Triciahh

The resurrection is the restoration of the physical body to life, in its perfect and incorruptible form. At the ascension, this new body is transported to heaven. Since heaven is perfect, the body has to be made perfect to be there.

Jesus physical body could do everything His preresurrection body could do except die again. His physical body was no longer bound by the laws of time and space.

I don

Jesus had to die for us, so that we can have life. Life would not be possible without Him. Jesus is solely and completely able to give us life.

At the resurrection, the righteous will rise to live eternally in the presence of God.

The Jews previously thought of death as the complete end to physical life. Job recognized that there is more. Progressive revelation is when God gradually reveals greater truth to us as we begin to understand what He has already shown us.

Jesus gives us our spiritual gifts as well as our natural talents. Our natural talents and personality are part of the equipment He gives us to be able to use those gifts. Everyone has natural talents at birth but spiritual gifts are only for the born again.

Every effort implies using as much energy as possible to maintain Christian unity. I think that if we spend our efforts being Christlike in all ways, then the dual purpose of unity will be achieved. The bond of peace is that we are bound in Christ through the Holy Spirit to live in peace. This is totally impossible if we are intent on argument and dissension.

Impatience and arrogance only lead to dissention. This totally violates the idea that

The standard of our behavior is that it be worthy of our calling. Our calling is to constantly grow in the Lord, becoming more and more Christlike. Our behavior should always be that which moves us toward that goal.

I'm not exactly just getting started, but I just got home from the hospital stay this evening so I did get way behind. I'll be picking back up in the next few days. This is a wonderful study, welcome!

If we desire to glorify God and become more Christlike, the Holy Spirit will inevitably produce through us the kind of good works we were created for. We will treat others with love and kindness. The works Paul discredits are the kind of blind obedience to man made rules,

Pastor Ralph

I think it is hard to understand grace for 2 reasons. One, I know that I am worthless, and undeserving of any favor from God. Also, due to my selfish sin nature, I am not inclined to want to give to others without expecting a return. The concept of grace demolishes the principle of

We are at Jesus

Both the motivation and character of God can be described in one word-Love, which was demonstrated by His mercy. The verbs from Ephesians 1:4-5 are chose, predestined, adopted-all indicating He has a plan for us. We are not an accident or afterthought of His. Chapter 2:4-5 verbs are made and saved. This was so cool to see that come together and see-God had a plan, from the beginning, to save me and make me alive. Praise God for using even typos to open my mind to His word!

It is easy to unwittingly follow Satan, who is well disguised-an angel of light, and the great deceiver, father of lies. We are responsible because we do not measure his lies against the eternal measure of truth, the word of God. It is only in this glaring light that the lies become obvious. To blame us is only fair because we chose the lie. I thank God that mercy triumphs over justice! (James 2:13)

Non-believers will not spend eternity in the presence of God as we will. If we really believed this, we would do everything in our power to bring them to salvation through Jesus

We take a

The obvious answer would seem to be that we are sometimes powerless because we refuse to fully put our faith in God. I think there is no question that this inadequacy is within us. God, our source, is never inadequate. Yet, if we have a perfect unfailing source, why do we sometimes refuse to rely on it? I think it is due to sin harbored in my life which blinds and distracts. Some denominations place more emphasis on the form and order off worship than on actual worship and the equipping of the saints to do the work of the kingdom. This can only be changed by true revival throughout the whole church, the body of Christ.

This is a fantasic concrete example of what God has in store for me. My inheritance will make $10 million look like pocket change. I should never let present financial difficulties worry me. I know that they will be taken care of. All I have to do is be a good steward with what I have been entrusted to handle for now. As far as how this should affect my fellowship with other Christians, this is just another reason to relate to each other in love.

We have everything positive to look forward to. We stand to inherit the unimaginable vast riches of God. We will live forever in the very presence of Jesus, unbound by the pain of sin. This should make the decision to follow Him in all aspects of our life a no brainer. Our hope differs chiefly from that of a non-believer in that we do have hope. As we recently discussed, we have the downpayment already. A non believer has no real hope

We are created to praise Him. We praise Him by living lives of obedience to his word and doing good deeds. Our good deeds reflect His light in our lives, and thereby lighten the world. Our actions are our witness of praise. Maybe that is why we are told in James 1: 22

The downpayment is a deposit showing both the intention and ability to pay for something in full. The seller receives this and keeps it until what is purchased is paid for. The Holy Spirit Himself being our downpayment-why, this is more than I can begin to understand. He assures that on the day of redemption, the buyer will retain possession. The Holy Spirit works in my life in the meantime to guide me to holiness, to be in the best possible spiritual shape to be delivered to my purchaser. I think

I think this means we are all equal, and all under Christ. Unity is not an option, it is a state of being-we are united in and under Christ. Christ is the Creator and both passages assure us that He is ultimate Lord and ruler of all.