Kim E.

Because the Scriptures are produced by the very breath of God, the Spirit of God, they are useful to us. They can teach us what the problems are as well as the divine solution. They teach us how to live a life pleasing to God and what we are to believe. When we get off track, the Scriptures rebuke us and correct us and show us the way to repentance. God is training us in His Word so we will be suitable vessels for His work. The Word of God gives us strength to minister and live for the Lord. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8 Our Father has left to us this wealth of divine knowledge specifically to draw us near to Him, so He can be near to us. I have never felt closer to God, than when I began to read Scripture and to apply it to my daily life. I think in terms of what Scripture says. In this way I am thinking, what would the Lord have me to do. I know that the Spirit of God uses the Word to strengthen and encourage us. The Spirit of God directs us. It seems so hard to explain something so ethereal. I know that I have prayed for God to create in me a clean heart and for a hunger for the Word of God. God has answered my prayer and the Holy Spirit is guiding me in realizing what I

I Corinthians 2:6-16 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God

The Scriptures are God

I believe people dread death. A lot of people don

We are not to be passive in our salvation and sanctification. We are to continually strive to grow in our faith and in the godly qualities Peter spells out in verses 5-7. As we do so, we confirm, or establish, that which God began and which He is committed to establish in and through us. To make our calling and election sure is to make it stable. It is to set our lives on a course that cannot, and will not, be changed or moved away from the faith. It is to become so solid and stable that we will not be moved, especially by those who come to us with another gospel. Our development of Christian character indicates that we are convinced that we are saved, we believe in our salvation in Christ. We are reaping the benefit of the blessings salvation has bestowed on us. We are becoming useful and our eyes are opened to the truth. We are blessed with our desire to pursue godliness and should delight in the fact that we shun ungodliness. Our pursuit of godliness doesn

This question reminds me of how a person might feel if they are outside the church. From personal experience I know that some people feel that they

I would have to say that a disciplined devotional life is important to me because Christian growth is neither automatic nor is maturity merely a function of time. We seem to think that time alone results in growth and maturity. This is not the case. Christian growth does take time, but growth occurs as believers diligently and obediently seek to grow, in the power of the Holy Spirit and through the provision of the Scriptures. Growth results from the application of biblical truth to daily living. Growth occurs when we employ the resources God has supplied through His Word. I

Knowledge has by far been my easiest. I think knowledge has been the easiest because God has given me the gift of faith and with faith I believe comes moral excellance. I no longer reject the glory of God but now recognize the excellencies of our Lord and regard them worthy of praise and embrace them as qualities I desire for my own life. That

Q4. (2 Peter 1:4) How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? What strong desires can build our faith? What does a strong desire for God have to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God? How are God's promises and evil desires at odds with each other? How does one build and the other erode our faith? Ephesians 4:22 calls these strong desires "lusts of deceit". The falseness of these desires lead to self-indulgence. At one time in my life I was convinced that I could have anything that I wanted and that I was allright, after all I believed in God. I have to tell you the truth, I was mad that I let myself be duped by Satan. If you let yourself be deceived your life will be corrupted and eventially destroyed. When your desires fall in line with Gods' desires you will find your faith renewed, growing. I prayed constantly that God would create in me a clean heart, to show me my sin and help me deal with it, and to give me a burning desire for the Word of God. Well He has. These desires fall in line with what He wants for me. These desires keep me connected and protected! Strong desire to know God can only lead to prayer and the Word. This is a mark of a Christian. Knowledge of God leads to an intimate fellowship with God. My strong desire to know God is from God. Any deceitful **** is from Satan. The more I know of God, the more I am able to withstand the deceitful temptations from Satan. If you are ignorant of the promises of God then you are unprotected from false teaching. Everything pertaining to life and godliness is granted to us through the knowledge of Him who called us 1:3. If we believe we can be self-indulgent we are in direct odds with Gods promises. Gods promises involve giving, self-discipline and love. If you are being self-sufficient, and in the mean time being duped by Satan, you don't think you need God. There is no faith in that. The divine nature of God is revealed in Scripture, apart from the Word, you have nothing to build on. If you don't know the Gospel, if you don't know the promises of God, how do you have anything to build on. Try going one week without the Word of God and I tell you, you will find yourself lost, weak and afraid. There is no faith in that.

