C Riv

If you have hate and no forgiveness for someone, you are walking on your own power. You are not listening to the Holy Spirit who is in you instead you are only listening to yourself. In doing this you cannot grow spiritually, for you have closed out the Holy Spirit. We come into the light by listening to the Holy Spirit in us, He directs us and tells us what we are doing is wrong. He guides us to scriptures which in turn fuels the Holy Spirit living in us which in turn helps us to surrender to Christ, for on our own we cannot forgive or get rid of that hatred in us for our enemy. We may not know it but we more then likely have a lot of people praying for us when we are down and are in that state of mind. Prayer is powerful!Thru those prayers the spirit in us is touched and it only takes that little allowance for it to grow. Remember that He who is in you is greater then he who wonders the earth.

This can be hard as you have to relate to Gods Word, read it, retain it, and live it out. In keeping in the word, thus walking closely to Christ we learn of His love and how to use it. We let love direct us, you can keep Gods laws and not be judgemental if you allow the love of Christ to work in you. This means surrendering all to Him, because if you do not surrender all to Him the human side of you will want to show that your way is correct,that you have some power, you will become legalistic and judgemental. Love has compassion patience, forgiveness and is kind and shows mercy. Legalism sticks to the law does not bend, has no mercy or forgiveness. Live in the Word, keep the commandments, and remember the Royal law,this shows we know God and are obedient to Him and love Him.

He assures us that we have a truly righteous advocater, the Lord Jesus Christ who will plead our case for us, as He went to the Cross and died for our sins, not His as He has none. This is comforting to know that He is right there for us, but we should not take that for granted. As we walk the walk we strive to be more like Christ, thus aiming not to sin, more like aiming to please the Lord, to be obedient to Him.

To freely tell all of ones actions that are wrong so as to free ourselves of guilt so that we can move on and have fellowship with Christ.It is important to confess our sins to God for forgiveness. To stop confessing our sins is like saying we have no sin, or none that really matter, and that would be like calling God a liar and that there is no place in our heart for His Word. He promises to be faithful and just, and to cleanse us from our wickedness. Forgiveness is like a pardon, a dismisal of ones wrongful actions, but a cleansing is being washed of all wrongs being given a new chance, a new life.

I would say that that person is putting themself above the law. If one willfully does wrong and knows it to be wrong then they would be mocking God, saying that all He says is not real or true. They could be very close to APOSTASY! If one is walking in the dark satan loves that and fills that person with lies. One begins to believe in those lies. When we walk in the light we have fellowship with other believers and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins. We bow our heads and come to the Lord in deep earnest prayer, humbling ourselves to Him, surrendering and confessing all to Him. We REPENT, seeking His forgivness and His mercy.

It may be on a surface level if; 1) it is not grounded in the Word of God, 2)if it is not mutual depending on the unity of the believers,3)and if it is not renewed daily thru the Holy Spirit. If we are living in the light that would mean that we are practising the truth so then we are cleansed by the blood of Christ which would guide us into a deeper fellowship. I am praying with them in small groups and in doing this we surrender all to God, trusting in Him thus being able to open up to fellow believers. We study the scriptures and allow God to put what we learn to His use.

His requests are that we do good and share. We make it our aim to please Him because we want to be with Him, and one day we will be with Him and He will judge us for what we have done, evaluate our works and reward us accordingly. Wanting to be with Christ produces the ambition to please Him.

We are called to give spiritual sacrifices, praises and thanksgiving to Him. We are to do good and share with others. Some will end up giving their lives for Christ, physically not just spiritually. In these offerings God is pleased.

I would say that it is the same to me as it was to them, that Jesus is the same always, unchanging.Jesus is God, three in one, Father Son Holy Ghost all working together.They got to see Him in human form and go thru all that God wanted Him to do, and thru their faith and works I also get to see the Lord at work thru others that follow Him. As the verse says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. For us who believe that has unending power.

When we want what we do not have and it is not needed, but we get it anyways. If we get in touch with people that are tuned into the Lord, because clearly when one is greedy one is not surrendered to the Lord then that can help brings us around.Tune into Christ, study His Word and you soon see that He is all we need. He will supply us with what we need. God will never abandon us.

