Daniel R

1. According to Ephesians 2:10, what were we created to do? Why? (Matthew 5:16) According to Ephesians 2:10, we were all created to accomplish whatever work God has appointed us to do. Whether it be singing, being a pastor, or even just working in an office, God has appointed each person with a specific job/work to do so that ultimately, He may be glorified through us, others may glorify Him, and others may come to know Him. 2. What is the difference between these works and the works Paul discredits in verse 9? The difference between these works and the works in verse 9 is that these works were appointed to us before we were created, God had these works planned out before we had ever put our faith in Him. On the contrary, the works in verse 9 are works that come after/from our faith. They weren't necessarily things that God had chosen us to do, but they are things we do because of our faith and love for others, which comes from His gift of salvation. THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!

1. "Saved" has become Christian jargon. How can you "translate" this word into modern speech so people can understand what it really means and why they need it? If I were to translate "saved" into modern, understandable language, I would probably use words such as "rescued" or "freed" and maybe emphasize them because we are being rescued/freed from eternal damnation and eternal life in hell. But yes, I would probably just use "rescue" or "free." THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. Why is it so hard for us to understand grace? What commonly held life principle does it demolish? Grace is an extremely difficult thing for us to understand because it completely destroys the life principle of getting what we worked for. Grace is something that we receive for no reason whatsoever. Somebody, in this case God, just chooses to give us things because He wants to. As humans we're not used to that. We find it unusual and almost uncomfortable to receive something when we've done nothing to receive it. Still, if grace is stretched out toward, the only thing we can do is thankfully accept the gift/blessing. 2. Translate the word "grace" into language a 10-year-old child would understand. Grace is "getting something that you didn't work for and don't deserve." THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. What does it mean that we are seated with Christ in "the heavenly realms"? By saying that we are seated with Christ "in the Heavenly places/realms," Paul is telling the Ephesians (as well as any other readers) that we share in the power, authority, and dominion that Christ received and have dominion over all demonic and human spirits and powers because of that. 2. What does this say about God's grace? This clearly shows us that God's grace is GREAT and ABUNDANT. As humans, if we have something nice we rarely tend to share with others, and even if we do share, we tend to scarcely share, but God on the other hand shares his dominion, power, and authority with us directly through Jesus Christ, without any cutting corners and holding back at all. 3. What does this say about our spiritual authority? This says that we have much more spiritual authority than we tend to believe. We do have power and authority over human forces and demonic forces, and though it may not look like it when the enemy comes at us full force, with faith and confidence, we will completely obliterate the enemy with the power, authority, and dominion of Christ. 4. How should this knowledge affect our prayers and our boldness? In general, this knowledge should make our prayers much bolder but also just our general boldness more bold. We shouldn't just tell God that we're afraid of satan when he throws stones at us, but we have to realize that God has given us authority and power in Jesus Christ and with faith, confidence, and boldness, we can overcome any and all the enemy!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. In verses 4 and 5, which words describe God's motivation and character? * Mercy * Great love * Grace 2. Which verbs describe what has happened to us in Christ? * Alive together in Christ *By grace you have been saved THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. Few people would knowingly follow Satan. How can people unwittingly follow Satan? Obviously, many people would never diligently follow satan because that's like "stepping over the line" or "venturing into dangerous territory," but they fail to realize that through sin, they unknowingly follow satan. Satan's biggest tool to trip people up is sin and so far, he's been able to make every person fall for it minus Jesus Christ. So, without us knowing, satan has made us fall into his trap, meaning that we have fallen under his authority. Adding to that, satan is the prince of darkness and of sin, so every time we sin, we follow in his footsteps and his plan for us, therefore, accidentally falling into his trap and following him and his plan. 2. In what sense are we responsible for unwitting rebellion against God? We are responsible for our rebellion and sin against God because God has given us free will, meaning that we are strong enough to resist temptation and sin with the Holy Spirit. Sadly, few of us try to fight those temptations hard enough and even if the Holy Spirit is fighting with us, we shrug Him off and just take the sin, or in other words, choose to sin, meaning that we are responsible against rebelling against God because we chose to sin against Him. 3. How can God, in all fairness, blame us? God, in all His fairness has every right to blame us. We did do wrong and because of that we do deserve punishment, and because of God's fairness we have to be blamed and punished for that. Thankfully though, because God loved the world so much, He chose to send His Son onto this earth so that He could bear all our sins so that when we commit them either in the future or the past, our sins can already be paid for and we can be extended mercy, forgiveness, and grace, and cleansing of our sins through the holy blood of Jesus Christ. ALL THE GLORY TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST AND THANK YOUR JESUS AND PLEASEEEEE HAVE MERCY AND GRACE ON ME!!!!!!!

