pickledilly

We are powerless sometimes because we unplug ourselves from the Power Source through lack of practical faith. The Source is never inadequate or insufficient - always full-strength and more than enough. What I have learned through my own experience is that so much of the time we believe things with complete agreement in our minds but not with our whole hearts (ex. Mark 9:24b). Our thoughts, speech, behaviors, and actions - and their results and consequences - go largely untouched by the knowledge of this immeasurably great power because we don't genuinely trust in and rely on and engage it in our practical daily lives. It's like we believe in this awesome God and His power for the whole big world out there, but not in this little ole' speck-of-dust me. What good would a nice sturdy chair be to me if I never decide to trust it enough to actually sit on it? How could a handy lamp dispel the night's darkness if I don't believe in electricity enough to plug it in? That kind of doubt blocks the Spirit's blessing of power (James 1:6-8). We have everything we need; we just don't always believe it. Another reason we often lack spiritual power is pride. We simply don't want to ask God for help because we think we can handle things or we want to maintain control. We think we're able and sufficient and wise enough. But pride always goes before destruction (Prov.16:18)! Everything we need is available; we just don't always want to humble ourselves and ask for it (James 4:2c). I don't know a "formula" for producing miracle-believing faith in disciples. I guess part of the problem of lacking powerful faith is a lack of powerful teaching about it. The roots of my faith were not really energized to grow deep until I went outside my church to a powerful weekly Bible study for a number of years. Along with the hearing I think we must position ourselves in faith and obedience, but the LORD decides on the miracles according to His perfect will. Philippians 4 contains a guide for what God has shown me about His power at work in my life. Release and praise are two key components He has taught me are critical. With rejoicing that He cares about you and is fully able to care for you, release every situation and all its anxieties to Him in prayer (vs4-6). Then as you engage your faith, start thankfully praising Him at every thought of the problem or need because He's capably and lovingly at work on it. As you offer your sacrifice of praise in humble worship then your heart and mind will be supernaturally guarded with His peace (vs.7). Your contentment in Him (vs.11b) with all His ability, mercy, love, and faithfulness will result in the release of His power to equip and strengthen you to make it through everything you face (vs.13). You have to choose what's going to prevail - fear or faith. I learned this first-hand through a prolonged serious illness my daughter suffered a few years ago. I can tell you that God is faithful to our decisions of faith. I still marvel at the peace He gave and the miracles He performed.

The possibility of inheriting such an amount of money is so far out of my realm of comprehension that I really can't imagine it, but I get the question. The spiritual inheritance that God has promised to me (us) should influence the way life is lived and what we set our hopes on. First, I have to truly believe God is telling the truth, and then I have to receive and accept that promise as my own. While fully living in the present, I've been called to maintain an expectant awareness of eternity that should influence my priorities. My present-day concerns, as difficult as any of them might be, are really nothing in the grand scheme of things. I am journeying through an imperfect world in an imperfect body with a host of other imperfect people on the way to join my Father and be united with my Bridegroom in the perfection of my true home in heaven. I'm reminded of the little phrase, "This, too, shall pass." Life on earth is not all there is. Eternity is much, much more (what an understatement!). The LORD has promised this same inheritance to every other believer that has, does, and will exist. We have a common bond that should join us together with ties of love. When we become believers our spirit gets saved, but not our flesh; many annoying habits and mindsets remain that cause friction, hurts, and disagreements. But even if you don't really like someone, you can treat that person with love. As much as possible, you can be a peacemaker attempting to preserve unity. You can see others through the eyes of Christ as valued and treasured. And you can remember that your own flesh is still causing someone else problems, too! My main point here is that we all share equally in the promises of God's inheritance because we're all equally loved and redeemed, and we should value each other just as God values each of us. There's no place for pride or selfishness in our dealings with each other.

Among many things in Christ, we have the ultimate hope of resurrection and freedom from sin's death penalty. The Father has called us to this hope - this assured, joyful expectation - of eternal life in His presence! Everything God has said and promised is proven true by the resurrection of Christ. And Christ has promised us that we will be resurrected like Him (1 Cor. 15:20-23). This hope is really the foundation of all that we believe and await with confident anticipation. It should motivate us to keep a broad heavenly perspective all the time, even as we live in the narrowly focused daily grind of practical earthly life. This place we currently journey through is not the end, only a means! Everything about the natural life eventually leads to death, but Jesus has promised us abundant life that starts now! Every choice we make should be to His life with its goodness and blessing, not death with its evil and curse (Deut.30:15,19). We can begin to live beyond the confines of sin and death if we expect the glory of heaven right now. The anticipation of eternal life should flood my heart with true joy, a thankful attitude, and committed service. Part of the hope of being in Christ is that He has provided everything I need to make it through. This should motivate me to continually seek after Him and submit in obedience so that He is totally free to release all power and strength and supply needed to gain all victories for me. I think a person who experiences this hope of glory consistently in everyday life is someone who really attempts to maintain his/her relationship with the LORD. I know that when I drift in Bible study, prayer, or worship I lose focus. It's like having impaired eyesight and neglecting to use the corrective lenses prescribed to help me see beyond the temporal into the glorious. Non-believers don't have the lens of genuine hope through which to view life (and many, many believers don't use it). They have a think-so, maybe-so, sure-do-pray-so "hope" that offers no security. They misinterpret the struggles of life, the purposes of God, and the future outcome because their vision is blurred by sin and death. They often view things in a dark, negative, pessimistic way with no anticipation of anything better. No believer who understands the hope to which we've been called by the Father of glory should ever live in such spiritual blindness. Heaven is quite real; we just can't see it without faithful hope.

