McCollum

The only living God desires all to be saved, for this very reason He sent the one Mediator Christ Jesus. There is one God from whom salvation is available. There is only one way to Him, through the Mediator, Christ Jesus who has the full nature of God and the full nature of man. Christ Jesus has identified with us, He understands us perfectly and represents us at the right hand of God the Father (see Roman 8:34). Christ Jesus died makes intercession for us , Since Christ has fully justified us and is presently interceding for us, then on one can possibly condemn us.

That Christ Jesus died for all mankind, not just for some but all, that we may have complete knowledge that through supplication, prayers, intercessionals and givng thanks, all mankind that God's salvation is for all that is willing to except Him as the head of their lives and beleive in Him that He is a rewarder for them that diligently seek Him . God desires all mankind to be saved. This suggeat that all mankind that beleives the knowledge of the truth gospel are under God Salvation.

We learn Time to come ("Eternal"), Corruption and death ("Immortal"), Seen and unseen ("Invisible"), The only God, Reverence, recognition ("Glory"), A strong expression of faith "Amen". Yes, Meny times, daily. Enrich with God blessing, "Oh bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name,"Amen".

Paul comment on his own life after a paragraph on the law to show how he only went strickly by the law at one point in his life , he was the worest of sinners, by thinking that his actions was right when he was persecuting and blaspheming casuing injury to God people, but he was doing it because he was ignorant in his unbelife. Paul then became aware of the deeper truths and found the True Gospel, peace, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ . Paul is sharing this with Timothy and the churchs that will read the letter so that doing Timothy time, along with our time and all the churchs that read the letter would come to understand that false teachers is very much real and can cause broken relationship with God. By this Paul is letting us know that he is sharing help for the church to get back on the right track. By showing relationship with God, and how Paul ungodly, disobedient and profame knowledge was not based on sound doctrine and the true Gospel, but through his Damascus road experience he had come to know the knowledge of the true Gospel of his relationship with the law vs. his relationship with God grace and mercy and the peace of God.

False doctrine results to Confusion and controvery in the Church at Ephesus same as it do in today Churches. The doctrinal controversy hurt the spirit of a Church in ways of distrubing the unity of the church and destruction of the faith will take place in some followers because of the false teachers , teaching their doctrine. This prevent growth because false teaching open the door for strife, bitterness, quarreling and arguments in the church, causing the church to be lack of sweet peace, and we know that God is not the author of confusion where their is confusion their is no present of God Holy Spirit, His Holy Spirit do not dwell were the temple is unclean and with out the present of God Holy Spirit there is no growth taking place. This keep the Church from it mission when sound doctrine is not being teached. The false teachers having bad fruit and these bad fruit prevents the church from it mission by ways of pride, hypocrisy and questionable ethies, bad fruits.

Giving to God and giving to others, so that you meet the conditions of the context, be a generous givers, don't hesitate to "Let your requests be made known to God". Trust that God will meet your every need no matter how great. If it is a financial, emotional, social or spiritual need He is able to meet the needs in our life, if we put and keep our trust in Him, Christ Jesus. The promise mean to me , If I need it, I ask God for it, In Christ Jesus. For God has everything I need for the asking. If He do not give it to me, then I did not need it, and I except that God knows, and will do what is beat for me.With full knowledge, As long as I seek, and put Christ first "His kingdom and His righteousness" and all these things that I need, while my stay on earth will be given to me, as long as He is kept as the head of my life , and my faith is builted on Christ Jesus.

The blessing of giving and receiving financial, but reaping a spirital blessing from the Lord. When we give we are showing where our faith lies, it has to lie in what God has said as far as the good measure, pressed down, shaken up together running over for what you give it will be measured to you. With out considering to whom much is given much is required. For God has control of it all, and is willing to give it unto us His servants that obey and give according to what He tells us to give. By the Philippians financial contributions to Paul they tapped into an over flow and profit of fruit that resulted in men, women, and children won to Christ and serving as disciples in new churches that was credited to their heavenly account just as much as to Paul's account.