1. In what sense are our non-believing friends, neighbours, and relatives "dead"? They are spiritually dead, meaning that the have no hope of spiritual life after physical life, but that they are doomed to everlasting death. 2. What's the difference between us and them? The difference between us and them is that we, unlike them, have a spiritual hope to look forward to after our physical death, meaning that instead of suffering in hell for eternity, we will be enjoying Heaven in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity. 3. If we really believed that they were "dead" and subject to God's "wrath," what would we do? I believe that we would try harder to convince them the seriousness of their sin and we would try to spread the gospel with them and help them come to faith. Still, I believe that God would have to be present in the experience, because if we try to do it all on our own terms, I think we would do more harm than good. THANK YOU AND FORGIVE ME LORD JESUS!!!!!!!

1. When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation, what particular blessings do we miss out on according to Paul in this verse? When we neglect to be part of a congregation, we miss the blessing of fellowship, as well as being truly filled in Christ and being part of His body and working as a member of His body into whatever He has told/called you to do. 2. How do we, by our absence, withhold this blessing from others? When we neglect to be part of a congregation, we could be withholding the blessing of fellowship from others because we might be the only person they feel comfortable talking to but we might also be hindering whatever they were called/told to do because sometimes for one member to do one thing, another one has to do something else first. THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!

1. Why do we so often take a "pass" when it comes to spiritual warfare? Wars not pretty. People get hurt, some die. Proof of this is WW1, WW2, and the many wars that come after. Spiritual warfare is much the same. Though we don't necessarily have demons coming at us and trying to rip our limbs off, we have them targeting something much more vital, our spiritual life, our spirit. When we are in a spiritual war, there is immense struggle, whether it be against demonic thoughts, actions, ideas, etc. or against demons themselves. This tiring war tends to leave people spiritually exhausted, hurt, unhappy, and sometimes even distant from God, at least for the time being... After the fight, we feel better. We have clarity, and we tend to grow closer to God than ever before. Sadly, not many people think that that struggle, and all that spiritual blood, sweat, and tears that was shed is worth the price of clarity, peace, and a close relationship with God. 2. Why is Christ's exaltation, demonstration of complete victory, and superior rank over all spiritual powers important enough for Paul to mention it to his readers? Christ's superiority and power is crucial for Paul to mention as only Christ has the strength to win spiritual warfare. Paul doesn't seem to mention this (not here at least), but a person alone can't stand against a spiritual attack. Satan and his demons are far more power than we will ever be...ALONE. This is why you see so many non-Christians constantly oppressed, depressed, stressed, anxious, suicidal, etc. People can't win against the devil by their own ability. But with Christ, we will ALWAYS WIN. This is why Paul mentions this in his letter, to show us that by and with Jesus, we can overcome what we wouldn't have been to overcome by ourselves. 3. Why do we tend to feel powerless in the face of spiritual enemies? Simply because we alone are powerless. As stated above, we people have no chance against the devil and his demons, which should make us feel powerless, but it should also make the only Person who can overcome them, Jesus Christ, show us His true power. If we feel powerless and we know that we're fighting a battle with Christ on our side, than that may be a result of faithlessness, or of humility. I say faithlessness because if you feel powerless and have the mindset that you're going to lose, you have no faith in the power, dominion, authority, and superiority that Jesus has above all evil spirits though. This feeling of powerlessness isn't all bad though. Feeling powerless can be a sign of humility. You might feel as if you are powerless, but if you understand and believe that Jesus is still fighting for you and that He's still going to secure you the victory, than that is an act of humility, because you're realizing that the podium isn't yours, but that is, was, and always will be Jesus'. 4. What was Paul assuring the Ephesians of? I've indirectly answered this in the previous questions, but to quickly summarize it, Paul is assuring the Ephesians that Jesus is in charge, that He is the Boss of bosses, and that all dominion, power, strength, might, authority, and superiority are His, meaning that He will win every spiritual battle, and that we are His people/church, meaning that He will fight all of our spiritual battle . 5. What does this encourage us to do? I don't know how this may encourage others, but for me personally, it encourages me to not be afraid of spiritual battles, because Christ is ready and willing to fight and win, and to also be willing to sacrifice some comfort, at least for a period of time, for better end results. THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!

