Elwood C O'Dell

I see at least three times that the phrase

God is in total control. He knows about every situation we face and every need we have. He will take care of His own so there is no need for us to worry, be anxious, fret or stew. In His time He will work.

I honestly believe that unless a person really settles who is the Master of their life, the

Jesus is not saying that one cannot be wealthy and serve God. It

We lay up in heaven treasures by keeping the faith and finishing

To quote Dr. Wilson:

It seems that Jesus condemns the man for having a sense of selfishness and greed. Being

We ask for forgiveness so that the channel of communication between us and our Father might be clear and unhindered. If we harbor an attitude of unforgiveness we set up a barrier on our part that will block the flow of God

I feel that the answer to both of these questions regarding

His kingdom is with us right now as we live our lives so that they exemplify and honor Christ. This is accomplished by living as He would live. When we allow Him to live through us the kingdom is ever active as a witness to those around us. As His children we live with the eager anticipation of the day when Christ shall finally come and reign forever and this affects the way we live our daily lives.

Even though God is our

Why pray? Because I need to have communication with my Father in Heaven. I need to talk with Him in order to find help with the various situations I face daily in my life. I pray so that my fellowship with the Father can continue to grow as He guides and teaches me through my time spent in communion and communication with Him. Prayer is the one of the keys that allows me to get to know Him better as our relationship grows. Prayer allows me to have a time with an

We pray in our secret closet of prayer in order that we can be ourselves before the Lord. We

I feel that our giving to others is a private matter between God, them and ourselves. It is as a way to minister to them out of a heart of love. We need to carefully look at the circumstances involved so that we are not encouraging laziness in a person who is not willing to work for their needs. I really like what Barnes has to say in his commentary regarding Matthew 5:42. Give to him that asketh thee - This is the general rule. It is better to give sometimes to an undeserving person than to turn away one who is really in need. It is good to be in the habit of giving. At the same time, the rule must be interpreted so as to be consistent with our duty to our families 1Ti_5:8 and with other objects of justice and charity. It is seldom, perhaps never, good to give to a person who is able to work, 2Th_3:10. (I would say if they are not willing to work) To give to such is to encourage laziness, and to support the idle at the expense of the industrious. If such a one is indeed hungry, feed him; if he needs anything further, give him employment. If a widow, an orphan, a man of misfortune, or an infirmed man, lame, or sick, is at your door, never send any of them away empty. See Heb_13:2; Mat_25:35-45. So this is true of a poor and needy friend that wishes to borrow. We are not to turn away or deny him. This deserves, however, some limitation. It must be done in consistency with other duties. To lend to every worthless man would be to throw away our property, encourage laziness and crime, and ruin our own families. It should be done consistently with every other obligation, and of this everyone is to be the judge. Perhaps our Saviour meant to teach that where there was a deserving friend or brother in need, we should lend to him without usury, and without standing much about the security.

What we do and how we do it should be to bring honor and glory to God alone, not for some kind of public recognition or approval on our part. The sad part is how often organizations such as the church use pride as an incentive in order to get people to give to a certain cause.

To be perfect as Christ is perfect. What a glorious high calling. Simply to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love one another as we love ourselves is the highest of callings. On our own we will fail, but with Him living the life in and through us, we can love in such a way. We might fail from time to time but the good news is that He is a God who never fails and if we seek Him in our failures, admit them, let Him heal us, we can continue to grow more and more like Him until that great day we see Him face to face.

Again I agree with Dr. Wilson when he writes,

Love your neighbor as Christ loves them and as you want them to love you.

These examples simply call us to live a life of Christ like love. To set selfish interest or retaliation aside and use such times as a way to minister in love to those involved. This can only happen when we willingly set self aside and allow Christ to live in and through us as He so desires. In no way would this aid and abet evil, for it is a call to live our lives on a much higher level than that of the world. It is life as Christ lived.

To quote Dr. Wilson, The lex talionis, "law of retaliation," simply stated says that you may not extract from someone who has injured you any more than you have lost. In other words, the punishment should fit the crime -- no more, no less. It seems that it was used as a method of restraint in settling various issues judicially in regards to personal matters.

We are to simply speak the truth. Be honest in what we say and do it with love. If we truly obeyed this command it would help to restore the confidence others have in us. They would know that they can trust us to be people of our word and do as we say we will do. It would definitely help to improve credibility.

Be there for that person as a friend. Do not act as their judge, just simply be there to remind them that God still loves them and that He is still the one who repairs broken hearts, minds and souls. Walk with them through their valley doing your best to allow God to love them through you.

I agree with Dr. Wilson

I think the disciples reacted negatively to Christ

The Mosaic Law does not command divorce but it did make a provision for divorce with a way to regulate what happened in the divorce. The need for such action came because of the selfish, self-centeredness, hardness of the heart, of the parties involved. God