JoanG

God is rich in mercy. He has great compassion for us. He has a love for us that can not be described in the words of humans. Through Christ, we have been able to come alive. We have been saved from all of our transgressions.

People follow satan unwittingly every day. They give into all type of temptations. They give into materialism. They compromise their values to keep up with the family down the street. We are not grateful for what we have. We have become hoarders. We are unwilling to share what we have because we are afraid that we would not have enough for a rainy day. God needs to blame us and He needs to hold us accountable for those things that we do wrong. He needs to make us feel guilty for our wrong doings.

Non believers are dead inside at times. They do not have a positive release for the guilt that they feel inside of themselves. They have no way of feeling forgiveness. Telling other people that they are sorry is only an instant gratification. It does not last very long. We know that our sins are forgiven and we are free to take on a new and holy life. We know that the slate was wiped clean and this allows us to move on. We need to set examples for those around us. We need to try and talk to those non-believers that are close to us. But we can not force anyone to change.

Jesus sees His church as perfect. It radiates of love. There is acceptance of all who live there. It is the most beautiful. There is not a thing wrong with it.

I feel that "the water of life" here on earth is the words from the bible. They are free to who ever wants to partake in them. I also feel that we, as the church' should welcome all people into our loving embrace. We should care for them no matter what. We should offer them the salvation that we have found from this new life as a loving Christian. In Revelation 22:1 the 'water of life" is the presence and glory of God that will be radiant and shine onto all who are worthy to be in their presence in the New Heaven.

I can not find the words to explain how wonderful my heart feels that I will be in God's glorious presence. It is beyond a dream come true. And to know that all the sorrows that are in the world today will be forever gone. I am not sure if my heart can handle that joy right now. I am not sure what one thrills me more. No that is not true, I think that the presence of God will make everything okay. That is the biggest reward in all the heavens. Because it is beyond anything here on earth.

The word of God will help people to find an uplifting in their souls. They comfort, give hope and give guidance. They can help to purify a person's thoughts. If the true words are spoken and explained in a loving way, a congreagation can and will grow in the love of Christ. We need to open up and let the feelings of the words come through our teachings. We need to be able to communicate in a way that shows people that Christ was human and that He knows what it was like then and what it is like now. We need to know that the words in the bible are actually alive. And we just need to live them.

A "holiness" of a church, is a church that was washed in the blood of Christ. A church can not become holy by her own actions. We need to have the love of Christ in the people that belong to the church. There can not be an judgement toward the members of a congregation, there can only be a judgement toward their actions. We need to mentor each other. We need to set examples for each other. We need to gently, but firmly with love call each other on the carpet for mistakes that are being made. We need to extend forgiveness to them.

Christ died on the cross for the church. He could have chosen not to die as God the Father had requested of Him. God is committed to us. He wanted to make sure that we were able to enter into heaven. I feel that this sacrifice was very altruistic. Christ did not benefit at all b His death on the cross. He did it all for us.

As the church of Christ, we need to follow the rules of the bible. We need to follow the ideals of the teaching of Christ in the New Testament. In the practical aspect of my life, I need to give my actions over to Christ. I need to live as if I belong to Christ completely. My thoughts and my actions should all be an honor to the Glory of Jesus. If a congregation is to be truly submissive to Christ, I feel that there would be a congregation ruled by love. I do not feel that there would be so much backstabbing. I feel that people would talk with nothing but love toward each other. There would be a sense of righteousness within every one. There would be no grand standing and no body would try to be the "star" of worship. People would let God provide for the running of the church. There would be no need to discuss money and fights on how the money is to be spent. There would be little to no cut throating each other and people would have respect for each other no matter where they were in their lives.

By this being a different gospel, the Galatians are in risk of being led away from God and Jesus by false teachings. They can end up following a pagan type of religion eventually. They can end up losing their salvation and graces in God's eyes.. Twisted gospels today are sugar coated sermons that take any bite out of the concept of sin. They spoon feed people a view of Christianity that is easy to swallow. They do not condemn any bad behaviors that the people in the congregation might have. They softly explain what it is to be redeemed. They have very false sense of righteousness. They attend Sunday worship and then the rest of the week they live in the materialistic world.

Jesus gave Himself to rescue us from the present evil age and for our sins. Jesus gives people a second chance and sometimes even more chances. When we truly repent of our sins and accept Him as our saviour, redeemer and friend, we are given the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us. He puts us on a path of finding those people that will be there to guide us in our pursuit of Christian faith.

We will be resurrected with a new spiritual body. There will be none of the flaws that we had in our earthly days. We will now be adorned with a body of glory just as Jesus when He came back from the dead.

