FORWARD FELEX

Rebellion is the resistance or defiance of the authority. Rebellions stimulates God's anger because by rebelling we try to deny that God did not create us. We tend to be as equal with God when we don't humble ourselves and do what God requests of us. God created us in His own likeness. He gave us freedom to choose to serve Him or go our own way. Something unpleasant is that we usually choose to do things our way. A good example is Saul. How he chose to sacrifice disregarding the promice of God. If we choose to go our way, do we intend to say that God is a lier? To me, yes. He even tells us that He will never leave us alone. We need to examine and return to God because we can't manage things on our own. (Lamentations 3:40-44)

The excuses we give or "They gave" to Jesus don't seem (to be) relevant to the urgence of His call. To me, the excuses give way for satan to do his (evil) works. The answer should be "Yes" and "Now" if we are called upon.

The parable includes compelling the lame, the blind, the people who seem to be worthless, to come and party at the Great Banquet. The invited guests cannot come to the banquet, since they make excuses. They will be rejected since they refused the call. The poor, the lame, crippled and blind received mercy. They are sought of to come and feast with the host. The End Time event the Great Banquet points out is that at the day of judgement, those who will be ready (free of excuses) will enter the kingdom of God.

The original guests represent those who are selected to do God's work but cannot, since they have other obligations. The later invited guests represent the sinners, who make it count strongly when they are called upon. Compelling them to come means to entice them perhaps with something seen to come. This calls us to accept the call and do the work of God for us to enjoy the banquet.

I am not sure on how Jesus will judge me for I am not yet sure of my talents. however, I believe that by keeping praying hard, Jesus will open my mind to enable my awareness of my talents and enter the kingdom of God.

The fruit of our labour belongs to God who enables us. God allows us to take the fruits and give tenth to those who do His work. We seem to be independent since we decide what to do with what we harvest at our convenience. We are driven by the talents God gave to us in whatever we do. That's why we even take different positions in spreading the Word of God. A self-made person accounts what he getsw to himself. A seward accounts what he gets as belonging to the master.

I think the talents represent the knowledge one gets from God. I would build a church where people would pay tithes whence to pay back the talents. I am not sure of the spiritual gifts I possess, I have abilities to convince people and drive them to what I am saying. I don't have much Bible knowledge for I didn't study Religious Education at secondary level. I am a teacher (Primery school teacher). I think this belongs to God in a sense that I teach Religious Education to pupils. I integrate what I learn from the church with the curriculum.

The guests are: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and who we take to be last but are consistently holding fast to the word of God. Those who rejected the teachings of the Bible and enjoyed the fleeting pleasures of the world will be thrown out of the feast. This is because the feast will be for those invited and legible to be present there and then.

Jesus characterizes the entrance to the kingdom as narrow because what it takes to pass through the gate into the kingdom is what most can't comply to. Many people will not be able to enter into the kingdom because they don't comply to regulations for entering the kingdom of God. Most people delay entering because they don't have full Biblical teaching, they are not patient, they don't know the goodness in the kingdom, and because they compromise what is Godly with the fleeting pleasure of the earth.

It could be a curse for the words said in Prayer are mostly not fulfilled. For example, when we ask to be forgiven of our sins as we forgive and we don't, it becomes a curse upon us, for we lie to God. I think this shouldn't be a question. it should be a statement that "forgiving in order to be forgiven is a kind of righteousness by works". Because we sin several times in several ways, if people sin against us, we have what we can use as payment for our sins we commit if we forgive them.

Jesus is teaching us to forgive from our hearts. I think Jesus is serious. Things which Jesus insists on are mostly expressed in parables. Forgiveness is a learnt grace on one hand, that we learn to forgive. On the other hand, it is a foundational principle of the kingdom of God since Jesus teaches us to forgive, and since what Jesus teaches is from the kingdom.

Jesus is teaching us to forgive from our hearts. I think Jesus is serious. Things which Jesus insists on are mostly expressed in parables. Forgiveness is a learnt grace on one hand, that we learn to forgive. On the other hand, it is a foundational principle of the kingdom of God since Jesus teaches us to forgive, and since what Jesus teaches is from the kongdom.

I think we should not count how many times we should forgive. If we do so, God will do likewise to us. It will therefore mean that our sins will not be forgiven. The parable of the unforgiving servant teaches us to forgive since God forgives us everyday for we sin everyday.

The purpose of contrasting the huge debt with the small one is to show us that the sins we commit, to God, is huge and how our neighbours wrong us is small according to God's evaluation. I would owe to the servant, for the master can mediate between servants if one wrongs the other. To the master, there would be no one to mediate between the master and the servant which is more dangerous. The need to enter the kingdom of God should be the debt owed to us. The king felt insulted for whom he forgave was not able to forgive others.

John3:16 is famous because it clearly tells why jesus came into this world. It teaches us that God loves us so much that He gave His dearest Son as a sacrifice for our sins. It teaches that when we believe in Jesus Christ the Son of god, we get saved. This verse teaches that entering the kingdom of God goes with believing in Jesus.

Being born of water and Spirit means one is cleansed of his sins. I think water refers to pure water in which one is immersed when one is being baptised, which John himself used to baptise people in the River jordan. I have come to conclude this because I can't relate anything to water as used in the context. When one is baptised with water, it's not what makes him holy. The forgiveness of sins which is the Spiritual baptism makes him holy.

"One cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless one is born anew." So, in search for entering the kingdom, one has to first be born anew. My best translation is "born from above". We agree that the kingdom of God is that from above. The second birth Jesus referred to was Spiritual birth which is controlled from above. When one is born from above, they have the right to enter the kingdom of God. To me, this is what Jesus was teaching.

Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God is Spiritual and is entered in by the spirit. Jesus teaches about Spiritual birth as the way for entering the kingdom of God. I think that Nicodemus understands Jesus because he had the hunger of the spirit. He sought and the Bible says that if you seek, you shall find.

Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of heaven is more valuable that anything we have on earth. It is of a greater value than all our possession. However, the obligations we make, the promises we make all attempt us to value the kingdom of heaven as less than our material wealth. Being guided by what the Bible says helps us to stick to what it takes to enter the kingdom of heaven. It includes giving the poor, sharing the Word of God with others and living up to the standards of God. When we give testimonies, we make others aware of God's good deeds. This can make them turn to God, which in turn, I believe earns us Brownie - points.

If one has tested the riches of the world, it becomes difficult for one to live in poverty. It hurts a lot to lose something one loves most. However, what we should love most should be God not money. Jesus wants us to secure our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. It was the assurance we could get. Man's wealth was great. His love for his wealth was great too. It was very difficult for him to abandon his wealth and follow Jesus.

The rich young man's fortune would keep having dominion over him if he kept or was to keep it. Jesus wanted to show him that serving God is done in spirit and truth. This could not be possible if he kept the riches. We count from material wealth since we live in a competetive world in terms of business. It troubles us a lot if we abandon our wealth, for it's a sign of losing in business. If the only way of man to be saved was through letting go of what one has, many would not be saved. Even up to now there are people who believe that there is no heaven. For them, what you do on this earth is all. therefore, they decide to enjoy every bit of life they come across to.