Ken7

God took the Jewish Nation from a position in Egypt where they were powerless against the most powerful nation on Earth at the time ...and rescued them, after showing this powerful nation who was more powerful. No force could have rescued Israel except the Lord. Israel still struggled to trust God for their provision anyway ...just as each of us do from time to time.

Safeguards are available and do work with an accountability partner closely involved. Observing an associate pastor who asked his wife to be his partner in this there was a success, but it must be constant over a long time. Before safeguards will work, there must be Faith. Belief that God will do what He has promised. Set Free Indeed. The peace that comes from this kind of Faith is enough to carry one through to the end.

It is Gods desire and will. God gives each person in relationships unique roles and responsibilities, just as He did with His Son and Holy Spirit. Our creator is not a God of chaos - but a God who created order and harmony. Evil wants to change these into their opposites. My role does NOT make me number one in our relationship. God is #1. We are each under His leadership.

WORSHIP Corporate singing will help the joful noise be more joyful and less noise. God detests our insincere prayers. Singing might be more direct from our heart, spiritually and more like worship to God.

Drugs, alcohol, and sexual addictions stem from the pain and loneliness of NOT knowing God intimately! The high from stimulants is an inadequate substitute for the Peace and Joy of God through our Holy Spirit.

My wife and I did not mature in our Love without taking full advantage of every moment we each have - together. We did not get get to the point of 'knowing' one another without a lot of communication, understanding, pain, and joy. We have tried to take advantage of every moment together as effectively as we can. We are human and don't "get it right the first time" that often - but we do keep on keepin' on trying - if you will. We resist for many reasons: 1) It is WORK 2) It is uncomfortable at first 3) It is contrary to our nature. We must be changed by God at the Heart level of our spiritual lives.

When my wife and I were joined in marriage, what occurred was more than a ceremony and a certificate. Beyond our deep love for each other we have joined spiritually over time. We 'know' each other. We are in tune I guess is the correct word to describe us spiritually. Our relationship with God is along the same lines. What happens if I am unfaithful to my wife? What destruction does that cause? Will we ever be the "same" as a couple? God has a love beyond understanding for us and is willing to forgive us as far as East is West. Our relationship with God cannot be 'destroyed' if we know Him to start with. The destruction we cause each other through immorality and other sin does destroy. The reason for Gods warning - through Paul is clearly stated in what I just wrote above.

My natural instinct is a prideful response which tells me, "I cannot forgive them, that hurt too much." -or- "I can forgive them, bit I will NEVER forget!" Christ forgave me of ALL my sin and He is such a great example, I forgive them and release them from any indebtedness.

WE put down weaker believers. We become angry with those we disagree with. 1) Is it helpful for building others up? 2) Is it according to the hearer's needs? 3) Is it beneficial to the hearer? We slander with gossip.

Anger came from God, it is not sin in itself. We are made in the image of God, hence we have emotions (Love, Anger, etc). In the beginning man was in a perfect relationship with God - where our anger was not used and dealt with incorrectly. Since the Fall we must give our anger to God. Instead we let anger go unresolved - even overnight is enough to begin the bitterness process - which kills. Unresolved anger is another victory for Satan. We must immediately forgive, we must immediately repent.

Todays non-believer has a distinct entrance into the same darkness available since the beginning. We live in a society with access to more of this same old darkness than ever. At your fingertips, in the privacy of your home are perversions, thoughts and beliefs around since the beginning - YET available in mass quantity at the speed of light. Access is two-way, with both sound and sight available to adults and children. Darkness reigns supreme and is exalted - worshiped. Sin has our legal community behind it, endorsing and legalizing it. We each inherited a piece of the Fall in the Garden. We each are 'naturally' attracted to darkness. My inheritance from God gives me the power to reject darkness by making the right choice. The victory is ours - if we choose it. My eternal victory because of Jesus ...gives me a "Joyful Heart".

This model is part of what holds back God's Church in America. Pastors and church leaders have a responsibility to encourage teachers and evangelists in the church. This means identifying and developing the candidates. We must change the attitude of 'it's the pastors job'.

Having the gift of pastoring or preaching and teaching and not being used will need work on both sides. Growth for the candidate and acceptance over time - on the church bodies side.

