Nancy D.

Q2. (Hebrews 13:5-6) How can we recognize greed in ourselves? What will be the signs? What is the antidote for greed in our lives? What would be the earmarks of a greed-free life? If not money, what should be the basis of our security for the future? What promises do you find in verses 5 and 6? I guess greed in myself is a type of hoarding of "stuff" that I might need some day? But I do not really WANT more, so much as feeling a need to Not need more...for I have plenty... I am not sure I am greedy for I really LOVE to have something to give away to others and I do without compunction...and I appreciate being able to GIVE to the Lord and others, of whatever I have. Money is not security in itself at all, and the stock market proves that all the time. The Word of God that promises us He will not leave us, nor forget us, and will KEEP us and help, forgive and provide for us is our REAL SECURITY. His love is my most special security for with his love he cannot help but take care of me. It seems to me the verse that says, "contentment is great gain" speaks to my heart most of all, for I am content and thankful for all He is to me and will be too. He is faithful, constant, and everlasting and He does NOT CHANGE...I can count on Him. ....just as all of His people could count on him and always will be able to....God is Sovereign

My Father loves me, and He knows I NEED self discipline to be able to overcome my sinful nature...I am a mother and know discipline is for my own good.....so I am thankful when He holds me back... It is all for the creating of Spiritual fruit in my life, so my life will glorify His name and Him....and also to make it possible for me to be a Light in the Darkness of the world, so others can see Him in me. I totally believe THAT ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR MY GOOD...for I love him and am called according to his purposes.

Spiritual warfare is exhausting to me because my physical and mental resources are low and the only strength I have is in Christ. It is not easy always to resist the devil or my own selfishness, and satan always knows how to hit me below the belt. MY strengh to over come is when I get close to Him and His Word and speak it to the devil and also to myself to reassure my own self what is true and what is not true...for the Liar always says something to deceive me. casting down the imaginations of my mind and heart is one way I get control of myself and turn away from the Liar. I have to truly lean on Jesus and trust Him and His Word to me to overcome sin and temptation etc. Yes I have been worn down and given up to a degree at times, and it is a grievious feeling and condition to be in alone. Thank the Lord He is always with me, and protects me from myself most of the time...when I am vulnerable especially.. I thank God for the Holy Spirit who warns, guides, and comforts me as I draw near to HIM>..

Salvation comes to us through Jesus Christ' sacrifice for our sins, by the Grace of God our Father....not our works at all.. To commit sin habitually without regard to the Word of God, is sin on top of sin. A true believer will not do this, but a young believer will need time to over come the sins in his life....I am relieved to know that the Word also says, our Father will finish the good work He has begun in me...which to me means He will KEEP me from my own weakness or sins for the process of Sanctification is lengthy...not an overnight action. I feel repentance helps us to overcome, and if our hearts are sincere and we are truly making an effort to overcome our bad habits...He will enable us to over come them. Failures will happen, but God is patient and he is also loving and understanding...I guess the sin of unbelief is one that is difficult for us sometimes, for we are not always sure of what God is saying to us....and we can err in our understanding of our own hearts....for they are deceitful too....

Fear of God is healthy when it is associated with awe and reverence for who and what He stands for in all the world. It is unhealthy if it is with the attitude of being afraid of Him and His power to punish you or allow something in your life that you are afraid of. If your obedience is not out of love, but fear...it may be unhealthy. Perfect Love overcomes fear and since God is HOly and is LoVE I think our relationship in unity of LoVE is what makes our fear ...reverence and with deep love....and we relate with HIM with respect .

The rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you helps us put ourselves in others's shoes and to treat them as you would like to be treated. I am weakest when it comes to feeling I have been rejected as that is how I was treated as a child...and then I have trouble believing the other person REALLY WANTS to relate with me openly with love. But I nearly always treat others with as much love as I have to offer anyone a the moment.

Q3. (Hebrews 6:4-6) What is apostasy? Why is it impossible from a practical standpoint to restore apostates to Christian faith and practice? What point was Jesus making in his Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)? What is Jesus' point of the Parable of the Tares or Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)? Apostasy is to turn away from the Lord after you have stood in His presence and heard Him speak and have been exposed to His truth in unbelief. The heart is hardened to the truth if it turns away from it, and cannot repent for it does not believe the Truth. Jesus was speaking of the different types of souls where the Word has been planted, and the different reasons there was no fruit bearing visual due to the lack of nurishment for growth except for the one illustraion of "good soil" where the fruits flourished in different degrees and amounts....due to their abilities to see, hear and understand and receive His word.

