Eudora

Q2. (Ephesians 1:9-10) What is the significance that all things will be brought under one head -- Christ himself? In all walks of life, people have found Christ Jesus as their Savior. Here in these latter days, the fulfillment of the Gentiles is being revealed. Many folks are finding themselves being entrenched into the Hebrew roots and following the culture of the Hebrew of ancient times. As time travels, so has the introduction of the full gospel to all nations and to all walks of life. Those who have chosen to live in obedience have noticed their lives to be richly blessed beyond measure and continue to seek His will in their lives and are seeking His righteousness and the Kingdom of God in their heart, their mind, their body and soul. His purpose was to make His salvation available to the Gentiles, and then the Jews would be jealous and want it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the Jews turned down God's offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when the Jews finally accept it. We are told by Paul to remember, we are just a branch, not the root. For since the Jews' rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, how much more wonderful their acceptance will be. Excerpts from Romans 11 Paul had a vision of a church where the Jews and the Gentiles would be united in their love of God and in obedience to Christ. While respecting God

Q1. (Ephesians 1:7) In what sense have you been "redeemed" from slavery? Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: In slavery, we are slaves because we are owned by someone. In this earth, if we do not belong to Christ Jesus, we are the walking dead. I am so glad I have been redeemed because His voice sounds sweet and tender. The music produced in praise or worship to God is music that touches my heart and soul and my spirit, where other music is a feeling and usually heartache, sadness or just a headache. Food has lost it

Greetings Blessed Me, "When I think about it, His commands are for our good. They teach us God's righteous ways. It is too bad the world does not follow or desire to follow God's law. I find they are not a yoke, but a pleasure. I choose to follow Him." I totally and 100 percent agree with your statement of faith here. His law makes our lives healthier, and happier and I also find it spiritually cleansing and you are completely right. His law is not a yoke and I totally get where you have chosen your name as 'Blessed Me', because I too, have been blessed by following His Law, Statutes and Commandments and all that is written in the Torah and the Prophets as well as the New Testament. We are blessed when we are obedient! - Eudora

Q4. (Ephesians 1:5-6) Why is adoption a particularly apt illustration of God's relationship with us? God

Q3. (Ephesians 1:4) What does it mean to be "holy"? In what sense can you stand "blameless" before God? To be holy means to be like Christ. Christ like minded. We have read of the walk of Jesus Christ our Savior and Master upon the earth. His walk was the path that we are to follow in. Where Jesus took the high road, so must we. Where Jesus took the low road, so must we. We are never in doubt when we follow in the path of The Master. He is the potter, we are the clay. When we allow Him to lead our life and we follow His leading, we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of His hands. Being in His hands reminds us of just how small we really are in the realm of things, but we must not fail to see the importance of the fact that we are in His hands. We are important to Him, that is why He takes the time to mold us and to inframe us with His will , to fulfill His desire and to go through the fire with us as we become the perfect clay vessels that He has purposed us to be. Psalm 18:32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. Psalm 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. He makes me a strong vessel because He covers me with His defense shield. He is my buckler. I can stand blameless before God because it is His divine will that I do so. We all must stand before God one day. God sees what I am. The outcome of His will, and not what I see. If I did not choose His will for my life, then I would be blamed for the outcome of what my life would be because I would be in charge of it. God is in charge of my life and as long as I abide in Him and He abides in me, I will be presented to Him blameless because it is His will that I come, cleansed by the Blood of The Lamb and that is how God sees me. Jesus paid for my sacrifice, and I am freed from the slavery of willful sin. Un-willful sin, that is different. I must repent for any sins that I unwillingly commit. Staying in His word, abiding in Him, keeps that kind of yuck to a very low and not very often minimum.

