Dick Ross

When we can break free from the debate about just who authored th books of the bible, and begin to understand that the Word is the breath of the most high God himself, we see that the Word is all about Him!Daniel is not about Daniel, nor Matthew about Matthew-they are about the God that called these people to His service. We should, then, take His Word very seriously.

There are times that although we have no words for a given situation, the words just seem to come to us. We are speaking His words. One of my favorite sayings is-"We are blown by the wind-He blows the wind". If we can just empty ourselves of ourselves, the Holy Spirit can "blow" us to a place we should be, so that we may do His will.

The word of God is a beacon that gives us our direction in an otherwise unnavigable landscape. The word tells us of others that toiled their whole lives to become more godly. We are told of many, such as Moses that were "recruited" against their will, and used for His glory. It is a book of instruction, hope and promise. His promise to us sinners! The light represents the Christ-" I am the light..". The darkness represents our inherently sinful nature.

It seems that as long as we do not talk or think about death, that we will always find time later to deal with our salvation. We can procrastinate on moving forward on our faith walk. A tent is a shelter from the elements. The idea that our body is a covering for our soul , not the soul itself. We sleep in the tent at night, but leave it early as the sun shines down on it, as we will eventually do with our earthly bodies. Peter was, as are we, looking forward to taking up residence with his Lord and Savior. He was being persecuted, and his death was very close. He was waiting to hear "well done, my true and faithful servant!", as he entered the promised land.

Christian character is built on top of the gift of saving grace that is received by us when we put our faith in Jesus and become believers. We must pick up our cross each day and attempt to be sinless, that is, to become more like our savior Jesus Christ. This takes a conscious, and conscientous, effort. After a time, through this effort, our lives are changed. This speaks of a soul that is not just professing, but practicing, their Christianity. John 10:10 -"I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly". This speaks of a promise that all who are saved by their faith in Jesus, should be able to experience a deeper, richer life-now and later.

As a group, fellow church members can be very trying. Certain members want the floor too often. Some are cronic complainers. Some come with hygiene problems. The list goes on-But we have been told that we are to give these people, and all of the body of Christ our unconditional love. In our spiritual walk, to become more godly, we must look beyond the obvious when dealing with church members, and deal with them as we ask God to deal with us. We need the church members in our lives, even when they may cause us to hurt. It is for us to love and support them-" ..in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me." Matt 25:40. To mature in Christ, we must become good stewards for our church members.

Having a disciplined devotional life is important to me because I can set short and long term goals in my spiritual walk. When I "forget" or don't have time, dust accumulates on more than the cover of my bible. I must constantly exercise my faith by feeding it with the Word, and with prayer. I try to read several verses each day, in several versions. I read commentary on the verses and read history of the biblical times to try to get a flavor and an understanding of the verses. I know that the Word does not change. However, my understanding keeps changing and changing and changing. I pray for the Holy Spirit to aid me in understanding. For me the effort is like trying to climb a muddy hill-if I am not constantly struggling forward, I start sliding back down the hill.

I guess that the easiest of the virtues presented so far for me is perserverence. I have stumbled so many times, but I keep trying. Sometimes I do better, sometimes not, but I keep trying. The hardest on the list for me is self-control. I get angered easily in traffic. I still want to have a few drinks. I want.. I constantly have to remind myself that this life of mine is all about Him-NOT me!!

Many strong desires are of the "ME" type. They are all about pleasing ME, making ME happy. Feeding these desires can distance us from our God, and make us very poor examples of what believers should be. If, however, we feed our strong desires to please the Father, and live Christlike lives, we glorify God by our example. This brings us closer to God. Through His word, we know what He expects of us. As His humble servant, My knowledge of Him is my compass. Evil desires constantly try to tear at my faith and my resolve to follow Jesus. God promises me that there is a happy end to the story, if I can be a good son. My resolve is to not let my worldly desires take my attention away from being as good a Christian as I can be. All glory belongs to God.

Having been called by God, we have the awesome job of being living mirrors to reflct His glory on this world. Trying to become more like the God I worship every day is the way I have chosen to live. Knowing all along, of course, that this is an impossible task, I am reconciled through the saving grace of my lord and savior Jesus Christ. This is God's world. I have only to worship Him and to give Him the glory He demands from me.He runs the show, which makes my life easier!! By picking up my cross each day and going in quest of a sinless day, I strive to be more like Him and less like me. He is all around me, but my radar is weak...

Jesus, through his divine power, grants us all we need to maintain ourselves spiritually, and to prepare for for our eternity with Him. He has called each of us individually, so we know know him as our personal Saviour. Jesus promised us that there will be eternal communion for those who belived upon Him. Our knowledge of God tells us that what He says IS TRUE. We are to give Glory to Him, and He will provide for us.

Peter states that all who accept Christ Jesus as Savior share the same precious faith. Peter had an unshakeable faith, so in measure his faith could easily have been greater than ours, but the quality is the same!

I am Dick from South Carolina. I really get a lot from this bible study, and am looking forward to the next six weeks!

For me it is the promise that God will eventually restore me, afer a time of suffering. The NLT version has it that God will restore us and place us on a "firm foundation". I often feel that my feet are on shifting sand, as the spiritual battles wage on around me. How I look forward to finally being able to stand against the evil wind, with my feet firmly planted on His everlasting foundation. Joy and Peace to you all- through the saving grace of Christ Jesus.

