sandieh

Jesus suffered betrayal, disbelief on the part of most of the Jewish people. He was taunted, chased, laughed at, called crazy, even by his family....Jesus suffered even unto death and a horrible one at that. As guilty, when truly innocent. We suffer to, when others refuse to believe us, when we watch sin abound, when we see so many lost and hurting and not knowing the way out. We suffer rejection. We suffer temptation. We fight our flesh, that hurts too. Suffering however toughens us. We become stronger because of it. We learn to stand up under trial and temptation. And through it all we know we aren't alone, because Jesus went first, stood the test, bore our pain even to the death and when He ascended, He sent us help in the form of the Holy Spirit. We would not, nor couldn't appreciate what He did for us, if it came without cost to ourselves. Jesus loved me. He suffered for me. He died, for me....Thank you Jesus

The truth of the Salvation Gospel was confirmed when I accepted Christ. There is No disputing being born again. That in itself is a powerful miracle, when you pass from death into life! Miracles and wonders happen everyday. Look around. The sun shines, the rain falls, seasons come and go...prayers are answered, people are healed! Lifes are changed. The most hardened sinner totally changes after confessing Jesus as Lord! Famlies are reconcilled, addicts set free, the gospel is preached in all the earth!! I would have to say the Gospels, and the work of Jesus...was proof enough for me! And then there is that ongoing work that is even now taking place as we grow from faith to faith! Signs and wonders are common place especially in newly evangelized countries! Read the Heavenly Man about Brother Yun in China, if you aren't convinced before you will be then!!

We have to continually be renewed in the spirit of our mind by saturating it with the Word of God. To not do so, gives us an opportunity to become that forgetful hearer, James I believe spoke about. The cares, worries and pursuit of pleasures and riches can also cause drifitng. This is a good reason NOT to negelt the assembying of ourselves together also so that we as Christians can HEAR the Word being preached and taught, as well as learn MANY More applications of the Word to daily life!! He who hears my Word and obeys it is like a house built on solid rock! Nothing can move it! Matt7:24

The term "exact reprensentation" of the Father, says He is indeed divine. His role was that of Savior, in that He saved us from our sin and as creator, through whom everything came into being.

The author was referring to a relationship here. The term Son denotes a relationship with a parent, in this case "Father" as a son one is raised by the parent, knows the parent and is taught by him. The fact that Jesus was God's Son implies a very special relationship, that even the prophets did not enjoy. Except for maybe Elijah!

Jesus, was just as much man as he was God. I believe that the human part of Him was reluctant, scared, and uncertain....He was praying for confirmation of the Fathers will. And I imagine as much as the disciples didn't want Him to leave them, He didn't want to leave them either. Their bond of friendship and love was strong. This passage of scripture speaks to me so strongly, of Jesus humanity, and His willingness, even in the face of His own reluctance, to preservere in Gods will. Makes me love Him even more! Because He so loved us!!!!

The same way! Recalling all of God's goodness, and faithfulness to me! Sometimes, He just blows me away!! He is so awesome, and so everywhere, and in all things you can find Him at work, around and with you! Hallowed the Thy Name, is just the beginning for honoring the Lord, in the Lords Prayer, and that pretty much says it all! My favorite song about God's greatness? I Can Only Imagine.........

Hezekiah, never really says Lord heal me, but he does remind the Lord that he has walked faithfully before Him. The fact that he then weeps bitterly tells me, that he wasn't ready to die just yet. However God who knows our heart, knew his also, and grants him 15 more years. If we can't pray the same way, being without fault, how can we expect the same answer? Sin hinders our prayers and God's answers.

This was a very precarious time for Isreal, what with all the nations wanting to invade and conquer them. Hezekiah kept them God centered and they needed God to be on their side. However in the end, because of his healing, he was able to invite the Babylonians in to view his nations wealth, and ultimately that led to them coming back to take it...so I am not sure his being healed and living another 15 years ended up being such a good thing. God had promised that there would always be a decendant of davids on the throne, and He kept that promise, through Jesus!!