When I heard the Word of truth, believed in that Word made flesh, and confessed Him as my Savior, the Holy Spirit arrived into my heart. In that instant, my soul was purchased out of the bondage of sin and its resulting death penalty. The Spirit is the seal that legalized this transaction, this exchange of my sin for Christ's pardon. My spirit has been redeemed through Christ, but my flesh and earthly body were not saved and I still reside in this sinful world where the devil is presently allowed to rule. An unimaginable inheritance has been promised that I cannot yet completely receive as long I am here. The final balance due has already been paid in full by Christ's blood, but is in "escrow" until my spirit is released from my physical housing in this world. So much of the reward of full redemption is spiritual gain, and I can only receive tiny nibbles of it as long as I'm confined here. Perhaps the "end of the term" when the lump sum balance is released may be at my physical death, when my spirit goes to be united with Christ in heaven, or at His calling of the Church out of this world, when I will be instantly transformed and caught up with Christ in the air. Whichever way the LORD chooses, then I'll receive the full benefit of redemption, the full inheritance promised me as a joint heir with Christ. I will be freed of sin and from sin to be perfected in holiness. I will be released from the confines and inabilities and imperfections of the natural realm to dwell in the infinities of eternity. I will fully obtain the divine inheritance that securely awaits me right now. I'll be received into the Father's arms and welcomed into His house as His beloved daughter. Nothing can alter this binding agreement because nothing/no one can break the seal of the Holy Spirit except Yahweh, God Himself - and He will never violate His covenant "contract". My adoption has been legalized and finalized, but not yet fully realized. The Holy Spirit is an awesome gift and presence in my life, but according to Romans 8:23, He is only the firstfruits of my inheritance - a foretaste of glory divine! The Spirit brings into my natural life whatever degree of the divine that can be humanly contained as I progressively die to more of myself to make room for more of Him. He provides little glimpses of my Father in the Word and tastes of my future through His activity in my daily experiences. Even when trials come and things seem impossible, my life is blessed with spiritual peace, joy, insight, power, victory…the list could go on and on. All of that is out of this deposit of the Spirit given by Christ to guarantee His claim on me and to give assurance to me that I truly am His - and will be for all eternity. I've never adopted a child, but I know someone who has. Before ever even meeting that little one, this friend's heart was overflowing with love and the driving desire to hold that child as her own. Every legal requirement had to be met and completed before she could "take full possession" of her child. My Father has provided for me, chosen me, and fully secured me as His own. I'm already in His possession, but not yet in His presence. He can hardly wait to welcome me into His arms and endow me with my full inheritance when my journey here has been completed. Even though I don't reside there yet, I am a child of heaven, not a child of this world. The presence of the Spirit in me is my guarantee. How humbling, but my goodness, how empowering!

We were created with the intended purpose of magnifying God's glory by being and living as praise. We're to reverence, adore, thank, bless, honor, obey, and worship Him exclusively and wholeheartedly as a lifestyle. When other people see the way we live everyday life, they should be in awe of the LORD. Believers have been sealed with/by the Holy Spirit of God as a guarantee of the inheritance awaiting us and we have every reason to live lives of praise that reflect His glory. Just as salt and light were created for useful purposes, so are we Christians (Matt.5:13-16). But if not used, salt loses it value. Light cannot dispel darkness if hidden. The good works/deeds of believers cannot demonstrate God's glory and generate praise for Him if they are never accomplished. I believe my life was created with specific purpose and if I never live out that purpose (led and empowered by the Spirit), then some specific praise that was meant to come through me will be robbed from the LORD. Who knows the cascade effect that is designed to come through me? Who can imagine how many people after me that are supposed to be impacted by the glory of God seen through my life offered as living praise? I should just be a window through which His glory shines and refracts His light like a beautiful rainbow onto others. The ultimate would be that nobody even notices me!

