Suellen

God gives us our spirtual gifts. I truly believe that our natural talents our intertwined with our spiritual Gifts. It just makes perfect sense to me. I am a very shy person, but Through God he has allowed me to able to put myself in front of church, in various ways that seem to bless people, as in singing specials, leading the choir, leading dramas, these things to me awestruck me once again to the love and power of God, because I know through my own strength I could in no way possible do any of these things, that some people would not have a problem doing. I am truly thankful for His gifts.

It is so much easier to complain and point out faults in others than it is to try and get along. We should spend as much energy as we can in keeping peace and not allowing ourselves to become a part of any problem that can arise in church. I have been through a broken church, which most people can say that have as well. For a short time, I thought about not going to church at all, the pain was so overwhelming. But that is not in God's plan , we are to keep His Faith and continue to strive and follow His Word. but I have learned not to pay much attention to the idiosyncracies of others around me, and I choose to not set myself up for hurt and focus more on what I should be doing to serve the Lord better.

It is so hugely important that we look at ourselves before we even look at someone else and realize our own faults and struggles that we go through each day, when we do that , how can we even look at someone with those arrogant views. Everyone is strugglin in one form or other and we have got to realize that and just keep on fighting and trusting and believing in God and his Desires for us, individually and let the rest take care of itself.

The standard is make ourselves worthy of the calling. We are to walk the walk and talk the talk. The calling is we are to serve , worship and Glorify God in everything we do.

I believe our congregation tries its best to bring Glory to God. If I would continually seek God in ways to glorify Him in my job I think it would be such an awesome experience, If only I would let go of the timidness that burdens my soul.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit means to allow God to permeate every part of our being, not closing Him out but allowing Him access to who we truly are. That also means that we admit to even ourselves who we really are. This is a continual reality, I believe it is the same as being filled with the fullness of God, just accepting Him and allowing Him to work in our lives, no holds barred.

We in our own carnal nature tends to keep us from fully understanding God's love. We get caught up in the everyday trivial matters and forgot what our life is truly meant for and that is to glorify God in our simple existence. When we totally forget what we are to do, time just mingles together and we find ourselves unsatisfied with what we are and what we have attained in life. When we stop and truly accept God's love than we are able to look around us and love all those that have caused us pain, or impatience and are able to see the world in a better light, resulting in a truly blessed existence.

I believe that they are the same thing just two different ways of getting the same point across to be able to understand it better.

This passage teaches us that because of Jesus living on this earth as He did, he knows and understands what we go through every day, so we should not be timid or ashamed of coming to God in prayer of these very temptations and burdens that keep a hold of us. If we cannot go to God in prayer over these things then we will continue to stay torn down and not able to accept the victory that He has waiting for us if we would only accept it.

Paul was so humble about his call, because of the person that he was. His persecution to Christians and all that God was about was overwhelmingly cruel. So because of who he was it created a more humble servant to think that God would chose such a wretch like him to bring His word was probably so awesome that a mere human cannot touch that kind of Love.

The mystery that Paul was talking about is that we, Gentiles are no longer set apart. We can be as one and worship as one. Through Jesus Sacrifice God separated the boundaries that was there before. So it is also important not to be antisemetic even if they don't agree with this teaching, we are to love them and accept them.

God spoke the word into existence. He used mere people to relay His Word that people would see and believe. If we deny what God has revealed to those before us and thus in our own hearts than we are just floating in the wind.

A congregation of believers is meant to be a dwelling place for God. If we don't attend Church we are missing out on so many blessings that God desires us to attain.Sometimes past hurts and putting people on high pedastals can put us in rocky situations where we don't trust anymore and therefore lose the love of God's church. In order to continue to attend church and be a part of God's community it's important to realize that everyone is struggling with who they are just as much as we are and to accept them and move on.

when Jesus died on the cross that did away with the ceremonial rituals. We no longer have to go through a process and through a priest to be intimate with God. Jesus is the only way to the Father and the Holy Spirit helps us to get what we need across.