Q2. (Ephesians 1:4-5) What is scary about predestination? What is comforting? Why does Paul bring up predestination? Why do you think he praising God for it in the "hearing" of the Ephesians? I believe it is the purpose to everyone to consider why they were chosen, not that they were chosen. Why would one consider it scary to be chosen of God. Does He appear to be unloving? Does He seem so far off that just because we can not see Him that He really isn

What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? God the Father, predestined that He would rebirth His chosen, His elect, through Jesus Christ who redeemed us back to God, through the power of resurrection where we, by God

Greetings Pastor Ralph and the rest of the folks who are joining in this Book of Ephesians study. My name is Eudora and I live in Eastern Oregon. I have four grown children and five grandchildren. I absolutly love to study the word of God and am always on the look out for Him daily. I have been looking forward to this study beginning and ask a blessing upon Pastor Ralph as he takes us through this tour of the word of The Lord. I can't imagine how Paul endured all that he did as he wrote this letter to these folks from the prison cell there in Rome. He truly was a man of God and a full fledged believer in Christ Jesus. What is even more incredible and exciting to me, is that Jesus Christ, fully believed in Paul. I believe that this study will stregnthen my relationship with Christ Jesus and am looking forward to diving right in to His loving arms as He reveals Himself to us more and more through each word. Father God, I thank you for Pastor Ralph and all the folks who will be in this study. I pray that each and every one will draw closer to you and that as we all do, that You draw closer to us. We await Your return and in the mean time, we will love all those around us as You first loved us. Bless us Father with Your presence as we study across the miles. We lift You up and exalt You as our King and we love You. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Greetings Jabarke, If I were to read this and walk on by as if I did not recognize your pain, I too would be guilty of neglecting my brother or sister in Christ. When we walk with The Lord, in the Light of His word, we recognize things in us that are unpleasant. This study is opening our eyes to things that we did not know. This is how we grow. We take the lessons learned, apply them and move on to the next part of the wheel of life. Some call it a ladder and say we climb the next rung. No matter really how we move, just as long as we move closer and closer to His Kingdom and seek His righteneousness and like you quoted, continue to love our neighbor as our self. When Jesus moves in and takes up residence, He lives in us and yes, in this way, we can love ourselves, because He dwells with-in. We also can love what we become because we are becoming a mirror image of what He first created. We become part of His light and in fellowship sweet, we can sit at His feet and learn so much more from our Master. Don't beat yourself up over what you do or do not have and compare your self to another. Look at your thumbprint. God made you special and so unique that no one else on this entire planet can match or compare to you because no one has that same print as you carry on your thumb. You are "THUMBODY SPECIAL" and don't ever forget that. What others truly lack that is of any value is Salvation. Corporate prayer is a way to call upon the Holy Spirit to continue to speak to the masses. There are many behind the enemy lines and we must, must , must, call out to The Spirit of Truth to bring them, the lost, into The Light so that they can receive salvation. Folks are in bondage to satan and they need our help. Remember who you are in the eyes of God. You are a warrior in a spiritual battle for souls that are lost. Cry out to Jesus! People all across the world are saying we are living in the last days. I am reminded of the beginning of time. We are all planning to go to a feast. The Pharaoh is now satan. And God is saying, "Let my people come to me to share in a feast". God needs our help. We need His help. We are co-workers on a mission, in "the great commission"

1 Corinthians 11:29-32 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Why has God brought judgment to the offending parties at Corinth? The Lords Supper is a visible representation symbolizing the death of Christ for our sins. This type of disciplinary judgment highlights the seriousness of partaking the Last Supper. This is a Holy Sacrament. Think about it, if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why we should examine ourselves before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. If we eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, we are eating and drinking God's judgment upon ourselves. We are even given an example of how death can come to those who take the sacrament unworthily. Look at Judas. He knew that he was holding the bag as they say. He had the price in his pocket. He even knew right down to the sheckle, how much he was willing to pay and his judgment was death, because he partook of this Last Supper with Jesus Christ, knowing that he was going to betray Jesus and the wages of sin, are death. Just like the enemy is among us now, even as we partake in some of the houses of God, there are folks who know not what they do. They to will be judged because they haven

(1 Cor.11:29) Why does "not discerning the body" at the Lord's Supper constitute such a grave sin? Paul was teaching that we should pattern our lives after him, who imitated and followed The Messiah