John 1:2-3 [The Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us is the same Word that has always existed as God and through whom all things were made. He is the Creator and original Owner. At some point, rebellion occurred in the heavenlies and Lucifer became Satan, the Enemy of God. When humanity sinned, "property rights" were handed over to this Enemy as the creation known as Earth became a dwelling place of wickedness. But when time has been fulfilled, the day is coming when all things in heaven and earth will again be under the headship of Christ Jesus, when He is sent out from heaven as the King of kings and Lord of lords to finalize the destruction of evil. This relates to the Creator because everything in existence will be restored to His rightful ownership, submitted to His authority, and united under His reign. Since believers are already seen by the LORD as completed in the character of Christ and received in the heavenlies, this unity must be of highest importance to us. Just as there is total unity in the divine Trinity, we are called by the Father's will to preserve this unity in Christ as His body through the Holy Spirit. We must desire harmony and the common goals of the LORD in order to function together as His healthy, holy body. And one day all of creation will function in this perfect, complete unity when Christ takes back His rightful authority. No more disputes or divisions or conflict anywhere ever. As to 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, it could take a thesis to explore all that this could mean! In speaking of Christ's delivery of the kingdom to the Father after defeating every enemy of that kingdom, my impression is that He is continuing to operate in subjection to the Father's authority at this time as He sits next to the throne in heaven serving as our Priestly Mediator today. His divine work right now seems to be completion of the building of this kingdom, with His divine power focused to that end. This seems to say that when the kingdom of saints is presented to the Father, then God will be pleased to restore all things in heaven and earth, not just the Church, under the headship of Christ. It's certainly obvious that all things are not operating under His headship at this time! The Son will return in full might and glory to reclaim everything and completely destroy sin and death once and for all. The entirety of creation will then again be filled with the fullness of God the Trinity, who will be all in all. I really look forward to other insights in the forum!

Because slavery is bondage, I can truly say I have been redeemed with a grateful heart. I have been set free and released from the bondage of my own self-destruction. I was on my own, and on my way to hell. I wasn't a "horrible" person, but my heart didn't belong to the LORD. So my thinking, too many of my words over myself, my choices, my relationships imprisoned me in self-ruin. Even though in church from my earliest days (but not yet in Christ), I had a poor self-image as a teenager that led me to dabble in some stupid, sinful things that absolutely could have destroyed me. I was in utter bondage to my mind, will, and emotions and to the devil's influences. Now in my early fifties, I still have regrets at that stuff, but it no longer has power over me because I accepted the open door of freedom through redemption in Christ. Bondage was bringing death, but I now live in abundant LIFE because of my Savior. If I hadn't been redeemed, I really can't imagine what my life would have been like. I'd probably be an empty, angry, bitter divorced addict of some sort with little sense of value or purpose - one of those miserable people you don't like to hang around. I couldn't have been a godly mother to my children, who love the LORD and now have their own Christian homes. I would have missed all the joys of getting to know God through the portrait of Christ revealed in His Word and would be powerless to stand against the Adversary. I would never know the sweetness of seeing how God's used my puny, inconsistent love and efforts for Him to impact other lives through the years. I wouldn't know the comfort of a Father who loves me no matter what; who has wept with me through sorrows and smiled with me in great joys. My future would certainly be no more promising. Life would just be an existence, really, with no true hope and purpose - the kind that lasts at the end of the day when it's just you left. The trials and struggles of life would constantly defeat me because I'd be trying to overcome them on my own, and we all know that never works! And I would have no hope for anything better in eternity. I'd be in the hands of Satan himself. THANK YOU, Lord Jesus, for doing whatever it took to pay the cost to set me free from that bondage and give me every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Life is good!!!

I am eternally grateful that my relationship as a child of the heavenly Father is not by chance or accident in any way. His love for me existed before I ever existed. He chose to provide the way for my sin to be overcome so that I would be acceptable and restored to Him. When I received that Way as my own, He deliberately chose to adopt me and fully integrate me into His family. I didn't do anything to deserve such lavish favor. It was all His doing. From what I know of adoption of a child by human parents, that is pretty much the same. Those parents provide the way to take a child not naturally born to them as their own for no other reason than they intentionally choose to out of love. It doesn't generate from the adopted child, but from the adoptive parents. (For us, the LORD maintains our right to choose, and will not enact adoption proceedings or force us to receive His goodwill without our agreement to His plan.) This truly is an encouraging concept. Again, it doesn't depend on me. And thank goodness it doesn't! I would never be able to make myself acceptable to God on my own. Only His loving grace accomplishes that. Nothing else could ever make me feel so special or give me such a sense of valued worth as being specifically chosen by the very Creator of all things. Oh, that I could truly receive and grasp such life-changing truth! It is humanly impossible for me to envision or imagine all the rights, privileges, and resources that are mine because I have been given His name, legally sealed as His own, and made His heir. This gives me supreme encouragement and confidence and strength and hope to live like His child instead of an orphan. In this, my future is filled with promise and purpose - and secure joy. Also, I never have to experience any loneliness or seclusion of being an "only child". I am part of an incredible family of "siblings" in Christ. We are all equipped to be a support structure for each other. We are all to be a fountain of life and love to each other and with each other to the world's lost waifs. We are all eternally united together in one Spirit that supercedes our differences. What a tremendous family gathering awaits us one day in our Father's house as we're reunited with those we've known and introduced to all our "distant" relatives we never got to meet on earth!

