Gail B.

By spending time in the presence of God, reading his word and getting to know him, I believe the fruit will radiate from a believer. The trials of life will have a dramatic effect on one's character molding it into the likeness of Christ and developing as the Holy Spirit leads that person. The goodness of God leads all men to repentance. The Holy Spirit working through a wife with a good and godly character will draw that unsaved husband to Christ for salvation.

A Christian woman should dress with modesty and be that representative of God on this earth. If too much time, however, is spent pursuing clothing, jewelry and makeup, and this area is out of balance in a woman's life, other things will suffer. I believe that pursuing God will show forth God's glory from the inside, and we can still be attentive to the way we look keeping our spiritual and physical lives in balance.

Given that I have a lot to learn in this area, I believe submission is extremely difficult for those who were raised in a domineering and abusive family environment where a choice was not given. Now that my life is my own, or rather that my life is Christ's, I must live making choices in a Christlike manner. Christ has set the husband as head of the family whether or not he is a Christian or living a Christian life. Wisdom and knowledge of the word as well as yielding to the Holy Spirit will give the wife the ability to submit by choice to those things which are in line with righteousness and speak up in love and respect when they are not. There have been a few times when my refusal to submit have caused problems with my husband when I knew submitting would go against the check in my spirit. But I must admit that althoug during these times it was the will of God that I not submit, I also believe that I did not handle my choice in a very loving, respectful or kind manner. This is one of the areas where I know there is room for much improvement. And, there have been times when I have submitted not knowing the will of God and in the end God has blessed that submission and shown me a good end or result. I do believe that all wives should be very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit when it comes to this area.

The word says that the power of sin over our lives has been broken. By renewal of our mind with the word, prayer and time in the presence of God, we will eventually see the fruit and evidence of that word come to pass in our lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit as we yield to the will of God as he works in our lives, we will crucify our carnal natures submitting to Him in all areas as we are sensitive to his leadings living righteously before Him.

Because my sins were laid on him at the cross/"tree" I cannot only come into the presence of a holy God but the sin that disconnected me from the life of God is now flowing. He has opened the prison doors and I all I had to do is walk out, walking in the newness of life. Adam may have sinned eating of the fruit of the "Tree" of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but through Jesus each of us can eat now of the fruit of the "Tree" of Life.

Adam's sin resulted in loss that only a spotless sacrifice could atone for. Jesus, the lamb, sent to suffer and die, paid the price for us to come back to the Father. I believe that my own sin which in fact weighs me down at times, caused much suffering to a pure and spotless savior as the separation from our Father caused him to be disconnected from the only source he had ever known. I believe that Jesus suffered and died because of his great love for the Father and love for us, knowing that this was the purpose for which he was sent and willingly surrendering to do the Father's will.

Since I have been saved I have believed that Jesus DIED personally for me, but I had never really contemplated that he SUFFERED personally for me before last week. As I watched the movie The Passion of the Christ and saw Jesus unmercifully beaten trying to walk the path to the cross and still being beaten, I sat in numbness of what my Lord had gone through and how they would not stop, and felt him speaking into my spirit "I did this for you." Only then did I realize and there are no words that can express.

As I read this passage again and the previous replies, I came to understand that I have been placing blame on a company for something that resulted in my circumstances and therefore suffering--but not in silence. When the circumstances occurred I had given over to the trust of my Father but as the weeks have passed, have placed blame. God is calling us to a higher level now. After seeing the movie The Passion last week and realizing that Christ did not ever complain, I turn aside from the ways I have had over the last few weeks, ask for forgiveness and go forward in silence trusting God for any suffering I may have. Thank you annk for the previous reply. I cried as I read your answer. I am a few weeks behind in this study, but I realize now, that is God's timetable that I should be here now. Isn't He wonderful? He never sleeps and his timing is perfect.

Being a housewife, I have not worked in over 22 years so I was not working when I was saved. However, injustice does not only occur in the workforce. Now that I am a Christian I realize that anytime we react to anything anyone does or says, we must evaluate our own heart and apply biblical principles-part of dying to the fleshly or carnal nature. Complaining only got the Israelites many years in the wilderness and I have learned this the hard way. I believe that the more you walk with Christ, the more you learn about what to allow in silence and what to say something about without a complaining or critical spirit.

We should be a people of excellence giving our all to any job God has given us while we are in this world. The respect we give to our employers and the good job we do will reflect the glory of God. God will honor us if we are respectful because of him to unkind and unsaved people.

God has placed all those in authority over us including those in government. We are to willingly and freely submit to their leadership as head because of that, obeying laws and living good lives. We are representatives of Him on this earth and when we are rebellious, we hurt his cause and are following the enemy thus giving the unsaved a cause for criticism.

How can the good deeds we commit by living openly as Christians increase God's praise. How does our "blending in" detract from God's praise? Living righteous lives and staying connected to the Vine allow our bodies to show forth the glory of God. Since we are now the light of the world, we should live our lives so that others may turn to the light that is in us. Blending in is part of the carnal nature which does not magnify Christ.

Peter is here warning us that we must be watchful of our own flesh which will bring death to our souls. If we fight temptation for the fleshly attitudes and actions, we will have life and peace. Anything carnal has no part in God.