Revelation 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. When you meditate on "seeing his face," what thoughts come to mind? 1 John 3:2 (KJV) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. The believers life is to become more and more like Him as we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. Romans 8:29 (KJV) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. We will be conformed to His image,. This for us will be the completeness of it all. Everything we will need to know will become perfect in clarity. This should be a motive , knowing our ultimate destiny, that we should purify ourselves. We can not! Only He can. How awesome is that? However, by His power we can keep ourselves from sinful places, and remain morally clean. 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. It will be like looking in a mirror. As perfections comes, we will see reality face to face and we will fully know and understand, who we are. There are areas of temptation that we know of and habits that appear hard to conquer but we are more than conquers through Him that loves us. We can practice this now. A sin for me, ... is judging folks. Judge not lest you be judged. For how we judge, so shall it be measured back to us. Here is what I do. Every time, I see something wrong in someone, I automatically throw up a pretend mirror and see if that is a reflection of me. If so, I ask God to clean up that image and I walk on in faith. Our lives should be a reflection of Jesus as we walk about this earth. I pray that the person whom I thought I saw the wrong in, that God will reflect His light on their path and show them a mirror image of themselves and bring them peace, according to His judgment. When I think about the Throne Room in chapter 4 of Revelations, I think of that shiny sea of glass that sparkles like crystal as the window of heaven so that Jesus can see us all the time, but from our view, I think of that as a great big mirror, shining down upon us, His image coming through. His character will be upon us? By His authority, we shall be marked as His children. His property! Some scriptures say in and some scriptures say on. In, on, really makes no difference. Seeing Him?

Let us not give up meeting together! In what sense does the Lord's Supper point to the past? It points out for me that before Christ, His spirit was not fully realized. The holy spirit has great impact in our lives because the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He can open up scripture where no man has ever gone before. The book is revealed to us through the Power of the Risen One who left His Spirit, the same one that hovered above the waters in the very beginning. The Holy Spirit, hovers over us, watching us daily encircling us like the eagle who watches over it

Q2. (Luke 22:16) In what sense does the Lord's Supper find its "fulfillment" in the Great Banquet at the end of the age?

In the Last Supper only one cup was mentioned, and it was the third cup, the cup of redemption and the renewal of the Covenant. (Brit Hadashah) Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Is Jesus staging the idea that the Lords Supper and the Passover has a future prophetic application? Will He drink the 4th cup, when He comes to bring the Kingdom of God, to the reality of our spiritual dimensional world in the future? It is stated as 'families of the earth' in Zechariah 14. We will have to gather around the table.... to find out! Why are so many of Jesus' teachings oriented toward the future? I believe it is to give us hope. It also reminds me that Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you in my Fathers house. Jesus is telling us too that even when we are with Him, there will still be instructions. Not only will people will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God, if a representative from each nation does not go, their land will not get any rain. The feast of tabernacles that most folks think of as Jewish holiday are and will still be held annually in the new Kingdom when Jesus reigns. God said, this feast would be forever... He clearly meant forever. This holiday isn't just for the Jews. Genealogy shows us that we are all decedents of Abraham. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14: 16-19 (KJV) I often wonder if some will watch this event on the thing that God clearly gave the name, to some individual called the tell-a-vision. Another thought is this and it is quite sad to me really. In Luke 14: 15-24 The man that was sitting at the table with Jesus had understood what a privilege it was to have a share in the Kingdom. He just didn't know how to get in or he would not have made that remark. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God I think he saw a glimpse of what it would be like, but like so many people, they do not take Jesus up on His invitation. What kinds of associations come to mind as you think of the Great Banquet? It was their custom to send two invitations. One to announce the event, similarly like we do in bulletins or newspapers or even posters. But then they would also send one out to let them know that the event was ready and everything was in place. The guests in Jesus story, insulted the host by making excuses. If we do not take Jesus up now on the invitation to join Him at the wedding feast, like in the story where all those who had turned down the host, the host sent the invitations out to the others in the streets and alleys of the city. If we do not take up Jesus on His invite, He will pull back His invitation and go on to the next one on His list. Just like in Jesus' story, the one invitation is now, The day of the Lord is at hand. The next time we hear the invitation to us who have taken Him up on His invitation, we will hear a very loud trumpet to announce that the wedding feast is ready. -Amen Just like when God explained to Moses to tell the Israelites in Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Moses was to make an announcement: speak to the congregation and later on in this same chapter in verse 11: And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover. they were to be prepared as if they were ready for as journey. We who have accepted His invitation, should always be ready and waiting and looking for our King. It’s gonna be a huge party and blast from the past in a zone with no time... so the party will go on for ever and ever! Halleluiah!

