Dick Ross

I believe that Jesus was really human. He got hungry,thirsty and tired. These verses teach us that Jesus came to us as a servant, and as a human, having voluntarily put aside his deity. If Jesus was only pretending to be human,and we knew it, His example would have been of no value to us. His death on the cross would not have significance for us if he merely

To me, it means that Jesus voluntarily obeyed the will of God and came to us in human form, to set for us the ultimate example of how we should live, and to pay our sin debt by being the perfect sacrifice. This passage teaches us that Jusus was in

Being humble opens up to being receptive to the needs of others. For there to bew unity in the church congregation, people must be able to earnestly seek to serve each other, rather that push their own agenda. On a field trip last year, one family got very disturbed that they could not bring extra family and friends because the seating was limited (plus the church had had several fundraisers to pay for the trip-this family did not get involved). Tempers flared and there were hard feelings for several weeks following the trip. I try to help foster unity in my church by being willing to serve in any way that is asked of me. I also refuse to get involved in any gossip that sometimes seems to flow freely through the church.

Paul teaches us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There is no reason to fear, because the next step for us is going to be like getting a huge promotion. We can rest in his word and get on with our Christian walk in this life, anticipating in the everlasting life to be ever present with our Lord and Saviour.

Fear can keep us from living and speaking as we know we should. We are afraid of being un-popular, we are afraid of being scorned and ridiculed, we are afraid of reprisal, we are afraid of being embarrassed-so we keep silent. I believe that "losing our life" for Christ can be anything from subordinating our self-will to the will of God, to actually being martyred for Christ Jesus. My biggest fear is that in an attempt to witness, I will fall short and fail to give God the glory due Him.

If we are in distress and without a God at the helm, we would live in fear of our inevitable crash upon the rocks of despair. It is only by knowing that a loving God watches over us that we can rejoice in the midst of pain, sorrow or confusion. Because Jesus interceeded on our behalf, we have been washed in His blood and seen as acceptable to God the Father. God causes or allows things to happen to us along the way, because of his unsearchable plan. We often are not supposed to know why, we are only to serve Him. " Peter, if I allow him to tarry until my return, what is it to you?"

Unfortunately, people tend to ignore their nedd for salvation when things are going well in their lives. Only when trouble overwhelms them do they seek God. When we are troubled, persecuted in pain or stressed out-but continue to rejoice in our salvation anyway-we impact the lives of people who need the saving grace of God. By standing on top of, instead of being crushed by our problems, we show others that God offers a refuge that can be found nowhere else. Paul was kept in at least a state of house arrest. He still took every opportunity to tell those around him of the love of Jesus. Even many of his captors came to salvation through his witness. The Christians that were not incarcerated were emboldened by Paul's unshakeable faith, and redoubled ther efforts. I personally am recovering (slowly) from total knee surgery. At the time I was released to go back to work 40 hrs/wk at a desk job, my employer of 16 years decided that I was no longer needed. This blow to my self esteem and my wallet was totally unexpected. I had a little pity party for 2 days, then cast my trouble to the Lord, and got on with being His servant again. I believe that part of the lesson I was expected to learn here was to put my troubles at the foot of the cross-AND LEAVE THEM THERE! Letting this lesson shine through in my life, I pray, can be a strong witness to the awesome God we serve.

Paul's prayer is that the Philippians will not just be able to choose between what is bad and what is good, but between what is good and what is best. As long as we are self-willed, we will never be able to make the choices that God would have us make. To have real discernment, we must surrender our will to the will of the Father, the One who knows best what is best for us. When we settle for the good in our lives, we often miss out on what is best for us. Our constant prayer must be that we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, as is fitting to the plan of our savior Lord Jesus, and that of our Father who is in Heaven.

Paul expects that God will sustain and use the church to His gloryPaul feels that the Philippians have been "getting it right" in their pursuit of worshiping the Father-and he expects that they will be duly rewarded. This expectation comes from the knowledge of the sanctifying grace that comes from the faith that they had in Jesus Christ. The same is true of each of us-that if we put our faith in Jesus, we will be both justified and sanctified by the Father.

We receive from the partnership the fruit of our works, which glorifies the father. We can also offer of ourselves-OUR PRAYERS, our material gifts, our labor,our expertise, our attitude and our ears and tears..

A slave is committed to his master for life-the master owns the slave The term Saint implies the idea of complete dedication to God Both of these words have common usage in that once we have been saved by the amazing grace of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, we transfer ownership of our soul willingly to the father.

Pastor Ralph, It has been another wonderful chance for me to learn more about the Word, and my faith, from you and the other members of this study group. Your having called attention to many items in these two books has increased my awareness of how the Father wants to interact with us. I have thought of God as being angry with me and ready to punish me for my sin. I am encouraged now, more than ever. Thank you for this study! The only thing that would possibly help me more would be reference to Strong's number in the Greek and Hebrew words.

Being that I realize that I need ALL the help I can get, I love knowing that my God has His arms around me. What a comfort! Without the full armor that only He can provide, I cannot stand against the pervasive evil that stalks this world. Knowing that the Father " has my back" is of great comfort. Knowing that He will never forsake me is priceless. So many people reject the Faith, and the promise of His abiding love, that I guess that He takes great joy in His children that labor to do it the way they have been commanded. Because my Lord and Savior Jesus showed us all how to "do it right", and by Him having paid the full tab for our sin, God is able to hold me "blameless". Jesus will interceed for me with the Father and and I will be one of His sheep.

