Working Our Faith Out

Comment

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on March 18, 2012 at 11:45am

Colossians 2:6-23

  6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

      8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

      16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand onvisions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

      20If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. 

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on March 18, 2012 at 11:28am

Romans 9:14-24

   14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

      19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on March 16, 2012 at 4:21pm

love you too my brother

Comment by Hamm on March 16, 2012 at 12:12pm

Thank you all so very much for your comments below, they are all taken on board and appreciated. I love you all very much.

I know we have all suffered and experienced hardships and lessons,some of us still are. I know noone here on this group or on AAG is judging me, I have never felt this, quite the opposite I think everyone has been very acceppting. Thank you.

The point I am trying to get acorss, is that as I am experiencing my journey and comment on it here. My comments are taken on board by others who express their opinions, knowledge, wisdom, learning and understanding. These help me.

"As we grow together in the Body of Christ, we learn many things about one another."

Thank you, love you all here, Marty, Elaine,Chris,Alcedes,Grace and others God bless you keep shining.

Comment by Grace Mercy on March 16, 2012 at 9:32am

Amen. Great,

Truly, by the grace and the mercies of our LORD JESUS, through his guidance and as we diligently study His words and as we learn to listen and wait upon the Lord, we can, through the Holy Spirit know what His will for us. The moment we accepted Christ in our Life, the moment we surrendered our life to God, we did accepted Him as our Lord and as quoted, let's not be conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Let Christ live in us and reign in our lives. Amen, Praise God, everyday, little by little God is changing us and is taking from glory to glory.. Amen.

God bless you all guys! :)

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on March 15, 2012 at 6:55pm

MY SISTER YOU ARE WELCOME ,AND LET ME SHARE THIS I JUST GOT IT AND IT GOES  ALONG WITH WHAT OUR FAITHFUL BROTHER CHRIS SAID

 

.
		About The Berean | Archives | Random Berean | Subscriptions
		Printer version   Psalm 119:165 (165) Great peace have they who love your law,  and nothing can make them stumble.  New International Version   Change Bible versions What does "great peace" mean? "Peace" automatically suggests an absence of war, no battling, no fighting. Under temptation, a battle always rages, even if we are winning. In such a case, no peace exists, much less "great peace." As an illustration, initially, the U.S. in Iraq won every battle handily, but it was still war. The spiritual war we fight is caused by temptation from Satan, our human nature, and the world. Remove temptation, and war stops. What remains is great peace. How do we achieve not just peace, but "great peace"? The last half ofPsalm 119:165 tells us: "nothing causes them to stumble." What causes a human to stumble? Temptation! This means that we have to be sheltered from it. The American Standard Version renders this phrase, "they have no occasion of stumbling," Young's Literal Translation puts it as "they have no stumbling-block," and the Rotherham's Emphasized Biblereads, "nothing to make them stumble." All of these renderings mean that not even the opportunity to stumble is presented. Other scriptures mention protection from stumbling: Psalm 121:3 (NLT): He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. I John 2:10: He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. Jude 24: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceedingjoy. . . . God through the gift of His Holy Spirit is the only power in the universe that can accomplish such a feat. If God does not place that shield around us, we have no hope of success. Alone, we are powerless in the face of temptation. We overcome it not by our strength, but by God's power, the shield of faith (I John 5:4) given to us as His gift (Ephesians 2:8). It is our only sure defense. To acknowledge God and to pray always are to be in alignment with one of Christ's most basic principles, a principle found in Matthew 6:33—to "seek first the kingdom of God" in all things. Praying always is stepping out in faith, believing that if we seek God first, He will add all the things we need (Philippians 4:19), including the strength to overcome, to finish this journey, and to enter His Kingdom. When faced with the myriad decisions we have to make during each day, if we are not acknowledging God's presence, we have placed ourselves in the position of fighting our battles on our own. Israel made the same mistake, choosing the hard road in their fight, one littered with bodies. We probably all know of some bodies that now litter the spiritual road we have walked. We veterans carry scars from the battles we have lost. Our battles to overcome are more like skirmishes than battles. In fact, we experience our most severe temptations and trials in everyday events like eating, conducting business affairs, or relating to others in the family or community. Luke 16:10 acknowledges this: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much." What better way to win those little skirmishes than to have an invincible Champion, God, in the van of the battle? Because these skirmishes are in the myriad of details we deal with every day, only striving to pray always during the day gives us that unyielding first line of defense. Our deceitful human nature has in its arsenal countless ways, reasons, and excuses to avoid confronting the real issue of life—overcoming and allowing God to form and shape us into His image. Just bringing God into the picture unleashes forces that will not only help us to overcome, but will also protect us from the pitfalls that litter our path (Psalm 91:12). It is this striving to pray always that a Laodicean naturally avoids because he feels no need. Pat Higgins  Excerpted from: Praying Always (Part Six)