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? When we feed upon His Word, we stay focused in our walk because it is by His Spirit that we believe. Everyone is given a measure of faith and it is by faith that we believe in His Word. This faith, actually begins with the measure that God first gave to every man. Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? The Spirit of Truth which gives life, spiritual life, is our teacher. It is the Spirit that we listen to when our hearts are true because we have submitted our lives to Jesus and the Spirit, the Comforter as Jesus called Him, is our guide who reveals truth to us and enables us to respond to truth. Before we partake of the Lords Supper, the bread and the wine, we ask God to search our hearts. The spirit testifies of our Father and to our Father and before we can partake with a cleansed heart, the Spirit causes us to come to repentance for anything that is corruptible in our lives. It is not our flesh that keeps us clean or can even cleanse us or save us. It is the spirit of God that causes us to see and to know that we have a need to live a clean life, holy unto God. This is done to promote growth and to sustain us, which is the nourishment to our faith. 1 John 5:6 This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth Romans 8:15-17 (KJV) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)? That we cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger, the One who brings Life from Heaven that will give life eternal, one day to raise us from death unto life everlasting. Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until He comes. This is our hope, believed by faith, given to us by a measure from God, who gives life unto us by The Spirit of Truth, who has revealed Himself to us. We remember this in unity, as the body of Christ Jesus, by His Spirit, which we have received as a comfort in our lives here on earth, both in the natural and in spirit. Father, so often my devotional life seems dry. Sometimes I partake of the Lord's Supper without really thinking too much about what I am doing. Forgive me. Teach me to truly feed on Jesus in my heart by faith, with thanksgiving. Help me to become less dependent upon my own ways, but wholly dependent upon Him, wholly trusting, wholly walking by faith. In Jesus' name, I pray. O Father God, I so agree in this prayer with Pastor Ralph. Amen.

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? A teacher who taught us to live by faith... Jesus had a way of sorting out His followers as He was teaching. There is scripture where it tells of Him separating the sheep from the goats. I believe that this is how He taught as well. He spoke so that people who loved Him and believed Him, would want to know so much more. Like digging in the scripture to find any piece of silver and finding gold. So He spoke... and folks either rejected His word and left Him, or they stuck around and followed Him, anxiously awaiting to hear more. To eat of His flesh, is food for the soul. A lasting and sustaining food, unlike manna which they had to go out and find every day to sustain the Israelites and sojourners. This was a daily manna from heaven, but it did not give them or feed to them, eternal life. The life's saving blood of Jesus Christ and the spiritual edification of the bread, eaten to edify the soul on a daily basis, leads to a fullness and everlasting life. This passage is about Jesus having "the words of eternal life," that is, the words, which, when believed, result in eternal life. Because He lives we live. If Christ is not present in our lives, life is death. We, by faith trust in the death of Christ and are baptized into His death spiritually when we partake of the body and blood of Christ. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Romans 6:3 We take possession of a common benefit of these by faith. Jesus Christ gives life to our repentance, and our love and our joy, and all that we are, all that we have and ever hope to be. We live by faith in Him, as our bodies live by our food. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that He speaks to our spirit, and our life, is to our gain. What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? Those who believed by faith and those who did not. What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32? One who remains faithful to study the word of God, believing what it has to say, by that same faith. (the condition) Continue in His word and (the promise) we shall be His disciple and we will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make us free. AMEN!

