N.I.C

It keeps us focused and if we have a strong will to begin with, it keeps us from giving up. That fear will control us and paralyze us from doing what we know God called us to do. We need to be willing to GO with God ALL the way, not jsut during the good times, but also during the hard times. We need to reamin constant and have a consistent relationship with God no matter what else is going on around us.

If we are never persecuted by other people that tells us and them that Christians are NO different then anyone else. Knowing that we are fulfilling Gods will for our lives and know that no matter what persecution we face we will remain faithful to God brings us joy and glory and honour to His name. We know that we will recieve a reward for this in heaven.

We want "leaders" who have been "called" by God. We need to leave people alone adn let them decide for themselves which direction God is leading them. We need to quit takin over Gods job and pray about everything. The "leader" may just end up becoming resengul of his duties/the church. He/She may become stressed out and overwhelmed by all these responsibilities, hence becoming ineffective in their work with fellow believers in the church. Having a bad attitude/heart grieves the Holy Spirit adn it stops God from working in that place or maybe I should say it stops that "anointing"/blessing that God wants to bestow down upone this church and His people.

They are responsible for helping fellow Christians grow in their knowledge and their walk with God. They are here to help us and lead us and guide us and to gently unstruct us in our ways. What stood out to me was that I'm not alone in all of this. This walk with God is more like a shared responsibility and it brings me great relief to know that I can count on somebody else to help see me through the fiery trials I may face and encourage me to keep on keeping on.

To me this means that Jesus and I are in this together. God will hold my hand the whole way through. (And this brings me GREAT comfort.) I realize that Jesus paid a higher price than I will ever have to pay in my lifetime, and whatever He died for me to have, i now have through inheritance... life, joy, peace, strenght, victory, a relationship with my Heavenly Father exc. And now i know I can do ALL things through Christ who strenghtens me. I also know that I am covered and protected by th eblood that Jesus shed for me (us.)

The danger of trying to avoid persecution and suffering for Christ is that this shows us how "weak" and how uncommitted/unfaithful we are to God. We all will face some type of persecution or suffering for our faith. This is just one of Satan's ways of keeping us from going pressing on. Yes, lately I have been distracted by persectuion from what i should have been doing or know to do. NO I don't believe I have obsereved this in other Christians.

They don't want to feel guilty about their sins nor do they want to have to think (give any thought) to what they are doing, let alone think that they will one day have to be accountable for them. Because nobody wants to "pay" for their mistakes. We want everything to be buried on our past, (We're the one's who are supposed to know the difference between right and wrong and we're supposed to be the one's who who are different from the rest of the world and abstain from these sins. We don't want our sins to be exposed to anyone let alone God. (It's a scary thought.) To live a moral life. To live in a way that pleases God. "HOLY, PURE!" With Jesus' attitude. An attitude of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. We should hate what God hates, grieve what God grieves and love what God loves.

I think that all people (whether intentional or not) want us to do what they're doing, or go where they're going. It's just human nature. We don't want to be the only one's, so we try to bring someone else along with us and that somehow (to us) makes that sin okay. Sometimes we are tempted to sin because we feel so much pressure surrounding us. We don't want to come off as being judgemental or thinking of ourselves any higher than anyone else. Sometimes we don't want to put up with the criticism for fear of standing out so er just go with the flow. I think it is always going to be a challenge to resist temptation. The best way to resitst temptation is to stay strong by spending time "DAILY" with God. (It is God who arms us iwth strength and makes our way perfect.) Its our way of staying plugged in to God. If our "spirits" or our innerman is not being fed, we grow weaker and weaker with each passing day. And thats when Satan finds the opportunity to attack us. (We're not strong enough to stand against this temptation.)

To me this verse means that no matter what Jesus was going to press on, He refused to give up because he knew what needed to be done to fulfill God's will, plan and purpose for all of our lives. Jesus looked to God to arm HIM with STRENGTH and to keep HIS focus. Jesus put HIS trust and HIS life in God's hands and believed that everything was going to work out for good. I think this passage is talking about having a "determined" attitude. To obey God no matter what the cost. To have an attitude that fully trusts in God and that He alone knows what needs to take place in our lives, our circumstances exc. to work out for His and our own good.