Jesus fulfilled the mosaic law by being the ultimate "lamb" sacrifice. when this sacrifice was completed it did away with the necissity of ever having to do this again. Ultimately bringing the Jews and the Gentiles into a level field. They can then worship together and believe together.

I fortunately work with people who all go to church, But I also don't know what is in their hearts. being without Christ has got to be the most miserable and loneliest way to live,The life that they try to live must be full of despair always seeking something to fill that space that God has for us within ourselves. Seeking but never satisfied. I have family members who are lost, and that is exactly what they do, try to fill that longing with drugs, alcohol even entertainment pleasures that leaves them longing and just very sad, no true joy within.

Faith is the Holy Spirit conviction and drawing from within us, and simply us listening and adhering to that pull. We definitely can not take credit for it, once we begin to take credit for it, we lose that true faith and it turns into arrogance. Faith for a ten year old might be a parent speaking to their child and encouraging them to accept the love and understand the consequences to each and every decision that they make every day.

according to ephesians 2:10 we are created to do good works. why? so that others may see our good works and it would Glorify God. these good works are the works that we do to please God, the works that Paul was against was the works that we do to edify ourselves, the ritualistic following of the law, just to say look at us at what we are doing.

in modern day jargon: with so many people worrying about insurance and stocks and retirement, some good words to translate saved might be: insured, protected or secure.

Grace is not something that this human flesh can comprehend. Our nature can not equate God's merciful love . That type of love does away with our selfish desires, it's all about me, take care of me first ..... a ten year old might translate "grace" as taking a test at school without studying and deserving an f on the test but getting an A

We are seated with Christ "in the heavenly realms"? That encourages to accept what God has given us, complete freedom and peace and strength through His Son. He has adopted us as His own. God's grace abounds , there is no limit to what He will do for us if we just accept Him. Again through Christ is where we gather our strength, this strength gives us the authority over those spiritual realms that can tear us down if we allow it. The knowledge of this strength should cast out any fear of the world we live in and it should cause us to praise God in our prayers constantly instead of pleading over our everyday concerns and fears.

His motivation is His Love for us. His character is filled with great love for us and He is filled with mercy for us. We are "made alive" with Christ, even when we were "dead" in transgression. How awesome is that?

We unwittingly follow Satan every day of our lives, when we turn our focus away from God and allow ourselves to be enticed into our human flesh nature; such as gossiping, lying, jealousy, anger, envy, and so many more instinctive habits that just come natural to us. We are ultimately responsible for any action we take. Our Father has given us the choice to make the decisions in our lives. That is why it is so important to consistenly seek the Lord in every decision and in every moment of our lives. We are pitiful in our own right. God has given us every opportunity to follow Him, to obey Him, to LOVE HIM!, Of course He can blame us for our bad decisions, but more than anything I think it just hurts and disappoints Him. It breaks my heart to know that I can and do disappoint Him all the time, I pray that those moments are still becoming few and far between.

Non-believers have no hope for tomorrow, they are existing in a "dead" mindset with no real joy to comfort them. We have the security in Christ to lift our spirits. Knowing that they are "dead" should make us have an uncontrollable desire to witness to them without ceasing.

I know about this, personally. The church we had been a member of for many years fell apart it hit us hard and my family had a difficult time, We didn't want to be hurt again so we held ourselves back for 6 months. Not going to church, it caused a severe depression and loneliness within us. We begin to pray about it and seek God's direction. We are now a member of church that is just a couple of miles down the road. The people are sweet and friendly. But we have learned not to put all our trust and faith in the congregation and pastor but to put our faith in God himself and just take it one day at a time. Not going to church kept us from being the blessing that God wanted us to be, the blessing to others around us and we missed out on the blessing of those that attended when we did not. the people of a church are to edify each other and we need to understand that people are people and we will hurt each other but we need to keep moving forward and focus on God.