Q2. (John 6:51b) What is Jesus referring to when He says, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world"? Jesus gave His physical body in exchange for our flesh. He gave us life in doing so. Flesh and blood can not enter the Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Jesus showed us the way. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. When we are reborn, this as we all know, is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan. This rebirth is of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is all done by our faith that His Word when presented to us, is truth and we accept His Word as truth in our lives. These temporal bodies are perishable and are that which is decaying. Our ears can go deaf and we might not hear what the spirit is saying to the church body. Our eyes may become blind and we might not see a new way to live. We may become lame and not be able to walk in the spirit, but this would only happen if we quench the spirit and do not continually feed on The Word of God, written in Holy scripture and spoken in our spiritual ear and soul and commune with the Spirit that is with-in. The flesh will die. Jesus showed us that. In Acts 1: 9-11 And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (KJV) When all the folks were standing around watching Him descend into the heavens, Jesus was again showing us an example of what is going to happen to us as well. It is in this like manner that He will return, the same as when He ascended, is how we will all see Him return if we are in physical body at that time. He gave His flesh so that all the world would be able to live in this like manner, a spiritual manner that will last forever in a paradise, with no time. What similarities do you see with Jesus' teaching at the Last Supper in Luke 22:19b? Just like He blessed the bread, we too are blessed; by Him. When Jesus broke the bread, this was a foretaste of us being broken from our birth flesh to the renewed life that is broken away, peel by peel, layer by layer by the power of the Holy Spirit which guides us to the shedding of sin from our lives. We are all born snakes in that reflection. Perhaps this is the reason why satan is revealed as the serpent in the opening of the Genesis. All our sin is forgiven, but it is the nature of man to sin because we are born in sin. Once we have been born out of sin nature into life everlasting, we are to go and sin no more. It is the guiding of the Holy Spirit as we submit our self to Him that we are lead into this new life of eternalness with Our Father, who will receive us, in due time. When Jesus says:

Greetings, Since I have joined this study, it is a very rare thing for me to look ahead to what other folks in this study write. I usually pray and ask that the Holy Spirit would teach me what God would have me learn. For some reason I felt compelled to look ahead and I am so glad I did. One of the writers by the name of Pickledilly, has answered this question in such a way, that I am left with a new stunned since of awe. I yeild my writing, to answer this question to ask that we all re-read the writings of Pickeldilly. I completely agree! Writing below is by Pickeldilly I've always believed that Jesus was using a metaphor when He said He is the Bread of Life and we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man in order to eternally live. It seems to me that because the real person, the real entity that will live forever, is spirit, not flesh and bone, this indicates He is speaking in spiritual terms. We are created as spirit beings housed in physical, temporary bodies. Only what is of the Spirit can feed the spirit. And so as the Bread of Life-Eternal, He is saying that He is the nourishment and sustenance that will provide and ensure that everlasting life of the spirit. In practical terms, this means to me that the act of "eating" His body is not a literal act of eating His physical flesh or some representation of it. It is believing and receiving into your whole self that Jesus the Christ is the source and giver and sustainer of spiritual life. It is the act of spiritually consuming Him, taking Him in, making Him an inner part of you. Just as bread sustains the physical body, the Bread of Life sustains the eternal spiritual existence. Just as bread is made of ground grains plus water and oil that is baked in high heat and eaten for nourishment, the beaten body of Christ plus the water of His Word and the oil of His Spirit are thoroughly integrated as the Bread of Life. This was delivered to us through the extreme heat of Christ's suffering before the very flames of hell and it is the only source of spiritual nourishment. In practical terms, eating of this Life-Giving Bread means growing your relationship with Christ through a steady diet of His Living Word. It is grown through prayer, obedience to the Spirit, and abiding in Him. It's grown as you integrate Him and your relationship with Him into everything you do by constantly feeding on His power, wisdom, direction, mercy. It is by means of our faith that we take Him in this way, or "eat this bread", so that His Living Word resides in us to give life. I think there are many, many Christians who are just nibblers. They have tasted Christ as their Redeemer and they are saved. But they are only carnal grazers, taking a bit of this teaching and a bit of that commandment as it pleases them. They never really lose their appetite for worldly things because of unwillingness to change the whole diet. They don't begin to develop ravenous hunger for the things of God, and experience the fullness of that abundant new spiritual life that Jesus has provided. In the daily practical life, they are starving with doubts, fears, insecurities, unbelief, weakness, defeats. But when you decide to feed your spirit instead of trying to keep your flesh fat and happy, you want to take in Christ to the full because He is total satisfaction of your deepest hungers. You begin to give up your constant snacking on the world's unhealthy provisions because those cannot nourish the needs of your spirit. As you dine more heartily on Him and His Word, you live in greater power, strength, endurance, certainty, clarity, and victory. Every application of your faith brings more of Him into reality for you. The more you believe Him, the more you sense His presence and experience LIFE in your life!