Q3. (Hebrews 4:16) Why should we approach the "throne of grace" with boldness and confidence? What are the promises contained in this verse? On what basis is God able to offer us unrestrained mercy and grace for our sins while still retaining his justice as judge? Our privilege is given us as we are our Father's adopted children and Jesus ' inheritance is also ours....so as we are given this status through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can approach the throne of grace just as He did. The promises are that our Father will be merciful in His grace to forgive us for our sins. All of this grace is given to us because Jesus Christ paid the debt needed to erase our sins from His Father's eyes....instead of judgment for them. Jesus saves us from all punishment, so the Father does not have to judge or punish us for them and can judge us justly...the debt is paid in full....Praise God.

This verse is complicated to me, and I do hope to have a better understanding of it eventually. But to me at this point in my understanding, I believe no true believer who is following Jesus will apostasize to the point of death....meaning that the Holy Spirit within each believer will convict them of their sin unto repentance, even if it takes years for them to repent....because my Father has said that NO MAN can remove one of His children from His hand. So I am counting on His faithfulness and Love and Word to KEEP ME SAFE from even myself, and others who would spoil my faith. I love Him and appreciate His deep protective love for me, and am counting on His continuing to do so. For those who have head knowledge of Jesus and "think" they are Christians for whatever reasons, and are associated with Christians (so they have sort of tasted of His spirit) and then fall away into other beliefs or turn away from Jesus, I just pray that I will not be the cause of anyone's disillusionment to turn away from our church. I have known so called Christians who are so unattractive in their witness that I felt like leaving the church myself...but did not, cause I realize there are also baby believers without wisdom, without deep love, who are still just crying for milk like a baby would and not responding to anyone but themselves. So judgment is impossible, except by the fruit of our lives, and I do so pray for fruits of His Spirit to be evident in my life in other's eyes, for His Glory and honor.

If we are to grow into maturity, we must KNOW the Word of God, Walk in His Spirit, and Obey what He wants us to do. Discernment between good and evil is needed and He gives us as we need and ask and use His gifts of His Spirit. I think we are to be motivated by LOVE for Him as we follow Him and produce more of the fruits of His Spirit in our hearts.

Q5. (Hebrews 5:9) In verse 9, what does "made perfect" refer to, since it obviously isn't talking about Jesus' moral growth and perfection? (Hint: The word teleioō means "bring something to its goal or accomplishment Jesus' ministry and purpose for being on earth as a man to experience suffering as we do, and becoming a perfect obedient example for us to follow, was just the fulfillment of His goal to accomplish for us the gift of Salvation from our sins, so our Father would accept us and forgive us of our sins. His goal was accomplished and His work was "finished"...in perfection.

Q3. (Hebrews 4:16) Why should we approach the "throne of grace" with boldness and confidence? What are the promises contained in this verse? On what basis is God able to offer us unrestrained mercy and grace for our sins while still retaining his justice as judge? It is upon the authority of the Word of God that gives us the privilege to come boldly to His throne of Grace....so we are given this gift and freedom because of Jesus and His sharing His inheritance with us. The promises herein are of His Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness unto us just when we need it, knowing HIs Grace is always available as we need it and come to His throne in the assurance we have this "right" as His children. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ covering our sins that makes it possible for God to offer us His mercy and grace, for in His eyes our sins are no longer visible and He is able to be just in His judgment due to His own gift of life and forgiveness, to us through Jesus's death and resurrection.

Q1. (Hebrews 4:14) What is so important about "holding fast to our confession." What is our confession or profession of faith? Why is maintaining this confession so vital? ( Romans 10 : 9-10 ) That if you confess with your mouth, " Jesus is Lord, " and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved . For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved Jesus Christ is our great High Priest in heaven, the Son of God, our Savior, and finally our Lord. This is our confession of our faith, and as long as we believe and confess this to others, and keep it alive in our hearts and minds, we are safe in His arms, and are saved. If we do not hold fast to our faith, we will regress in it, and fail in our lives.

