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A44. To abide in Jesus is to believe in him and to continue to trust, and obey him always and to depend in him for our spiritual sustenance. This requires that we allow the Holy Spirit to indwell us and guide us in our daily meditation in his word and thus be guided accordingly in our decisions. This is the recipe for success. Outside this trust and dependence in him, we cannot achieve spiritual growth.

A43. Skillful pruning of grapevine for more fruitfulness is achieved by the elimination of dead or diseased branches. This action leads to the development of new shoots coming up and producing new branches and this results into much more fruits. As we hear the word of Jesus and obey by the help of the Holy Spirit, we would live lives that are fruitful. This would be evidenced by our good deeds and good relationships that attract others to Jesus.

A42. Hypocrisy makes us to see the spec in some ones else eye while we ignore the log that is in our own eye. This calls for self-examination and confession to God and apology to those we have criticized. Doing this will enable us to be true disciples that can be trusted.

A41. People push themselves forward to be recognized and exalted. However, such people may end up humiliated. Humility is so important for Jesus’ disciples because it is a prerequisite for those who would enter the kingdom of God.

A40. The characteristics of little children that are necessary for us to emulate for salvation are humility, simplicity and trust/ faith.

A39. The Pharisee proclaims loudly his good works- how he worships God and his giving to the poor to the extent that his attitude was that of pride which is sin before God. The tax collector on the hand is remorseful and humble because of his many sins such as over taxing to get his own personal portion of money from the people. Jesus told this story for us to learn from the two, that we have to be careful or else we may also fall into the temptation to show off our good service to God and to people and thus fall into the sin of pride. We should be humble.

A38 Nothing I have or own that can be compared to having the Lord Jesus Christ my Savior who redeemed me from the penalty of eternal death in hell and to eternal life with him in heaven.

A37 To take up your cross every day is to be ready to suffer for Christ up to the point of death. So help me Lord God because I realise that this is not easy and can only be possible by your empowerment.

A36 Jesus demands his disciples to totally surrender all and follow him as nothing short of this would cause them to qualify for a place in his Kingdome. I need to have him as my first choice in every aspect of my life by seeking first his kingdom his righteousness so I would have eternal and worldly things like food and shelter can be mine as well.

A35. Jesus disciples must be serious and committed to the business of the Kingdom to the extent that one has to deny his family in favour of the Master of the Kingdom.

A34. Many are called and would respond to the call to enter the Kingdom of God. But not all are committed to do all it takes to obey all the requirements and discipline necessary to qualify to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus told this parable to show disciples that entering the kingdom of God requires all the seriousness it takes to qualify to be among those who would enter the kingdom of God.

A33. Thorns can represent worries about the things or issues that could be health or family issues etc that bother us, the deceitfulness of wealth, desires for “things” and worldly pleasures. These can prevent us from hearing the word of God or prevent us from hearing and acting on the word of God.

A32 From the parable of the sower, some people are not willing to listen to the word. When they listen to the word of God, they do not store it in their hearts. Consequently they do not obey and easily fall away completely from being followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A31. A true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep due to the love to ensure the safety of the sheep. It was love that made Jesus lay down his life for us his sheep so that we would not perish in hell but to live with him in heaven for ever.

A30. There are many voices out there. Just as a sheep needs to know the correct voice of her shepherd to avoid following wrong shepherd, we as the disciples/ sheep of the Lord Jesus need to discern correctly His voice to avoid going astray. Is we act independently of the shepherd (the Lord Jesus Christ) we would miss heaven and go to hell. I personally desire to hear and recognise the voice of the Lord better and would thus have a look at his: Listening for God's Voice: A Discipleship Guide to a Closer Walk (JesusWalk Publications, 2018). www.jesuswalk.com/voice/

A29 The parable of the new wine in a new wine skin is confusing to me as it would suggest that new ideas and teachings of Jesus would only be targeted to the Jews and not the Gentiles. I would thought that I think Jesus parables using the old and new wine skin etc were to teach the Pharisees, his disciples and this present generation that new wine put in a new wine skin leads to destruction of the wine skin (and also the lost to the wine). Therefore new wine should only be put in old hardened skin. Thus with the new message of salvation through faith in Jesus only, the Pharisees (and everyone has to abandon old traditions about salvation through works and look unto only Jesus Christ for salvation by faith) However, Pastor Ralph’s remarks bellow gives a suggested meaning of the Lord Jesus teaching on the subject as follows: “Immediately, following Jesus' Parable of the Bridegroom's Guests, Jesus gives a pair of parables to explain that his coming Kingdom is different than what people expect. It doesn't follow the old tried-and-true traditions. It is new and exclusive and must not be considered the same as the past. These are the Parable of the Unshrunk Cloth and the Parable of the Wineskins”

A28. The parables of the Mustard seed and Yeast were intended by Jesus the Disciples and those them, was to that small beginnings do transform to big end results. The disciples might have expected the size of Jesus followership to have grown so big and large covering not only around them but all over the globe. But that was not the case and thus they were discouraged and disappointed. The lesson here for me and others is that, as we start projects, spiritual or physical, we should have faith and trust God that there would be transformation leading to growth even if the growth is slow.

A27. In the parable, Satan and/ or his agent is the strong man and the Lord Jesus Christ is the stronger warrior. This explains Jesus power and ability to cast out demons, to set me and other believers free from every attack by satanic agents, spirits etc and to set me or other believers free from such satanic attack.

A26. Each time we take the Holy Communion, we would recall that Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for our salvation. The bread represents his bruise and pierced body and the wine represents his blood that was shed on the cross for me and all believers in Jesus Christ.

A25. Jesus’ saying of the Camel and the Needle was just to show that salvation was possible only by faith in Him and was not achieved by works nor by other physical qualifications. But the people believed wrongly in good works for salvation and thus wished they could twist the Lord’s Saying to fit their own wrong wishful believe in good works for salvation.

A24. Living water represents the Holy Spirit of God poured on all believers in Jesus Christ through His saving work accomplished on the cross. It is thus needful for an individual to hear the Word of God, believe that Jesus died to redeem us from sin and death that leads to life in hell after death, accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, and is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Q23. When one truly accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, one becomes spiritually a new person. One’s heart is spiritually transformed and this transforms one’s behavior, relationship attitude etc. But generally, the change comes gradually as one grows by feeding in the word of God, fellowshipping with brethren etc and with the help of the Holy Spirit. The transformation of the person is thus similar to that of new born baby who grows physically as well as behavior and attitude.

A18. The parable of the Laborers has made me add another definition of God’s grace to my library courtesy to Pastor Ralph’s notes. For a long while I have usually thank God for His EXTRAVAGANT GRACE to me. This is because I consider my life and all He has done for me was not merited but rather, just because of His EXTRAVAGANT GRACE. Another tern I have now learnt is called His OUTRAGEOUS GRACE (quoting Pastor Ralph concluding notes on this part of the study!) Thank You Lord Jesus, thank You Lord God Almighty for your Extravagant/ Outrageous Grace for me and mankind.

A17 The similarity in both parables is that there is separation: of the weed from wheat and separation of the good and the bad fish in the net. Faithful Christians should be encouraged by the knowledge that at end of time, God would sort out His faithful children for eternity in heaven with Him while the unfaithful ones would end up in eternity in hell fire.

A16 The sheep are complimented for their gentleness while the goats are condemned for aggression. Salvation is not by works but rather, salvation should lead us to do good works. Jesus taught that whatever good or bad that was done to his disciples was done unto him directly. This attracts reward or punishment accordingly. We need to be careful and try to do good for the Lord’s workers as well as the needy around us whether migrants or any needy ones.