Paul learned the "how to" , and put what he had learned as a way of life , and that was that "I can do all things through Christ who strength me". Meaning it, and live it at all times. Paul knows that he could not live under his own strength , because he was weak , but he could plug into the power of strength of Christ Jesus. It is necessary for us to acquire that kind of contentment for us to be able to know that we have the strength of Christ when we except Christ as the head of our life , and we to have the knowledge, faith, and desire that nothing we face is too great for Christ, who strengthen us when we to are weak.

It can be misleading, that when you are in the family of God it all about being wealthy and that is not so , As Christ walked on earth He introduce us to what we as His followers would have to go through, as He went through them , So sometimes we will endure hardships, and rather than seeking the luxuries of life, we are to seek Christ Jesus , and all of our needs will be at His disposal, and not our goal to try to obtain our needs ourselves, but to put our faith in Christ to supply our every needs on the earth walk. Seeking Christ First and all these other thing will be added unto us. In balance , what does the Bible teach about poverty and riches ? To be content in any and every situation the condition of lacking that which is essential " need, lack , and poverty". Life does not always place us in the receiveing end all the time, it also places us on the giving end more so than the receiving. We find it in God's devine words that "It is more blessed to give than to receive". You know that Christ was all about giving as He walked on this earth, So it is very important that we as His followers understands that in order for us to keep our faith in God we have to except and depend on our faith in God that all our needs will be meet.

So that I stay in a right relationship with God, by staying "true", "noble","right","lovely","admirable","excellent", and "praise worthy". Rather than placing focus on my painful body, I stay focus on God, that He will in His own apointed time give me confort, as long as the pain is there, I look at the pain as a thorn in my body , as Paul did with his problem, and if God never heals it He will confort me until He calls me home eternaly.

We are holding our professional of faith, We know that without faith it is impossiable to please God, but with faith in God our relationship goes to another deeper level. We are building an relationship with God that we have put our lives in His hand and we will not lean unto our own understanding, and we are acknowledging Him to direct our life passages. He will guard my heart and mind and provide security. His peace will keep me from doing anything that is not pleasing unto Him, no matter what, and I want worry about the things I can not change, but ask God to take care of the problems in my life according to His will.

When I show thanksgiving I am showing my faith in Jesus Christ, and it is a language of giving thanks to Him through and in my prayers. Thanksgiving affect our faith as we pray. When I show my thanks by way of pray in thanksgiving, my faith is deepen and my relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ in our conversation in pray deepen.

Rejoicing is An Action that should not cease, Feeling deals with emotions and last only a short time, but "Actions" become an life style and continues and becomes an attuitude of graduitude for all the things God has alouded to take place in our life, past, present and further. We are to rejoice always. When we don't like fulfill the command of rejoicing we ask the Lord to teach us to rejoice in Him and as His Holy Spirit teaches us we have to act and follow up on just what He tells us and when we do as He says we find our hearts and lives began to create in us the attuitude of joy and rejoicing in Jesus Christ. The effect of rejocing is not done occasional, but constant, continual always. When I think about the goodness of Jesus and all that He has done for me, my soul crys out halleluiah thank God for saving me.

As I focus on my eternal goal with God , others can experience the same relationship that I have excepted , and God has excepted me as being in His family, the family of God, as His daughter. He has room for all that want to become sons and daughters by way of His invitation "Come". How does it keep us from temptations outlined in verses 18 and 19? That we stay true disciples of the Gosple of Christ Jesus so when we are in contact of those false teachers , Paul called them enemies of the cross of Christ, we are not to be as they are thinking of themseves, and who mind earthly things, But we as deciples "stand firm in the Lord", rebuke Satan and his temptatios in the name of Jesus and stay focus on Christ Jesus.

Paul ask others to imitate him, mimic his walk, his talk, and his over all action in pleasing God. Paul says follow me as I follow Christ, acknowledging Christ as the head of his life. He tells me that I am not perfect and that I will make mistakes, but as I follow Christ invite it gives other the experince to learn from my example. When I make mistakes admit it, ask for forgiveness and go on , don't dwell on them, don't let past experiences stand in the way of being a discipler for Christ in an effort to gain others for His up building of His (God) Kingdom. Who is likely to imitate me? Those who want a right relationship with God through Christ Jesus > It is my hope and pray they be meny that want to experience living for Christ while they have a chance to be on the battlefield at an early age in their life for Christ, rather than waiting until they get of old ages.

