when that decision is made. Q3. The older son is faithful to his father and has worked hard on the estate. Unlike his father he is jealous of the attention and the forgiveness his father gives to his younger brother. He is not gentle and forgiving as his father is towards his wayward brother. Q4. As a disciple of Jesus I should have the same heart as Jesus, with a great desire to see those that are lost come to faith in Jesus. It should be the most important task in my life to talk to the lost about the grace of Jesus and all He has done for us all.

Q1. God is a seeking God. He longs to see all sinners turn to Him and be saved. He rejoices when a sinner is saved. All heaven joins Him in rejoicing over a lost sinner who has been saved. Q2. The Pharisees are murmuring and complaining about Jesus, who He associates with and who He spends time with. They are filled with pride and feel superior to the people and don’t mix with them. They are the exact opposite to Jesus, who loves and regards everyone as equal. Jesus is interested in seeing the lost saved, and He will do what it takes to save them. Q3. We should be like Jesus eager to see those we come in contact saved. We need to step out of our comfort zone and introduce people to Jesus. Tell them about the difference He has made in our lives and the joy that He brings every day to our lives. Even if we are ridiculed we need to persist , it will never be as bad as the persecution some of our brothers and sisters go through because they love Jesus. God will give us the grace we need for every situation we are in.

Q4. The Spirit is mentioned towards the end of the list as the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. The word of God is full of verses which help us to protect ourselves from the attempts of Satan to shake us and tempt us to sin. It also teaches us , guides us , and shows us the way God wants us to live. The second element is to Pray in the Spirit, sometimes we find it hard to pray even though we want to pray. The Spirit takes over from us and prays with groanings. When we are Spirit filled we are connected to God and desire the things that God desires, and thanks to the Spirit we can pray in the Spirit as the Lord wants us to. I have at time been prompted to pray for people. A couple of times I have found out that the person in question was ill and having to go to Hospital. Sometimes I think of someone out of the blue, I will pray for them because I feel I have been prompted by the Spirit.

Q3. When we are Spirit filled we want to worship and praise God and for many of us to sing helps and draws us nearer to God. I have found that as I draw closer to God I just want to sing and tell Him how much I love Him. Words of songs so often express my feelings so much better than I do. The closer we draw to God and the more He occupies our whole being the happier we become and joy fills our hearts as nothing else can.

Q2.Character change is a very slow gradual change as we spend more time in the presence of God. As we get to know Him through His word we realise that the things of God are the only things worth pursuing. As we do this we are changing more and more into the likeness of God. We realise that being in His presence is where true contentment and happiness is to be found. Unfortunately the mundane things of this world can often get in the way and reduce that precious time in the Lord’s presence. It has to be a priority in our lives otherwise character change will not take place. I have seen changes in my character over the years, but feel I have delayed the process by not spending enough time with God. I have never spent four hours in prayer. So often I seem to get to a point of not knowing what to say, or all my prayers seem to be requests or my mind wanders. So although I have seen changes, I have a long way to go. I praise and thank God for His patience with me, and His faithfulness towards me.

Q1. We need to abide in Jesus so that we can have a personal relationship with Him, and get to know Him and what He would like us to become through our relationship with Him. By abiding in Jesus we will grow more like Him be more in step with Him and desire what He wants more than what we want. I don’t understand the question’Is it accurate to define fruits as souls saved.’ Reading other people’s answers doesn’t help. If I am walking in step with the Lord and attached to the vine, I am bearing fruit, so I am a saved soul. Some people think they are Christian’s but the Bible tells us that some people will be told ‘I never knew you’. And they will not get to spend eternity in God’s presence.

Q4. Samuel was instructed by his mentor Eli, to address God as Lord because it shows that Samuel is aware of who is speaking and his superiority over Samuel. Samuel refers to himself as “your servant” , here we see Samuel in full submission to his God. It is only when we are humble and in full submission that we can hope to hear the Lord speaking to us. Samuel was also listening , this is another way of being submissive. He was not trying to put in his ideas or opinions. He was engaged in active listening. This is also a lesson to us to give time to listening to God and to be always talking.