As God loves us we are to show the love He has given us to share with others. To love the ones we know can be easy, but to show that to strangers can be difficult, makes you nervous because you are treading on unfamilar ground. I am a good listener and willing to help out.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, Proverbs 1 vs 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 9 vs 10. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble, Proverbs 15 vs 16, The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, Proverbs 15 vs 33. These are verses from one book of the Bible telling us to have fear of the Lord, so yes it is healthy to have fear of the Lord. If one has fear of the Lord it shows that they are starting to get knowledge of the Lord, which leads to wisdom, understanding, obedience. As we learn of the Lord we see His love for us and that takes away the fear. One is not obedient with the Lord because of fear, but because one has grown in knowledge of Him, we see His love thru His works and words. When one does not see the love the Lord has for us the fear becomes unhealthy. This would be a fear that one is watching for you to do something wrong, make one mistake and wham! He got ya. The fear of God fits in because once you learn of God and you start to understand Him you see that there is no fear in love, that Gods love casts out all fear.

According to these verses God does punish.God punished the Isrealites on a regular basis,as well as those other nations or tribes who did not listen to Him, it`s all thru the Old Testament. I believe since Jesus came and died for our sins our punishment will be on judgement day. I believe that the trials and whatever fall upon us are because of our own doing, oh sometimes things happen, like bad health, illness but those are not punishments from God. To show discipline to your children you usually have a punishment to follow. We who follow the Lord are under His discipline, "training that developes self control, character." Those who choose not to get under Gods discipline will be punished at the end. Gods discipline is to bring us into harmony with each other, you know peace patient understanding To love one and other, foe included. God has given us that chose to listen and follow Him, or suffer the consequences. I do not believe that when bad times fall upon me that it is a punishment from God, but He uses those times to draw me closer to Him, to teach me. One must be still and listen.

I look at my struggles and hardships with a sense of peace since my Heavenly Father has heard my cries. To know that He ha accepted me because I surrendered to Him, He was slow in my time to answer but I believed He would and He has. My struggles and hardships are really nothing compared to what Jesus went thru but He has changed me in my thought process, my actions my words. When one is disciplined one grows and becomes a better person, one looks beyond what one can see and focuses on the Lord. When one acts according to their growth with the Lord thru being disciplined, it helps others who are weak or who may be questioning the Lord, they see your strength, peace, love, understanding and they want that too! You get to stand upright and enjoy all that is around you these are just some of the benefits you receive. God is awesome!

I think that it is something you can not see or feel, but it is there. In every decission we make every move the warfare is all around us. We must continue to resist because you do not want the devil to have a foot hold. Sure there has been times when I have let my guard down, and satan tries to step in, but the Lord is stronger in me and satan is not there long.

Abraham believed in God, he did not see God either but really believed in Him. He was willing to give up all that he knew and had and go where God told him to go. He was willing to give up his son as a sacrifice, I do not know how much deeper in faith and trust and love one could go. Faith is believing that the Lord hears your every prayer, every request, and knowing that God will do what is needed to be done in His time. That all that is promised is real and will be.

They are the ones of faith mentioned in chapter 11. Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Arron,Rahab, Joseph, Jacob, Isaac, and so on. We have the same weights and snares that wait to embrace us, grab us, but since we have faith we are surrounded by this cloud of witnesses of faith that we may lay aside all our sins and run with endurance the race that is set before us. Jesus has done it all for us. He is our model to look to. He lived by faith knowing that the Father would not let Him perish or forget Him. He lived a pure and holy life style according to the Fathers will. He came to us in human form, reached out to us, lived as one of us, died on the cross for our sins not His for He had none, and when it was all done He was raised from the dead and now sits at the right side of the Father. He showed us what faith is, He came here for us, to save us, for He loves us. We were not getting it so He came to our level for a short time to show us, what love He has for us! Thank you Jesus!