Yes, I have pledged my faith in Jesus Christ and promised to serve him as his disciple. Because of my faith in Jesus Christ and because I desire to follow Him with all of my heart and I want to make that publically known to both God and the world. THerefore, I was baptized (completely immeresed in water) at the age of 12. Some people may think that I was too young, bu I assure you I knew exactly what I wanted to do and the reason why I wanted to do it.

My unrighteousness. I did nothing to deserve redemption from any of my sins. There is nothing that I can do personally to atone for any one of my sins. And yet God now sees me as the righteousmess of God in Christ, because of Jesus' sacrifice. God now sees me the same way as He sees His own Son Jesus. I (we) are so blessed to serve such an Awesome God who cares and loves us this much. I can now have an Awesome relationship with God. I can now live out the Holy and Pure life that God calls us to through the blood that Jesus shed for me. How lovely and Beautiful and Awesome our God truly is.

People are blinded to the truth. They cannot know or understand the things that Christians have learned along the way. When we are being persecuted for what we believe in and know to be right, I think that just frustrates us and when we become attacked personally, our "flesh" kicks in and we just want to tell them off. We may be Christians, but we are not perfect. When we are in tough places it is easy to be the wrong kind of witness because the more we're under pressure, the mor ecareless we are with the words that come out of our mouths. (We all know that i a heated arguement words just begin to fly out of control.) Hence, we are made out to be no different than any other person in this world. My problem is that I have more of a quiet personality. Sometimes (depending on the relationship I hve with the person) a fear of speaking rises up in me and I can't think of what to say and when I do the words just become all jumbled, because I am so nervous to talk. BUT... on the other hand, If I'm really close to the person, such as my husband, I get really frustrated with him when he doesn't even seem to care to have a deeper relationship/walk with God and I am shocked, afterwards, with the words that come flying out of my own mouth. I think that is why it is better to just keep your mouth shut and say nothing when under pressure.

I absouletly love my church. It is definately a place where God is moving in our midst. We are all well fed here. I think the reason for this is because the majority of the people, including the pastors, leaders/elders are truly "walking lights." I really don't know how to describe it, but these people really do love each other and take really good care of one another and they desire to spread this through our community. Out of all of the churches I've been to, and I've been to quite a few, I've never experienced another church like this one. They all seem to long to follow and chase after God's own heart and will. As for the rest of the questions, I really can't answer. You see as much as I see the overwhelming amount of love that these people have for God and for others, and although that this is something that I want in on deep down inside, I just for some reason still have this lingering fear thats holding me back. You see, I grew up in a Christian home and my family and I were very involved in another church. My parents divorced when I was about 15 years old and the people in the church looked down on all of us. We all lost our "positions," not to mention our respect within this church. I lost my babysitting jobs and some good friends. Understand though that I no longer hold these people or other christians for that matter accountable for thier attitude towards us. I don't hate them, I've let all of that go, because I have learned that I am quite capable of doing the same thing to others. Afterall we are all human and none of us are perfect. (IF anything this has taught me to be more compassionate and less judgemental of others.) So I guess because of all of this I just don't feel like I really can belong anywhere. I am not good enough to be part of God's family. BUT I know that, that according to God's word that is not true. And these people at this church have been great. They are always asking and encouraging my family and I to join them for all kinds of activities. But everytime I think about doing this, it's like a panic attack rises within me and I just can't do it. I know it doesn't make much sense to me either.

If we act "wrongly" against another person or even have a wrong "attitude" or possibly a negative attitude towards them, we are sinning. And we all know that God cannot bless sin. (God's ears are not attentive to our prayers until we repent and ask for forgiveness.) Why would God do anything for you when you purposefully or knowingly mistreat others or think of yourself as more superior than any other human being that God created. I believe that this applies to wives as well.

