april
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Posts posted by april
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Let's say I'm like a box of cake mix. A bunch of raw ingredients assembled by someone in a neat little box. But I will forever sit as an unfulfilled promise of delicious cake unless the key components that will make me "come alive" are incorporated into me. When the fresh egg, water, and oil are integrated into who I am, then I have the full complement of ingredients necessary to reach my full potential and become a cake. They cannot just be dumped in on top; they must be mixed in thoroughly.
This simplistic word picture came to mind in considering this concept of being incorporated "in Christ". Just like a dry and lifeless cake mix becomes an entirely different substance when specific elements are blended in, I became a newly enlivened and fluid creation when the Holy Spirit of the Living God came to dwell in me and brought with Him an entirely new nature and set of properties. The addition of this new, living ingredient recreated me into something that can never again be what it was before.
Who I was became fully enveloped in who Christ is. With every choice I make to allow my "batter" to be stirred and beaten, more and more of His nature is integrated throughout. Christ in me, and I in Him. As I submit to His refining heat, more and more of me is being transformed into His creation of perfected "cake", the full character of The One who is Life. Without His presence and work in me, incorporated as part of who I am, no changes would be possible.
One implication for me is that there is no real life apart from Him. My existence would be dry, unfulfilled, meaningless, and eventually unusable. But with the Spirit of Christ fully blended into every thought, word, and deed, my life is changed to flow with the divine energies of grace and forgiveness and mercy and love. It will rise to unimagined heights of holiness and blessing and power and victory. And it will become a yummy nourishment that is meant to be shared with others (not sit on a lovely cake plate looking quite beautiful, but ultimately wasted to staleness).
Christ has poured His own pure life-filled character into me and He is now part of who I am. Or more accurately, as I consistently choose Him over myself, He is all I am to be! I am no longer who I was before. Another implication for me is if there are no changes in how I used to think and what I desire and what I love and what I do, then I need to examine the reality of my resistence to integration with Christ, whether in my salvation (truly transformed in receiving Christ as Savior, or just went through some rituals) or in my sanctification (becoming more and more like Christ). The ultimate goal in this earthly life is for people to see more and more of Christ when they observe my life, and less and less of me as I live in His nature instead of my old one. My part is to straighten out my concept of who I now am and live like it!
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Q1. (Isaiah 45:9-12) Why is it ridiculous for a pot to second-guess the Potter? How do we Christians do this? What is a better attitude and behavior before our Creator?
It is ridiculous for us because God knows all and made us, so He knows us better then we think we know ourselves. We do this by not accepting the things in our life that we don't understand. ie forgiviness and kingdom living vrs Worldly principles. They do not make sense to our little mind, but God's ways are better then our ways. The better attitude and behavior before God is Just Trust have faith and believe God.
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Q1. (Exodus 3:1-15) What does God's name Yahweh reveal about his person and his power? How would an understanding of Yahweh's name contrast him with the idols worshipped by the Egyptians?
Yahweh the name above every name, All poweful, mighty God, Life for all times, never ending, always the same, Alive for ever more. in contrast to the idols the Egyptians worshipped, they were dead as door nails and could not offer them eternal life could not offer them anything real and lasting the only thing they could offer was death and hell with out the living God.
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Q1. (Exodus 3:1-15) What does God's name Yahweh reveal about his person and his power? How would an understanding of Yahweh's name contrast him with the idols worshipped by the Egyptians?
There is no other like Him anywhere the same always yesterday and tomarrow. All poweful all knowing, all in all.
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Q2. (2 Kings 6:13-17) Why was Elisha's servant afraid? What was the difference between Elisha and his servant? What does it take for our eyes to be opened? How can 1 John 4:4 strengthen you in your spiritual battle?
Because he saw the human army around him and Elish's. Elisha was a prophet from God who could see in the spirit he is what you would call a seer prophet he recieved picture from God what was going on in the spirit world. He prayed and asked God to open the servants eyes to see in the spirit and God did. Your eyes will be open to see the things in the spirit when you learn to yeild to the holy spirit and his gifts that He gives all of us so we can show the Power of God in the earth. John 4:4 tells us we are more powerful than the devil because Christ lives in us and we have his authority and power. Thank You Lord!
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Q1. (Joshua 5:13-15) Why did the Commander say he was on neither side? What is the significance of this? What did Joshua feel like during this encounter? How did he feel after this encounter?