Q4. (Hebrews 4:12-13) What do these two verses have to do with what precedes them? How is the Word described? What effect does the Word have on us? Why do we need to continually expose ourselves to the Word of God? The preceding verses emphasize the REST given to His people which comes to those who are obedient and believing of the Word of God. The Word of God is so deep and sharp and penetrating and complete in its Truth and Power, that it divides between the soul, spirit, and joints of our nature, revealing the absolute Truth of our thoughts and purposes of our hearts. Jesus Christ is all seeing and all knowing which leaves us naked to His eyes, so nothing is hidden from him. We cannot hide our sins from Him and He wants us to overcome our sins so we can enter into His REST . The Word's effect on us is to convict our consciences, and uncover to our minds and hearts our REAL self so as to bring us to repentance and change and overcoming of our natures...which we cannot in our own power prevail....so it is when we expose ourselves to His Word, Jesus, Truth, His will, we will grow stronger in our faith, and understanding, so we are able to obey and keep our faith strong which will please God.

Q1. (Hebrews 3:6b) Why is the writer exhorting his readers to "hold on" to Christ? Why must we continue in our faith? According the writer of Hebrews, what happens if we don't? We must hold on to our faith to continue to increase in our faith....it is like exercise...you cannot make muscles by just sitting and never moving them.... we must take the seed given each of us, and USE it and exercise it daily as we will then create within our lives experiences that prove to us our faith in Christ can be trusted and leaned on. Without Jesus holding our hand and His Spirit guiding us, we cannot mature spiritually and our "race" in life will not be as effective or strong enough to win a prize to glorify Him. Our head beliefs must go to our hearts to produce the fruits of His Spirit, which will glorify Him. We can read all about Jesus and learn many facts about His life, but without Jesus Christ in our hearts and minds and souls, we will not have the intimate or in depth relationship we yearn to have with HIm, so our faith and trust and beliefs are one with and in Him. We must continue, or persevere in our faith for it to grow mature and usable for His glory and kingdom. We want to earn the crown of life, so we must keep working and believing and using our faith to overcome our sinful natures, and finally become more like Jesus, who is our Goal in Life. He said to Be Holy as He is Holy, and only when we stay close to Him are we able to see Him as he is and ourselves as we are....the closer we walk to Him the better we are able to emulate Him.... If we do not, we regress and fail in many ways, and we lose our place in the race, and do not enter into His rest...which is in His Life, Peace, Joy.....Salvation.

Jesus had to become human to truly identify physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually with us as we live our lives. He saw, felt, thought, visualized human frailities , and strengths in such a way that His understanding, compassion, and great love for us increased in ways that made Him "one of us". This is why we can relate back to and with Him intimately in our prayers and cries, for we KNOW He has also suffered being human as we do, and will understand exactly what we are praying about. Somehow, I think we do not feel His judgment when we sin, because of his humanity, but feel his understanding and compassion, and especially HIS FORGIVENESS...when we ask for it....we know He will forgive us for he too walked in our shoes and felt our pains and problems with life in this world. It does not mean He does not judge us when we are sinning, for His Spirit convicts us....but it is a little different feeling coming from our "Brother, Friend, Lord, Savior" than our Father God whose personality is so against our sin, He cannot look on us....Jesus not only looked on us, He lived with us, and loved and served, and encourages me to become like Him, even though I know I cannot without HIs intervention and help and power.... I love HIm so much for being MY OWN LORD....

The purpose of Christ's death was to overcome the power of Satan whose power is ruling this earth...now....and to eliminate from us the fear of Death of our bodies. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, sin has no power over us, other than what God allows Satan to have or what we choose to do against God. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to empower us to overcome our sinful natures...so we grow in HIs Grace into the likeness of Jesus....and He will finish the good work He has begun in us. Death spiritually has lost its sting, for we are saved from it. When Jesus comes again He will finish Judgment on all who remain, and Satan will receive his award of hell...with his followers... That day will be one that all His people will rejoice , and celebrate....and worship Him in all His glory. Our tears will be wiped away forever. The results in our lives are the Peace of God, and Joy of our Salvation, which leads us to experience the Abundant Life here on earth that is promised to us. Abundance of Love from God includes His tough love too, but His Spirit is our constant companion to guide and comfort and bless us each day.