A husband has to become "sensitive" to a women's needs in order to make thier families/ relationship functional. It shows that the husband is willing to set aside his needs and that even though he may not fully understand his wife, he cares enough or cherishes her enough to try to understand. If the husband meets the needs of his wife, she will willingly and joyfully meet his needs. Men try do dominate their wives because some of them do see themselves as superior to women. Often times, men who demand respect and who always need to stay in "control" do so because of low self esteem. I think this also applies to women, we do not want to be considered as the weaker partner, and if men make us feel that way we become rebellious. This is harmful because the relationship and the family becomes out of balance. It sets both the relationship between the husband and wife and the harmony in the housedhold up for failure/dysfunction. Domination is contrary to God's nature because Jesus said that whoever wants to be great among you, must become the least. Jesus is a King and He took on the form of a sevant. We are to follow His example. God doesn't demand respect, nor is he controlling, He gives us a choice out of love. Yes HE wants respect, Yes He wants us to love HIm, to follow HIm and be obediant to Him, but He gives us a choice. And when we choose to serve HIm we do it with all our hearts, with great joy, fully trusting in HIm and being obediant to HIm. I believe thats how a husband/wife relationship is supposesd to work. Someone who demands our love, respect and obediance may get that , more likely out of fear and with a resentful attitude. but they never love out of the fulleness of their hearts. Maybe God understood that and thats why He always gives us a choice. Because in return He will have our whole hearts. And in return His name will be given glory, honour and praise.

A person cultivates inner beauty by tending to it, through prayer, devotions, bible reading, fellowship with other Christains, exc. We can also cultivate our characters by caring for and tending to other people's needs. Even simply by using our words to encourage, edify and exhort our families and others. I think that we gain character by doing the things I already mentioned. I also think that we gain character through life's experiences and challenges. I believe that God is more interested in what is going on in our hearts. A persons character ultimately determines his/her own actions. It answers the question why we do what we do. Character can help a Christian women win her husband because somehow He will see God's character beginning to take root in our lives. He will see the peace and joy and love tht we have and He will desire those same qualities too. (In a sense this type of inner beauty is what draws others to us and God.)

God wants us to live "excellent" lives. He wants us to do our best and to present our best in everything. God doesn't want us to be lazy or slopy individuals. OUr appearance says something about both ourselves and God. It also models how we view ourselves and our life. And everyone knows that when we look goo, we feel good and that helps us to feel more confident as we go about our business during the day. Women who are only concerned about looking their bes and being on top of all the latest fashions and trends to out do each other, thats way out of balance. God calls us to live a well balanced life. He doesn't want our focus to be just on ourselves, too much attention can steal our time away from God. The balance is to appreciate who God created and to care for the body that God spent so much detail on. Think about it, it took 9 months for God to knit you together in your mothers womb. According to God we are exactly as we should be. The bible says that we are all "FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY MADE." we need to do the best with what God gave us and to spend a certain amount of time grooming and set aside time alone with God, our families and our work. (Actually we should work our schedules around God.)

Submission is so difficult for humans because we all want to do our own thing and live by our own rules. I believe that at times submission does require us to be silent when we don't agree or feel something can be improved. It's all about choosing your battles. It's knowing when to speak and when to keep silent. Knowing when to stand up and face oppostion and when to sit quietly and pray. Submission is wrong for Christian's when we have to compromise our faith, our belief's, our values and our morals. So basically it is wrong when it is contrary to the Word of God.

Because our Spirit is willing but our Flesh is weak. It is our earthly fleshly humam desires that get us into trouble. We always have a choice, sometimes its just easier to give in and follow our flesh (what we want.) We must die to sins and live for righteousness. We have been set free from living under the bondage of sin. So stop sinning. It takes some thought and effort on our part. Be conscious of what you are doing, thinking and saying. Exert some self-control. We can die to sin by asking God to help us with the things we are struggling with. Putting scripture verses into memory is also very helpful when faced with specific temptations. By purposely staying away from the things, the places or the people that do tempt us to sin. By asking God to renew our minds, adjust our thoughts and our attitudes daily. Live for righteousness means to make right choices to do the things that we know please God. To pursue God. To be obediant to Him.