Q3. The Spirit’s voice I hear through God’s word. When reading something I can get the impression that it is so relevant to something in my life. It can help me deal with a situation or make me look at it in a different way. I think this is only possible when I am actively walking each day in the Spirit. When I have spent time with the Lord and asked His help to see what He wants me to see in His word, and also seeking His guidance throughout my day. The Spirit’s prompting or nudging comes about in the same way, by having a close walk with the Spirit on a daily basis. I have often felt I needed to delay a decision or going somewhere, or to do or not to do something. Later I have realised it was the prompting of the Spirit because it turns out that it would have been the wrong thing to do. I used to tell myself I was just procrastinating but then began to understand that it was the Spirit nudging me. It certainly takes time and prayer to differentiate between our will and God’s will.

Q2. The Holy Spirit who dwells within all true believers connects us to the mind of Christ. Yes I have a quiet time most days. The odd day I miss if I have an early appointment, I have my time with the Lord in the evening, but this time is not so good. I find there are more distractions, I am tired and my mind wanders. I try to be in communication with the Lord throughout the day. I am constantly looking for His help and guidance as well as His protection and peace. When I started getting up early to spend time with God I found it hard but someone told me to think about the situation, you wake up and Jesus and Satan are standing beside your bed. Jesus is inviting you to come spend time with Him, Satan is encouraging you to stay and rest. I found that scenario quickly got me out of bed, now years later, I don’t even think about it. I long to have that little time in the morning in His presence before the madness of the day starts.

Q1. In Jesus’s earthly life we see a pattern of work and prayer. Prayer in the presence of His disciples and prayer alone in lonely places at unsocial hours. This was done by Jesus to ensure He had private time in prayer with His Father. It was important to Jesus to have this quiet time with His Father before the start of a day to be sure that He was doing exactly what His Father wanted Him to do. I’m sure Jesus needed the encouragement of His Father from day to day as He grappled in this sinful world so far from the perfection and purity of Heaven. While on earth Jesus was truly man as well as truly God. He needed to minister through the Holy Spirit just as we human beings have to.

Q2. In Luke’s gospel chapter nine we see the disciples and Jesus had gone to a quiet place to rest and discuss their recent experiences when Jesus sent them out to preach the gospel. However the crowd discovered where Jesus was and they followed Him. Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing. V10 -11. Jesus then went on to provide them all with food, that is all five thousand of them from five loaves and two fish. In Acts 20 We read of Paul speaking to the people at Troas and because he was leaving the next day and had so much to tell them he went on speaking until midnight! Eutychus was sitting in the window was tired and fell fast asleep. He fell out of the window and was killed. Paul went downstairs and threw himself on top of the young man and put his arms around him. Paul told them the man was alive and continued preaching until daybreak and then left them. They took Eutychus home alive and they were all greatly comforted. Verses 7 -11. In Acts 3 we see Peter and John going to the temple to pray and they come across a lame man asking them for alms but Peter told him he had no money but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth he would be able to walk. The man went with them to the temple where all the people recognised him as the lame man but he could now walk. Peter took the opportunity to preach to them about Jesus and all that had happened to Him by their hands and he went on to preach about Jesus being raised from the dead. Many who heard believed. In Acts 8 we read of Philip ministering in Samaria . When the people saw the signs he performed they paid great attention to him. He healed the paralysed , the lame, and he caste out impure spirits. There was great joy in the city. We are not told if people actually believed. Verses 4-8.

Q1.Yes it is legitimate to use Jesus as our example in the use of spiritual gifts. The same Spirit that gave Jesus the gifts He had is exactly the same Spirit who gives us our gifts. Jesus should always be our example for everything in life. Jesus was sinless and perfect. We will never reach that perfection in this world but we can do our best to emulate Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament in Genesis 40 we find Joseph wrongly imprisoned by Pharaoh, because of his wife’s lies about Joseph. However God is with Joseph and he is given responsibility and he is getting on well. The kings cupbearer and his baker are imprisoned with Joseph and he uses his gift of knowledge to interpret their dreams for them. In the New Testament in Luke 21 we see Jesus watching as people put their gifts into the temple treasury. The rich are putting in their gifts and then a poor widow comes and puts in a small coin. Jesus tells His disciples using His gift of knowledge “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” V1-4.

