Paul H

Q1. (Exodus 19:5; 1 Peter 2:9) From an emotional standpoint, what does it feel like to take out and look over one of your treasured possessions? My only treasured possessions, in the way that I think this refers to treasured possessions, are my wife and children. There are other things which I value very highly, my collection of old family photos, the now battered, paperback bible which I bought and started reading when I was in the depths of despair and other things, all of which I would miss if they were destroyed. However, here on Earth at least, the only thing that I really treasure is my family. Most of the time, life goes on and I don't think of them as treasure. When I do think of them in that way though, like now, it gives me a warm glow of happiness, love and contentment. How was the idea of

Q4. (Exodus 18:13-27; Numbers 11:10-30) Why do you think it took Moses so long to delegate his judicial role to others? I think that this was all a part of God's will. It was important that Moses' relationship with God was firm and well established before Moses started delegating some of the responsibilities. The Spirit of the Lord in Moses had to be strong and firm before a piece could be taken away and given to others. What were the qualifications of these judges? Capable, God fearing, honest and accountable How is Moses

Q3. (Exodus 16) Why did God provide manna for the people? To feed them to stop them from starving Why did the manna finally cease? When they no longer needed it in order to feed themselves (because God had made other provision for them by bringing them to the promised land Why do you think that the people gradually began to take the manna for granted? It had appeared without fail every day 6 days per week for 40 years. It is human nature, and very easy to take something, in particular which provides such a basic need as this for granted. What provision of God are you taking for granted? I don't think I am, but I could very easily see how I could fall into that trap. A year ago, I was in a very difficult financial position. I had no job and funds had just about run out. I literally did not know how I was going to pay the next bill which came in. God provided for me and has continued to provide for me over the past year. The difficulties are not over, but I am not in a position where I don't know where the next penny is coming from. It could be very easy to relax in this position of relative certainty and comfort and take God's continuing provision for granted. The truth is though that I owe everything I have to God. I know that He will continue to provide for me, but I should never take that provision for granted.

Q2. (Exodus 16:7-8) Why can grumbling against a leader really be a symptom of grumbling against the Lord? Where the leader in question is doing God's will, then any grumbling against leadershp in accordance with that will is grumbling against God rather than the leader (a case of shooting the messenger). Are there any cases where this might not be true? Here's the difficult bit. If a leader isn't acting in accordance with God's will then any grumbling will be about the leader and not about God. The difficult bit is knowing when anyone isn't doing God's will. My own thought on that is that this has to be left to God to deal with. We shouldn't grumble, even if we think that someone is leading outside God's will unless God tells us, in a very clear way to do something about it. Why do leaders tend to take complaints so personally? Because the complant is actually directed at the leader usually because the complainer is afraid to complain to God. What does it take to learn that "it's not about you." Give it all to God.

Q1. (Exodus 15:24) What are the reasons that people grumble and complain? They grumble because they are afraid. They are afriad because they lack belief. How do fear and faith relate to grumbling? A lack of faith leads to fear and fear leads to grumbling. What symptoms of grumbling do you see in your own life? What should you do about it? I think in my life it comes out as dissatisfaction. When I feel this though I just have to look at what God has already done for me and the dissatisfaction and grumbling dissolves into praise and thanks.

Q4. (Exodus 14:4, 17-18) Why is God

Q3. (Exodus 14:11-14) Why do the people blame Moses for the advancing Egyptian army? Not entirely surprisingly, they see Moses as being the person who has put them in the danger which they now persceive they are in. They don't see that Moses is acting on behalf of God. It is Moses who they can see before them so it is Moses who gets the blame. What motivates their fear? At their backs is what is probably the greatest army in the World at the time led by the most powerful ruler on Earth. In front of them is an impassable sea. There is no way out. I would have been afraid!! In addition though they had forgotten what God had being doing in the preceding period, how He had protected them. They had lost their faith. Who are the people really blaming? They are really blaming God How does Moses respond to their blame and fear? He is decisive and issues commands as to how they are to behave, but he is also comforting and encouraging offering them words of faith. He also seems to pass on what the people are saying to God however, because God responds to Moses by saying "why do you cry out to me?" following which He commands Moses what He should do and Moses obeys. Why doesn

Q2. (Exodus 12:50) Why was obedience so important to the people

Q1. (1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18-19) In what sense is Christ our Passover Lamb? In what sense are we marked with his blood? In what sense does God

Q4. Why are we so afraid to obey God when he puts on our heart to do something decisive? Because we want to stay in our own comfort zones carrying on with what we are already doing. How are we to deal with fear when we feel it? Hand our fears to God What is the relationship of fear to courage? Courage is one response to fear. Without fear there can be no courage. Why is courage required in leaders and disciples? Because they have to lead into the unknown.

