Dick Ross

All glory belongs to God. We are only willing servants of the Lord. People that promote themselves usurp the glory that does not belong to them, and so are not true believers. Self important people do not glorify God by their behavior. "important " people don't seem to understand that none of us are worthy of the Kingdom. It is only by the saving grace of Jesus that we may enter. His teaching is that we must be humble servants to each other. Hubris is one of satans favorite stumbling blocks that he likes to put on our path, because he knows that we all want the credit for our deeds. God gave me the gift of of being able, and willing, to speak in public. I often try to stimulate conversation in bible study by asking questions. In Sunday School I try to have material ready that compliments the study. The fervent hope here is that all may have an increased understanding of the Word, and be increasingly excited about the Good News!! I believe that the Father is leading me as a lay speaker to take His Word outside of the comfortable confines of the church, and into the field. Please pray for me that I am doing His will, and that He will hold me up.

No one likes to have their secret selves exposed to the light. We all fear looking in the mirror at our true selves. As true Christians, hovever, we must try to die to sin every day- and begin anew to lead as Christlike life that we can as we attempt to get thruogh each day. Knowing that there will be an accounting should inspire us to admit our sins to the Father, and ask for cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ. Every day should be lived as though it may be our last day, our last chance to "get right" with God.

For several reasons, non-Christians want us to be sinners also. First, because it allows them to rationalize that being a Christian isn't that great a thing. Second, it gives some people great pleasure to see the failures of others. We have a built in urge to be accepted by a group. We are, therefore, tempted to join in with the group. If the group are regular sinners, we will most likely sin regularly ourselves.We can help to aviod this situation by associating with others that are trying to please the Father, and live Christlike lives. We must also pray without ceasing for the Holy Spirit to protect us by helping us put on the full armor of God(Eph 6:10-12)

I believe the attitude we need to take is one of being prepared to suffer so as to diminish the sin that threatens to overrun us. Jesus suffered physically for us-we need to be ready do do the same for Him. The attitude here is one of living for God's pleasure, not our own.

I have pledged my life in faith to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I place in Him my trust, and ask to serve as His disciple. My sincere attempt is to always be ready for His call, and live in such a way that gives glory to the Son and the Father. I was baptized as a youg boy, and so the symbolism of the act escaped me. I have come since that time to understand the need to die to sin each day and be resurrected anew. I stumble and fall, but with His help, I attempt to carry my cross through each day, and be ever thankful of the gift of the Good News!

I am still at the point in my walk that sin still sometimes gains a foothold and takes dominion for a time. As hard as I try, I still get angry in traffic, or lose patience with my wife, or have inappropriate thoughts about others. So what presses upon me the most is my unrighteousness. With the help of the Holy Spirit and by trying to pattern myself after Christ I am taking little steps forward. Thank you Jesus!

When we are being persecuted, we tend to focus on our own hardship, and tend to lash out at our tormenters, instead of living in the grace afforded us by the Father. When we get into a bind, we too often "lose our religion". We say and do things that do not give God any glory. Our witness then shows those around us that our faith is weak. I personally must strive to always be more compassionate and gentle in my relationships with others. I am very often obstinate, stubborn and overbearing. I must tone down my responses to others. I must interact with others more as a servant than a boss. I must focus on HUMILITY! (humility with all caps-what does that say about me?)

Brotherly love, sympathy and compassion are all very evident in our little church. The people are warm and friendly, but there are many visions about where the church sholud be headed. So, I believe that we are most in need of harmony. Christ, as the Son of man, knew where he came from, where he was and where he was going. For myself and and band of brothers, we are agreed that by having a co-ordinated bible study-Sunday school-church service, the congregation should be led by the Word, and by the Spirit, in the direction that the Father would have us go.

It is impossible to mistreat others and be right with God. We are directed to love our brothers and sisters. Our spouse shold be at the top of our people list. If we do not treat our wife with the love and respect she needs, we compromise our relationship with God, and our prayers become empty words, tossed in the wind. The same is true when a woman does not behave toward her mate as the Father would have her to. If we are not treating our husbands or wives as we should, how are we behaving toward others, less well known? Where is Gods glory then?

A good part of loving someone is getting to know them as well as possible. By understanding (as much as is possible) the needs of our wives, it becomes possible to serve those needs. By treating our spouse wih respect and friendship, our love deepens and takes on more meaning. I guess we get involved with self-interest because it is from our own need for love that we respond to others. We are able to love God because he first loved us. Marriage could be considered mutual self-interest. Men sometimes try to dominate their wives because they are insecure in the relationship, and feel the need to CONTROL. Women most likely suffer from the same insecurity, and feel the same need. The signals that spouses send to each other when there is a dominant spouse harm the marriage by dragging in feelings of mistrust, frustration and resentment. We have been charged to approach others as servants, not masters.

Inner beauty is cultivated by encouraging the growth of qualities that God desires us to have, and by actively discouraging the negative qualities that try to consume us in our daily lives. Character is developed by living the commandments that God has given to us, and by imitating our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must pick up our cross each day, and try again..this will be pleasing to the Father. By showing her husband how her walk with God makes her a desirable person, she gives glory to God, and will help lead those of us in need of salvation to the Lord. Her exibition of true character to him should inspire him to honor her and the God that she worships.