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Q4. A person within the church who is involved in youth work, Sunday School, or home groups could be doing a great job being an advocate, or an advisor or a listening ear to another person or group of people. They would not have an official role as a Pastor or a teacher but by their individual personality and gifting they may be fulfilling or partially fulfilling a role within the church. Very little may be known by others but God knows every time we listen, or spend time with someone who is hurting or needs a friendly word. All Spiritual Gifts are given by God for the benefit of the Church Body. A senior Pastor if he has not the gift of Pastoring, will have gifts other than Pastoring and these gifts should be the areas that he concentrates on. Other pastors within the church will have the gift of Pastoring. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the body of believers. Therefore it is imperative that we use these gifts that we have been given. If we don’t use them we are disobeying God and we are depriving our brothers and sisters of the benefits of the gift that we have been given by God. That is being selfish on our part, as well as disobedient.

Q4. A person within the church who is involved in youth work, Sunday School, or home groups could be doing a great job being an advocate, or an advisor or a listening ear to another person or group of people. They would not have an official role as a Pastor or a teacher but by their individual personality and gifting they may be fulfilling or partially fulfilling a role within the church. Very little may be known by others but God knows every time we listen, or spend time with someone who is hurting or needs a friendly word. All Spiritual Gifts are given by God for the benefit of the Church Body. A senior Pastor if he has not the gift of Pastoring, will have gifts other than Pastoring and these gifts should be the areas that he concentrates on. Other pastors within the church will have the gift of Pastoring. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the body of believers. Therefore it is imperative that we use these gifts that we have been given. If we don’t use them we are disobeying God and we are depriving our brothers and sisters of the benefits of the gift that we have been given by God. That is being selfish on our part, as well as disobedient.

Q4. A person within the church who is involved in youth work, Sunday School, or home groups could be doing a great job being an advocate, or an advisor or a listening ear to another person or group of people. They would not have an official role as a Pastor or a teacher but by their individual personality and gifting they may be fulfilling or partially fulfilling a role within the church. Very little may be known by others but God knows every time we listen, or spend time with someone who is hurting or needs a friendly word. All Spiritual Gifts are given by God for the benefit of the Church Body. A senior Pastor if he has not the gift of Pastoring, will have gifts other than Pastoring and these gifts should be the areas that he concentrates on. Other pastors within the church will have the gift of Pastoring. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the body of believers. Therefore it is imperative that we use these gifts that we have been given. If we don’t use them we are disobeying God and we are depriving our brothers and sisters of the benefits of the gift that we have been given by God. That is being selfish on our part, as well as disobedient.

Q4. A person within the church who is involved in youth work, Sunday School, or home groups could be doing a great job being an advocate, or an advisor or a listening ear to another person or group of people. They would not have an official role as a Pastor or a teacher but by their individual personality and gifting they may be fulfilling or partially fulfilling a role within the church. Very little may be known by others but God knows every time we listen, or spend time with someone who is hurting or needs a friendly word. All Spiritual Gifts are given by God for the benefit of the Church Body. A senior Pastor if he has not the gift of Pastoring, will have gifts other than Pastoring and these gifts should be the areas that he concentrates on. Other pastors within the church will have the gift of Pastoring. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the body of believers. Therefore it is imperative that we use these gifts that we have been given. If we don’t use them we are disobeying God and we are depriving our brothers and sisters of the benefits of the gift that we have been given by God. That is being selfish on our part, as well as disobedient.

Q4. A person within the church who is involved in youth work, Sunday School, or home groups could be doing a great job being an advocate, or an advisor or a listening ear to another person or group of people. They would not have an official role as a Pastor or a teacher but by their individual personality and gifting they may be fulfilling or partially fulfilling a role within the church. Very little may be known by others but God knows every time we listen, or spend time with someone who is hurting or needs a friendly word. All Spiritual Gifts are given by God for the benefit of the Church Body. A senior Pastor if he has not the gift of Pastoring, will have gifts other than Pastoring and these gifts should be the areas that he concentrates on. Other pastors within the church will have the gift of Pastoring. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the body of believers. Therefore it is imperative that we use these gifts that we have been given. If we don’t use them we are disobeying God and we are depriving our brothers and sisters of the benefits of the gift that we have been given by God. That is being selfish on our part, as well as disobedient.