Holiness is the absolute moral purity and integrity of the character of Christ. To be holy is to be consecrated to flawless perfection, claimed by Him to be set apart from the nature of the flesh and dedicated to His divine nature and purposes. This is not something any person could ever accomplish by self-effort. It is only accomplished as we give ourselves over to His Spirit's refining work within us. What an amazing thing to know that God already sees the work of creating this holy character of Christ in me as completed because, in Christ, "it is finished"! When He looks at me, He sees me already all grown up and matured in the perfection of being like His Son. He sees the covering of righteousness laid over me through the holy blood of Christ that has already gained my pardon and made me blameless of sin. He sees me as already fully reconciled and restored to Himself as a redeemed new creation. I need to get His vision of who I already am to Him because it will transform the way I see myself and how I want to live. Because of this glorious position in Christ, I can confidently approach the LORD, knowing I am accepted in the very presence of God. In His blameless purity, Christ is right now seated in acceptance at the very right hand of God. Because I am enfolded in Christ, I'm right there with Him. WOW.

To most people, I think the concept of predestination is scary in that it seems to imply that God creates some for salvation and some for destruction. It seems to discredit the God-ordained right to choose by self-will. I can't reconcile that view of predestination with the LORD's own words, "whosoever will". This is one of those issues where we just have to trust that God is God, whether we can explain things or not. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, thank heaven! (Isa.55:8-9) And they can always be trusted because He is love and good (Psa.100:5). I think this is actually a comforting reminder that the plan of redemption was fully prepared and unchangeably determined, thus predestined, before He ever spoke that first word of "Let there be…" The Church was planned and prepared for development even before the foundations of the world were created. I think Paul brought up the issue to explain and assure that it is only by God's timeless sovereign will that we (the Church) have been integrated with Christ to receive every spiritual blessing with Him in heavenly places. When we receive the salvation provided by Christ's blood, the LORD lovingly adopts us as His own. This wasn't some new plan He came up with after things got going. I think the very purpose of the world was to bring this Bride into existence for the glory of Christ! The Ephesian church, with all of the pagan influences we read about in the introduction to this study, must have been way off base in their understanding of who a believer in Christ really is. God sees us now as holy and blameless, already positioned in heavenly places with spiritual blessings. They must have been errant in their understanding of who Sovereign Yahweh really is and what His purposes are in uniting us with Christ. We don't choose God and His holiness so much as He came looking for us as degenerate sinners and He has chosen us. We are purposed for His glory, not Him for ours (even though we gain His glory in Christ). They must have been confused in their understanding of what the Church really is. The Church is not of our making. It is comprised of those God has chosen because they have received the salvation of Christ. This should never become a reason for pride, but in truth should be utterly humbling. It's all about God, not us.

Let's say I'm like a box of cake mix. A bunch of raw ingredients assembled by someone in a neat little box. But I will forever sit as an unfulfilled promise of delicious cake unless the key components that will make me "come alive" are incorporated into me. When the fresh egg, water, and oil are integrated into who I am, then I have the full complement of ingredients necessary to reach my full potential and become a cake. They cannot just be dumped in on top; they must be mixed in thoroughly. This simplistic word picture came to mind in considering this concept of being incorporated "in Christ". Just like a dry and lifeless cake mix becomes an entirely different substance when specific elements are blended in, I became a newly enlivened and fluid creation when the Holy Spirit of the Living God came to dwell in me and brought with Him an entirely new nature and set of properties. The addition of this new, living ingredient recreated me into something that can never again be what it was before. Who I was became fully enveloped in who Christ is. With every choice I make to allow my "batter" to be stirred and beaten, more and more of His nature is integrated throughout. Christ in me, and I in Him. As I submit to His refining heat, more and more of me is being transformed into His creation of perfected "cake", the full character of The One who is Life. Without His presence and work in me, incorporated as part of who I am, no changes would be possible. One implication for me is that there is no real life apart from Him. My existence would be dry, unfulfilled, meaningless, and eventually unusable. But with the Spirit of Christ fully blended into every thought, word, and deed, my life is changed to flow with the divine energies of grace and forgiveness and mercy and love. It will rise to unimagined heights of holiness and blessing and power and victory. And it will become a yummy nourishment that is meant to be shared with others (not sit on a lovely cake plate looking quite beautiful, but ultimately wasted to staleness). Christ has poured His own pure life-filled character into me and He is now part of who I am. Or more accurately, as I consistently choose Him over myself, He is all I am to be! I am no longer who I was before. Another implication for me is if there are no changes in how I used to think and what I desire and what I love and what I do, then I need to examine the reality of my resistence to integration with Christ, whether in my salvation (truly transformed in receiving Christ as Savior, or just went through some rituals) or in my sanctification (becoming more and more like Christ). The ultimate goal in this earthly life is for people to see more and more of Christ when they observe my life, and less and less of me as I live in His nature instead of my old one. My part is to straighten out my concept of who I now am and live like it!

