JoanG

Paul would be able to bring a new and vibrant way of describing his vision. He knows all the Jewish teachings. Now he was given the best chance to tell others how Christ fulfilled all the propheses in the Old Testament. He was not going to teach the converted Jews. He was going to step out and teach the Gentiles. He was going to convert a new group that needed a new approach. He needed to be one with the people. I feel that I have come to a great place in my life. I have struggled with trying to do things my way. I have tried before to turn to God but I fell short of it. And it wasn't until I turned my whole heart to the bible did I finally come to a place where I now understand the words and feel that I can share the words with others. I still have to learn how to not condemn myself with my memory issues. I am sure that God has a way for me to be a success. I just have to trust in Him, listen to Him and have faith that I will be able to find it in my heart.

Paul tells us that he is speaking through God and Jesus Christ. He describes a revelation by Jesus personally, As Christians we are to believe what is in the scriptures. We are to believe in the word of God. We are to watch against false teachers and false prophets. We are to be warry of man made scriptures just as the Jewish people had to be careful of the false teachings of the Pharasees who changed the letter of the law to cover themselves and their actions.

This verse gives us a wrap up of what the New Testament is all about. We know that God is love. We know that He sent His Son to save us. Salvation is for all men not just the Jewish nation. And for those that believe will live with God in Heaven forever. All it takes is faith.

We need to strive to be more than any human. We need to strive to be like Jesus. We need to live our lives as sinless people who love unconditionally. We need to go over and above the norm. I believe that Jesus was teaching us about perfection. He gave us all the ideals to live up to. We are the children of God and we need to live that way.

I believe that we are to defend ourselves against a physical attack. I do not believe that Jesus meant for us to allow ourselves or our family to be hurt or killed by strangers. We must be able to protect our goods from being stolen from us. I am sure that Jesus would not want us to allow ourselves to be raped if we can help it. I do not think that God wants us to be victims to evil men.

To make ourselves worthy of a new birth, we need to cleanse ourselves from our old habits. We need to wash our souls in the cleansing waters of the cross and the grace of God. And once this cleansing takes place, God will send the Holy Spirit to keep us on the right tract. This is one of the promises of Christ to all who accepted His forgiveness, grace and salvation. We need to cleanse our hearts and souls in the Holy Water of God, and we will be graced with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We need to be born of the water and Holy Spirit to enter into the kingdom of God. This is a new concept, a new type of birth. I believe that all the translations should be used together. We are given a new chance to be born to God. we are given an opportunity to have a new birth of God. We have received the grace to be adopted children of God.

The Kingdom of God is a spiritually uplifting place where only believers will be allowed to live. It is the reward for our salvation. It is the ultimate blessing. I believe that Nicodemus really did understand Jesus. I think that Nicodemus was looking for spiritual refirmation. He needed to have the blessing and grace from Jesus. He had the need ot know that there was more to the teachings and laws than what he dealt with on a daily basis.

Treat all people with the love and respect that you expect from them.

The examples tell us to go an extra mile for our enemies. We are to show them that even though they are against us, we as Christians will not hold any kind of revenge against them. We will set a better example and show them what love and dignity and respect really are to those that don't understand better behavior for themselves. These were just ideas on how to love your enemy as you love yourself.

The "eye for eye" regulation was put into place so that people would not retaliate out of revenge but was right to have repaid them for the damage done to them. They were not allowed to hurt people more than they were hurt. However, this justice was to be handled by a higher authority such as a court system or groups of elders. It was not to be taken on by the individual or the family that had been hurt in the first place.

This statement means that we should always tell the truth. There should be no doubt or hesitation in our words. When we say something or promise something, People should know that they believe it will be done. We will have people that will want to talk to us all the time.