It means that I don't have to suffer or pay for any of the sins I committ. It means that every sin of mine was taken out on Jesus. HE was brutally beaten and trotured and every bruise and every wound that was broken open was the penalty for each sin that God knew I would committ. JEsus paid the price for ALL of my sins. He took them and made them HIs, so I could be set free. JEsus took all of my shame and all of my guilt, He took all of my fears, my failures, my faults and my weaknesses and placed them on HImself. I should have been the one to pay the price for my sins, I should have been beaten and trotued and left to die but JEsus graciously interceded for me so that I could have an Awesome relationship with God and so that I could have eternal life with Christ. God now sees me in the same way as HE sees His own son Jesus, Holy, Righteous (right standing with God) and faithful. God will never turn his face away from me, He will never take his Holy Spirit away from me (as long as I repent and ask forgiveness of my sins.) These are some verses that I found and cherish with all of my heart because I once had so much sin in my life and I had gotten so far away from God that I thought that He could never forgive me (or maybe it was that I felt that He shouldn't.) I felt so ashamed, so lost, guilty, and condemned. I never thought that I would ever find my way out, but somehow God has brought me here. And most amazingly to this study in particular. Thankyou Pastor Ralph for making this study available for everyone. Jeremiah 3:22 "Come back to me you faithful children and I will forgive you for being unfaithful." Isaiah 1:18 "NO matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you clean as freshly fallen snow." Romans 8:1 There is no condemnation for thos ewho belong to CHrist."

Because the only way to be redeemed and made righteous in the eyes of God was for Him to send someone (Jesus) without sin to die for us on the cross. Sin cannot save sin. Jesus suffered spiritually and mentally (inner turmoil.) He must have felt gulity, unclean, condemned and full of shame. How could a sinless man stand this kind of corruption? Only someone who was chosen and who had the anointing of God upon His life. Only someone who really knew his Father and trusted Him with His very life. Only someone who was completely obediant to God. Only one who had a strong spirit. (For the strong spirit of the man shall sustain him in bodily pain and trouble.) Only someone who was filled with GREAT LOVE and COMPASSION for us. Only someone who truly understood what would happen to us if He wasn't crucified.

Jesus closed the gap between God and I. Jesus saw a list of all the sins I would committ in my life time. He knew that the penalty for sin was death. He knew I could never lead a perfect blesmish free life because God cannot look at sin and that there was no other way for me to have eternal life with Christ unless Jesus stood in for me and paid the price for my sins which was death and for His own Father to turn his face away from Jesus. Jesus suffered for us in more ways than most of us will ever experience in our lifetime. Without Jesus we could never live an everyday ordinary victorious life. We have been made heirs with Jesus. Whatever HE had we now have. Not because of anything we've done or deserve but because JEsus shed HIs precious blood for us. Jesus suffered spiritually,physically, and mentally. THe bible states that His body was broken for us. My King was mocked, abandoned, abused, tortured and left to die in pain hanging on the cross until He breathed His last breath. I cannot imagine what He endured. It certainly puts thing in proper perspective, doesn't it!

To be honest this particular lessons is one that I really needed to hear and is an area in my life that I need to improve on BIG TIME. I have a very hard time keeping my mouth shut and watching over my words when I am faced with oppostion about my faith. You're right there is a "GREAT" satisfaction in telling someone off and "putting" someone in their place, so to speak. I always think that I need to defend myself and the reason for my beliefs in God. But I've learnt that I'm going about this in all the wrong ways. When I feel pressured to just let any words come running out of my mouth, I'm going to remember all 5 of these last points. I am going to shut my mouth and pray. I am also going to spend some time in prayer asking God to help me to be more aware of the words that are coming out of my mouth and that He would place a guard over my lips.

First of all, we know that God is always watching us. He wants us to always be careful with the words that we let come out of our mouths and He wants us to lead "EXCELLENT" lives (By that I mean giving your ALL in EVERYTHING you do, and staying away from the things that we know that God would be displeased with. NO because complaining displeases God. It shows that we are not greatful for what He has blessed us with... IF anyone remembers the story about Moses who was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land... The journey was actually only an 11 day trip, but the Israelites wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years because they constantly grumbled and complained. (They needed to get their mouths right with God first.) The same thing applies to us.. COMPLAIN = REMAIN. PRAISE BE RAISED. As for the last question I really can't say. I am very blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom for now.

God wants us to be passionate in everything we do. That means we are to devout ourselves wholeheartedly. (1 Corinthians 15: 57-58) Whatever we do for others we are ultimately doing it for God. God calls us to live out "excellent" lives. And when we fail to give our full effort to our jobs, God's name can't be glorified. Your lazy effort doesn't bring your name honour nor does it bring God's name any honour. And the most important thing to remember is that God provided the job for you, we should be thankful that we even have one. We should show our gratitiude by giving back our very best.