1. Why are we powerless sometimes? Sometimes we can be physically powerless as a result of lack of physical needs, but lots of times, especially spiritually speaking, we are powerless and weak as a result of lack of faith. 2. Is it an inadequacy with the source or with our faith? When it is related to spiritual weakness, it is almost a result of our lack or weak faith. 3. Why do some congregations and movements produce disciples with miracle-believing faith and others produce disciples with wimpy faith? I believe the major reason some congregations produce miracle-believing disciples and some wimpy-faith disciples is because of the lack of the Holy Spirit in the discipleship. If the Holy Spirit is not present while training up a person in Christ, then that person will never be spiritually strong until they receive the Holy Spirit, because only the Holy Spirit can empower us spiritually. 4. How can this be changed? As I kind of stated above, this can be changed by introducing the Holy Spirit into the person's life. Whether it be changing the teacher, or teaching the teacher the truth, or whatever else, this wimpy-faith discipleship can be changed and set in a completely different direction when the Holy Spirit is introduce both into the disciple, and to the teacher(s) of the disciple(s). THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!!!

1. If you knew that in a few years you would inherit $10 million, would it affect your life now? If I knew I would inherit $10 million in a couple years, I would probably live these couple years of my life less scarcely with money. I wouldn't be so hesitant to give money to those in need and I wouldn't be extremely focused on money because I would gain a very large amount of many shortly anyway. I would probably still save a little bit of money though, in the case that I might need some money before the $10 million arrive. 2. How should our expectation of an inheritance in God's presence temper our present-day concerns? Honestly, the expectation of an inheritance in God's presence should make any Christian live this life take many more risks. Not stupid risks like many people take, but risks in different good things as in ministries jobs, outreach teams, dreams. If we know we are going to have the greatest reward in about 80 years time, than we should live this life taking very many risks because they will either benefit our time on earth, but if they harm us, we have a future of eternity in the presence of God to look forward to. 3. Since this inheritance will be shared with "the saints" -- our Christian family -- how should that affect our fellowship with them? Because of inheritance will be shared with the saints, it is extremely important for us to strengthen relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ while we are on earth. This doesn't mean that we need to be best friends with every Christian we know. But it does mean that we need to have good relations with those Christians because we are going to spend eternity with them in the AWESOME presence of God! THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!

1. What do we Christians have to look forward to? We Christians have a hope of eternity with the Father, Son, and Holy-Spirit. We have a hope of an eternity with God! 2. How should this hope be a major motivation in our present-day lives? This should should majorly motivate us because it reminds us that our time on earth is temporary, meaning that we need to take risks for God's greater glory and for the betterment of others. Also, this hope should burn a fire of joy constantly inside our lives because we know that after death we will have everlasting life! 3. How should this hope affect our decisions and our lifestyle? Like I previously stated, this hope should make our lifestyle much less "safe" and much more risky. We should be ready and willing to take risks for God because even if things don't work out and our whole lives go down in a downward spiral, after this short time on earth, we will have eternal life with God! 4. How does our great hope differ from the hope of the average non-believer? Average non-believers have very short-term hope. Their hope is put in physical things and the result of their hope comes during this very short time on earth. Believers on the other hand have a eternal hope. Unlike non-believers, this hope is put in spiritual things and the result of this hope comes only after death. THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!