Q3. (2 Peter 1:3) What does it mean for you personally to be called "by his own glory and goodness"? How does God's glory and awesome Presence affect you? How does his goodness and moral excellence affect you? It's not that I sought after God, but that God chose me, sought me, and "called me by His own glory and goodness". God set me, lost and undeserving, on the path of salvation. This path has become for me a path to discipleship, where I strive to please Him as I appropriate the resources He has provided for me. I used to have a life of self-indulgence, now the gospel has led me to self-control and self-denial. That's what I call big time love. I'm overwhelmed that He chose me, sought me. Gods' glory and awesome Presence makes me feel like a balloon that's going to burst. I don't know about you, but it just makes me feel like I need to give it away, somehow, to someone else. I'm always excited about Gods' presence. God intends to transform me into the image of our Lord. How awesome is that!! "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, the He might be the first-born amoung many brethern." Romans 8:29 The knowledge of His goodness and moral excellance leads me to gratitude for the guidance and the truth I live here on earth. I need to be reminded every day of His goodness and moral excellance. It stirs up in me consideration for what is right, what is the truth. I'm walking with Christ more intimately and my knowledge of Him is growing through Godly instruction and Godly living by staying in the Word and through prayer. All of these promote gratitude and love in me. Hallelujah!!

Q2. (2 Peter 1:3) Meditate on this verse for a few minutes. It is a verse about provision. What are the scope and extent and boundaries of "everything we need for life and godliness"? What does "knowledge" or "knowing God" have to do with this promise? Peters gospel does not promise men everything they want or think they need; it does promise them all they truly need, in Christ. False teachers promise people what they want in the flesh. The needs of the flesh are deceptive and corrupt and can be characterized as lusts. Their end is corruption and death. False teachers speak of God as the great "need-meeter" as "one who is there for us", eager and ready to satisfy our fallen desires. Peter speaks of God as all-sufficient who has made provision for all our true needs. The provisions Peter speaks of are faith, righteousness, grace and peace, everything pertaining to life and godliness, and His precious and magnificent promises. The Gospel transformed Peter and I identify with that. We have seen throughout the Gospel what Peter went through. The Gospel delivers us from the corruption of the world and its' lusts. God sets us on the path of salvation. I have come to know that my real poverty is ignorance, and ignorance is deadly. Ignorance is evident in conforming to one's lusts. Knowledge is the only cure for ignorance. I take this to mean doctinal knowledge, scriptural knowledge and we should diligently pursue this knowledge, for it protects us from false teachers and their teachings. You can not have everything that pertains to life and godliness without the knowledge of the Scriptures that leads to an intimate relationship with God. The maturing Christian is marked by his knowledge of God through the Scriptures.

"Received a faith as precious as ours" in this verse means there are no second-class citizens in the household of faith. A truth Paul points out in Ephesians 2:11-22 and a lesson Peter momentarily forgot but was reminded by Paul in Galations 2:11-21. The gospel knows no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. This is because salvation is by grace and not works. All men stand equal before God, because it is His righteousness in Christ which saves us and not our own righteousness. I believe we share the same faith as Peter. We are all deficient and corrupt, but through the Gospel God has made a provision for us in Christ. We all need the Gospel just as much as the next person and that hasn't changed. Things may have been different in Peters' day but we are no less threatened today. We are constantly attacked by Satan and he would lead us to death just as certainly as Peter. The world today is just as dangerous or more so than in Peters' day. We are surrounded with opportunities to kill ourselves physically and mentally with drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. and Satan would love to lead us to death. I personally don't think we are in a comfortable place away from harm, but I believe God is protecting us, and I think that's what Peter believed, and is telling us. Stay in the Word, have faith, make Christ central in your life.