A Christian that makes an effort to look good reflects glory to the Father. Overdoing in this regard, however, detracts from His glory, and shows us to be vain. I think that a balance is achieved when an effort is made to look physically attractive, while most of the effort is used to cultivate an inner beauty. It is the inner beauty that is the true self, the lasting self that glorifies the Father.

Our free will makes it difficult to submit to the will of others.Society teaches us to "be ourselves", to take care of #1. One can be submissive, while still being able to state opinion about things that exception is taken to, or hoping to offer suggestion for improvement. Being a follower of Christ precludes us from submitting to things that are contrary to His teaching.

Because Jesus bore MY sins to the grave, I have been ransomed. Jesus pain and suffering becomes my healing, for He has set me free. What is left for me to be is a humble servant to others, and try to be as sin free as my flesh will allow. To do this, I must bear my sin to the cross each day, and follow the lead of the Good Shepherd.

We are human-we suffer, and give into temptation everyday. Satan is always seeking ways to make us trip up and lose heart. By our faith we seek protection from this onslaught by calling on the Lord and Master Jesus. In order to live the new life-we must crucify ourselves each and every day-that we may be dead to sin and and attempt to live the Life anew. Admitting to the Father, and to ourselves, that we are sinners allows us to focus on maturing in the faith. As we begin each new day we bury the old sinful self and try to walk in Jesus footsteps, with our thoughts directed toward the Kingdom, not on the secular world.

Only a sinless person could mediate salvation for a sinner with God. Jesus had to suffer immeasurably just from the shear weight of the burden of our collective sin. When He absorbed our sin, God had to turn his back on Him for a short time, leaving Him "forsaken" as He breathed his last.I believe that He could only endure such massive suffering because He knew that only His intersession could make us acceptable to the Father.He suffered for us so we could inherit the Kingdom.

Beside having to suffer the physical pain of crucifixion, Jesus bore the sin of the world, MINE INCLUDED, to himself. I increased his pain by being a sinner, and increasing His burden. His pain and injury is my ransom and healing. His suffering was for me personally because his example on the cross teaches me how I am to react to the stresses of being a Christian. He was without sin himself, yet carried mine to the grave!

I am learning that I must quit being so ready to voice my own thoughts about many situations I find myself in, and do a better job of living in the Spirit. I must continually remember to speak no guile, hold no grudges and make no threats.. Jesus is my safe harbor, and I must learn to sail there in turbulent weather. I will let the Father handle my problems, and concentrate instead on spreading His Word. All glory to God-I am just a servent.

The God conscious employee does the job the job he/she was hired to do, and give the best effort. As long as we are employed we owe it to our employer, ourselves and our God to do the best work we are capable of. This can be a real test of our faith when confronted with injustice, profanity, sexual inuendo and etc.. This is also true in the world outside of the work place. Our job is to present ourselves as as a true Christian and imitate the way we believe Jesus would handle the work place. God is glorified by us when we are wronged for no reason, and we resist the temptation to lash out in anger. This also means not gossiping about others, and constantly complaining about our jobs and the jobs of others. Besides making it impossible for us to do our best work, we detract from Gods glory by acting petty, and jealous at work. I have a tendancy to holler when someone steps on my foot. I must learn to do a much better job of remembering that I am just passing through, and ask God to still my heart, and leave it to Him to be the judge! Praying to God for guidence and leaving myself open so the Holy Spirit can move through me will be my response to injustice at work. If I can only learn...

We are charged to approach all tasks required of us with nothing less than the best effort we can muster. By evading responsibility and doing shoddy work, we are seen as being less than we are supposed to be. As God's children we must give our best effort in ALL we do so that we are seen to be worthy of the title -Christian. Our mission to spread the Good News to those who need it can easily be compromised if we are seen as sloppy, negligent employees. By failing in this mission, we bring dishonor to God.

God requires that we submissive and obedient, like good children. By subordinating our will to the needs of society we reflect glory back to the Father. By being rebellious, and acting out our "free" will, we diminish our relationship with God by showing ourselves to be shackled to the secular world. It is only by living in the Spirit that we worship and glorify the Father.

By living the life we are commanded to live, we give glory to the Father by showing ourselves to be His children. By living by the faith we profess to have, and doing what is commanded of us, we we can lead others to the saving grace of our Lord.. By not showing to those around us that we are true Christians, we diminish His glory by not showing the people of the world how the Holy Spirit can move in a persons life, and give it true meaning. We cannot hope to lead others to salvation if we act as though there is no real benefit to confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness.

Peter tells us that we are being assaulted all the time, and that we must resist the temptations that constantly barrage us from all sides. He reminds us that this is a war for our souls, a war we cannot allow ourselves to lose. He reminds is that we are aliens, in-not of this world. These reminders help us to keep focused on the lifestyle we must adopt, that we may always give glory to the Father by acting like we are his in spirit - mind- and body.

We should be inspired to put aside all differences of opinion that we have with fellow Christians-and as John ininstructs us in 1 John 4:7-21, love our brothers and sisters as God loves us. We should all be working together to spread Gods Word and to minister to each other, even to the point where we are prepared to lay down our lives for another. WE should be constantly praising the Father, and working to perfect our faith. We must always be at war with our worldly self!

With great humility and great joy. We also offer praise to Him by trying to be the children he has told us to be, to attempt to walk in the shoes of the Son.