1. These verses contain two analogies: (1) seal and (2) down payment, with the balance to be paid in a lump sum at the end of the term. When does the "end of the term" occur? The "end of the term" occurs when Jesus comes again and raptures the church/believers. It will be the end for believers on this earth, but the beginning of an everlasting life in Heaven, therefore, we will receive the full reward of everlasting gifts. 2. How do these analogies help explain how the Holy Spirit functions in our lives? These analogies are extremely useful in showing us how the Holy Spirit works because these analogies are very relatable, therefore very easy to understand and grasp. Just like a seal protects a letter from being broken into by somebody other than the receiver, so the Holy Spirit protects us and keeps us only for God to "open"/receive us. Also, just how a down payment is a small amount of the full price given beforehand, so the Holy Spirit is a small reward that we receive beforehand on this earth, and when we do leave this earth, He provides us with the full reward of everlasting life and everlasting riches!!! THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!!!

1. According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? Though god has a specific purpose for every individual -- some to sing, others to preach/teach, and some to be missionaries -- He has a much broader and ultimate purpose for every believer, and that purpose is found in verses 11 and 12. God's ultimate purpose for all believers is to bring praise to Him and bring glory to His glorious name! 2.What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16? Obviously there are a few things we need to do to fulfill this. Some of the ways are by professing our faith and by being obedient to God and what He calls us to do, but specifically in this lesson regarding to Matthew 15:13-16, we see that we can accomplish this ultimate purpose of praising and glorifying God by being as lights (or likes mirrors; reflecting God's greatness in our lives) who shine God's greatness in our lives. In other words, we can accomplish this by showing God and His greatness in/through our lives and through our works! THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. What is the significance that all things will be brought under one head -- Christ himself? How does this relate to the Creator? Christ being the head of all things is significant because Christ is also God, meaning that all things will be under God. Not under money, or social status, or friends, family, drugs, sex, ****, fame, or any of those things. Everything will be under God! All things will be brought together under the Creator (which is God), not under the created! 2. What does it say about unity? Here in these verses, we see that all things will be unified, not just all people or even all things on earth, and not just all people in Heaven or everything in Heaven. Rather, all things will be unified under Christ. Things on earth, and things in Heaven! All things will be united altogether under the head of Christ! 3. Extra Credit: How does this verse relate to 1 Corinthians 15:24-28? 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 is similar to Ephesians 1:9-10 in the sense that it also talks about Christ putting all things under His authority ("put all things in subjection under Him") and then He Himself putting Himself subject to God (the Father probably) so that He may be all in all! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!

1. In what sense have you been "redeemed" from slavery? I have been redeemed from slavery in the sense that I have been freed from sin. Yes, I still sin and will still sin for the rest of my life, but I am no longer under the punishment for sin, which is eternal life in hell. My life here on earth and life after physical death are no longer subject to sin and its punishment but I have overcome sin only by the death of Jesus Christ and His blood which was shed for me. 2. What do you think your life up to now would have been like if you hadn't been redeemed? Honestly, I believe that my life without redemption would be more more enjoyable in fleshly standards, because I would almost certainly be indulging in *********** daily, and potentially drinking and doing drugs, but spiritually, I would be empty. I would feel empty and suffer from depression, loneliness, and anxiety, as a result of habitual sin and the absence of God. 3. What would your future be like without redemption, do you think? If I kept on living in sin for the rest of my life, I would certainly have a more and more enjoyable life in fleshly terms, but my mental and spiritual health would be absolutely horrible. I would suffer from anxiety, depression, loneliness, probably drug and alcohol abuse, and maybe even suicidal thoughts, all because of the presence of sin and satan, and the absence of God. Ultimately, if my whole life I went unredeemed, I would suffer eternity in hell, lacking fully the presence of God forever! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!