Q3. Prophecy is a revelation from God via the Holy Spirit. Through it God can explain Scripture or make believers aware of something He wants us to know. The purpose is to build up the body of believers by encouraging, guiding and teaching them in the things of God. Prophecy may be feared by some churches if they have experienced it being abused in some way, therefore the church may be reluctant to have it within the church. Ignorance of the gift of prophecy and its benefits may hold people back from being involved. Fear may also be a factor when in an unfamiliar situation. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14 v22 that tongues are a sign for unbelievers, but the gift of prophecy is for believers . V29 Two or three prophets should speak and the others should weigh carefully what is said.If a revelation comes to someone sitting down then the other should stop. For you can all prophecy in order so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

Q2. I think there are people faithfully carrying out ‘Apostle’ type roles but whether they can be called Apostles is debatable. An Apostle was someone who had been with Jesus during His earthly ministry and had witnessed Jesus resurrection. Clearly people in the recent centuries have not fulfilled these criteria. However there are many Spirit filled people who are doing the same type of work today as was being done by the Apostles in Jesus time. One example are missionaries who work in Eastern Europe, many have come to know Christ and then started a church and built up a congregation, and then gone on and planted one or more churches in villages and towns within reach of the first church. Very often these men have no transport or maybe a moped, or an ordinary bicycle. Yet they administer their churches, provide teaching for the people, address the social needs to the best of their abilities and seek to win more people to Christ.

Q1. We are all given Spiritual Gifts from God which are energised by the Holy Spirit. We are told in both 1 Corinthians 12v7 and in Ephesians 4v 11 that these gifts are to be used by us for the benefit of the whole church so that our body of believers may be built up and equipped for the service and good works that God wants us to do. When people don’t exercise these gifts they are disobeying God, showing a total lack of understanding about the purpose of their gifts. Also they are dishonouring God by refusing the gift that God is giving them. They are also missing the joy of serving God with their gift, and guilty of depriving their brothers and sisters of the benefits of their gift.

Q4. As we walk with the Holy Spirit day by day, earnestly looking to Him for help, guidance and teaching we will gradually be changed and start to produce the fruit of the Spirit. We may not notice the changes as they happen gradually but over time they will become more obvious in our lives. This process of maturing and changing is called sanctification. Unfortunately there are Christian’s that feel they are saved and that’s it. They don’t take the time to learn or study anymore. Consequently they do not realise that their faith needs to be acted on, otherwise as James tells us it is dead. We are like God’s gloves in this world and we need to be about His business. I don’t know if these Christians are saved or if they are immature. Their growth is definitely stunted by their lack of study and learning. James tell us that even demons believe in God, and he also tells us that faith without good deeds is dead. I don’t think his words are too harsh, it is Scripture that is “God Breathed”.

Q3. As we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit, He will gives us the power to deny the desires of the flesh. Our old sinful nature will rear its ugly self from time to time, but we can resist with the help and power of the Spirit. We must be alert and be aware when He is guiding us away from ‘things’ which are not of God. We must play our part as well by listening, getting to recognise His voice and prompting. We must also be active in avoiding entertaining our temptations in any way. We must not delay in walking away and asking the Holy Spirit for His help. The more we get to know, accept, and enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit we will experience His power in all areas of our lives. The sinful nature will fade away, but there may be occasional temptations because our sinful nature is still in us to some extent.

Q2. To set the mind on the things of the flesh means living to satisfy the cravings of our sinful nature. There is no concept of God in this persons life, the object is to satisfy themselves only. Setting the mind on the Spirit is desiring to please God. To do this we must spend time with God, be aware of the Spirit in our lives and acknowledge His presence, help, power and counsel in our lives. The more time we spend leaning on the Spirit and being conscious of His presence in our lives, the more we will get to know Him and experience His power at work in our lives. I think as we start the journey of being conscious of the Holy Spirit and getting to know and acknowledge Him it does take will power but the Holy Spirit will help us in our efforts. As we make this a way of life it will become easier, and the closer we get to God the more we will have joy and long for more and more. It will become a very important part of life, rather than a habit.