Holy Spirit-led self-examination that reveals hidden sin should always lead to repentance and confession of that sin. Recognizing my failure to live up to God's standard of holiness and my transgression toward Him should always break my heart. That grief compels me to confess my wrong and gives me the genuine desire to turn away from the iniquity. I have to realize that in admitting and confessing my sin, I'm releasing it - giving up the guilt, giving up the bondage to it, and giving up any obedience to its call to indulge in it again. To examine myself but not confess is somewhat like realizing the presence of a poison but allowing its destruction to continue by holding onto it. It hurts me, others, and God. If I engage in self-examination that does not lead me to confess and repent, it will probably cause at least 2 things, related but different. First, I will likely end up becoming that neurotic person we discussed in Question 3 - battered and beaten with condemnation by the devil and my own mind. I'd eventually start believing that I can't be forgiven or delivered of the burden. This type of guilt and self-loathing is responsible for much physical and mental illness. Second, I would never receive the blessed forgiveness and cleansing from sin promised in 1 John 1:9. I could never enjoy the peace and joy of a fully restored relationship with my Father. When I realize some iniquity within myself but don't admit it to the LORD and accept His forgiveness, my spiritual health definitely suffers. When you wrong someone and never try to make it right, you know how you suddenly just don't feel the same about that person anymore? It creates distance and coolness in the heart of the offender, shame and embarrassment in the mind that make you pull back. We just can't afford to do that with God. We need Him too much, and that's the point of our greatest need! His work of transforming our character to the character of Christ cannot be accomplished when we don't confess and be rid of sin. You can't place something in the space that's already occupied by something else! To confess is to be cleansed. To be clean is to be rid of the burden of that sin that only creates guilt, perverts thinking, stresses the physical body, steals victory, stagnates spiritual growth, cripples meaningful service, and fractures your relationship with the Father. It's pretty obvious that the need for self-examination and confession is paramount - to the individual believer and to the Body of Christ. The LORD desires the best for His children. He longs to free us from condemnation and suffering. He yearns for a close, unbroken relationship. No wonder He calls us to repentance.

My first thought here is of John 3:17. In ushering in the age of grace, Jesus didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it (us!). When He returned to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within believers. John 16:8,13-14 tells us that the Spirit does the work of conviction, guides us into truth, and glorifies Jesus Christ. Not one word there about condemning people using guilt or self-loathing. Those things are the devil's tools of reproach that do not illuminate truth or glorify the Savior. The balance is in discerning what is the convicting work of the Spirit and what is the condemning work of satan. Healthy self-examination can only come through the Spirit, who sees all things as they really are. I think the first step for healthy self-judgment is humility and submission. Ask the Spirit to expose anything in your heart that needs to be judged - and remember that He always first approaches His children in tender love to convict, not condemn. You simply can't rely on yourself to be accurate in your evaluation (from Heb.10:22: even our consciences need purification). Remember from 1 John 1:9 that God is faithful to forgive and cleanse you when you confess your sin. Remember from John 8:32,36 that it is facing the truth that sets us free from condemnation; and when Jesus frees you from something, you are truly free! Remember from Psalm 103:12 that God removes forgiven sin from you as far as the east is from west (they never end and never meet!). I believe much of my own difficulty in maintaining healthy self-judgment comes in actually receiving the forgiveness and cleansing. I think of the plea in Mark 9:24, "I believe, but Lord help my unbelief!" We often believe things intellectually, but not with our whole hearts in a way that transforms the way we think, speak, and behave. If I believe in all that the Word says about conviction and repentance and forgiveness, then I must think and act accordingly. I should learn from my sins, but cannot dwell in the poison of hating myself or drowning in guilt or beating up myself with remorse (which is different from regret). I must consciously receive the freedom from those things that comes with God's forgiveness and cleansing; then I must live like a free person! I must realize that it's not about me, it's about who God is and what He has done for me through Christ. Anything less is to insultingly imply that God is a liar or that He isn't enough to cover my need. That will certainly create an unhealthy outcome. So many good answers, but I especially appreciated Jezemeg and Helenmm responses on this.

I can't state it any better than Pastor Ralph did in the lesson. We excuse our sins and then expect God to do the same. We simply don't take sin as seriously as He does. And we do this even with advance knowledge and warning! God brought judgment to the offending parties in Corinth because they were profaning and disrespecting the holiness of the Lord's Supper and all that it means. Part of that was they were demeaning and hurting other believers of their own Body. They were not rightly judging their own attitudes and behaviors towards others. People who habitually treat others badly tend to have destructive personalities and/or emotional traits. People with unrestrained destructive personalities and/or emotional traits tend to suffer more stress and damage in their physical bodies. People with more stress and damage in their physical bodies tend to be sicker and die younger. Sickness and death are often natural consequences of prolonged sinful behaviors, attitudes, and emotions. And then I believe that the LORD very well may elect to remove any believer who is actively detrimental to His kingdom work on earth. An unrepentant carnal Christian can do a lot of harm. We do tend to view death as the ultimate penalty, but that's not how heaven sees it. Death is simply our liberation from the presence and power of sin, our release from the confines of the physical world, our entrance into the glorious presence of God! What a shame it would be, though, to have to stand before the King empty-handed because of opportunity cut short, without rewards to offer back to Him in thankful worship. In light of Hebrews 12:5-7, we should actually be grateful for God's discipline. These verses say that it proves that we are indeed His children! It also demonstrates His love and acceptance. Just like any responsible parent, God takes action to correct our rebellion, disobedience, and wandering. Once we're saved, His work in us is that of consecration - developing the nature of Christ in us, molding and shaping His character in us. He invests the time and effort (and patience!) that takes, using disciplinary actions when necessary, for our good. To become like Christ is the ultimate goal. It would be great if we'd all just always self-correct, but we're too flawed and apathetic and weak and self-absorbed to be transformed apart from the LORD's assistance through discipline. He allows suffering and uses the instruction of discipline to open our eyes to our sin and turn our hearts back to Him in repentance. Lord, thank you for love that is willing to do the hard thing required for my good. Help me endure it and be quick to repent!

