Old Jerry

From Saul’s perspective, the reason that David is summoned to court is to comfort him in his bad moods. From God’s perspective, David was summoned to court so that he could learn how to lead others. I think the reason that the things that tend to prevent us from learning from God in the midst of circumstances in which we find ourselves is because we are focused on the circumstance instead of on God who is going to help us out of the situation. I think that prayer and talking to God about our situation would make us more teachable during these times.

The significance of Samuel anointing David is that he knows who God wants to be king. It has given David the confidence that he will be able to lead the people when his time comes. I think the significance of the Holy Spirit coming on David is that now he has somebody to guide him as he leads and even while he follows. This explains his success because he did follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. The Holy Spirit is vital for our own success as disciples because He is guiding us if we let Him. He is the one that gives us the courage to profess our faith and to be able to talk to others about the Lord.

This story teaches us the importance of listening carefully to God’s voice because we don’t really know what God wants us to do. We would do things on what we know and not what God’s wishes are. Our instinctive way of discerning is to look at the physical and not look at the inward part of the person. We learn to listen to the Spirit by praying to God and reading the bible and then making our decisions.

Rebellion is not doing what is expected of us. Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft because it says that we know more than the authority and we are going to do it our way. It is honoring self rather than God. I think that rebellion is arrogance because we think we know better than others. When we find rebellion against God we can get down on our knees and prayer for forgiveness. We can also read bible to see how we can handle that rebellion and we can also talk to the pastor or elder of the church about it.

The nation that has sovereignty over the embassy and its property is the nation that is sending its ambassador. The ambassador represents the government that set them. Their responsibilities that they have are to represent the country that sent them. The things relate to being an ambassador of Christ because we are to represent Christ and we are to be responsible to Christ for what we do.

The reason that Paul was requesting prayer for boldness is that he was going against that present day society. He needed this boldness to get through to the gentiles. I think that boldness is necessary in war so that you can make you point. When your idea log is different than the general public you have to be bold in order to stand up against them. The opposite of boldness is not standing up for what is right. If this is our accustomed life-posture then you will not be able to transmit the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I think that alertness in prayer is vital to success in spiritual warfare because we have to conscience of what we are praying for. If we are not alert then we are just going through the motions and not really praying. The reason we need this exhortation is because we do become distracted by what is happening in this world and we let it lead us astray.

Prayer is vital to the spiritual warfare because it keeps us in contact with God. Without God our war with the evil one would be lost. I think that is what “pray in the Spirit” means is to pray with God’s help. God knows the evil one inside and out and only He can help us defeat him.

The reason that it is important to have our “shield” up daily is because the evil one is always throwing arrows at us. In order to protect ourselves we have to have the shield to take those arrows. The way that the “helmet of salvation” protects me is by keeping my brain focused on the right things. We must keep focused on God. And the “sword of the Spirit” is both an offensive weapon because we can use it to fend off the enemy. We can keep it sharp by studying the bible daily.

The characteristic of a person who didn’t have his feet ready to run with the Gospel is one that is not studying the Gospel. If we are to run with the Gospel we must be prepared by studying it daily. If we believe in what the Gospel says then we will want others to be able to understand it so that they can have eternal life. This helps defeat the dominion of darkness because we are shining the light of the Gospel around in the dark corners of a person soul.

The reason that simple things such as truth and personal holiness are such a powerful armament is because it directs us in our daily lives. It keeps us on the trial to eternal life. They are offensive weapons because we are leading the charge.

The thing that so difficult about standing our ground in today’s world is that we have the 24 hour TV and it is always bombarding us with the culture of the world. We can’t even get any good movies out of Hollywood. It all has to be the trash of the world. The way that standing our ground can be considered victory is that we have fallen into the trapping of this world. We can still go to the mirror and look at ourselves. The saints in Revelation 12:11 were considered victorious over the devil because they did not love their lives so much that they shrunk from death. They stood their ground by the blood of the Lamb.