1. Why is adoption a particularly apt illustration of God's relationship to us? Why is the concept of adoption encouraging to us? Adoption is a great example of God's relationship with us because just like an adopted child, we've done nothing to be received into God's family, yet He, out of His unexplainable love and mercy, chose us SINNERS, and accepted us into His family, giving us a chance to SPEND ETERNITY WITH HIM!!! This is extremely encouraging because it shows that God chose us, even with our sin, flaws, and struggles, into His everlasting family. He CHOSE us and ACCEPTED us into His family, amidst our sinful and flawed selves! THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

1. What does it mean to be holy? To be holy simply means to live a life separated and consecrated for/to God, and to be righteous, not through what any of us did, but through what Jesus Christ did on the cross! 2. In what sense can you stand blameless before God? We can stand blameless before God because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross! He died for us and became sin for us so that our sins could be forgiven and so that we could be rid of any blemishes, flaws, and/or imperfections. Now, because of that, we can stand before God without any "sin tension" and with our slates perfectly clean and rid of sin. We can stand before God without sin because of Jesus Christ's gracious gift of forgiveness!!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

1. Is it possible to be blessed outwardly, but lost inwardly? Yes, and it doesn't take much to see it! Just look at all those celebrities and famous people. They have money, clothes, cars, houses, sex, and everything this world has to offer, yet they are almost always completely miserable, depressed, and spiritually lost, not knowing Christ! 2. Why did Jesus confront the healed man in the temple with his sin? I believe Jesus confronted the healed man in the temple with his sin because He wanted the man to heal spiritually as well and no longer dwell in sin. Also, if the man was in the temple, he was probably making some sort of sacrifice to God, and maybe by confronting the man in the temple and talking about not sinning, Jesus tried to make it clear that sacrifices don't make sinning okay, but that the sinning needs to be stopped immediately! 3. How was this necessary for a full healing, his salvation? Repentance and acknowledging of sin is necessary for somebody to be saved, because you can't enter Heaven full of filth. Think about it this way, your house, along with everything in it, is completely white. If you bring even the smallest speck of mud into it, the whole house will soon become filthy. Now, just imagine that that house is Heaven and that that mud is sin (thanks to #offthekirbministries). God CANNOT let you into Heaven with sin because it will ruin Heaven! Jesus confronted this man about his sin, because He not only cared about the physical body, but of the spiritual as well!!! 4. Does the man seem to respond with faith to Jesus' rebuke? This man may have very well responded to Jesus' rebuke with faith, but if he did, we don't know of it. All we see is that he went away and told the Jewish religious leaders Who it was that had healed him. Still, i choose to believe that this man did respond to Jesus' rebuke with faith, after all, it's kind of hard not to after a miracle like this... THANK YOU JESUSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