One of the things Jesus prayed for in the gospel of John was for his body to be in unity, one with him and with the Father. Staying connected to our Lord and to other members and walking in unity with them means being in agreement, in one mind, so that our prayers will be answered and have power against the kingdom of darkness. Let there be no division and strife in the church. A love for others in the body of believers is an outpouring of the love God has placed in our hearts.

A heart full of thanksgiving, eyes focused on Him, ever seeking to know Him more, because He is all, resulting in living a life to bring glory to Him.

A priest should have the mind and heart of a servant continually offering sacrifices of a holy life to God. Therefore, my thoughts and actions should be reflecting a life totally submitted to loving and serving God by being sensitive to him as he shows me his will for my life by ministering to him so that I can minister to the needs of others. Dying daily to self and the old nature allows me to walk in the new nature he has given me. I believe that by having this mindset my "state of worship" is praise and love for a God who is all. Staying connected to the Vine and offering my life is a small thing in comparison to all that Christ has done for me.

I have never felt of "no value"; but before salvation I have felt "of little value." But 1 Peter 1:18-19 says that a sinless Christ was willing to take my sin and give his life to purchase me and rescue me from my own destruction. That he considers me of greater value than anything on this earth by giving his life shows his great love for me and shows me how precious souls are in his sight. I cannot comprehend what eternal life with God will be like but I know that it will far outweight any temporal things here on this earth.

Most people don't like to be judged because they feel that they don't have to justify their actions or defend themselves to others. God is a God of justice and his judgment at the end of time will vindicate his son and the saints who have lived in this world believing and following Christ. He loves the whole world but sin separates from the One who is holy and those who have not believed and followed him have not accepted his offer of salvation-the only offer made for all time. When final judgment is left out or ignored where the good news or gospel is preached, then the unsaved see no reason or reward for accepting Christ's atonement for their sins.

Holiness to me means that I am set apart unto God to be used for his will and his purposes. The blood of Jesus has paid for and purchased my salvation thereby making me holy by definition; however, obedience to the word and renewal by the word which transforms my mind shapes me into his likeness by the power of his spirit living in me thereby making me holy in my character as I allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life and I walk according to his ways. I am still learning the word of God and also learning to crucify my fleshly, carnal nature, something we all struggle with.

Our attention should be focused toward Christ and his coming so that we are not caught offguard like the unwise virgins who did not prepare. Christ is our hope of eternal life. Self-control and soberness will cause us to be focused thereby keeping our lives holy (set apart) so that at his coming we will be found blameless. When we are not expecting him to come or not anxiously awaiting his return, we allow unrighteousness and sin into our lives which produce unfruitfulness and death instead of an abundant and productive life in his kingdom which he died for us to have.

I think that joy can be expressed but it is not an emotion and I'm not sure that joy can be defined in our words as it comes from the deepest places within us just like peace and love, other fruit of the spirit. Happiness is a human emotion which follows worldly pursuits. We have joy no matter what the circumstances. If the spirit is present, joy and peace and love will always be there.

A few years ago there was a trial my family went through for a period of over two years. I was very distraught and even though I knew a bit of God's word my sensing his closeness at that time was gone. Before the trial ended I knew he was telling me to "be still, wait, observe." I couldn't still my heart so I asked for his help. In time, the blinders were lifted from the eyes of a family member to where he/she could see again and start making some quality decisions. At the time that I felt the Lord calling me to a new level of contentment and trust and rest in him even before things were resolved. I am now closer to him and trust that even though things look bad from my perspective at times, if I continue to follow him, he will work it all out. This is true for other times as God always brings glory to his name through our trials if we let him have his way and continue to be obedient. And although I know I passed some of the tests of that trial, the main test of unconditional love for another was not met. But since I grew through that time I realize that my love for the unlovable must replace any feelings I have against their personalities and actions. I believe totally that when we finally surrender our thoughts and feelings to God he can truly do a work in us and in others which will be permanent and will bring glory to him as we become more like him.

1 Peter 1:5 indicates to me that God has a holding power until the end and that our faith in him will sustain us until that time.

Forgiveness of God (sprinkling) cleanses us from our sin and makes us acceptable to a holy God, but obedience keeps us from polluting what Christ has made clean. You cannot have one without the other because you render of no effect the cleansing blood of Jesus by polluting yourself if you are not obedient to God's word. Let me add here that I think when we first are called and saved by God, we are obedient because of thankfulness because of what Jesus has done for us. In time as we learn to know God we develop love for him which causes obedience to his word. And we are become more thankful. Obedience is a product of faith. God did the calling, saving and sanctifying while we did not even know him. The works we do are through the grace he gives and the works he does in and through us. I believe the obedience to walk in his ways is also given to us.

Worldly or carnal behavior results when we focus our priorities on the things of this world instead of our future home. The word says to put off the old nature and to let the word transform and renew our minds. From experience I know that focusing on temporal things have the power to pull you into a backslidden condition where satan blinds you into believing you are still walking in the power of God but are not. You have lost your first love, Jesus, and the cares, lusts and things of the world have taken place as the god of your life. But when your eyes are finally opened to the sin in your own heart, Jesus comes, cleanses and sets you back on your feet, stronger than ever and you realize how easy it was to slip away so you cling more tightly to him focusing on daily prayer, the word, fellowshipping with the body of unified believers, and crucifying your flesh daily. A Christian who does not put away or put to death the things of this world will only be on a pathway to death, but God has given us life and light through following Jesus.