I think that one of the reasons that it is difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day is that we don’t hear about them from the pulpit. When we do hear about them then we are ridiculed about it because society doesn’t believe in them. The reason that their existence help explain the struggle that humans face on earth is that the things that happen just aren’t real for some reason. It would be to explain how a person is so mean and without conscience without the existence of the devil. With all the power of the evil one our only chance is Jesus. Even Jesus used the scriptures to fend off the evil on in the desert. I don’t think the devil can make us do anything against our will if we turn to Jesus when the evil one approaches us. I don’t think that any of our actions can be blamed on the demonic power. It is our willingness to do evil that entices us.

Christian employers should conduct themselves toward their employees with respect. They should lead and not use a whip on them. They should pay them a decent pay so they can live on that pay. The church boards should conduct themselves the same way that employers are to treat their employees. I think a just wage is one that a person can live on and not be a burden to society. The wage should be one that is commensurable to the area that they are doing the work of the Lord.

I think that the characteristics called for a truly Christian employee is to do the work that is required and give the employer your best work effort. We are to do it as if we were doing it for the Lord. If we are doing it for the Lord then any work situations just vanish because we are not doing it for the employer but for the Lord. If we keep that in mind then we can be a happy employee.

I think the kind of behavior by fathers that can embitter or cause a child to lose heart is to bagger them when they have done something wrong and never affirming them when they do good things. I think that the “training and instruction of the Lord” involves doing daily bible studies and praying with them. Telling them how to but the words in the bible into practice in the real world.

The kind of obedience and honor that is appropriate for adult children to show towards their parents is that of respect. They should stay in contact with them and help them whenever they can. The exceptions might be when they are asking you to do something that is immoral and against the beliefs in the bible. Respect and forgiveness is one of the most parts of this relationship.

The sense that Christ is our Husband as individual is that we have submitted to Him. We are to do the things that He asks of us. As a church we have submitted to Christ always. We are praising him and trying to do the things that He wants the church to do. The implication of this for our life is that we can live in harmony with each other. We will be able to tolerate each other quarks and still be able to get along. This says that Christ’s responsibilities toward us that one of unity.

The husband’s care for his wife’s need just makes since because they are one. There would a lot more harmony in the family if they were done.

I don’t think that being head of the wife involves being “boss”. It means that we have got their back covered. We should be discussing things with our wives where being the boss we just tell them what they are to do. The example that husbands are to follow in headship is that of Jesus Christ.

I think that a wife should submit to her husband because there needs to be only one person in charge of the house. If there are two people in charge then there will be chaos. Each person should to the task that God has given them the ability to do. I don’t think that the scripture differentiates being a Christian or not. But they are not to do things that are against the bible. And it doesn’t mean that they wife can’t verbally disagree with the husband. She may know a better way of doing something and so it should be discusses. If what the husband wants her to do conflict with the wife’s conscience then she shouldn’t do it and explain it to her husband.

The kind of attitude that should underlie our corporate singing is one of thanks giving. God has given us everything that we have and we should be grateful for that. I think that corporate singing is designed to help us singers so it can we can sing as loud as we want and still not be heard if we sing off key. It is designed to worship God because most of the hymns are hymns of thank giving. Just like singing in my daily life helps me worship because it gives me a grateful heart.

The primary temptation involved with drugs and alcohol is that tend to do the things that we know isn’t the best interest of us or others. Drugs and alcohol can be used as a substitute for the “high” of the Spirit. It tries to replace it and fill that empty hole that we have in us. Bing filled with the Spirit does help us fend off the temptations of drugs and alcohol because we know that it is bad for the body and we are to keep the temple of God pure. Therefore if we think of our bodies as the temple of God we will not over indulge and get drunk.

Paul exhorts us to make the most of very opportunity because we don’t get very many. If we let one slip away we may not get another chance for quite a while. We resist taking that opportunity because we don’t want to look like we are different. We don’t how that person is going to act when we talk to them about Jesus. The thing that has to happen in our lives so that we can be ready for the opportunity is that we must stay glued to the bible and we have to looking for the opportunity to discuss Jesus with others.

I think that the reason that Paul warned so strongly against sexual sin is that it was so prevalent in that day. From what I understand even more then it is today. It is something that can draw us away from worshiping God. I am not too sure what it means about it being part of our spiritual life. I thought that everything was part of my spiritual life. So I don’t know how that could be partitioned off. The bible says that we shouldn’t withhold sex from each other in marriage so I think it is part of our spiritual life.