Both prayers begin with Our God who is in Heaven! Because God sits enthroned above the earth, and is the creator and Lord of it all, we can have faith that God will watch over and protect that which is His! It acknowledges that we know who is in cointrol, and on whom we rely!!!!

Hezekiah was showing God what the enemy was saying about God Himself! It shows that Hezekiah knew that the insult and disrepect were being directed at the Lord, and that it was the Lord who needed to respond! The underlying principle here, is to take our problems to the Lord! Not that we shouldn't do "anything" but having done what we can, then STAND in the strength of the Lord and the power of His might! When we don't apply this principle then the battle is ours, and we get beat down, tired, defeated, and give up. We might even have a victory of sorts in our own doing, but nothing like we would have if the battle is the Lord's!!!

Praise, real heartfelt adoration, releases the reality of God's majesty to our senses and innermost being. It brings us into closer relatioship with Him in a profound way. I can remember once during praise and worship at our church where we were just singing "Jesus" and we were so caught up in the worship that it was almost impossible to stop! I fully understood at that moment why the angels around the throne, cry Holy, Holy Holy... We should exalt God because God inhabits the praises of His people! And it brings us into relationship with Him! It says that we Love and honor and adore our Heavenly Father!!!!

Our prayers "bless God" when they come from a willing, thankful heart. When we are acknowledging our adoration and awe of Him. We have no good thing with in our delves to bless God. But His Spirit in us, lifts us to new heights! Of awareness of Him as Lord, Creator, Provider, Healer, all of His goodness that comes to us, goes through us and comes back as a blessing to Him! Because it is not in vain! We love our Father!! Prayers that are self focused, self centered, do not bless God, because we are failing to acknowledge that He is all we need. He is our everything!!!

To have a broken heart and spirit, one must be truly sorry for their sin. Not just upset about being "found out", but truly repentant, and ready to turn away from that sin. It is a sacrifice, because we are giving up our selfishness to God. We tend to resist a broken heart, maybe because we haven't ever really experienced one, even at the time of salvation, or maybe we are still trying to excuse our behaviour. I am guilty of that, and not proud of it. I want a heart after Gods own....

Yes it is possible! When we put it all on the table, lay it all out before God! And ask Him to cleanse us, restore us again to the joy of our salvation!! We have to be willing, we have to confess, repent and turn away from our sin...everytime we sin, because we will, but but who is faithful will when we confess, forgive!!! Praise the Lord!

David does not seek to minimize his sin. Nor does he maximize them. He sees it for what it is, and calls it just that. And acknowledging his failure and how awful it is, he sincerely repents. Sin is sin. It is wrong and against God. And trying to whitewash it, wont change it. Oh God, I want you to cleanse me, wash me, blot out all my sinfulness! I want a heart after Davids heart!!!

The prayer for Pardon requires faith, because we have to believe God wants to, and will forgive us, when repentance is sincere! Our faith is based on knowing God's merciful nature. And the fact that He realizes without Him, we don't stand a chance! We gain the faith to do this boldly, by, one looking at Davids example and knowing that if God forgave him, then He will also forgive me!

Even though Abraham spoke boldly, he did so with respect. Saying "Don't be angry Lord, but....He wanted God to spare his nephew and his family, and anyone else who might be righteous, but He also knew that God was God and would do what He wanted to do. Abraham showed his humility by "asking God, and apealling to His merciful nature. Because we can come boldly to God's throne, doesn't mean we can come arrogantly! God is good to us, not because of what we have done but because of what Jesus did!! When we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us, we are humbled. I know I wasn't deserving of it, but I sure am thankful, He felt otherwise!!!!!