Joshua needed to realize he was on God side. He fell before the angel and he felt the presence of God he could not move after the encounter he felt like he could now go and win the battle because he knew by hearing from God that He was with him and that He would win the battle for him.
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Q4. Meditate on the titles "King of Glory" (Psalm 24:7-10) and "Father of glory" (Ephesians 1:17). What do they tell us about God? How should they affect our attitudes as we worship God? According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, how does God's glory come to fill our lives?
The two different aspects of God you can see here First the mighly and all powerful King of Kings no other above Him. and second the Father of us all who deserves our one and only worship to the true God. there is no other be side Him.. His glory shines though us when we have spent time getting to know him.
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Q2. Meditate on the title "Most High." What does it mean to you? How do you or will you incorporate it in your worship?
There is no other God. God is the ture God, all others are false. Most High meaning there is nothing that compares to God, He is the first and the lasts, begining and the end, the all in all. Our minds are to little to comprehend the vastness of God Almighty. Yet He loves you and me how can you figure....
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Q1. (Genesis 14:19, 20, 22) What did Abraham and Melchizedek seem to believe in common about God Most High?
They both believe that God was higher then all other gods in the earth, they also believed in worshiping God and and giving to Him what he deserves out highest praise. In psalms 83:18
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Q6. (3:17-19) Why does Paul pray that the believers grasp the fullest extent of Christ's love for them? How does comprehending this love change a person's spiritual life? Is there any end to Christ's love for a person?
Because He wanted them to know that there was more to Christ Love
that it never stops and goes on and on and is not the same old same old.
Because we will never be able to understand fully His love. But when
we do understand it better we are able to love others allowing the Holy
Spirit to do it though us. No there is no end to the Love that Christ
has for us it says I have loved you with a everlasting Love in Jer. So that
settle it...
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Q5 (3:16-17) Why does Paul pray for strengthening of the inner man? How would we pray this prayer today? Why does he pray that Christ dwell in the believers' hearts? Isn't this already an established fact?
We all need strength to walk this christian life, he takes alot of hard
work and disapline to keep on keeping on. Yes we can pray this
prayer just like he prayed the prayed it word for word. That's what
is what is so great about it you can pray the word and put it into
your sitution of veryday. Christ is in our hearts or you would say
spirit. The heart refers here to the will mind and emotions and we
need the holy spirit to control that every day.
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Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?
This hope has brought me through impossible situtions in life, it as lit been the anchor of my
soul. With out hope in Christ this life is not worth living. Christians with a meager hope live that
way. day to day just to get by, never excited about God and the possible of Him doing a
miracle in their life or the others in their life. it's a sad way to live.. God is a God of creativity
He wants to do a new thing in your life all the time, something new aroung the bend. prayer is
what gets us to it and helps us get to know God better then we learn to listen to Him.
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Q1. (1:17-18). What do you learn from Paul's manner of prayer for the Ephesian believers? If Christians stopped praying for people to receive a revelation of God, would people come to know God on their own? Would God work in them at all? How important is this kind of prayer?
That we should always be praying for others, and be thankful for them.
Yes I believe people would come to know God on their own, but with
prayer it helps get them there faster. This prayer is really important
because it teaches us how to interceed for one another. and take ourselves
out of the picture so we are not always praying about our things we are
focused on others that they are more important.
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Q4. (22:43) Did Jesus get "special treatment" because he was the Son of God to have angels help and strengthen him in his spiritual struggle? Do we get that help, too?
Yes and Yes
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Q2. (22:42) Why did Jesus pray that the Father take the cup from him? According to Mark and Matthew, Jesus repeated this prayer three times. Why was he so intense about it? What did this mean? Why was Jesus resisting the Father's will? Or was he?
I think He prayed his kind of prayer because
He wanted the Fathers will above anything else,
He was about to experence something that no one has,
a ever will, experence in in life time.
All the Sins of the world from the begining to the end on Him,
You are right Pastor Ralph, when you said how can we know or
undertand his great love that Jesus had for the Father, and Us.
I'm so glad He loved us, and God made a wonderful plan
for all mankind to pratake in, so we can live with Him forever.
What a wonderful God we
serve...
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Q1. (22:40-41, 45-46) Why did he ask his disciples to pray? What temptation did Jesus know they would be facing? What was the content of their prayer to be? Did they actually pray this prayer diligently? How does the Lord's Prayer word this kind of prayer? Why do you think Jesus wanted to be alone during his own prayer?