Q4. (1 Corinthians 10:17) How does Paul's teaching on the One Loaf affect our relationships and love for those of other Christian denominations and traditions? Paul appears to be thinking in terms of one body only. (we who are many are one body) I don't think Paul could think of the body as being divided. He, like us, should not ever confuse the church body, with that of the organizational body. We as one body, should be united and not divided into different denominations. There should be no such thing as this doctrine or that doctrine. The body of believers in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are that one body. The body of believers. We did not need to separate into Nazarenes, Baptists, Catholics, etc. For we all partake of the One Bread, because there is One Bread. It is us who has alienated ourselves from being one complete loaf under God, by our denominations. Is this spiritual pride when we think we who attend this church or that church are better or following closer than this or that church? This is the way the Jewish folks believed because of their national heritage and their ceremonies. But Paul soon pointed out to them and let them know that Jews and Gentiles were no different in Gods eyes. God is no respecter of persons and Paul knew this. In reality, we all just need to remember that we are all un-clean until we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and repent and turn from iniquity. He is the only one who can cleanse us , by His blood. Once we become one of the many, and become one part of the many, who is one in Him, we will be separated into these denominations that keep us separated. Before Jesus Christ was born, Jews and Gentiles kept separated from each other. Kinda like the mind set of believers who think themselves better than others. Jews considered Gentiles un-savable. Do we think like the Jews? The Jews didn't think there was any hope at all for Gentiles. Do we think this way of other folks in other congregations? This is kinda like our thinking now-a days. When Christ came, He revealed the complete sinfulness of both the Jew and the Gentile and offered salvation to both. Jesus is the one who will reconcile all believers into the one body, in His time. He will unite the body of Christ. How does blanket judgmentalism towards the faith of other Christian groups sometimes seem to excuse us from Jesus' command to love one another? There is no excuse. John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. He never said, love one another if you want to. He never said, Judge those who belong to different denominations and look away from them because they do. He never said, love one another only in your congregation and no one else unless they have the same doctrine and beliefs. He loves us and it is in this way that we are commanded to love others. Exactly the same and no different. He is the only one who truly knows our hearts. God saved us by His special favor when we believed and repented from sin. We can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. If we are a member of this church or that one, we are all still God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Christ Himself, made peace between the Jews and Gentiles by making them all one people. He had broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate them. By His death He ended the whole system of Jewish law, that excluded the Gentiles. Please do not misunderstand me. Jesus never changed the law or disregarded it. Nor did He end it. He only ended their system of thinking that the Gentiles were excluded. Matthew 5:17-18 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." His death only broke down the walls of hostility that had kept them separated in the past. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new person from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death, and their hostility toward each other was put to death. Now we can enjoy the law and the Holy Spirit. He brought this Good News of peace to the Gentiles who had not known of Him and to The Jews, who knew of Him. It is because of His death that we too, are all one and He is the only one who knows when we will again be united. My personal thought is that we will someday be united in spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit, because of this Gift that Jesus Christ left behind to live inside of all of those who believe and are His bride.