"Discerning the body" at the Lord's Supper means to me that all participants are expected to recognize the equal importance and value of each transformed life that has been incorporated into the Body of Christ. Paul went on to say that if one member of the body suffers, all suffer (12:26). To disrespect any part of the Body is to create the suffering of division and disharmony. When we are joined to the Lord, we all become one spirit with Him (1 Cor.6:17) and are united as members of His own body (Eph.1:23). All sin is certainly reprehensible to God, but division of His very embodiment on earth is truly heinous. It distorts our representation of Him to others, cripples His work through us, and grieves His Spirit. What a convicting thought. How often do we ourselves mock and taunt, overlook and disregard, attack and wound, mutilate and shred, even crucify the very Body of Christ because we don't esteem its members? Paul warned about the significance of sin against your own body - it defiles and destroys from within. A church could do many other detrimental things, but this may be the worst because it is a sin against itself as part of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Also, failure to discern the sacred importance of the literal body and blood of Christ would be a blasphemous profaning of the cost of His holy sacrifice to gain our forgiveness and restoration to the LORD. We've studied and discussed that in our earlier lessons.

Our faith is nourished by the intake of the Living Word of God, which is the essence of Christ, the Bread of Life. Our faith is nourished in remembering all that God has done for us out of His mercy through the sacrificed body and blood of Christ, as we do in observing the Lord's Supper. Our faith is challenged to grow in remembering the call of His Word to join Christ in death to self and sacrifice of service. The main point of the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 is Christ's Word that whoever believes and eats of this Bread (which I am thinking is the Word) will have eternal, spiritual life. The Lord' Supper was instituted for us as a memorial reminder of this truth and what it cost for God to provide it. As we eat of the loaf of bread, we are called to remember the physical body of Christ given for us and to feed our faith on the assured hope of never-ending life in and through and with Him.

I also believe Jesus was using hyperbole here to strongly illustrate the requirement to fully receive Him in complete belief of His claims in order to gain true life. Hyperbole is used in other places in the Word. In Matt.10:35-38, Jesus used extreme exaggeration when He said that you must hate your parents and be an enemy of your family in order to follow Him. Paul used such radical overstatement in 1 Cor.13:1-2 when he contrasted the critical importance of love with being able to do supernatural things like speak the language of angels, understand all mysteries and knowledge, or move literal mountains (things that are all unlikely for the LORD to enable man to do). Jesus was illustrating the point of receiving Him as the Bread of Life in the strongest possible way because people were hung up on the physical miracle of the bread given to the five thousand and were blindly missing the spiritual truth revealed in that miracle. Christ came to provide much more than physical food. We must believe in Jesus as the Giver and Sustainer of Eternal Life that is given to us through the flesh and blood of His body. And our spiritual life can only be fed on that belief. The Twelve struggled to understand Jesus' "hard saying" just like the rest of the people. But when Jesus further explained (John 6:60-65) that the Spirit gives all life, that there is no life in the flesh (which can mean the carnal nature or the human body), and that the words He had spoken to them were spirit and life, I think they maybe began to grasp the truth that He was not talking about literally consuming His flesh and blood. I think they also realized that even when we don't fully understand, we must trust. They already believed, even knew by experience and by the Spirit, that Jesus was the Holy One of God who spoke the words of eternal life; they had no choice but to accept what He said. The crowd of followers who deserted Jesus after this teaching was looking for spectacular events and miracles but they did not know Jesus the Christ in this way. They were unwilling or unable to believe Him, rest in His word, or seek the truth that would release them into the freedom of everlasting life, which Jesus said are the marks of true disciples (8:31-32).

In John 6:51, Jesus was referring to Himself as the Bread of Life given through His physical body. His flesh would be offered in sacrifice so that His blood might be voluntarily shed for the atonement and forgiveness of the sins of the world. And anyone who believes this is the truth (eats of this Living Bread) will receive eternal life with Yahweh. John 1:14 says "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us". So Christ in the flesh is ultimately the very Word of God. He referred to Himself as the Living Bread, which was going to be broken to fully release to us the promises and power of the Living Word that brings spiritual life. It is that Word that brings life into our spirits and our faith. And so it is that Word that we must devour and believe in order to receive everlasting spiritual life. When you receive Christ into your heart and mind and soul as the Way to God, the Truth of God, and the Life in God, you enter into that life eternal. You must first believe Him before you would receive Him, or take Him in as the Living Bread. Seems to me that this is an equivalent statement to the one He made to the disciples when He broke the Passover bread and said that it represented His body given for them/us. In its profound simplicity, this is a really complex question that I had a hard time shaping an answer for. The more I ponder it, the deeper it goes. As I follow my train of thought, I hope it isn't making me ramble.