To be called up ward by God, I would say is to experience the present of the Lord in an out of body experience. It is an experience that can, and can not be put in to words for earthly understanding, it is a great responsibility along with special privilege. When I excepted God invitation to come, and every since then, their had been stumbling blocks placed before me by Satan, but I put, and keep all my faith in God, and because of where my faith, hope and responsibility lies, God has kept me from going backward to going upward, to do His will through His Holy Spirit in me. Their is nothing more inportant to me than receiving the prize of spending life in His eternal presence. The calling or summons is the one that occurs at the end of the race, eternal present with God once I have finished my course in this earthly bodies. In complete and perfect fellowship with God.

The past can get in our way of our quest to know Christ , If we do not practice our command from God , and that is to "forgive" those that trust passes against us. When we do not forgive one another it seperates us from God and that becomes and interferrence (seperation) with our relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ. At this time in life I have been brought through a lost of henderance and stumbling blocks set up by Satan, But because I learned not to lean not to my own understanding and acknowledge that God is the head of my life , those things that Satan had out to destroy me God used them to strength me and for my good. I don't think that God would have us to forget the things that He has brought us through, I do think that He do not want me to dwell on those things so much that they takes my foucs off Him and because of the relationship we have my focus will stay on Him today tomorrow and for ever more. I can say as Paul said in so meny words . "I have put all those formal things behind me and look to those things to come before me and I press toward a goal of a higher calling in Christ Jesus".

To " Know" Christ , To give up everything else is to be found the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and die with Him. Everything else is worthless when compared with the peiceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Yes, it means having Faith in Him. Yes, it also means one has to have a personal relationship with Him. No, With out Faith it is impossiable to please God. So how can one say they have a personal relationship with out faith ? Becoming more knowledgeable of Him daily through His Inspiring Word found in "The Holy Bible" with His Holy Spirit teaching and giving me the understanding of His Rightiousness.

Becoming one with God through His Son Christ Jesus, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God's laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God's way of making me right with Himself depends on faith counting on Christ alone, and not my goodness.

Paul make it know that if anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be him, If others can be saved by what they are, certinly he could! because of the life experiences and changes he has gone through, that he was sincere in what he was doing when he was demanding the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custome, Paul says that he tried to obey Jewish rule and regulation right down to the very last point, and that he find and relize that these things that he once through very worthwhile now he have thrown them all away so that he can put his trust and hope in Christ Jesus. At this point in life I can not say that I can look back and find where my religious background has obstruction to my faith, we've all been introduce to our own self rightiousness at some point up to now and along the way my throughs has not always lined up with putting "all" faith an trust in God through His Son Jesus Christ. I have been tought from childhood and now as a aldult that hinderance will come and they will also pass, and not to let them block my connection or cloud my throughts about who and what God can and will do through my Savor and Redeemer Christ Jesus on my behalf, and to always stay focus on my eteral goal, everlasting Life with God.

Bosting and braging about what "I" have and have done rather than what God has done for me and through me . Misleading children of God, making one self seem to be more important and independent of God through His Son Christ Jesus. Teaching the law and leaving the True Gospel out, the true history of Jesus Christ. For it is worshiping God with our spirits that keeps us connected to the True Vine. Yes, each day I find some struggles trying to turn me around, but I know that I glory in what Christ Jesus has done for me and through me. I realize that I am helpless with out Him over me and this life He has given me, so I have all hope, trust and all faith that God through His Son Christ Jesus my Savor and Redeemer will handle any and all struggles that comes my way as long as I stay connected to the True Vine.

The Philippians church chief problem I understand, was that they were social segregated , they form groups along these lines, they put walls around them to keep other out. Paul says that Timothy was like-minded and that he loved them and that Timothy had shown his faithful to the Philippians for (10) ten years of minister with Paul. Paul complimentary terms were a "brother", a fellow "worker" , "a fellow solder", a "messenger" to the Philippians and a "minister" to Paul.

When we serve God as "slave" we are obeying His every will , we obey His teaching acknowledging that He is more worthy and more desirable than anything else. If one serve as a preference it can get to the point that they perfer their own will rather than Jesus Christ, the will of God. And selfish and lacking consideration for others.