1. Why are the "sabbath police" (the Pharisees) so upset at the man who is healed? The "sabbath police," or the Pharisees, were so upset at this man who had been healed because he was breaking the rules they strictly followed and strictly forced others to follow. The Pharisees took many of God's true commandments, rules, and laws, and modified them, creating a bunch of fake laws, that they held to still be God's laws. As a result of this, the Pharisees condemned and got mad at those people who didn't perfectly follow their rules because they were breaking "God's Laws," which were really more the Pharisees' than God's, and disobeying and dishonouring God. 2. How can a person be so intent on rules that they miss what God is doing? I believe the real origin of "works righteousness" starts off with the way a person is raised. If a person is raised in an environment where every good and bad thing has a reward or a consequence, than they're very likely to grow up keeping those same beliefs about God. They begin to fear God when they do something wrong and sin, thinking that God is going to severely punish them, which He usually doesn't do (although in some cases like Sodom and Gomorrah, or Jonah and the whale, He did), and that causes them to then focus on following all the rules, to avoid the assumed "certain punishment" of God. The problem with that, though, is that that person then stops focusing on God entirely, and instead only focuses on the rules, thinking that the rules can get them saved, not realizing that it's only God who saves!!! 3. Have you ever caught yourself doing that? Yes, very, very many times... Like I said in the previous answer, this "works righteousness" usually stems from the way a child is raised, and as a child, I was raised with having very high expectations of doing really good and never failing anyone or anything. As you can imagine, the way i was raised up damaged and still damages my spiritual life to this day. I often think that if I don't do something then God will get mad at me, or if I don't do something right He'll be disappointed in me. Lately though, I've been struggling with resting. I somehow got it into my mind that if I'm resting and doing something other than reading my Bible, praying, etc. (like watching something or spending time with family), then I'm not loving God enough and I'm not putting Him first in my life. Because of this, I made a sort of rule that I have to read this much of my Bible and spend this much time with God before I'm allowed to rest, and it has not helped me rest at all. Instead, it's kept me from getting barely any rest at all. It's actually made me feel guilty when I do rest, making me think that I'm not putting God first in my life because I'm doing something else. 4. Has someone in your church been so intent on "how we do things here" that they couldn't see God at work? I haven't really seen this "how we do things here" attitude in somebody particular in my church, but I have seen this "how we do things here" attitude in my church as a whole. I go to a small orthodox church, and because of that, there are many different traditions and rules we follow. Are they bad or unBiblical traditions, no, not necessarily, but the problem is my church mainly focuses on following those exact rules and traditions, instead of God. We read and do close to the exact same thing every Sunday, we have a whole bunch of rules of what is allowed and what isn't allowed, and we even have specific sayings that require a specific answer (like "glory to Jesus Christ" requires the answer of "glory forever"). My church is a good church, but I do often fear that it focuses more on the rules and traditions and misses out on God and His working in something... 5. What is the sin of the Pharisees here? The Pharisees' sin here is that they didn't care about this man, but only about the Law and the rules. They didn't see that it was more important to save life on the Sabbath than to follow the rules (Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9) and so, they were willing to do harm on the Sabbath, just to follow the rules. We must remember that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). ("So the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] is Lord even of the Sabbath" Mark 2:28). THANK YOU JESUSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

1. Why do you think Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to get well? I believe that Jesus asked the invalid whether he wanted to be healed or not to yes, see the invalid's desire to be healed, but to also see where this man's faith was at; to see if this man had faith in Him or not (which, as we see, this invalid did not have strong faith in Jesus' healing capabilities because he focused on the pool of Bethesda healing him, not Jesus). But, i also believe that Jesus asked this man whether he wanted to be healed or not to show us future Christians the importance of asking before doing! I believe Jesus purposefully showed us future Christians how to minister to others and help and spread the Gospel, by means of His own ministry!!! 2. Why is it important for us not to make assumptions, but to seek discernment about people's needs before we pray for them? It's important for us to seek the need's of people rather than just assuming what they need and giving them that or doing or praying that for them, because if we don't help them with what they want help with, we could actually be doing more harm than good, and if we pray for someone, not knowing their circumstance/s, we could completely be missing the thing they need prayer for, and thus, not really helping them with anything they need help with (God knows what a person needs though and He still provides, even if a prayer isn't always said, but remember, we do need to ask if we want to receive; Matthew 7:7! God will give sometimes even if we don't ask, but most of the time, if we want or need God to do something, we do need to ask Him about it in prayer!!!)!!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

