Sheryl

God chose me, I didn't choose Him. All I did was answer when He called. God's awesome Presence affect me in the sense that He is Supreme and Royalty. I bow in His Presence because He is God, Creator of everything. It gives me the desire to be pleasing to Him. It encourages me to be obedient and mindful of His awesome existence.

In order to know what God promises we have to know God. The only way we can grow through the knowledge of God is to have a ongoing relationship with Him through prayer, worship, and His Word.

It means that God has given us the same kind of faith as the apostles had in the old testament. Our faith, Peter's and mine, is a gift from God. It is the same faith from the same God.

Hello Saints, I'm Sheryl from Sacramento. This is my second study with Jesuswalk and I am fired up and ready to learn.

Jesus was finished with the assignment that God had given Him. His purpose had been fulfilled. His mission was accomplished. To obey God when he gives us an assignment. We all have a purpose in life that God wants us to fulfill to His glory and we need to be attentive when He is speaking to us.

We are not to forget to be hospitable to all of our Christian brethren, regardless if they are strangers of prisoners. The common thread that bind us together is our belief in Christ. I am strong in brotherly love when pertaining to strangers and the mistreated. I am weak when it comes to brethren.

Yes, a fear of God is healthy because God is worthy of respect and He should be feared reverently for who He is, He us sovereign. He deserves the utmost respect from us. Fear of God is unhealthy when you live in terror of God's judgment. If you fear Him in that way, you lack faith in your God who loves you. It becomes instead a fear factor that constrain you rather than a faith factor that sustain you. God is our Father who loves us dearly and want what's best for us. Our fear is not a carnal fear that the unsaved have of judgment, but a fear that is in reverence and respect for our King. We are in awe of His supreme power and majesty because we love Him and desire to please Him because of it.

No, you can't achieve salvation through works or what you do. Salvation is by grace through belief in God, acceptance of the sacrifice of the Son, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It is not what you do with your hands, but what is in your heart. Yes, it can deprive you of heaven because it can cause you to turn back to your present condition of unbelief in God. If you don't deal with sin immediately, it can infect the whole body as well as the mind and spirit to the point of no return.

God does punish us at times with consequences as a result of our sins, but He will make you recognize it for what it is. Just as a parent disciplines a child for disobedience or wrong doing, so does the Lord chastens us because He loves us and wants us to become obedient so He can use us for His service. The purpose of God's discipline is to teach us to obey the will of our Father and to grow in maturity as obedient children.

When I have storms in my life and I look at them as my Father's discipline and training, I can stay rooted and grounded in Jesus knowing that it is for my benefit. When God disciplines us, it is for our service to Him that He is refining us. He cannot use us if we are full of junk. He has to break us for use. He has to sift us for service before he can use us effectively.

Spiritual warfare is wearying because we are human and are in a constant battle with our sinful nature against our spiritual nature. It is an ongoing war with ourselves. We must remain steadfast in our faith and endure to the end so that we may receive the prize; our reward that God has promised us if we endure. Yes, I think we all have because we are imperfect, but God allows us to get back up when we fall. He sustains us.

The "great cloud of witnesses" are the martyred saints and the dead men of God who lived before us. The life of faith should be compared to a race ran by an athlete who's goal is to win the prize through endurance and victory. Jesus is the author and pioneer of our faith because He is the example that we are to follow. He is the original man of faith because of His victory at the Cross. Jesus lived by faith by not looking at His hardships and struggles but looking towards the goal to completion and accomplishment. He perfected faith when He endured on the Cross until the end and then sat at the right hand of the throne of God due to his perfect faith in God.

The motivating factor behind the actions taken by the women in these passages was their faith in the God of Israel. Their faith was based on God's word and His promises. At the Red Sea, the Israelites faith was strong because they knew God and what He was capable of doing. The Egyptian army were the enemy of God's chosen ones. They had no faith in God. Rahab the prostitute faith was real. She believed the God of Israel. When faith is based on trusting God, we all should be shrewd opportunist for Kingdom service.

Moses faith in God caused him to choose suffering for Christ sake over the momentary pleasures of sin. Moses vision was looking ahead to his reward. We, as Christians, also are looking ahead to our rewards.

The characteristics of one awaiting the return of Christ with extreme joy while busy being about our Father's business of bringing in the lost in order for God to draw all men unto Him which God has commissioned us for the building of His Kingdom. The balance is that we live in the world but we are not part of the ways of the world. We are strangers, non- citizens in a foreign country. The world is contrary to God; we are not partakers of worldly principles, practices, or ideals, but instead we are partakers with Christ of His principles.