I've always believed that Jesus was using a metaphor when He said He is the Bread of Life and we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man in order to eternally live. It seems to me that because the real person, the real entity that will live forever, is spirit, not flesh and bone, this indicates He is speaking in spiritual terms. We are created as spirit beings housed in physical, temporary bodies. Only what is of the Spirit can feed the spirit. And so as the Bread of Life-Eternal, He is saying that He is the nourishment and sustenance that will provide and ensure that everlasting life of the spirit. In practical terms, this means to me that the act of "eating" His body is not a literal act of eating His physical flesh or some representation of it. It is believing and receiving into your whole self that Jesus the Christ is the source and giver and sustainer of spiritual life. It is the act of spiritually consuming Him, taking Him in, making Him an inner part of you. Just as bread sustains the physical body, the Bread of Life sustains the eternal spiritual existence. Just as bread is made of ground grains plus water and oil that is baked in high heat and eaten for nourishment, the beaten body of Christ plus the water of His Word and the oil of His Spirit are thoroughly integrated as the Bread of Life. This was delivered to us through the extreme heat of Christ's suffering before the very flames of hell and it is the only source of spiritual nourishment. In practical terms, eating of this Life-Giving Bread means growing your relationship with Christ through a steady diet of His Living Word. It is grown through prayer, obedience to the Spirit, and abiding in Him. It's grown as you integrate Him and your relationship with Him into everything you do by constantly feeding on His power, wisdom, direction, mercy. It is by means of our faith that we take Him in this way, or "eat this bread", so that His Living Word resides in us to give life. I think there are many, many Christians who are just nibblers. They have tasted Christ as their Redeemer and they are saved. But they are only carnal grazers, taking a bit of this teaching and a bit of that commandment as it pleases them. They never really lose their appetite for worldly things because of unwillingness to change the whole diet. They don't begin to develop ravenous hunger for the things of God, and experience the fullness of that abundant new spiritual life that Jesus has provided. In the daily practical life, they are starving with doubts, fears, insecurities, unbelief, weakness, defeats. But when you decide to feed your spirit instead of trying to keep your flesh fat and happy, you want to take in Christ to the full because He is total satisfaction of your deepest hungers. You begin to give up your constant snacking on the world's unhealthy provisions because those cannot nourish the needs of your spirit. As you dine more heartily on Him and His Word, you live in greater power, strength, endurance, certainty, clarity, and victory. Every application of your faith brings more of Him into reality for you. The more you believe Him, the more you sense His presence and experience LIFE in your life!

As long a person is a participant in the blood and body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16), that person is a member of the same Body as every other believer (vs.17). Traditions and denominational (not doctrinal) differences can be no excuse for a lack of unity on this most basic principle. To be so narrowly defined is to become blinded to people as individuals. We tend to get arrogant about being right, which leads us to slight/reject others who think differently. We tend to get hard-edged, which paralyzes our ability to love. We tend to forget that all believers are brothers and sisters of the same Father, which makes us distant and hurtful and offensive. Being so off-track makes us ineffective, even a hindrance, for the Kingdom work assigned to us. Into our care, Jesus entrusted His ministry of salvation and hope to persons, not a mission to guard some banner of personal denominational preferences. There is only One who is capable of accurate judgment of the hearts and beliefs and intentions of people. At the appropriate time, the verdict will be given. Right now is the time of grace and salvation, not judgment (John 3:17). Believers are called to be discerning, but not to pass sentences. Our job is to live love, which is the evidence of our faith in Christ (1 John 3:23-24). We need to do our best to develop relationships with people that can open the door for the Gospel. We might be the only opportunity someone (even someone involved in another Christian denomination) has to hear the genuine Truth and experience unconditional Love. Lack of unity only speaks hypocrisy and, at the core, unbelief.

There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to human nature! The problems of the Corinthian church are still problems today. We face a lack of integrity and trustworthiness, immorality and impurity, lawsuits by believers against believers, marital infidelity, idolatry, demands for our "rights", selfishness and lack of love, misunderstanding of spiritual gifts, perversions of the crucified Christ and our resurrection through Him, stingy begrudging givers. The flesh does not naturally seek out unity! This is very serious because it violates the direct commands of the Word, fragments the Body, and damages the reputation of the Lord as we represent Him in the world. I spent many years in a spiritually immature congregation that was constantly quarreling and divided about something. We had one pastor after another who did not confront the issues in a scriptural manner and left the church in a hurtful way. There were divisions of the church during my years there, resulting in 3 different congregations who now barely want to speak to each other. I realize that not only was that body of believers not being led by the Spirit, but it habitually came to the Lord's Supper in unrepentant sin that further crippled our testimony, service, and personal growth. Such sin only robbed us of vision and power and blessing. The only one pleased with all that distraction and disability is the enemy. I am so blessed that the past three years of my life have been spent in a church that does not operate that way. It's a large congregation with a lot of people, so there are certainly immature, carnal believers there and differences that would cause rifts. But our pastor makes a genuine effort to deal with known problems before they can infect the congregation. And we are always encouraged to seek out any sin in our own hearts as we come to the Table of the Supper. It has been such refreshment and relief not to have some crisis at every turn that does nothing but distract and divide God's people. This church body isn't perfect, but it is largely submitted to the LORD - and it's making an impact for the kingdom of God because of its unity.

