paulcrf

Drinking from the hands is more refined or appropriate way of putting something into our mouth. It allows you to choose the clean water to take unlike drinking directly(kneeling) from the river. Besides, our hands were made to assist the mouth. That's the purpose of God in giving us five fingers and wide palms. Our behavior is the reflection of our heart. Kneelers behave like animals. Drinking directly with our mouth is not appropriate for a man. God is concerned with what is inside our heart than what other see from outside.

... If God is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31). Certainly we need God's direction so that we will fell His protection and power. But sometimes God does not speak to us personally. In this case we have to consult his words, the bible, to guide us in our decisions. The bible is always ready to speak the truth. Blind obedience is dangerous. We have to personally know the truth through knowledge of the word. Getting confirmation through spiritual people such as our pastor makes sense to me because pastors are our spiritual parents. But still, human as they are, I would constantly check Jesus Christ in their heart and in my heart as well.

God feel that the army of Gideon was too large because His presence will not be recognized in victory but rather their strength and number. God does not want Israel to take credit for their victory. God want that Israel will restore their their trust in Him through the impossible task to be accomplished by the small band of soldiers. Gideon's pressure would come from his faith and from the other soldiers which he ordered not to join in the battle. His faith was without question after the confirmation from God but the demand from the rejected soldiers to win the battle with few soldiers would proved tremendous. But Gideon's faith in God was unwavering which God acknowledge.

Ans: Faced with the enormity of the task and knowing his limitations and weaknesses, Gideon, I believe just want confirmation that God really meant what He told him to do. I don't think there was unbelief on the part of Gideon. He simply want his full faith anchored on God. Sinful testings are things meant to test the power of God for personal pleasures while the testing of Gideon was made for confirmation. When God will give me a task beyond my imagination to accomplish, I would request a sign from Him. The danger of demanding a sign is when we always rely on signs before accomplishing a task instead on total trust on God. Our trust on God should not be dependent on signs but rather faith.

What inspires Gideon to blow the battle horn and summon an army against the Midianites. Ans: The Spirit of God inspired Gideon to blow the battle horn. What does Gideon have in common with other judges and leaders of his era? (Hint: see Deuteronomy 34:9; Judges 3:10; 11:9; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Samuel 11:6.) Ans: The spirit of the Lord inpired Gideon to blow the battle horn. They have the same spirit - the spirit of God.

We don't have to sin any longer because we are no longer slaves to it. Much as we are not compelled to sin because sin is longer our master. Living for any moment in a day without sin is possible if we are filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit: "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If Jesus died to set us free from sin's power, why does sin have such power over us still? Sin will continue to be with us because we are humans. But sin has no more power over us any longer. We are no longer slave to it because we are already slaves to righteousness. According to 2:24b, how must we deal with sin? To deal with sin is to be alive in Christ so that we will be controlled by the spirit. In everyday language, what does "live for righteousness" mean? Living for righteousness is living in the spirit. It is living a life in full submission to Christ.

Salvation is personal. That means I have to personally accept Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and believe in my heart that he died on the cross for my sins to save me from eternal damnation. That my sins was crucified with Christ on the tree and my sins were buried with Him.

Why is Jesus' sinlessness important to understanding your salvation? God is holy and perfect. For somebody to intervene in our behalf for the redemption of our sins, he has to poses the same spirit as God. It is only Jesus, who is without sin, who can do it. In what way do you think Jesus suffered when your sins were poured into his soul? Jesus suffered the humiliation, the pain, the agony & all unimaginable sufferings beyond the limit of human tolerance. How could a sinless Man stand this kind of corruption? Flesh and blood gives birth to flesh and blood but the spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual (John 3:6)l. We need the spirit to stand the things that are of the flesh. Jesus has the spirit of God to stand the corruption of the flesh.

The suffering of Jesus was personally for me to follow. He set an example for me to take my cross and die of my sins with Him. He showed me the ultimate example of humility, love & obedience to the will of the father even if it cause my life.

:rolleyes:The mark of a Christian is the Holy Spirit residing in us. Christians are followers of Christ. To be able to follow Christ is to possess the same spirit as his. This is the only way we can imitate Him. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When the spirit dwells in us, our actions and our thoughts are of Christ. Fullness of the spirit is the manifestation of the indwelling of the spirit. When we are filled with the spirit, we have achieved the highest degree of "holiness" in us. We can remain "full" of the spirit by being in communion with God. By maintaining the holiness in us. By keeping our thoughts pure.

Things of the Spirit are things that are pleasing and glorifying to God. To glorify God, we have to fill our mind with spiritual things specially bringing lost souls back to God. I can recognize when the things I am setting my mind on relate to my sinful nature when it does not submit to God's law, it does not glorify God. It is deliberate when I know I will not give glory to God but still I do it. It becomes a habit if even after having confessed of my sin I continue to do it and in the long run forgetting to confess. The Holy Spirit will remind us in the corner of our mind that something is not right. I have to listen and obey the spirit. You have to force your sinful nature to obey the spirit because our flesh is weak. It needs constant spiritual feeding to fight the sinfulness. It is a continual struggle to live a holy life.

The law serves only to guide the sinners to avoid committing transgression against God. But it has no power to renew the spirit. It has no power to control the sinful nature of human heart which opposes the spirit of God. God cannot speak to a heart that is sinful. The weak link is the unregenerate and sinful nature of man. It took God to send His Son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for our sins. Instead of us bearing the eternal condemnation, Christ died for us on the cross. It took the Son of God, who is without sin, to save us.