All these promises are meaningful to me at this time. Gods' acceptance of me without reserve, even though I don't deserve it, is as meaningful today as it will be in the future. He promises to accept me as I am, that I am valuable as I am. I can be the real me with the Lord. Then if I am wrong or need to be corrected God will set about to make me what I long to be. I have come to love the restoration of me and my life that the Lord has set before me. He is, without a doubt, bringing me into a condition to function well and putting my life in order. This is so relevant to me right now. Not suddenly, or instantaneously but gradually he is setting me free. I used to be restless, wandering, and I could not find what I wanted or needed out of life but the Lord heard me in my trouble and began to lead me in a straight way. This gradual, step by step, walk in the straight way is strengthening me and giving me a secure basis for life. This is so important to me now and everyday and I thank God for His steadfast love because before I had nothing and when trouble came I became depressed and rebellious but now I have the Lord and He holds me together and helps me, leading me to a place of security and adequacy, of excitement and power.

To be self-controlled and alert. To resist the devil and keep the faith and to be willing to suffer. The instructions in I Peter are more specific in the language used in the Scripture. These words are clear, plain and practical to us. The Scripture in Ephesians is highly figurative language, they are symbols of something real. When Paul is speaking of these various pieces of armor, he is speaking of Christ and how we are to regard Him. We need to study the armor in Ephesians in order to learn how to lay hold of Christ in a practical way. Putting on the armor is essentially something that is done in your thought life. It is an adjustment of the attitude of your heart to reality. The first three pieces of armor, "having girded your loins with truth", "having put on the breastplate of righteousness" and "having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace" refer to something already done if we are Christians at all. These are the things we have already put on and never need put on again, but we must make sure they are there and remind ourselves of what they mean. The second pieces, "taking the shield of faith", "take the helmet of salvation", "and the sword of the Spirit", are things to be taken up at the present moment. These are aspects of Christ which we take up again and again whenever we feel under attack. It is also noteworthy that the order in which these pieces are given to us is very important. You can't reverse them or mix them up. And it is not enough to put on the armor of God, you must also pray. These two things belong together, and it is impossible to divide these two.

There are many who are readily rejecting the existence of any kind of spiritual kingdom whether good or evil. But the Bible indicates that all men are victims of evil invisible forces, but only believers can be victors. It is clear that peoples' intelligence is insulted by talking about the existence of the devil. But that is the problem. The devil is the god of this world. The world listens to him, but he is a liar. We must learn to recognize how these systems of the devil work and we must learn to overcome them. We all need to believe what the Scripture says about these evil forces and face our helplessness and appropriate the protection of Christ. We learn from this Scripture that the devil is wiley and he is always ready to attack us. He doesn't stop trying to find a way and a time to attack us. We don't need to minimize these attacks of the devil. He can and will bring you down, given the opportunity. It is important that we all believe the Scripture about the devil, because the Lord strips the devil of his disguises and reveals his true nature. The devils' work is to deceive and destroy, both or one or the other. When you reject the existence of the devil outright you are opening yourself up for failure on all fronts.

God is our dearest treasure, the only genuinely satisfying joy we will ever know. He tells us all throughout Scripture to "fear not, for I am with you" and this is what He wants us to do. We feel Gods' presence in those fearful, anxiety filled times and should remember to cast our fear upon the Lord. We may naturally feel fear and doubt at times but we can always count on the Lord to be our shield. He has assured us that He cares for us and has our best interest at heart. God may send difficulties into our lives but He only wants to create an atmosphere where He can manifest His glory. In our faith we can confidently say, no matter what, that the Lord will never forsake us. The sense of the presence of God is a far richer experience of joy than anything else the human heart can find. Always through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving we should present our request to God. If we believe God and His promises then the power of God will be exercised on our behalf. When we first believed in Christ, that was only the beginning of the experience of the power of God in our lives and an attitude of faith must govern every moment of our lives. To apply this to my own life, I just pray that I will always realize the folly of self-dependence and the glory of God dependence. I pray that I can learn to count on the invisible protection of God and that I am safe with the Lord no matter what happens.