1. How would you describe the invalids character? Unlike most of the people here, i would describe the invalid as yes, maybe a little bit of a complainer, but also loyal and unknowing. The man carried his bed on the Sabbath, even though it was unlawful, because Jesus, his Healer, had told him to. Onto the bigger matter though, i believe that the man reported Jesus to the Jewish leaders because he thought he was being helpful, that they could ONLY help, i don't think he had any idea that his giving away of Jesus was actually harmful. As for being grateful, i believe this man was pretty grateful, after all, it's kind of hard not to be grateful after a miracle like this, and his giving away of Jesus was not done from ungratefulness. Like i said, i believe he thought that what he was doing was the right thing, when in reality it was far from it (like lots of us in life, ex: trying to bring others to Christ by being really pushy; not the best method!)! 2. The invalid's faith? The invalid's faith was weak. We're not told whether he knew who Jesus was or not, but even if he didn't know Jesus, seeing Jesus' confidence in being able to heal him should have sparked some sort of faith in the man, instead though, but even then, the man's faith was still put in the pool of Bethesda... 3. How does Jesus' healing here demonstrate the grace of God? This man didn't deserve what he received at all (just like all of us!), yet by the grace of God, he received what he was yearning for the most (probably), healing of his paralysis! 4. Why do we humans find it difficult to accept grace when it is offered to us? As humans, we grow up with the idea that "we get what we work for" so when grace is offered to us, it's really hard to accept it because we didn't work for it. Also, because of this teaching, when we do get offered grace, we often reject it because getting we something we didn't work for shows weakness, and sadly, we, as humans, would rather keep our pride than receive grace!!! 5. Why do we resist the concept that God's gifts are entirely by grace? We, as humans, like to think that what we have is because of what we did. We tend to think that we can "earn" this by our works or we "deserve" that because of what we did, and so on. This makes it really hard for us to accept that everything we have is a gift from God (even air and being able to breath it!), everything we have is because of God's grace, because it shows us that we didn't do anything to earn what we have, and that shows us that we are weak by ourselves and that we are fully reliant on God, and lots of times, it's hard to come to grips with our own weakness and full reliance on God (even though it's on God)!!! THANK YOU GODDDDDDD!!!!!!!

1. Have you read of miracles accompanying a great harvest of new believers on the missions fields in our days? Our days, i haven't read much, but older days, i have read, watched, and heard lots of stories about great spiritual harvests. i've read/watched/heard the stories of some famous missionaries and martyrs such as Jim Elliott, Amy Carmichael, Katie David, and many others, and about the "impossible" (nothing is impossible with God!!!!!!!) transformations to coming to [faith in] Jesus Christ that those people had. 2. What place do miracles have in evangelism today -- both in your country and abroad? Miracles are very important in "modern-day" evangelism because no matter where the people are, in the same country or on a completely different continent, if they don't know God/Jesus miracles will help them "take it all in" easier and believe in, put their faith in, and put their trust in Jesus easier as well. Yes, this can cause "miracle-faith" to occur but lots of times, miracles are the things that really impact and change a person and cause them to seriously consider putting their faith in Jesus Christ, and then to actually put their faith in Jesus Christ (God can use things other than miracles to bring people to faith in Jesus though, but i believe that miracles are the most common "bringers to faith in Jesus Christ.") 3. Why do some denominations in our day deemphasize miracles or claim that they were only for the early church? i believe that some denominations deemphasize miracles because they fear that there will be "too much" of or there will even just be the Holy Spirit involved which will make things not how they would want them to be; not what they prefer and/or are comfortable with! In reality though, if the Holy Spirit is involved, things will always change for the TRULY better, both for believers and for non-believers as well! 4. Why do some denominations emphasize miracles? Some denominations emphasize miracles because they understand that miracles are the works of the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit is acting in one way by doing miracles, then It is also active and working in other places, people, and things and strengthening the individual/s, and so, emphasizing miracles, in a way, shows the Holy Spirit's presence and active work in an individual's/individuals'. But other denominations, i assume, (not entirely sure, i assume there are situations like this), emphasize miracles because they believe that the whole point of Christianity is having miracles done to you and they believe that's the most important thing when it comes to Christianity, when in reality the most important thing in Christianity, the main focus, is God/Jesus Christ!!!!!!! 5. Which of these types of denominations tend to grow faster? Typically, those denominations which emphasize miracles and the Holy Spirit tend to grow faster in true converts because the Holy Spirit is present and enters people, convicts them, changes them, and brings them to faith in Jesus Christ, but those denominations which deemphasize miracles and the Holy Spirit tend to grow faster in popularity among non-believers because they're typically "cooler" and "funner" than true churches. But, because those churches don't have the Holy Spirit in them, none or few people actually change, repent, and come to [faith in] Jesus Christ/God!!! 6. What kind of "discipling" is necessary for those who come to Christ primarily on the basis of miracles? Those who come to faith in Christ primarily because of miracles need to be discipled and taught that there won't always be miracles in life, and if their whole faith is founded and based on miracles, once the miracles leave, the faith, trust, and reliance on God will leave as well, putting a person in the same state they were in, maybe even worse, before they came to Christ! They also need to be taught and discipled about putting their faith in Jesus Christ solely and in His Word, Power, and Authority as well; and they need be taught and discpled to creating a more intimate relationship with God, so that when the miracles leave and the trials and tribulations come, they will be able to stand firm and keep their faith, trust, reliance in God, and maybe even increase in faith, trust, and reliance in God as well!!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUSSSSSSS!!!!!!! THANK YOU HOLY SPIRITTTTTTT!!!!!!! THANK YOU FATHERRRRRRR!!!!!!! THAK YOU GODDDDDDD!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