Since Jesus was a human with the same feelings in his body as we have, he suffered pain just as we do, physically, mentally and psychologically and emotionally....However, since he was also God, his suffering which was sacrificial for our benefit, and not for just me, for the WHOLE world's sins. The depth and magnitude of His suffering the sins of all the world is beyond my grasp, but I am positive it was way beyond normal human suffering, for He was a Just, Pure, Holy God who could not bear to look on sin as God...and as a man, his total being was crushed with this undeserved pain. The Bible says He learned obedience through his suffering, and likewise, suffering in our lives also teaches us to obey Him and man's laws also. Our suffering is often due to disobedience or carelessness, but in James 1: 1,2 it reminds us to rejoice in our suffering for we will learn patience and perseverance in the process....this is the GOOD God promises His people who love him and are called according to his purposes. We will suffer just as Jesus did through others and their wrong attitudes and words and actions in our lives... or our own sinful sowing. The Bible says we will share in His sufferings just as we shall share in His glory, so it is all part of His will and way for our lives. If there is a person who has NOT SUFFERED, I wonder if he is human....but I do know one of the reasons for our sufferings is so we can relate, comfort, and understand others who are also suffering with the compassion Jesus has for our suffering for He also suffered and understands ours....smile If your life is without much suffering, you are probably spoiled and selfish and unfeeling of others who suffer...and cannot relate with them well....like one who is rich cannot understand the pain of not having enough to eat or being very poor

We may hear the Truth with our physical ears, and depending on our spiritual maturity, may not get the depth of meaning upon first or many hearings. All of us need to be grounded in the Word of God and its Truth, and if we do not study, or listen with our spiritual ears, or search out for ourselves what the Lord is saying to us each day, we can easily drift....into error, temptation, all kinds of little sins that can crop up like weeds and keep us from growing strong in our faith. I really NEED the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teachers, and friends who communicate with me about spiritual truths, for I seek to KNOW the revelations of Truth...and the counsel of others helps me sort out my thoughts and eliminate the errors , or confirm my faith and understanding of my own beliefs. My tendency is to be too busy, and not take the time needed to concentrate and listen for His voice in my heart. A friend of mine who seems to have a mental grasp of spiritual peace within, has inspired me to seek His presence more often for REAL results that last longer than a few hours. Stability is one of the elements of my faith I want to cultivate more deeply.

All of us can relate with the biological relationship of a child and the father....as humans, so to me, the connection of a spiritual relationship is easily understood also. I think God meets us on the grounds we stand in our understanding and knowledge. We also can relate to the love a parent has for his child, and understand how SPECIAL it was for Almighty GOD to be willing to give up His precious SON to DIE for people who were not worthy of His Love....terrible sinners....in order to save their souls. And yet, because even humans are sometimes willing to die for their children, we can grasp that LOVE, WAS THE SOURCE OF His PLAN ....and God Himself is LOVE personified in the body of Jesus Christ. I do not think a prophet compares with the relationship of a Son....totally in HIs Image....perfect and in Oneness in mind and spirit. God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ are the same, so it was truly God, the Father, in the body of Jesus who saved His People....us...and all those who will believe in Jesus.

Although I feel my Lord saved me as a small child through my faith and belief, as I grew up and realized my lacks and shallowness of understanding, the search for His Truth became primary in my life. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit within me, made me search also for ASSURANCE of my Salvation and beliefs and faith and doctrine....It happened one day because a pastor had asked me how did I KNOW I was saved...and I did not have an answer for him, for I knew I was still a sinner, and wondered, due to my lack of knowledge, if Jesus had given anything in scripture to assure me of being saved from hell. Scriptures are my source of faith in my assured Salvation. I especially love the one about "no one can snatch me out of my Father's hand". The assurance and belief and faith I have begins and ends with the Word of God, and though I know I am not perfected yet, the Love of God constrains me to lean on His forgiveness, His grace, His love, His compassion and understanding and just Himself to finish the good work He has already begun in me. I am almost 80 years old, and realize we have not learned enough to truly appreciate the Goodness and Mercy and great Love of God our Father.

A contrite heart is one that has been convicted by the Holy Spirit, and the sins cause a breaking down of self will and deceit inside the heart so we can realize our great NEED to be forgiven and saved from our selfishness. I am not so sure my own heart is capable of His truth in its wholeness, and feel God allows me to suffer through sinfulness to open up my mind to the reality of my own sinfulness. Humans tend to feel OK about their own sins, when they are not in deep temptation...and just let their sins slide into thoughts of comparison with others they know, and think..."I am just as good as the next person" and excuse their own sinfulness of attitude as well as actions. Our tendency towards self righteousness allows us to be OK with our sins, if we think ..." I am not hurting anyone else" so it is OK for me . My own broken and contrite heart feels the pain of my own horrible sinfulness and is deeply repentant, even when I do not want to change. The prayer "make clean my heart and cleanse my mind as well" is needed and the Lord will help us do our part in this process. In faith and repose on His Goodness and love for us, helps us keep from self condemnation.