I don't think we can tell anyone how to act, or what to do, or how to behave or what to think. We can point out what it is they need to do and the results which may follow it they do not want to do it. Only the Lord commands. If we read what the Scripture says about choosing leaders and what attitudes they should have we should be able to avoid these power-mongering persons. In our church we are looking for a pastor, the pastor search committee has specific criteria from the Scripture that they are looking for in this man and woman that will be coming to be our pastor and wife. I have confidence in the committee being led of God in the choosing of our new pastor and wife. This is something you have to leave to God. God will choose this man and woman. I don't think we can start getting into limiting the pastors authority, this definately will cause problems in the church. The church will be focused on the pastor instead of on Jesus and the cross. We do need to test people before giving them more to do. It should be clear to all members of the church from Scripture that we all have gifts and we need each other to function properly. It seems that if anyone should come to strive or compete in the church for leadership that it should be pointed out to them that that is the way the world works but not the church. They should be given Scripture to read to address the problems, a sermon should be given, the Bible class should address these issues from Scripture to everyone. We are all one body with many members and we should all learn these things together no matter who or how many may need imediate attention to these matters. I wouldn't single them out unless it were an extremly dire problem. Jesus got all His diciples together to deal with this problem. We should be together also when dealing with problems.

In 1 Timothy 3:8-13 there are some clear guidelines for choosing a leader in the Church and the results thereof. The Scripture specifically says they should be tested first in some initial assignment to see how they do. There are clear qualifications for leaders. It seems that a lot of the qualifications for leaders may be overlooked in an attempt to just get people to serve no matter what. There are definate results to look for when the right people are serving, appreciation of the congregation, boldness of ministry, a deep, wonderful sense of God at work with you. Strong arming someone into serving is not going to produce the kind of results that the Scriputure describes for us. There may be men and women who are unaware of their spiritual gifts and it cannot hurt to help them to discover them but that person must choose where to employ the gifts with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you just push people into whatever service you need them in you end up with undevoted or less devoted people than Scripture calls for. You run the risk of having some very unhappy people serving and finding it all unfullfilling. This will flow through to the church body as well if the members are not functioning cheerfully and painlessly.

What stood out to me in considering the responsibilities of elders, pastors, overseers would have to be the awesome task of teaching the scripture. It is the truth that changes people. In Acts 20:28 it says "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to feed the church of the Lord which He obtained with His own blood." Our leaders are to begin with themselves, to obey the truth which they themselves learn. If our leaders are not obedient to the truth then they have no power. This has really made me look at myself. There are practical applications in these words for everyday life for Christians. We have no power if we do not lead by example. The Lord Jesus operated on that basis. In John 10:37 He says "If I do not the works of my Father, then don't believe me." It made me think, can I say these words to the children on Wednesday night. Can I say this to other Christians? Can I say this to the lost world? Is what I am doing in line with what I teach?

"You are not your own, you were bought with a price," I Cor 6:19-20. If you are going to follow Christ, you no longer own yourself. Your willingness to deny yourself, even to death, is a decision to let Jesus be the Lord of your life. He must make the final decision, even when your life hangs in the balance. No matter what your circumstances, you are dependent upon God for your very next breath. I trust God for my very next breath to come to me, even at this very moment, so why wouldn't I trust Him when I'm in danger or being persecuted. A willingness to die to myself each day will certainly be a valuable asset when faced with real death. I must learn to live this way to become a true disciple of Christ. When we are not willing to deny ourselves, we are only being prideful and independent. I believe we become small, weak, limited, self-delusional. When we take up our cross everyday we are willing to face the facts about ourselves. The cross is valuable to us because it brings us face to face with ourselves. It will humble us, expose us, offend our pride. The cross will reduce you to the place where you are ready to accept the gift of the grace of God. I'm a sinner, I need these two things everyday, to deny myself and pick up my cross. Jesus is trying to tell us something here, don't try to escape or avoid the situation, welcome it, because it will bring you release, freedom, joy, love, gladness. After denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily come the words "follow me". Really that means "obey me". We are called to be disciples and our faithful Creator will provide what we need to do this. I'm certainly not perfect, I fail many times, but I am depending on my Creator to provide me with what I need to be a disciple of Christ. To do these things, I believe, is commiting ourselves to a faithful Creator. We trust in God.