I would life to take this passage personal. I consider this "I" as my unregenerate me. This was me when the Holy Spirit was not yet working in me. I may not have known the law as Apostle Paul did, but I was as sinful as he was before I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and come to repentance of my sins.

Gideon's father was a leader who takes a firm decision and stand to it. He sided to his son Gideon even if the circumstance was not favorable to him. We know that Baal worship was more popular than God at that time. As a good father for Gideon, he protected Gideon from being harmed by the community. Gideon's action put his father on the spot on whom to take side at, himself or the community. When we obey God we will sometimes place our loved ones on the same situation. But if God is with us, who can be against us. Gideon did what God told him to do. God handled the rest. God touched the heart of Gideon's father and he supported his son's actions. Joash, being a father of Gideon know his son. He know his son who considers himself as weak. But he saw the faith in Gideon. He saw that God is on Gideon's side. He choose to believe God.

The doctrine of total deprivity of man means that man is totally deprived of goodness. Even the remaining good in him, possessing the remnant of God's image, is flawed. Their is no part in us which is good. Man's original goodness has fall to sin. Man is deceitful and conniving. Man can pretend to be good, but in the eyes of the Lord, we are sinners. It means that even our righteousness is like a filthy rags. The modern man tend to believe he is basically good because he is self-righteous. He pretends he does not need Christ to wash his sins away. The bible teaches that it is only through Christ that we can be good in the eyes of God.

Christ example is the perfect example for a believer to emulate. It should remind us whenever we behave differently from that of Christ. It should be our ultimate goal to possess the character of Jesus as we grow in our faith of Him. Following the examples of Christ will produce in me a different behavior because Christ is the perfect model to follow. In Him their is no wrong.

God commanded his people not to worship other gods aside from Him. But the Israelites did not listen. They worshiped Baal and Asherah. Baal was pictured as a bull, was considered to control the land, rain and fertility. It was worshiped by the Philistines. Asherah was a goddess worshiped throughout Syria and Canaan. Tearing down this statues means getting rid of their idol worship. Gideon has to erect an altar on hilltops where he can make his offering to the Lord. Tearing down the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole was a risk against his own father and the community. Doing the destruction in the daytime will enable his father and the community to stop him. For me it was wisdom through faith. If Gideon did it in the daytime, the community men will stop him from distroying the temple of their idols.

The law makes sin clear to us in fact it was made for us sinners. It is supposed to create order and justice. It was not able to control sinful human heart. The sinful nature desires to do what the law does not tolerate. The law is powerless to save us because we cannot be washed clean by following say, 99% of the law. We are sinners in God's sight no matter how we follow the law. A perfect substitute or replacement for our sins is needed to cleanse our unrighteousness. It is only through the sin offering of the blood of Jesus, the Son of God who can take away our sins and make us totally clean in the sight of the Father in heaven.

An employee "conscious of God" works for God's delight. He/she works to please God. Whatever her attitude and actions in work should reflect the Spirit that is in him/her. The fruit of the spirit should be noticeable in the workplace. A conscientious christian can complain, but she has to do it in a nice way. Because God is just, to complain injustice in the workplace will not offend God. We just have to do it in a nice way. Treating the issue with silence may be good sometimes. But some issues need to be settled and confronted. We just have to do it in a way which does not destroy the image of Jesus.

God see in Gideon a strong and mighty warrior. He saw that with this qualities, Gideon will be able to save Israel from the Midianites for the oppressions. Gideon saw in himself weakness. He was convinced he was not capable of saving Israel from the Midianites because his clan is the weakest in Manasseh and he is the least in his family. God knows us more than we know ourselves. He is our creator. He made us for a purpose. Our own self-perception can prevent us from becoming what God has made us to be if we don't consult God. We have to let Jesus guide our lives to enable Him to work in us the will of the Father. We have to submit our plans to Jesus and let Him direct our path. He knows the plans of the Father for our lives. God assured Gideon that He will be with him in the battle. Lord thank you for your love. Thank you Lord for the assurance that you are with me to conquer wars, problems, temptations that I may overcome in following you. I don't have to look at my weaknesses but rather rely in your infinite power. Use me for your glory Lord. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Gideon felt God has abandoned them because God has not protected them from invasion by the Medianites. The Medianites distroy their crops and kill their livestock making the Israelite impoverish. Gideon's assessment is correct. God has allowed the Israelites to be conquered by the Medianites because they were worshiping other Gods aside from Him. We should not blame God for the misfortune in our lives. God wants the best for His children provided we worship Him because that is the purpose of our existence. God allows bad things to happen in our lives to remind us to seek Him for all our needs. We should not forget to do the will of God in our lives. To worship Him, to disciple others and to follow his commands. If we want God to bless us, we should respond to Him by letting Jesus lead our lives.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one. The law was established to warn us of impending violations should we continue not to take heed of it. Lawlessness causes chaos and confusion. Law establishes order. The flesh is sinful. It desires to do what is pleasing to him. It craves what the spirit do not. It yearns passions and lusts. What is appealing to the flesh is against the desire of the spirit.

We are doing good job as Christians if we submit and respect to our employers because it is the the Character of Christ whom we imitate. Our employers, in one way is seeing Christ in us. Whatever we do in our job honor or dishonors God because we are bringing the name of Christ. We are called Christians. Christians are supposed to be imitators of Christ. Christians are supposed to bring glory to God in words and in deeds.