He asked his disiciples to pray so they would all be in unity and helping each other through this hard time.
The tempation was the temptation of turning away and running and not supporting Jesus in his time of need
God help us not to give in to the temptation. No they fell asleep. Lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from evil.. He had to do it on his own the cross the death and resurection they couldn't help because He
was doing it all for them. Because of His great love for us.
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Q2. (1:7-11) What is the basis of Nehemiah's appeal? How does he argue his case before God? What do we learn from this about intercession?
He used God's promises's reminding Him of what He said to moses,
He had faith in God's word, and he believed it to be true.
We also must believe in, and have faith in His word, as we pray it back to him
when we are acting as a intercessor on behalf of others.
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Q1. (1:1-6) Why does Nehemiah pray day and night for four months? Why does he fast and weep? Isn't that excessive?
Nehemiah had a love for God's people and he prayed on behalf of them
Because God tells us to pray all the time and on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers It helps God see that we mean business and that it
is important to us. We need Him to answer our prayers and we are coming to
Him for the answers.
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Q3. (139:13-16) How is an awareness of God's involvement in your prenatal development meant to encourage you? What might this mean to a young woman carrying a child? A young father-to-be? Why is such knowledge overwhelming to us?
Knowing that God knows all about me, and that He has a plan for my
life. This brings purpose for being here, and living my life for Him. I can't
understand all of this, but I have learned to trust God. The women with
a baby can have hope to know that God is in control of what ever happens
and that her baby is called also to do great things for God, just like all of us
are called to do.
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Q2. (139:5, 10). In verses 5 and 10, how does God's hand touch the psalmist? Have you ever felt God's hand on you in a special way? Was it for your good? What was it like?
I think in a matter of speaking it is God who is guiding David not his hand touching in littlerly
as you look over David's life you can see God's plan unfolding in his life, God does the same with
us, he guides, and protects us, because He wants His plan for your life to come to pass. No I have
never felt the hand of God in a real since. But by faith I know he is working in my life, I
can see the answered prayers all the time in my life, God is so faithful...
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Q1. (139:7) Why do people sometimes want to flee from God? Why do people imagine that God doesn't know what they do? Have you ever felt this way?
People want to flee from God because the really don't know Him, or trust Him with their lives,
they have the wrong picture of God, they don't know how much he loves and cares for them.
And if they want to flee, it's because they have done something wrong, and if they run God won't
find out about it. It's hard because we are just humans and God is God how can we understand that
God knows everything about us, even David could not understand and he was said to be a man after
God's own heart. Yes I have, I think everyone at some time in there life will or have felt that way
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Q4. (20:3) What is the basis on which Hezekiah asks for healing? Why is personal righteousness and holiness important in getting your prayers answered? How can unrighteousness prevent answered prayer if all gifts from God are by grace anyway?
He came to God in prayer on his own righteousness, When we are right before God, and we pray, he will answer because it just like your children, you want to do things for your children when they are good. and you think about it twice, if they are not behaving. God is our Father and he responds in the same way. Unrighteousness prevents our prayers from being answered
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Q3. Why is Hezekiah's healing important for his nation? How did it relate to God's promises to David?
It was important for the people to see Hezekiah healed so it would build their faith in God also so he could continue to rule as a rightious King. It related to God's promises because God told Him that a King from the line of david would always sit on the throne so he had to be alive to have a son to rule.
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Q1. (19:14) What is the significance of Hezekiah spreading out the enemy's message before the Lord? What is the underlying principle illustrated here? How can we apply this principle to our own lives? What happens when we don't apply this principle?
It was a point of contact for Hezekiah, and it showed how personal you
can get with God. He cares about every detail of your life. We need to go to
God for every thing that happens in our life good and bad. If we don't apply this pric
we will go off and do our own thing and end up in a mess.
Q6. One Head
in 1.2. God's Gracious Plan of Redemption (1:7-14)
Posted
God's plan for mankind, was to have Christ as the Head over all. Human beings when left to themselves to be head ,alway make a mess of it. It takes God to make everything right having Him as our leader He will lead us into victory, when you read the last page it says we win. We must have unity or we will not be able to get any thing done in the kingdom of God We are all one in Christ as the Jesus in the Father are one that makes perfect unity. Jesus is over all and all things are under Him.