Abraham's faith journey is encouraging to me as I remain faithful to God even when I can't see the end result. I remember the kind of faith Abraham had in God and it encourages me to maintain the faith that I have no matter what the trial may be for I know I have a God who is faithful. It helps me to stay heavenly minded and to resist the ways of the world because I'm just a traveler passing through and on my way to my heavenly country. The final city that we will see is The Holy City of God. Our Heavenly Kingdom.

Belief was the part of faith related to the depth of Abraham's confidence in God. The part of faith that COMES from God that brings to our understanding of the reality and power of God. We start with a little faith and God increases it; faith by faith. I would call it lack of faith. Faith is believing God as the God who can make things that seem impossible, possible.

I think what sets it apart from other faiths is the reality of Jesus as the sacrificed Son of God, sent by God to save sinners through the blood on Calvary. Most other religions other than Christian, believe in God but substitute the reality of Jesus with some other human figure instead of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Noah's faith was based on holy fear as a result of believing God when he was warned of the inevitable. Our faith is based on believing the assurances of God. Faith grows as we grow in the knowledge of God through the Word of God combined with the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

It is not enough to just believe God exists. God desire a personal relationship with us in order to draw us nearer to Him which means seeking to know Him intimately and passionately. To seek God means to develop a relationship with Him through prayer and the Word of God. It means getting an understanding through the Spirit of God what pleases and displeases Him. It makes a great difference. If you don't believe, you won't receive all God has in store for you.

Faith is believing without doubting that Jesus is Lord sent by God to free sinners and reunite us as children of the holy kingdom of God. Faith gives us the assurance in the promises of God to all who believe and obey Him.

Staying strong in our faith in God is sometimes difficult to do because of the hardships, trials, and sufferings of life. That is why we have to persevere in our faith and remember that we can do all things through Christ. It is He that strengthens us with his strength. Perseverance is key to finish the race that God has set for us to run. It is a race of faith. It is important in order for us to receive all that God has for us. It is part of his plan for our lives; our physical and eternal lives. Christian fellowship is important in persevering in order for us to encourage other Christians while we are encouraged also. It is a joint effort. God never meant for us to do it alone but with each other. We, as brothers and sisters in Christ, should always strive to encourage other Christians in difficult times. Sometimes we tend to look the other way or make excuses for our lack of compassion for the problems of others, but this is what our faith in Christ is all about. We are the extended hands and feet of Jesus. We have to follow his example. He refused no one who cried out for help. We must do the same.

Deliberately keep on sinning is referring to sins that are a direct act of rejection of God. The turning away of the faith and returning to your former life without Christ. No, it is not in reference to sins of the flesh. It is not speaking of the fleshly sins that we battle over and over again on a daily basis. The author is speaking of deliberate and intentional defiance towards God. Elements: "trampled the Son of God underfoot" "treated as an unholy thing" "insulted the Spirit of grace"

We should continue meeting together with other Christians in order to worship God so that we may become one with HIM, first and most importantly, and to encourage our brethren to hold fast to our hope and faith in Christ. God has entrusted us with spiritual gifts to use in our ministering of these gifts to the benefit of others. Our usual motivation is out of selfish reasons that are contrary to the purpose of God for you. Some use church attendance as a social gathering, to hang out with friends, or even as a fashion event to see who is wearing the latest styles. Some go as a requirement and feel guilty if they don't go instead of going excitedly for God. Some get out of going because of unforgiveness because of hurt caused by a church member. Some have a low priority for church attendance. Some are just lazy. Some don't want to tithe, so they just stay away. We can help them by praying for them constantly, and also by taking the initiative by reaching out and encouraging them to come back. I think the reason most people stray away from church attendance is that no one ever goes out of their comfort zone to reach out for that stray sheep. They notice when he is not there, they even discuss the fact that he's away, but how often do we really go out of our way to find a way to bring him back into the fold? Not often enough. Encouragement is essential.

The veil of the Tabernacle served as a divider between God who is pure and holy and the worshippers who were not. The ripped veil was a signal or sign because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. We as believers now have access to The Father. Our access to God is called a new and living way because the death of Christ has removed us from the position of being seperated from God to in a relationship with God. New in the sense that our access to Him did not exist before Christ came in the flesh. Living in the sense that Jesus died and rose again and will remain alive forever and will always be available to us as our representative to God.

An animal is of lesser value than a human. Therefore, only the sacrifice of something of greater value for something of less value is adequate for the atonement of sin. Only Jesus because He is the Greatest of all. The sins of the old saints were forgiven in the same way our sins have been forgiven. Even though the animals were not sufficient enough to make atonement for the old saints, God accepted their sacrifices and offered atonement because of the impending coming of the Messiah to bear all sin on the Cross; past sins, present sins, and future sins.