1. What are the factors that caused the royal official's household (immediate family, extended family, and servants) to believe? The first factor that caused the royal official's whole household to believe would probably be the healing of the son. I'm sure that all the people in the house knew what horrible condition the son was in and them seeing him healed "like that" would have sparked some curiosity in them and roused all sorts of different emotions and thoughts within them. The second and major factor that would have caused this household to believe, i believe, would be the boy's dad; the royal official. I believe that the dad told the whole household of his encounter with Jesus, and that testimony alone, proved by the healing of the boy, was more than enough to bring the whole household to faith in Jesus Christ! However, i also believe that the dad's status played a role in the household's coming to faith. The dad was a royal official, he had a pretty high status, so if he FIRMLY believed in Someone and had true, genuine faith in Him, it would have also been more than enough to convince his whole household, who were all most likely of "lower" status, to genuinely believe and put their true faith in Jesus Christ as well. 2. How mature was this faith initially? Initially, the faith was very "immature." The whole faith was based on seeing miracles, meaning that their was no secure foundation for it. However, the faith was strong enough to make the royal official travel 20 miles to see Jesus and to ask Him to heal his son. Initially, the faith was there, but it was very weak and immature. 3. How do you think the royal official was able to nurture it beyond mere "miracles faith"? I believe that the royal official was able to nourish his faith beyond "miracle-faith" because God graciously gave him with true, genuine faith, but also because the royal official TOOK a step in true faith, believing Jesus' words. "Miracle-faith" doesn't take risky steps in faith, but true, genuine faith does!!! THANK YOU GODDDDDDD!!!!!!!

1. What do we learn about the royal official's faith from his actions? We learn that the royal official initially had "miracle-faith," but as the man persistently begged Jesus to come with him and heal his son, we see that his faith changed to real, genuine faith, which is shown when he "takes Jesus at His Word" and walks back to Capernaum, having complete faith in Jesus' Words. 2. Why did he travel 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana? He traveled 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana to meet and beg Jesus to come and heal his son who was near the point of death. 3. What does this say about his faith? The royal official's actions say that he had faith in Jesus to perform miracles but also that his faith was only focused and interested in miracles, wonders, and works, not Jesus! 4. When he departs for home and "takes Jesus at His Word," what does this tell us about his faith? When the man goes home, "taking Jesus at His word," it shows us that his faith changed into real, genuine faith. He had seen no wonders, miracles, or works done, but he solely believed Jesus and had faith that his son was now healed and made well; he had faith in Jesus' Words! THANK YOU JESUSSSSSSS!!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUSSSSSS!!!!!!!