Nic

Moses glowed by spending time with God on Mt. Sinai, in his tent of meeting, and in the Tabernacle. How can we get a similar glow of the Spirit in our lives? Moses had a really peculiar experience on Mt. Sinai. Today we do have that privilege of seeing God in the same form but we have His Word and we have direct access to Him through prayer. When we spend time with God; discovering the truth of His Word and we spend time in prayer, fasting and solitutde with God then we get that glow, similiar to that of Moses because whenever we enounter God our countenance changes. When God reveals Himself to us His glory is so bright, so magnificient that immediately we glow. In what way is meditating on Scripture beholding God? Scripture is God's Word. It is His message and instructions to us for Godly living. When we read God's Word we are reading His message. The accounts reveal to us the character of God and so when we read we behold God. Is the low plane of Christianity in our day related to the time we spend in communion with the Lord? Yes I believe it is. We live in an age where everything is fast tracked and sometimes this flows over into our relationship with God. We buy these books with a one line devotional (devotion for busy moms, etc) and we use those in the place of spending quality time with God. We go to church on Sunday and get upset if the service goes beyond the usual hour. If we want to behold God's glory and be impacted by it in a meaningful way then we must spend quality time in communion with Him. What is God leading you to do to increase your glow? God is definitely leading me to spend more time in prayer and solitude.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6) What is the balance between the need for training in ministry (either in the local church or in schools) and personal submission to the Spirit of God? Are you able to “listen to the Spirit’s voice” in your own life? Why would this ability be so important in being a competent minister? I believe that training and submission to God's Holy Spirit are both important. I am currently at Bible College and there is so much that I have already learned in preparation for ministry. There are skills, techniques and practices which equips one to be a better leader by teaching you how to understand and work with people, how to facilitate growth in the church and many other things which are important in ministry. However, if all of this is done without the presence of the Holy Spirit then it is all an exercise in futility. God's Holy Spirit is not an excuse for lack of training but training does not replace the working of the Spirit. In fact God can use a person who is not trained but who is sold out to Him and He has done this at times. However, I believe that if the opportunity for training exists then it would be poor stewardship to pass over the opportunity as this can only assist in improving the quality of one's ministry. Yes I am able to listen to the Spirit's voice in my life. While training may give the general idea of what to do in particular situations, the Holy Spirit is capable of giving specific instructions for specific situations. The ministry of any minister is God's ministry first and God's Holy Spirit communicates God's will for His ministry to us. Therefore, it is critical that the minister be in tune with the voice of God's Holy Spirit if he / she is to be a competent minister.

In what sense are we “living letters”? We are "living letters" in the sense that our lives are often the "Bible" that people read. Our deeds tell them more about being a Christian than the words we speak. Many people know the Word of God; what they are looking for is a practical model to show them that this standard of living is attainable. In what way can people “read us”? People read us by looking at our relationships, the way we treat others, the way we interact with our loved ones, our conversations and how we respond when under pressure or stress. This is when they can tell what we are truly made of and what is in our hearts. Why is it so important to be authentic, not phony, in our lives? When we are phony we give people the wrong impression about Christianity. When we are phony we make it seem as though we are these perfect beings who are never tempted and never fall. This is an immediate turn off to those who may want to come to Christ but know that they are far from being perfect. They may feel as though they can never be a Christian because their life can never compare to the one you are portraying. However, when we are authentic, people see the struggles we go through. When they see that you are really not perfect but that you are a fallen, broken person lifted up and made whole in Christ then they are more inclined to allow Jesus into their hearts to lift them up and heal their brokenness. What happens when people “read” something in you that they admire and mention it to you? When this happens I usually give God praise. Sometimes it is silent praise. How might you respond appropriately? By giving God praise and letting them know that it is not because of me that I am able to do or be anything worthy of admiration but it is because of Christ living in me that makes the difference.

Unless we can see ourselves as spritually bankrupt we will not see the need to have a saviour. We first have to recognise our need of Jesus and to realise that without Him there is nothing before we can come to the point of accepting Him. If we were were financially rich we would not need any one to give us money. It is very much the same with the spirit. If we see ourselves as being spiritually rich we would be led to believe that we have no need of Jesus as a saviour which is the basis of Christianity. I believe that we should be mournful / sorrowful of our state. That is the fact that we are lost in sin and condemned to death. We need to be in a state of mourning over the sin that we are caught in up that is slowing killing us spiritually. We need to be mourning over the fact that we are separated from God because of these sins. This is what leads to true repentance and comforting by God. As Christians we see many things that cause us to mourn. Loved ones who are still livng in sin, oppression of the weak and poor, mistreatment of others, murders and so many others. One other thing that causes us to mourn is when we sin, when we turn away from God and do the things that He do not want us to do or don't do the thing that He does ask us to do. When the reality hits us we mourn over these things.