Comment by a servant (Chris) on March 15, 2012 at 6:29pm

  The fashion in which you all share with such honesty, Praise God for trusting Family members.   A few things that I saw.  It seems many times when we are learning how to love, many people come our way who seem, "unlovable."   But, when you think about it, what better way is there to learn.   As we learn to yield to God, it can take a few steps.  I am going to use what Hamm has shared, { i promise to be careful Brother} " The more I give myself and my life over to it, the worse my life gets, the weaker I get, the more vulnerable I am, the more nasty and trials my life  is taken up with."   I have always loved your honesty Hamm.  This is common, remember the farmer and the seeds.  Matt 13:4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. v19 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.   This is what the enemy tries to do.  We have the "inside skinny" so we are able to be prepared.  As you said Hamm the more you give yourself over, the more these other things happen.  To give yourself over is the first step.  Then we begin to put our Faith forth.  We will trust {or at least begin to} as we do this, we are exercising our Faith.  Now no one is saying, "all we be perfect."  This takes time.  However, our Father knows our heart, He is able to see right where we are.  God is THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN MAKE THINGS GROW.   Always remember this, YOU ARE LOVED!   No matter what happens never forget this.  If we know we are Loved, no matter what we face, time will run out.  We have eternity on our side.  Also since we are Loved, this is all a learning exercise.  Our Dad knows what is going on, again we are Loved.  The harder the trial, the stronger the result!  We are Loved, we have Grace and Mercy, we are Forgiven, we have been given the Victory.  We are part of the Wonderful Bride of Christ; we are part of the Powerful Body of Christ.  As we ponder and ponder; meditate and meditate, on these things, Holy Spirit we reveal many things to us, as the Lord sees fit for His purpose.  {did not mean to write a book}  Love to you All.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on March 15, 2012 at 6:25pm

Martyp my beloved sister and Hamm my beloved brother,first let me say this our HEAVENLY FATHER KNEW both of you before the foundation of the world plus he choose us ,we did not chose him,oh how I can go on  telling you two of his grace and mercy once you are adopted in his family but that we all know ,but what I would LIKE to say for my beloved brother Hamm sake that we are a work in process ,and it is GOD who is doing the molding and he will continue to mold us until we stand before him ,and then we must give an account of our life to him and my brother don't be so hard on yourself about the hardness of the life down here ,for when things is not going good as you see it think about the times that have pasted and you thought those time was hard and look back to see did you come through the fire and how did you make it and did you make it by yourself or did you get help or things worked out in ways that you had no idea that it would go down like that ,and if any of these things happen and I'm sure that they did, it was our Heavenly Father holding satan at bay because satan want you to think that JESUS AND GOD IS NOT REAL BECAUSE OF THE WICKEDNESS THAT IS IN THE WORLD AND THAT IS WHY WE MUST STAY WATCHFUL BECAUSE WE ARE IN A WAR ,THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT. If I could only take you two back to my life from 17 to 21 and then from 21 to now the two of you would not even worry about how you two are  ,for you would see what GOD did that many people thought was impossible and even myself look back and say that I was so dumb and crazy back then but GOD GET ALL THE GLORY AND THAT IS WHY I SERVE AND LOVE HIM LIKE I DO, LOVE TO THE TWO OF YOU AND THE WHOLE GROUP FOR WE HAVE AN AWESOME HEAVENLY FATHER WHO KNOWS AND SEE ALL THINGS   

Comment by Hamm on March 15, 2012 at 3:44pm

Your candid comments Marty are so very brave and I agree so much with what Chris and others are saying.

In my honesty i have spent many years looking into my self and going to therapy to discover myself. (Opening my Jorhi window.) I have seen my demons and accdepted them and understand myself more, on this level. I don't think I could my job unless I had.

Though my journey as a christian or should I say with christianity has been just as hard and contradicory. Even harder.  The more I give myself and my life over to it, the worse my life gets, the weaker I get, the more vulnerable I am, the more nasty and trials my life  is taken up with. the less I feel I have contact with others in my life, the less I feel I have anything in common with anyone, the more the world seems stranger and I am out of place on it.There are times when its seems I am being sent all these to prove that I am finding it hard to love certain people in these situations.

I accept people for who they are and what they have done, but should others selfishness keep on hurting others and ruling the world, we live in the 21st century about 2012 years after christs and his teachings, but we are still killing each other, we are still slaves to profiteers, tax men, salesmen, politicians, economists, bankers etc. (ranting i know)

I find an honesty here in this group and admire everyones faith & I like it because you all do accept each other and I recon & understand maybe I come across as a very testing person with regards to christianity & negative, (I am not really) about the bible, but both yours, Chris, Acledes, Elaine and  others in others groups, acceptence of me, has given me more faith in the good side of humanity. My growing in christianity is helped by this group. Thank you. God bless.

Comment by a servant (Chris) on March 14, 2012 at 11:00pm

As we grow together in the Body of Christ, we learn many things about one another.  What we do with that information is very important.  When we see a weakness in another.  It is always best to build up and protect that person.  When we see a strength in another.  It is best to learn and not envy.  Jesus is most Strong in that persons weakness.  He is showing us His Strength and Grace, in the one with strength.  At first it can be difficult to bond together.  Yet, as we learn the advantages we All gain by coming together as One in His Love.  We will seek it out more and more.  For it is All for His Glory, Praise, and Honor.  Our benefits; our Blessings are without measure.  How does one weigh eternity.   We are here for Him.  We are here for one another.   Our Trust is in the Lord for, any and all else.  May the Lord richly Bless you All. 

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 30
• 31
• 32
• 33
• 34
• …
• 56
• Next ›
• Page