He shows persistance by first asking if there are 50 righteous, then 45, then 40, etc. He was checking I think the boundaries of God's mercy. What if there are only 10? What if it was just Lot? Would God spare the cities for them? God does not spare Sodom and Gomorrah, but He does spare the righteous...because there is no limit to the depth of His mercy...which causes me to stop for a minute and pray for my friend Judy Bonnet, a wonderful christian woman with a ministry to people coming out of homosexuality...Lord there is no limit to your mercy, and in your mercy, will you lift up my friend now LORD, at this the 11th Hour and Heal her Father?? I guess I am praying this through, I have been praying since the diagnosis on her 60th birthday...I will say that it isn't easy, this praying through, and waiting to see how God will respond. I believe God heals, know that He can, yet I don't know the number of Judy's days...only God knows. And I will pray through, until I know.

Yes I do because it showed faith on Abrahams part, that He could appeal to God, and not fearfully, because He knew God's nature and His mercy. Also because God told us in Hebrews to Come boldly to the throne of grace knowing that we will find mercy there and grace to Help in time of need, means God wants us to come that way! Knowing we are in His Son and knowing Him to be approachable and willing to listen and to act on our behalf or at our request!!!!In that He takes great delight! Because He is our Father and we are His kids!!!

I see Abrahams speaking with the Lord, not in the sense that he was arguing, but rather pleading with Him. "If their are 50, 40, 30, 20, even 10, would you destroy them, as well? Surely the Lord who is rich in mercy and loving kindness, who had been so good, and patient with Abraham, would not deal so harshly with others!??? A question, a petition, on behalf of Lot and his family, yes...arguement, I don't think so. Because in that sense He is appealing to God's merciful nature and his request is granted. I think it's awesome that Abraham could stand face to face with the Lord, as did Moses, and boldly intercede for others. Puts me in rememberance of the scripture in Hebrews" Come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, knowing we shall find mercy there and grace to help us in our time of need!" Now thanks to Jesus, we to can stand before our God and Boldly intercede for others!!!

Okay! I had to really think this one through. I replied to yesterdays question, in the affirmative, that yes prayer could change God's mind. But after more thought I have to retract that answer. The Word of God says:"I am the Lord and I do not change". God is immutable. I assume that word means unchangeable, then His mind can't be changed. He already knows everything. What we will pray for even before we pray and He can cause our prayers to line up with His will, but we won't change His. He is perfect, through and through....His will included. We can not expect Him to answer a prayer outside His will. And besides all that Dr. Ralph, God could not have kept His promise to Abraham, through Moses, because the King was coming from the tribe of Judah, as already stated in Genesis 49:10, and Moses was from the tribe of Levi! I love this Bible Study! You really get to thinking with it!!!!

Since only God knows the heart of an individual, only He knows what is really going on with a person. We can only pray God's will be done and that salvation come to all who would recieve it. I am still figuring out this predestintion thing. Seems some are really big on it and others aren't . John 3;16 Says And whosoever....we should pray just as boldly as Moses prayed!! Thats the only way to pray! We have got to be Believing God...in everything!!!!

Moses was reminding God that these people had just came out of Egypt. They had yet a long way to go before their ways of thinking could be changed. I think Moses realized their limitations at this point. When we as Christians are helping new ones come to know Christ we to can forget that they are just "babies" and become frustrated and even angry at their hard headedness. When we pray for others we should remember, that it is not us doing the work, but God through us. God said to Moses"these people you brought out" Moses said"The people you (GOD)brought out. Moses also asked how this would look to the Egyptians, and what would they think if God destroyed them. When we pray the promises of God, we are reminding Him of what He has said, and God watches over His word to perform it!!! Praise the Lord!!! We need to know the Bible, to know the promises!!When we pray Gods will and His word, they line up perfectly, and God does what He says He will do. His Word goes forth (out of our mouths as we pray)and it does not return void, but accomplishes what God intends!!

With out Moses being around to keep the people focused, they had bean to doubt God was still leading them, and asked for a God they could see and worship. They began to worship an idol, like they had done in Egypt. I can understand God's anger at the people. His discription of them as stiff-necked is right on...and since Moses was a decendent of Abraham He could still have kept his promise had He destroyed Israel and staterted over with Moses. His anger was justifable. The point raised in Dr. Ralphs commentary is a very good one. Can prayer change Gods mind. And I believe it can, but thats for another time!!!!!