warrior

Q1. (12:10) What dangers faced Abraham and his family as aliens and sojourners in Egypt and elsewhere? Who might oppress them? What "aliens and sojourners" live in your community? Why did they come? How are they being oppressed or discriminated against by employers and others in the community? What can you and your church do to "love those who are aliens"? Danger came from not possiblly have a lodging place, no food, death at the handle of the people already there, the fact that Pharoah could legally take all he had including His wife as his own. We are a small community but have many nationalities, Mexican, India, among others and find people still fear those that are different. They are discriminated against most because people want to change them to make them fit there idea of how we should fit into society and if they don't comform they are not welcomed many times. I find this attitude even in many churches, if they don't worship like we do believe the doctrines the same way we do they are wrong and must change. This is sad if God had want us to be just like each other he could have created us that way, He still says we are free moral agents to choose not only how we live but how we worship and as long as it lines up with His word it can't be wrong. Love and acceptance brings back the same from the person receiving it, freely you receive from God freely you give in Love.

Q2. (12:17-20) Why did Pharaoh and his household get sick? What effect did this have? What was God seeking to accomplish through this affliction? Did it have the desired effect? Because of sin, the sin of taking Sarah who was another's wife into his house. It brought on sickness that would have led to death had he not heard the voice of God. It had the effect of stopping Pharaoh from touching Sarah and caused Him to restore Sarah to Abraham along with material wealth. God was seeking to establish the pure undefiled linage that Jesus would come from and reminding Abraham that God is able to deliver us if we abide in his truth and have faith. Yes, it had the desired effect, Sarah was returned undefiled and Abraham's faith was strenghten to carry on in God's will.

The beginning of His faith and ours is in the act of believing in the one true God, this was a great act of faith when all Abraham had ever know was idol worship. When we call on the name of the Lord we acknowledge our belief He is our GOD and no other is before Him. You can know your neighbors and friends exist but to call on them means a personal communication, the same with God if we call on Him we are communicating in worship and with our needs. We so often miss the greastest blessing because we spend all our time with God giving Him a list of our needs, He already knows and has promised to meet our needs. I love the fact that you don't find Abraham going to God with his needs but everytime he heard from God he responsed with builting an altar and worshipping God in thanks.

Abraham was blessed with having faith to hear and obey God's voice, how great to live so close that we hear Him personally and not have to have someone else tell us what he said. He was blessed with being the father of a great nation (both through Isaac and Ishmael), a great name, promised land and, wealth. He was blessed with a child, the seed of promise, in the old age. To understand fully such faith in today's world would take a much closer walk than most of us have faith to pay the cost that would be required. He was 75 when told to leave his country and kindred and was not at that, time even told where he was going, how many of us would be willing by faith to obey such an order from God even if we knew it was going to bring a blessing? Through Abraham, was Lot blessed and delivered from capture and destruction. Through his lineage came our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed all mankind with salvation, reconciliation to God and eternal life. We are still receiving blessings by being a part of the seed of Abraham and heirs to the kingdom of God. When our faith wavers, we have Abraham as an example of what God can and will do if we have faith and be obedient.

Hello, glad to be in the study I am a great grandmother in Florida and love not only God's Word but the history of the Old Testament and the life and times that were so often used as examples in His Word. I travel with an evanglist and sometimes speak in women's groups and have just signed up for discipleship program to futher the ministry. I love Bible study, I think it is God's way of having others to help keep you reaching for more and to disciple yourself to seek Him even when you are tired, sick or just plain lazy. God bless all.

Q1. (11:32) Have you ever begun something in response to God's urging and then stopped? Did God want you to stop? Is it time now to renew your obedience and begin again? I am more advanced in age than most taking courses but I feel very strongly that God has called me to take a discipleship ministry course which I have just signed up for. Had I obeyed when he first started calling I may have already increased his kingdom with many more souls than I have. What God calls us to he will take us through, it is the job of the enemy to try and stop us and God will allow that to see if we are determined to hear His voice and obey even when our bodies and minds say there is no way. I worked in one church for 20 years and a lot of people got in the flesh and caused a lot of hurt and several of us leaving the church I have lacked a lot of faith to step out again in my new church even though the call of God as a prayer warrior and intercessor in pray is a heavy calling on me. I have started to move again just pray, all of us one for another, it is the most powerful weapon we have.