Q3. In what ways do the divisions in Corinth sound familiar in our own congregations? Don't pick on another congregation; how about your own? In all reality, and in every congregation we are going to see satan trying to divide congregations. He has done well. And what better place to work his demonic power? But God shared with Jeremiah a very important word. Jeremiah 31:33-35 (King James Version) 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: This is why congregations are folding up their tents because folks are waking up and knowing that they are filled with more than milk. They are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit who has begun to step up as we step up our pace in our own personal walk with The Lord. The Holy Spirit is doing His job of revealing the Word of God, like never before in History.

Q2. Read Mark 11:25 and Matthew 5:23-24. How do these relate to Paul's teaching on the One Loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17)? I can

Q1. (1 Corinthians 10:16). What does the "cup of blessing" teach us about our focus at the Lord's Supper? The focus should always be on Jesus Christ, whose body was the cup, spilled out for us. We are the ones who benefited, when He willingly gave His life in exchange for our sin. But it is still His body, His vessel, His cup that was spilled out. Because this is Paul in this passage, we must remember that he was Jewish, born of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul is showing us from the nature of the Lord's Supper, and of the Jewish sacrificial feasts, that to eat in an idol feast is an idol communion. In the Old Testament, when a Jew offered a sacrifice, he ate part of that sacrifices as a way of restoring his unity with God, against whom the Jew had offended by his sin. In Paganism, this was a practice as well. I think this may be why Paul pointed out that this cup was a cup of blessing which was to be blessed. The very word eucharist, is Greek for thanksgiving. Paul was reminding folks that this was a sacred table, asking the blessing of God to be upon the table. Setting this table aside for a blessing and partaking of those benefits which were purchased by the body of Christ. He wanted to clarify that this was a holy communion and not of a communion with idol sacrifice and worship, like that of demonic behavior. Who is to be blessed when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward? It is to God be the glory, who gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever would believe in Jesus Christ, would have everlasting life with God in the heavens. It is our benefit to remember this as Jesus has requested, lest His death be in vain, for our lives. This is our participation. This is unity and fellowship with God.

Q4. Why is the Lord's Table such a time of intimate fellowship with Jesus? Because of the fellowship, we get to intimately share a renewing of our hearts with Him. We are re- committing ourselves to continuing our walk with Him, to be in His presence, communing with our inner spirit. We are clearing our temple of anything that might be standing in between us and Him and we can sweep out the old chaff so that He can burn it from our hearts, never to be heard of again. It

Q3. What is the significance of the 12 Apostles drinking the Cup of the Covenant? Perhaps each one of the twelve, represented one each of the twelve tribes. These were the elders who would carry the teachings of Jesus to the early church. These were the twelve whom would die, believing in Jesus and His teachings. Most all , even to martyrdom. These were the same twelve whom He revealed Himself to, who walked and talked and prayed with Jesus. To whom would they correspond under the ratification of the Old Covenant? (Hint: Exodus 24:11.) These twelve were the nobles of their time. They accepted this drink and this bread on behalf of the children of Israel, whom we all are. We are the sons and the daughters of God, who is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God if Jacob, who is the great I AM, the God of Israel. The twelve disciples, would correspond with Abraham, Moses, the Hebrews and the sojourners, The Gentiles and the Jew, who in, there is no difference. What is the significance of us drinking the Cup of the Covenant? We are the chosen, in whom God has called to be His children. We are the ones that God has chosen to make this covenant with. It is our choice, if we want to make and or even keep this covenant. I have read the contract. I like what is says and I completely agree in this covenant. I am sold to the highest bidder, because there is no one higher, than My Father, who has sought me and bought me, with His redeeming blood. All my life, all that I have, all that I am or ever hope to be, is due Him. My heart is the alter of The Lord. It is in my heart and in my soul that I submit myself unto Him, for He is worthy. For it is not I that live, but Him that lives in me. I have long since died. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39) It is the Lord our God, who has called us into service. It is His voice that echoes, in our inner spirit. It is up to us, to listen to Him that giveth us