If a Christian is not being persecuted, that says to me, that person is not out in the thick of the world showing mercy to people battered by adversity and sin and assuming their role as peacemaker. I would imagine that any person would recognize a person of God who is in direct opposition to the world system. When you have the values and standards of Jesus Christ you are in direct opposition to the commonly accepted values of the world system. Because of your identification with Christ you will be persecuted. So if your not being persecuted you're not in the thick of things being an uncommon person. People will view you as just common, of the world, if you don't represent Christ with those uncommon values and standards. Persecution should make us happy because it is completely contrary to the worlds' way of thinking! Stott said "it is a token of genuineness, a certificate of Christian authenticity." As the Scripture says in Acts 5:40-41, after the apostles were flogged and ordered to speak no more in the name of Jesus, "So they went on their way from the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name." When I am persecuted I'm happy that Christ considers me worthy to suffer shame for His name. The world just doesn't understand that.

Well I know Christians know something. It is something our faith enables us to know, a kind of inside information that worldlings lack. We know that suffering accomplishes something. It is productive. From Romans 5:3-5, "Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character; hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." I can't help but feel deeply hurt because of the pain Jesus went through. But I know what His suffering produced. I never would choose the trials that I've been through but I'm glad I experienced them. They have been of great value to me. And some of them have been of great value to people around me. I've come to expect the persecutions I experience. But these ostracisms, critical remarks, smears on reputation, hinderances to ministry and personal attacks make me examine myself closely. I'm not going to be crushed or perplexed by these things because I know God will use them. God will be at work in these persecutions. We are exposed to persecutions and struggles to demonstrate a different reaction than one that would come from a person of the world.

When we try to avoid persecution and suffering for Christ, there is no way the character and life of Jesus can come out. There is no way to display a different attitute or different reaction than other people have. Through your troubles God wants to demonstrate an obvious love, joy and peace about your life that can not be explained in terms of you, but only in terms of God at work in you. It's impossible to grow in Christian maturity when you avoid facing your troubles and problems. It is true that I have seen hard times and made it through and it is true that I have felt the sting of peoples' reations to me and my faith and I'm surviving that. But I do get distracted by my worries. But I should be looking to God for love and comfort instead of worrying. That is where our inner strength and joy and peace comes from, knowing that everything will work out. Brother, if its' happening to me, I know its' happening to other Christians. We need to help each other bear their burdens. These are some words from a testimony I read that I feel are appropriate to this question "Despair is such a waste of time when there is joy, and lack of faith is such a waste of time when there is God."

Obviously people who are promoting themselves and their gifts are not viewing their gift properly. Our gifts are given to us directly by the Spirit of God. It is critical that we understand this. We do not generate the gifts ourselves. Because we have been gifted by God, we can not think highly enough of ourselves to have confidence in carrying out the ministry He has given us. But we also know that we should not think to highly of ourselves because the Spirit of God is the source of our gift. Spiritual gifts should elevate us and keep us humble at the same time. There is that juggling of several different principals that I find in the Christian life, as always. Self-worth, humility, realism, and maturity should come from God. In mature Christians you can see that they know where their worth comes from. They know that all gifts are for the common good. When you think in terms of everyone who is a Christian, has received a spiritual gift to discover and exercise, you should realize that God is equiping His church to influence the world. The glory is to God. As for my gifts, I believe there may still be some to be discovered. You never know. I sing in the choir, help out with the children and try to give and work where ever I can. I think that some gifts given and used by God I may not realize. I believe my abilities that help me make a living are a blessing to many people I help out. I don't always do what I do for a living, for money. Some people just don't have the money to pay for what I do. I try to help someone out doing pro bono work or making a barter exchange of something easy for them to give. A lot of times it is their time. If someone asks for help or I see a need I try to be there for them or help them. It could be helping with dinner, cleaning, etc. Like I said, you never know what little thing you do could be a gift from God. God is endlessly creative.

Most people feel real shame at some of the things they have to give accounting for. That uncomfortable feeling frightens them. They don't want to see themselves as they really are. Christians have that problem too. Some Christians just don't go through self-evaluation very well. They still resist the fact that they may have wrong motives. I would rather give an accounting right now here on earth before the final accounting. There is something we can do about it right now. 1 Corinthians 11:31 "If we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged." The judgement has already started. The Lord is always pointing out to me my wrong attitudes and motives. He also confirms what I am doing right. I want to resolve these things right here and now. We should allow the Lord to see us as we really are. I grow the more I am aware of how wrong I've been. The Lord will deal with these things if you don't fight Him and acknowledge that He is right about things.