Q3. (Exodus 4:13-14a) Why is God angry with Moses? He is angry because of Moses' disobedience. The issues which Moses raises, whilst all valid concerns, have all been addressed by God, but still Moses comes up with more excuses. What is Moses

Q2. (Exodus 3:10-12) Does Moses

He has a strong sense of identity with the Hebrews and in addition has a strong sense of justice. He is decisive and prepared to take matters into his own hands. Maybe the reason he took matters into his own hands was that he didn't trust the Egyptian justice system to provide justice for the Hebrews (we will never know). All of these can be viewed as positive things. He is though rash maybe even hot headed. This can be very negative if left uncontrolled.

Q4. What does the call to the Great Banquet sound like when we extend the invitation to those around us? It depends on the circumstances. Above all, it must be persuasive and given in love. My starting point in my own mind would always be that this person in front of me is missing out on the greatest gift ever given. The greatest peace the greatest joy. They just have to turn and hold out their hands to accept it. In what sense are we the servants told to

Q3. (Luke 9:57-61) Why was Jesus so harsh with those who made excuses when called to follow him? Because He knew that the excuses weren't real. They were just that - excuses. The real reason was that each of these individuals didn't have either the faith or the desire to follow Him. Why is the call so urgent? Because there is much work to be done and a finite amount of time to do it. Why do our excuses seem so trivial when offered to Jesus? I think that the main point is that God has to come first in our lives. Of course He recognises that we have other concerns (family, job etc etc) but the point that Jesus is making here is that they are secondary to our commitment to God

Q2. (Luke 14:15-24) In what way is the Parable of the Great Banquet about grace? The invited guests have no right to be at the banquet, they are invited as a ersult of the good grace of the man giving the banquet. In what way is it about judgment? Ultimately, the door will be closed and it will not reopen. Anyone who remains on the outside when it is closed will be outside forever, therein lies the judgement. In what way is it about evangelism? The door will only be closed when every place at the banquest has been filled. We are the servants who God has sent out to compel those outside to come in for the feast. There are 2 reasons for us to do this. First; out of concern for the fate of those still on the outside. They need to be convinced of the joys of what lies on the other side of the door (joys which we already know and which therefore ought to be easy to share). The second is that the sooner we can get the places filled the sooner the banquet will begin To what End Time event does the great banquet point? Christ's return

Q1. (Luke 14:15-24) In the Parable of the Great Banquet, who do the original guests represent? The rich and socially elite in Jewish society at the time, no doubt including many of the Pharisees and the scribes (although not all - remember Nicodemus). Who do the later invited guests represent? The later guests represent the ordinary or common people in society, both Jews and Gentiles What does it mean to

Q4. How do you think Jesus will hold you personally accountable on Judgment Day for using your

Q3. When we are successful, to whom does the fruit of our labors belong? To God In what sense are we independent entrepreneurs? We are not. We are simply custodians of what God has given to us and like the slaves, God will require us to account for our custodianship of what He has given to us. In what sense are we stewards of the gifts and “talents” given us? What God has given us still belongs to God and there will be a day of reckoning, when we will be required to account for what we have been given. In that sense, we are taking care of what God has given us so as to present it back to Him when the accounting is required. How does the attitude of a self-made person differ from the attitude of a steward? First of all, there is no such thing as a self made person, only someone who thinks themselves a self made person. However, the attitude of a person who thinks that they are self made will be all about me. Look at what I have achieved. They will also treat what they have as their own (and sometimes that involves not taking so much care of it as might otherwise be the case). A steward will be especally careful with what he has been entrusted with and will be thankful to whoever it is who has entrusted him.

After posting my reply, I read Jan Mary's comments and what you have said Jan Mary is right on the point. The only thing God needs from us is our obedience. He knows us and will not force us into something He knows we are incapable of doing. In fact, in some cases, we may think that we are incapable, but God gives us what we need to succeed in what He has given us to do. All we need is to be prepared to take that step of obedient faith. So, in fact, as far as the Kingdom is concerned, raw talent is not relevant. All that is relevant is putting myself in a position where God can use me, and being prepared to obey when He calls. Thanks for the insight Jan Mary,

Q2. (Matthew 25:15, 21, 23) What are the factors that make up a person

Q1. (Matthew 25:14-30) What do you think the

Q2. (Luke 13:24-27) Why do you think Jesus characterizes the entrance to the Kingdom here as

Q1. (Luke 13:19-21) What is the point of the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven? What may appear small and insignificant and even possibly a waste of time to us now, will one day become large and a vital part of everything How would this be encouraging to Jesus

A great analogy Darrell. Faith and works or righteousness are 2 sides of the same coin. The 2 sides are different but an integral part of the same thing. I hadn't thought about it lke that before. Paul