The motivating factor was FAITH! They believed in Gods Word. I would say at first their faith was not much better then the Egyptians. They cried out to Moses wanting to know why God and him had brought them out there to die. God told Moses to tell them to quit crying and get moving, their faith had not yet grown, they were just learning of Gods altiment power, and His unending grace. Rehab had a real faith and she was called upon and she answered to her best ablility. I do not believe that she was a shrewd opportunist and yes there is a difference in faith and opportunatey.

His faith took him to that place in his life where giving up all the worldly pleasures and power was ok, he was fine and to suffer I do not think it entered his mind. He was chosen by God before he was born, so the calling was in him, he just had to answer and that he did. I believe that it was an un stopable vision, that God is all powerful and all is His ,and all would be done as the Lord told it. The strength of Mose faith was not touchable by man, nothing feared him but God Himself. The vision my faith has created for me is a strong wall around me, Christ on every side the Holy spirit with in me and the Father in heaven waiting for me. I believe all can reached and done thru prayer which takes faith if that is the Lords will. I like to believe my faith is not breakable but I realize that it takes a lot of work to keep it strong, reading scriptures, praying, quite time with God fellowship with other Christians keeping the Lord involved in my life daily. If not for Jesus then these men were definently men to look up to, to follow to admire.

It would be one who lived or lives their life in faith and perhaps never receiving what one was seeking but staying true to their faith. One would not let oneself get caught up in the worldly wants and worries of the world, not saying one should not know what is going on or care, but not to worry in the way thinking one can change it, but knowing that God sees all and knows all and is in control. We have no chose but to live in the world it is around us all, but we are in Gods care and He protects us since we belong to Him, because " HE WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THEN THE ONE WHO IS IN THE WORLD." 1st John 4- 4 . so keep God up front and the world behind you let the Lord lead you and you can live a good life on this earth.

It is not just Abraham but all the other chosen leaders by God of the bible as well that help me in my walk with Christ. When I read of how each of them had their faith, how they did what was asked of them, they just kept reaching forward without delay or question. It makes it a little easier to take that walk knowing that there were others that stepped out before me. I believe that the final city is the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. The final country will be the Heavenly Kingdom.

The Judeo- Christian type faith is that Jesus is Gods true Son who was sent to earth born of a virgin named Mary, suffered, was crusifed, He died and rose again three days later and now sits at the right hand of the Heavenly Father. We believe that one day He will come back for His followers and that we will be given eternal life. Our God is a live! Jesus walked among fellow humans but He was perfect, without blemish. Noahs faith came from Godly fear. God told him what to do and why, and Noah did not question God but believed in what God had to say. My faith comes from those individuals who shared the Word of God with me at an early age. The seed of Christ was planted in me and the more I read the scriptures, listened, talked and prayed the more the Holy Spirit grew in me, and still is growing. Hearing Gods Word strenghtens my faith and helps it grow.

Thru out the scriptures God is calling to us to come to Him. When we come He will look after us, supply us with our needs, not our wants. To come to Him and surrender to Him takes faith, so to go that distance then one has to believe that God will reward them also. It has to be all the way or none. Believe with all your heart. To seek God is to come to that place in ones life where they surrender all to Him, your heart mind and soul are His for the taking, the teaching the grooming. You are looking for that one on one relationship, He becomes more then just a pray to once a day, but becomes involved in all your activities, thoughts and conversations of the day. To believe that God will reward seekers is very important and makes all the difference in the world. To claim one has faith but then say you are not sure about rewards for seekers of God is like saying you believe God made the earth and all that is in it, but you are unsure of the miracles that took place thru out time. To believe that God exists and that He will reward all who seek Him, one has to have faith for it is impossible to come to Him and please Him without it.

All that we hope for is real to us, and this is achieved by faith. This is what faith does, it treats things that are hoped for as reality. Faith is believing in what is not seen or heard, and waiting patiently for it to come.

They were exposed to tribulation, distress, persecution, famine and being put to death in many terrible ways. We are exposed to persecution, distress, tribulations, and many are put to death still today. it reassures us that we who are of Christ can not be seperated from Him. No matter what we go thru nothing can take Christ from us if we stay strong in Him. We know that we are not alone, that we have God on our side, all we have to do is stay faith ful and truthful to the end with Christ and we shall rise to glory with Him.