I think it means that we must be true in our committment to Him, by living as He commands. I try to get closer to Him in worship ,in prayer and by being a loyal servant. Upon starting each day I pray for the strength to carry my cross, and for help in keeping sinful thoughts at bay. I often fail, but I get up,dust off, and try again. I owe it all to my God, and I attempt to give Him just that. I believe that the answer to what more can I do to strengthen my love relationship with God will come to me by listening in prayer.

When we profess to belive in Jesus Christ an in the saving grace available to us through Him, we commit ourselves to spiritual rebirth that requires us to learn about our new lives. Just as an infant must learn how to feed itself and learn to walk, so must we in our spiritual growth. I try to always devote time each day for reading the Word, and discussing with other believers. While in prayer, I attempt to listen, to give the Holy Spirit opportunity to move in me. I still have not shed myself enough of my old sinful nature-it clings to me like metal filings on a magnet. I think that I need to spent more time witnessing to non believers and to believers that are still lagging on their faith walk. Living up to that challenge will help me to mature in my faith by forcing me to exercise, not just ponder, my spiritual condition.

The idea that God has called me catches my attention more than the others. The fact that He has a purpose for me is thrilling and encouraging. I am encourage in my faith because in Him I feel a purpose in my life.

A belief that Christ may return at any moment helps me to keep focused as I attempt to live the life that I have been called to live. We are told that it will be business as usual, untill suddenly, it's all over for the old world. 1 Cor 15:52 calls us to be "stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (KJV). This is a tall order, but one we must try to live up to. By downplaying the likelihood that Jesus will be coming soon, we allow ourselves to procrastinate in getting right with the Father.

We have deluded ourselves into thinking that there is no god to punish us for our sins. So, trere is no need to repent of our sin-in fact there is no sin to repent of. Just the laws of man to obey. Life becomes "no holds barred", as we live to please ourselves. Even if there is a god, it would be inconvenient for us to ponder our behavior, leave alone to bow down and ask for forgiveness. It would appear that in these fast paced times, most of us want only to do our own thing. Sinning without repenting is an offence to God. We offend Him at our peril. For many years I lived a life similar to the one I just described. I knew that I was living a life at odds with my salvation.Since I could'nt apologize to God without committing to Him that I wound change my life for Him and try my best to do better, I just kept sinning without measuring the consequences. When at last I came to truly accepting Jesus as my lord and Master, the light shed on my past life and secret sin was overwhelming for me, and seemed too much for me to bear. Thankfully, the holy Spirit working in me gave me the strength and courage to confront and begin to vanquish my sinfull life. Thus I finally began to walk in the light. All praise to our awesome God, a God of love that through the saving grace of Jesus, took me back as His!!

Christ's return is "delayed" because God is merciful and patient with us, that we all should have ample time to repent of our sin, and be saved. Our God is loving and understanding, as we wrestle with our old sinful nature, not wanting any of us to be lost. Jesus tells us that not even He knows the hour or the day of His return, but that it would happen in the "blink of an eye" when it did happen. For my part, I am glad that He has waited, for I have not been ready long!

We must understand how high the stakes are for us and our eternal souls. Many people no longer take the bible as the literal word of God. They challenge the historical and prophetic accuracy of the bible. So, if Jesus was a great man and an excellent example of how we should live, but was just a man, He will not be coming back for his bride. We, then, would have no reason not to take in all the temporal pleasures that we please. We would be free to "eat, drink and be merry"without being encumbered with any sense of guilt about our actions or beliefs. As for me -I believe there are goats and sheep to get sorted out... As Joshua states in Joshua 24:15 "But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.".

It is very easy to lose focus on what is truly important on our Chriastian walk.Reminders help to jog our memory and help us to keep our feet on the path. I remind myself of the important things by reading the Word and contemporary Christian works. I study and spend time conversing with other Christians. I practice uttering to myself key words like-humble, servant, not me,Him, and etc. I also try to ask the WWJD (what would Jesus do?) question of myself and/or others when confronted with a dilemma.

We no longer want to contend for our faith. Live and let live.. Sin is so prevalent that we accept it as a necessary evil. Besides- church rosters are shrinking- we want and need members at all cost..

Anything that we allow to master us will rule over us. Smoking, drinking to excess, sexual sins, greed and so forth that we cannot or will not get free of can become our god. The way out is to decide that the behavior needs adjusting, confessing our sin/need to Him and asking for help to regain control of our life. We must put our God first in all our endevours. We ALL sin. We can help others most not by our words, but by our deeds. We have to help and support each other. We must love each other, and encourage each other as we get to the difficult sections of our faithwalk. It is not our job to pass judgement, we are all in the same boat.

Sin is sin. Knowingly living in sin denies Christ by our not coming to Him with a "broken and contrite" heart. It also has us putting ourselves ahead of God. As a civilization we are replacing God with Darwinism and etc., and are even daring to rewrite the Word to fit our convenience. Someone says from the pulpit-"I am gay" the congregation then adopts the notion that there is no problem here. Satan loves the whole thing.

Satan is constantly whispering in our ear that the Word is false. Anything he can do to twist or pervert or distort the message that God has given us as His promise he does with great zest. We so easily fall for his tricks! The bible was divinely inspired, and is certainly NOT for us to tamper with. We must stand up for what we believe in scripture, without taking our focus off of our need to continue on our faithwalk with our Lord and Savior. I believe we should let our thoughts be known, and move on- we MUST avoid getting bogged down by issues we cannot resolve. The devil is in the details...