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If it is within our ability to help someone we must do so. This is love. Christ demonstrated selflessness and told us to "Love our neighbor as ourself" and we are to model Him. We are responsbile to help everyone within our ability no matter who they are, as God made everyone and wishes that no one should perish. If we truly fullfill the first commandment to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, body and strength, we will want to do what He desires. It is His desire that we should love EVERYONE.

Our behavior reflects our beliefs. We can say "I love you" but if we don't follow it up with actions, no one will believe us and we will be deceiving ourselves. Sometimes faith requires no outward action on our part but inward prayer and belief that God will or is doing something. For example, there are some in my family that will not listen to me regarding the word of God. I can only pray that God will open their hearts and work in their spirits to open them up so they may be led to salvation. Perhaps God will even use someone else to do this. I can only quietly wait in hope and pray that this will happen.

Mercy is showing compassion. In general, a rich person lacks nothing and therefore doesn't require compassion/mercy. If we favor a rich person we are not showing compassion/mercy and are denying it. Extra credit to be done later.

It's royal because all the laws and prophets hinge on it. It is the supreme law. If we obey it, we're obeying every aspect of all the other laws. If we do love our neighbor, we won't steal, lie, covet or murder him or his family. Showing favoritism isn't love at all but rather selfish motives. True love is irrespective of position and appearance. We must look at them in a spiritual light to overcome the physical aspects. To love some over all makes us guilty because we're to love all. God made us all. We are all special to Him. If we love Him, we will love all that He created. Jesus didn't say" Love some of your neighbors as yourself ".

When we choose to be more attentive to and care more about a particular individual over others, we are judging that person to be more time worthy or more worthy of our time. Who are we? This egotism is pride/selfishness which is evil. The truth is that everyone was made by Him and in His image. He sent His Son to die for each and everyone. Jesus was a model showing us that wealth and appearances make no difference. The only reason Jesus took Peter John and James with Him to various places was because they loved Him. When we come closer to God, He comes closer to us. Jesus wasn't showing favoritism to the three, but rather, they chose to come closer to Him. Jesus wasn't going to spend more time with those who didn't want (desire) to be with Him.

I find myself being harder on believers because they know better. Then I look inwardly and see some of my own faults and realize that I'm not removing the beam from my own eye. I know I'm not supposed to judge but I find it's automatic and I must make a conscious effort not to do so. I'm hoping this mental training makes it automatic NOT to judge. As for my church, I've only been there 2 years and fortunately, haven't noticed any discrimination. I can't say that I personally am trying to make a good impression on anyone except Christ.

Our tongue is attached to our flesh which is selfish and will say anything to get what we want. If we tame our tongue so that we think of others before we speak, we will show love to those hearing us. We are to only speak that which edifies and blesses the hearer. This is quite the exercise especially when we are angry. Words are soooo important. We will be condemned and/or acquitted by them. Our words can do sooo much damage and are irretrievable. We are representatives of Christ and others will judge us based on our words and actions. If we claim to be Christians and act like heathens, think of how many people we will repel from Christ's eternal kingdom. We will be responsible for our knowledge of Him and our resulting actions/inactions. Both speaking unselfishly and caring for others unselfishly is the true test of a person walking in the spirit. Worshipping and quiet time are necessary but very easy to do compared to giving of ourselves and holding our tongue.

The perfect is to "Love the Lord with all your mind, heart, soul & strength" and to "love your neigbor as yourself" as all the commandments are hinged on this. If we love the Lord with all our being we will automatically desire to do His will. The Lord loves to love so we would also love as the Lord does. However, the Holy Spirit is key here because our fleshly nature is very selfish and it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can be capable of loving as the Lord loves. Liberty is being free from all the sin that entangles us and keeps us in bondage. When we love God and obey His word we are kept from being slaves to sin, thus being free to God.

That's a great question. I know when I first came to the Lord 20 years ago, I thought reading the Word was enough. I now know that daily reading, praying, communicating with God and fellowshipping brings about the desire to DO His will. Perhaps it is our education that aids in our habit of reading without applying it to our daily life that causes this. I really don't know.

We first hear the Word of truth and then when we accept the Truth - which is Jesus Christ for He says "I am the truth".. the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us which gives us spiritual birth. Prior to the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in us, we were spiritually dead. Spiritual life is the Word. The Word is spirit. Only those with the Holy Spirit can discern spiritual truths --the Word. To believe in the Word is to do what the Word says. If we say we believe and our actions don't follow it up, it is merely lip service and we deceive ourselves. We must be careful to feed our spirit with the Word, lest we feed our flesh more and allow our flesh to become stronger than our spirit which ultimately leads to death.

The promise is that He will give wisdom to those who ask for it. The condition is not to doubt or hesitate. (will He really do it? I'm not worthy, why would He give ME wisdom?) Trials enable us to rely on Him. When we rely on Him and He comes through, we have now gained experience and knowledge that He is faithful. With each trial we rely more and more on Him and He continuously remains faithful so we come to know we can trust in Him to always help us. This knowledge eliminates doubt because it is backed by experience.

My trial cured me of my major sin. It was pretty much a 360 degree turnaround. Big trials will do that. My faith has grown tremendously as a result. The joy of it is; as I am going through the process of knowing God by reading and praying daily, I am awestruck by His power, love, mercy and forgiveness. He is just too awesome. I am learning to rely on Him more and more thus increasing my faith.