After death, we will be with God. We will be in His presence in one of the areas of Heaven. Because, Jesus told us Himself that there are many rooms there. I feel that those that are under the alter area are those that were killed for their beliefs and faith. I feel that they will have an honored place to rest until the final judgement occurs.

I feel that the word in the bible used instead of rapture is gathered, EPISUNAGO. I also feel that Jesus will come down from the heavens and gather all the believers to Him. We will hear His call all around the world. We will be able to finally see Him in all of His glory. At this time, we will then be judged with all the others. But those that heard that first call will not have to worry. We already belong to Him. Of course, the glory will come after the judgement. I feel that once we are judged, we will be transformed into a new state of glory.

When people have faith based on what they can see, they do not have true faith. They rely on their senses to show them what i sgoing on. They do not feel these things in their hearts and souls. They are surface people. True faith is believing without having the proof. It is knowing in your heart and soul that these things are real. It is believing without the proof that makes true faith. It is hearing the words and knowing in your heart that the truth was spoken. Jesus did not want people to just believe in the things that they can see. He wanted them to see what is really in their hearts and souls. He knew that once they forgot about the miracles that were seen, they would soon forget them. They would not keep it within them. He did not want the New covenant with God to be just lip service.

Jesus had every right to be angry when He entered the temple and saw the disgraceful way people were treating it. There is good anger and bad anger. The anger that causes people to stand up for what is right and to fight against evil is good. If we come together in a loving way and show support without causing damage or injury to the innocent, we can show our Christian hearts to all those involved. However, when riots occur that do damage to innocent people or their property, we show that we are no better than animals. We are not showing we are like Christ. We are showing that we have no concept of right from wrong. We show that we are probably worse than those that caused us to riot in the first place. We show just how lawless we can be a humans.

The temple area was being used as a market place. However, there was much corruption of the vendors and those that exchanged money for the temple tax. This upset Jesus because people had come there to worship and they could not pray to God in a peaceful and serene setting as He had hoped for. Jesus cleared out the temple area by scattering the animals and turning over all the tables. He told the people of the injustice that was going on there.

I feel that when the bible is talking about joined as one flesh, it is referring to the first sexual encounter that either person has. I feel that this is a natural law that not only occurs with humans but in some animals and birds as well. They find one partner and stick to that partner through out their whole lives. I do not feel that the percentage is too high for those that were joined together by God. I am very sorry to sa that most people will have a number of sexual partners before they finally take vows to remain faithful to just one person.

Jesus does not agree with either Rabbi on this issue. Jesus strictly sticks to the teaching that once married there is no reason for a husband and a wife to divorce. Only God should have the power to separate them because He is the one that joins them together in one flesh.

The Lamb itself represents Jesus Christ. Standing after being slain indicates that it was triumphant over death and has risen into a new glory. Horns represent power and strength. Eyes represents its ability to see all things and know all things. the number seven carries the idea of perfection. The Lamb has the qualities of being all powerful, the strongest of all living creatures. The Lamb is all knowing. It sees everything that takes place. And the Lamb has victory over death.

I feel that Jesus is the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" because He is the one with the mighty roar. He is the Son of God, He is the Messiah. He is the one who will stand in judgement of all people. He is the one who defeated death. He had to be all powerful. Just as the lion is considered the king of all the animals, so too Jesus is the mightiest of all kings. "The Root of David" to me signifies the start fo the family line of David. Not one of the branches from the tree. God the Son was before David. He gave root to the Israel nation but He took special interest in David and was born from this Jewish Section, Jesus knew that He was going to be born from the line of David eventually.

I feel that the meaning of the Lord's Supper is to be a way for us to remember the sacrifice tht Jesus made for our sins. We are not to partake of the meal lightly. I feel that He was not only trying to fulfill that scripture but also to set the stage for the apostles to take that special meal to all the new converts that were going to be called to Jesus soon. This was one very visual way to connect to Jesus and to the actions that were going to be taking place for our salvation. I feel that the apostles had great reverance and honor for the recreation of the Lord's Supper each time they broke bread with their followers. I wish that we had the same type of reverance today.

God allowed the people to sacrifice animals to Him as a way of saing that they were sorry for the sins that they had committed. He did not strike them dead when they sinned. He allowed them to repent by making a blood sacrifice of an animal and He forgave them of their sins at that time.

I have very strong feelings that my name is in the Book of Life. I have a very strong faith that has changed my whole life. I have grown to know and love the Lord so much more through my studies in the Jesus Walk Series. My path and my purpose have become clearer with the help of my congregation and a few pastors who I am honored to call friends.