We must be self-controlled-that is to keep on the path, even though we see many others taking shortcuts.We must always be ready for, and expecting, an evil attack (or the coming of our Lord!) at any time. We must don the full armor of God, and never lose our faith when the inevitable trials come upon us. We must always be ready and willing to gladly suffer the persecutions imposed upon us by a world that does not love Jesus. The message in Ephesians is very similar in its teaching. Here we are also instructed to to rest in the truth of the Word, and ever be prepared to war with evil as Christian soldiers. Peace in God=War with Satan

Satan is not an abstract idea. Our Lord spoke of the reality of of the adversary. He is the anthesis of the Good News brought to us by Christ Jesus. He actively attempts to strike at us in all of our weakest spots. He makes us doubt. He shakes our faith. He causes us to be bound by the chains of worldly living, aworld in whitch there is no room for God. His mission is to separate us from the communion with God we so desperatley require. Satan wishes to use us to strike out at the Father. We are his evil agenda. The importance of knowing that Satan is real is to make us keenly aware of him and his desire to slip through even the smallest cracks in our armor. He wants to catch us off guard and put and end to our worship of God.

I am to cast my fears to God, and let him bear the burden for me. Just as He loves me, I must love Him, and trust in Him to give me shelter. I must pray continually , and give thanks in all circumstances. I give to Him my life, and ask that He will use me for His glory. My God is the eye of the storm, where all peace abounds.

Church members, even in a small church, are a relatively diverse group. Some are all white, some are all black, many have a mix of many races. However, there any many income levels, family backgrounds, occupations, personal needs and personal reasons for members to attend church. By being arrogant and bossy, some members would easily be driven off. In church life just as in personal life, we must emmulate Jesus, and continually use him as our model. There are many times that someone is thought of as being snooty, when they are just insecure in the group. Caution rules. The candidates for jobs should be given single tasks, and observed as they fulfill those responsibilities. They can then be tried at more complex leadership roles before ultimately being trusted with the welfare of a group in the church. You know, kind of like how God brings us along in our faith walk.. failing to properly screen our church leaders costs us members. It also causes us to have to focus on issues rather than on our worship.

The church committee, the elders, lay leaders and congregation probably should work as checks and balances with each other to insure that Jesus is the leader, and we ALL are humble followers. Limiting a pastors authority would not properly address the issue. Many times, as our leader, the pastor must wrestle with tough issues. To keep him/her handcuffed would make the problem solving even more difficult. Having the right pastor is the solution. As a Methodist, our District Super decides who pastors each church. Our prayer is that we are sent the right leader when changes are made. I believe, therefore, that it is imperative for the district leader to know the needs of each of the groups in their charge, and match up a pastor best suited for each group. Weather to give a pastor authority should also be decided by those appointing pastors to churches.

Church leaders should only serve because they feel the need, the calling, to be spiritual advisors to their group. It is a disservice to the group and the leader when they have been "volunteered" to a job they do not wish to have. I come from a small church that is often short of available resources. I have seen that strong arm tactics hurt the morale of the congregation, and often drive out good people that have become burned out from trying to fill in where they are not qualified, and/or do not have the time to do a decent job.

Elders are responsible for the congregation, as in the role of pastoral assistants. I normally think of elders as people advanced in their spiritual walk. As sheep are really dumb animals, the overseers, or shepards, must make good decisions for the flock. The analogy holds in the church. What stood out the most for me was the fact that each of the words are approximate to each other. All indicate a position of responsibility for the well being of the group, and the aspect of accountability the job entails.

As true believers, there cannot be ANYTHING that we are not willing to do for our faith. Jesus teaches us that nothing less than a total committment to the Father is acceptable, that we must be willing to lay down our lives if necessary. This is true of our dying to our sin every day as well. We must pick up our cross each and every day and follow Jesus. If the path leads to the Valley of Death, we go, confident that we do Gods will. We must always be ready to give back what has been given to us.

As " members of the gang" "regular Joes" or "normal people" there is no reason to try to shame us. Why would the Deciever work on us? We are his already. It is by professing and practicing our Christianity that we come up on the radar as targets. We advance in our faith by overcoming our temptations, and passing our trials-being refined in the fire. As the level of spiritual warfare ramps upwe are beginning to eat the meat of our faith, leaving the milk behind. As we give our testimony to the world, we begin to give God the glory that is His due.

I cry out so easily when I feel I am being wronged, while my Master went silently to the cross, to pay for MY sin. What shame that brings me! In the turmoils that that are facing me now, I have not brought glory to the Father on several recent encounters. I must learn to become more like my Saviour, and less like a spoiled child. I feel that I am Spriitual Warfare Bootcamp, and the drill sargent has picked me out as his punching bag. It gives me great consolation to know that I am not unlike any other believer, and that we do have friends in High Places. Praise be to God!!

Trying to ignore the problems confronting us causes us to be preoccupied with our trouble, rather than letting us focus on living the way Jesus instructed us. It is by facing up to our tribulations that we can glorify God. In my life I have been distracted by persecution in various forms. When I have not properly addressed these issues, there remained bitterness and the tendancy to hold grudges against my adversaries. I have to continually remind myself of the mission I am embarked on, and constantly ask Jesus to help me through (I finally learned that I cannot stand against the constant assault without the full armor of God). I have seen family, friends, and fellow church members avoid grappling with the real issues that threaten them and their faith. Although, in the end, each of us must make our own way, prayer for those in need and a willing ear can make much difference in the lives of those that travel in our small sphere of existance.