They blame God because they don't know/understand Him. God doesn't tempt us. His word says so. His word is truth. If I don't believe that, I'm calling Him a liar. We sin due to our own imperfections (ungodly desires/fears). God allows us to suffer the consequences of our choices so we may learn from them. Our free will is exercised when we have a choice. If evil didn't exist, we would have no other choice but to do good. God doesn't want robots. He designed us to think for ourselves and hopefully choose Him. He doesn't want anyone to perish. Sometimes He needs to bring us to our knees through trials, natural disasters, etc. in order that we grope for Him and FIND HIM and repent. Ultimately this is for our benefit as we gain ETERNAL LIFE with our Father who loves us and is LOVE and also to help others gain eternal life by spreading His Love (His Word).

When hit with a large trial, fear and confusion set in. As the trial continues, on my knees I grope for God. I grew in the knowledge of Him during the trial and thank Him for bringing me back into the fold. The trial still continues but with His strength I will overcome and am being strengthened in the process. The trial is God's way of showing His love for me. He guides me and I've grown closer to Him as a result. I can now say that I am joyful in the trial because I know God is holding my hand and we are becoming closer. Satan has not and will not destroy me. God has allowed satan certain freedoms but like a flu shot, the body builds up defenses to the virus when injected with a small dose. The trial is like a small injection of satan to which my spiritual body is building defenses against so when the real deal hits, I'll be immune through Christ. I have and am being refined. I can honestly say my mindset, words and actions are very different than what they were prior to this "big trial". I know the Lord will help me overcome so He can use me for bigger things down the road.

Your presentation of the Word, the Greek and Hebrew meanings, and the insightful questions all lend themselves to a thorough study of, not only Abraham's life, but of all people in the bible. Your format is methodical and thorough and causes me to gain deeper insights into the lives and times of the individuals in the bible which translates into a more thorough understanding of His Word. I am very happy with your methods of study and have grown a great deal becuase of them. I also think it's great that you are open minded to ask what can be improved. Jesus also acted as a servant to man. I think great leadership entails a servile attitude, one of which you have. Great job!!!!

The initial obedience of leaving everything you know and moving on to a place unknown. This stepping out in faith requires a total reliance on God's guidance. Abraham took his wife and servants and materials and moved across foreign territories not knowing where he was going but being obedient nonetheless. This to me is soooo awesome. I'm sure all that knew him said "are you crazy?" and "who is this God?". This initial step forward into the unknown required much faith, strength and total submission to God's will. The sacrifice of his son was also awe inspiring however, he had grown so strong in his faith that he clung to God's promise that Isaac would be resurrected or saved due to the promise of him being a father of many. I'm not trying to lessen the event as it too demonstrates awesome faith, however, the initial leap of faith was most awesome to me.

While Abraham told the servant an angel would go before him, how would the servant know which girl the angel would choose? Therefore, he had to establish some way of knowing which girl the angel would choose. God did not rebuke him for doing this but honored his request thus demonstrating that God was not angry but understanding and merciful.

Abraham had already left a life of material prosperity to follow God. I don't think that money was an issue for him as he had already demonstrated his reliance on God and not money. Abraham probably inquired of God before he made the purchase thus making the cost of it a non-issue as he was more intent on doing God's will. This shows that Abraham knew his faith was more precious than gold or silver and nothing is too costly when it comes to obeying God's will.

The bible doesn't list many strengths except that she was obedient to Abraham whom she called Lord or Master. She also traveled with him when the Lord called Abraham thus showing obedience and belief (faith) in Abraham translating to belief (faith) in God. However, the fact that she laughed at God's promise of a son by her and her giving of Hagar showed that she didn't believe (have faith in) God. She usurps God's word by giving Hagar and then gets all riled up about her mistake and seems to blame Abraham when she should have admitted her mistake and apologized to God, Abraham and Hagar.

We can identify more with Abraham's love for his son being human as he is and having children as he did. and that's a lot of love. However, where God is concerned, as His ways are higher than ours, His love is deeper than ours at an incomprehensible level. Jesus was the lamb caught in the thickets provided for by God on our behalf. We did nothing. The act was a free gift of love to anyone willing to accept it.

I've learned to pray and not be anxious. I am currently unemployed but I know that the job He wants me to have will be the right job. I am grateful for His past provisions and His current provisions (spiritual and physical health, food, shelter & clothes). I know all is His and He's letting me enjoy it.

Merry Christmas everyone! I believe I have surrended my whole life. However, I must be careful when I say whole, because there are still some bad habits I've yet to relinquish. In saying that, I guess I haven't surrended "all of me". I do pray for strength to overcome these bad habits. I've been blessed because I know God loves me and knows all that I am going through. Just to know that our loving, kind, merciful and forgiving (but will not be mocked) God has ultimate authority over everything provides such a blessed state of mind for me. His love for me I hope will permeate through me to everyone around me. I'm not there yet, but it's coming.

I'm sure satan would like nothing more than doubt, discouragement and defeat resulting in a weaker character whereas God would like strong, encouraged ( faithful) and unwavering characters who stand taller as a result of each trial. I'm in a trial where I know God is working for my good. I don't know all the reasons for the trial, but the main one is that it brought me back to The Awesome and Loving God whom I continually thank for the trial. Yes, others have been inspired by my long, on-going trial.

It is mind blowing, it's incomprehensible that the One who created all time and space and our planet would reach down and take our little hands and guide our little lives -it is awesome. It shows that God has supreme power and control over everything no matter what our circumstances SEEM to be. It shows me that there's no reason not to trust God with every aspect of my life. However, even knowing all of this, it is still a process because I'm continuously bombarded and distracted and sometimes forget who is really in control. Even though I pray and read daily it's still quite a battle. I must increase my praying, reading and fellowshiping to remain strong.

By blessing both of his sons. Isaac, the seed of promise and Ishmael, a leader of nations. There may have been constant battles between the sons making life miserable for Abraham and family and may have also ended in the death of Isaac. This way, the separation enables both sons to live, and live more peaceably. Yes, I have been and God truly guided me through it. It was amazing.