In today's society, people look at the church as a building where they go once a week. However, Jesus never meant for the church to be a building. He meant for us to be the body of the church. We are to be the ones that go out and to minister to those that need it. We should not leave all the work to the Pastor. He is only to guide us and keep us on tract. He is to be a mentor. We need to grow the church by growing ourselves in the Love of Christ. We need to move from the pews in the building to be active disciples of Christ. We need to live our lives as examples of love, understanding and caring people just like Jesus was when He walked this earth.

I find that I had questioned the idea of one sin being bigger than another. However, this is the concept that I have come up with. Once we confess our sins to God and accept Jesus as our savior, our sins are forgiven. We have the grace of God. So I feel that remarriage and divorce are forgiven already. Jesus never taught that one sin was worse than another. He never said that some of our sins are forgiven and others weren't.

I feel that the disciples realize how hard it would be to try and marry a person and live with them their whole life. They might have seen many people give up on each other and realize that this love could never exist in humans. I don't think that they misunderstood it. I think that they wanted to just give up without really trying. They were taking the easy way out on things.

The Mosaic law allowed a husband to divorce his wife if she was unfaithful to him. He was ordered to give back her endowment and let her leave peacefully. However, it does not allow either party to remarry. God gave them this permission because of the fact that men and women could not find it in their hearts to love each other the way that God had intended for them. God intended for people to marry for life. They were to only have one spouse.

As Christians we need to believe that there is a better life after this one. We need to strive to be our best in this life so that we will get our reward in the next life. we are so wrapped up in this life that we do not have time for the bible or going to church. we stress more on material objects than on God. We are wrapped up in today. we are a lot less likely to think about death. I am not sure how to change this. People do not seem to think that the bible is important anymore.

I think that our heavenly bodies will be like Christ when He came back to earth from the dead. We will be living in a new heaven and a new earth. There might be a need for a body. If every thing is new, we would not be able to know what life will be like.

I think that I would stop doubting myself so much and I would try to express the lessons of the bible more to those that need it. I would try to show more love and compassion to those around me that cause me stress. I would try to work more closely with those people that seem impossible to be around. I would want to give them the feeling that I care about them.

Christ created the church here on earth. He gave it His blessings. He put His heart into it. That in itself makes it glorious. However, the church is made up of people that God created. Even though we make mistakes, God still loves us and He has saved us and He gives us glory. I feel that Paul was talking about a church today that is alive and wonderful in God's eyes. And I also believe that Paul was talking about the next church that will be created when Christ returns.

The Lamb is the Son of God. He sits at the right hand of the Father. He has always been there. He has always been this holy. He deserves all of our prayers and worship at all times.

The Lamb who was full of grace, who was holy, and was sinless, allowed the sins of all men to be placed on Him. He was then crucified and hung on a cross as a criminal. He died from these actions. He then rose from the dead three days later and He once again opened the gates of heaven. He paid the ransom to God the Father and we are now joined with God in heaven.

Christ died on the Cross, His blood was poured our so that the sins of man may be forgiven by God. We need to acknowledge that we are not perfect and that we know the things that we have done to cause sin to enter into our hearts. We acknowledge our weaknesses and we beg God to forgive us. We take responsibility for our actions and we make ourselves worthy in God's and Jesus's eyes to share in this great feast.

The diciples were very familiar to the Old Testament prophets and Isaiah is one of those whose teachings they would have heard the most. This chapter is one that explains how a person who is blameless will suffer and die for the sinful. It explains how He will give the spoils or salvation to those that are strong. I find that this means that those who are willing to die for their beliefs in the Messiah.

When we are seated with Christ in the "heavenly realms" we are saying that we are above all sin, all evil and all temptations of the world. We can no longer be a slave to sin, God's grace is purifying. It has not only cleansed us of our past sins but it has also washed us into a purity and holiness of Christ. We should have no fears of demons or evil entiites.We have the ability to order them away from us. We should pray to God in a thankfulness for all of these abilities. We should ask God to bring down His kingdom onto earth.We should be willing to live in this holy and blessed way every day of our lives.