These verses in Mark and Matthew teach us that believers simply cannot harbor resentments. If I desire that the Lord hear my own prayers for forgiveness, then I cannot continue to hold offense against someone else who has repented of some transgression against me. If I desire that my personal giving of offerings or worship be acceptable to the Lord, then I cannot ignore my own transgression against another person. These relate to Paul's teaching on the One Loaf in that forgiveness is a major component of unity because it maintains the harmony of oneness. What is not unified is going to be fragmented. A body that does not operate in harmony with its own self is going to suffer enormous damage. There will be distractions, disfunction, pain, disease, loss of productivity and effectiveness. The Body of Christ will dishonor itself and its Head if it does not honor the unity He has established and do everything possible to maintain oneness in Him. All believers are invited to the Table to participate in the same one body of Christ. We can't come to that Table, and we certainly can't leave it, with anything but the unifying One Loaf. His Bride will not be presented to Him in pieces, but harmonious oneness. According to 1 Cor.11:28, I must examine my own heart for transgressions before accepting the Lord's Supper with Him. According to 1 Cor.10:17, I must consider if I have done anything that hinders the unity of His One Body. Any such thing must be dealt with before the Supper, or else the Word says I have profaned it and brought judgment on myself. Christ's holy blood cleanses, and it is really unacceptable to bring uncleansed sin, including division of His Body, to His table.

The focus of the Lord's Supper is not me or how much I have been blessed by the LORD, even though that has been unfathomable. The purpose of the celebration is to remember God's goodness and mercy as He instituted a new covenant of grace with humanity. It is to thank Him for the forgiveness and salvation provided to us through the blood of the Son of God. It is to praise Him for such wondrous love as this that would give every drop for us. It is to bless Him with our humble adoration and worship. As we lift the cup of blessing it is to glorify Yahweh, for He is our God and He has made us His own cherished children through the death of Christ.

Jesus had invited his closest friends to share an intimate final supper with Him. And He has extended an invitation to those of His Body (who are being fashioned into His own Bride, "from His side" so to speak) to feast and join Him in close personal fellowship. It's a special occasion in the midst of the everyday to sit down with Him for a little while, to remember, and to look forward. It's a time to recommit to the relationship we have together. The most enjoyable meals for me have been those unhurried times of sharing food and conversation. It may be in meeting a new person with whom there's an instant connection where things just "click". Or most often, it is time with friends or family that I already love dearly. The best time is when no one is rushed and everyone just lingers around the table after the meal to laugh together, to recall favorite memories/stories, talk over current happenings in our lives, or make plans for the future. Our modern-day celebrations of the Lord's Supper aren't designed to take up much time, but we can approach that time with a leisurely attitude. Welcome Him in and let your heart linger. Sit down right next to Him. Think about why you love Him. As you take in the "food" He's labored over, reflect on what He's sacrificed for you and how to live your life because of it. Enjoy His embrace of forgiveness. Remember how He's pulled you through so many tough times, and express your gratitude. Delight with Him over the joy of your future together. And listen as His Spirit whispers, "Even when you were nothing but a slave to sin, I died for you. I've adopted you as my own and we're family. I won't ever leave you or forsake you. I'm preparing a wonderful home for you to come and live with me! Just keep on keepin' on and hang in there!" Treasure this unique and special time with your Beloved Friend. I don't think the Lord's Supper can ever be ordinary or forgettable again.

The 12 apostles ate the meal of consecration for the new covenant in order to be witnesses as Christ instituted it and in order to ratify it on the behalf of humanity. This follows the example of Exodus 24:11, where the chief leaders of Israel ate together in the presence of God to confirm the old covenant on behalf of their nation. I never realized this before. On my behalf, the disciples accepted God's promise of forgiveness and my responsibility to believe in His Son. I am reminded that at Jesus' birth, the hosts of angels proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among those with whom He is pleased!" This new covenant now instituted that new relationship of peace between God and man, as He was making us pleasing to Himself through the sacrificed blood of Christ. The enmity that existed between us has now been transformed by the peace and goodwill of Yahweh towards us. Glory to God, indeed, for the cup of the covenant! Every time I come to the Lord's Table, I should be there to reconfirm that ratification of the new covenant. I should humble my heart in the presence of God to eat before Him in agreement. In drinking of the cup, it should remind me that the precious blood of Jesus is my salvation. This is a very solemn thing, for it is a costly gift of mercy and grace born of the divine love of God. Drinking the Cup should remind me that I have taken Christ in and now I am identified with Him in sacrifice and death to the flesh. Oh, that I would never again be like the Israelites as they received their wonderful divine promises and yet were unfaithful so many times to their own responsibilities. May I live more true than ever to the covenant God has made with me.