Phillips ability to "WIN" people to Christ is key. Having a heart for the lost and being a soul winner is so valuable - it seems easy to do, yet is difficult for many of us. It is a true weakness for many church bodies. We want to win souls but seem convinced we are not talented - don't have a witness story for others - have fears that block us from witnessing. all are excuses for what God has called us.

Our churches use Pastors (on leave) who function as encourager's to a group of 5-25 pastors and each church body. As we search for the new Pastor God has for us the value of this 'Apostle' is not calculable. He travels 4 hours by auto to most of the churches, teaching and encouraging us in Gods Word. He sends Pastor resumes to our search committee and has done a good job of showing us our strengths and weaknesses.

We are given our Spiritual gifts at the moment we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are given our natural gifts at birth from our Creator. The blessing is when they join forces for God!!

It really takes our entire being so to speak, similar to the work involved in marriage - or any relationship we care dearly about. Our church is in search for our new pastor, we are learning how important this part of Ephesians is. I am teaching from Ralph's Ephesian study on Wed's and look forward to teaching this part. Thanks Pastor Ralph for your knowledge and hard work. I recently read a review of this website -how it is a model for free/purchased material, and it is. Good work.

We are all His 'works' in progress ...working out our Salvation day with him with fear and trembling. Our patience and humility with others and ourself is crucial to the effective progess of this "God Work"

Our Rock, our Standard Bearer is our Lord Jesus. Our calling is to Love God and Love One another. God told us He "expects" ...His expectation is that we do these things if we expect to worship Him in spirit and truth.

Our church wants to change! Praise God. Thank you for this weeks study. I have already made notes for Wed. nights study and prayer. I am switching to Philemon for a couple of weeks so we can be re grounded into the message of forgiveness and generally how a believer must conduct their daily affairs. I will use this message to introduce the message from Paul. I can only Imagine.

The story is - at the Revival a church leader prayed; "Fill me Lord!" and someone yelled back; "Don't bother he leaks!". To be filled to Gods "Full Measure" is a sanctification process that will last my lifetime and still will not be complete. The key is - don't stifle this process with waste and too much inactive time - the clock is ticking. Gods gave me every gift when I first believed but to have a fresh touch - to open another door God wants into is a daily activity. It is also nightly for me ...God speaks clearly to my heart when I am quiet.

Start with 'soils' of our heart. I once asked our Wed. night prayer gathering which soil type their heart was. I was a surprised by the honesty of many; "It depends on when you ask me". Everyone there is probably a believer - so my assumption was; "We all have good soil hearts". The world ensnares us, our lives and family responsibilities distract us, etc. I study every day for a long while and I still have the world around me and my family seems to need me more not less - even church duties grow. I probably perform these duties and responsibilities much better as a result of this daily time with God. I want more time with God. The balance is these people need me - as God wants to spend time with me. Balance and moderation are the key elements of my "GRASPING THIS".

I had thought little about this subject before today, thank you. Paul clearly states that while THEY are from the same God they are distinct workings from God. I receive confidence from the strength of the Holy Spirit richly dwelling within me. I also receive strength from Christ richly dwelling and growing my Faith ( I don't grow my faith - He does). As I more fully comprehend Gods Immense love for me - the abundance of my inner strength and confidence from Him grows - ABUNDANTLY. This growth is for His Glory!

"The unsearchable riches of Christ" is a great starting place for this humility spoken of in the last question. When you asked that we meditate on this verse, I immediately became VERY small in God's universe. We search the stars and wonder many things about the 'God sized world we are in". Then we realize that we, His Church, are to 'make known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms the manifold wisdom of God'. That should humble the greatest evangelist!! We are God's agent, given God's authority ...yet we seem to be making so little impact on the lost or the spiritual powers we battle. I show my impatience, yet there is so much work, and so few workers. My prayer is that each of us will take our God given access, boldness, and confidence into the world and start making a difference - one person at a time. Prayer without these qualities in us is ineffective prayer.

Understanding and accepting these particular truths (calling & authority) from God can bring 'self-righteousness' with it - if we are careless. God gave us this authority so that others may know the Good News about Jesus. We are to serve God -not become God. The oldest sin is still alive and trying to deceive. It is difficult to be His Humble Servant when we are not humble. A lesson worth learning.