Commissioned

Q5. (1:8-9) According to 1 Peter 1:8-9, what is the basis of Christian joy that is "inexpressible and glorious"? How does this joy interplay with human emotions? Is it essentially emotional? How does it differ from what is generally regarded as the pursuit of "happiness"? Extra Credit: How can you tell the genuine article of joy from the counterfeit? According to 1 Peter 1:8-9, the basis of Christian joy that is "inexpressible and glorious" is having not seen Jesus you believe in Him you are still filled with love for Him and give Him praise and worship. This joy interplays with human emotions in that in the natural there should be sadness and pain; but supernatural peace fills you and you express the joy of the Lord. This expression of joy goes beyond emotions to the supernatural. It differs from the pursuit of "happiness" in that the goal is not tangible or earthy, rather it is spiritual. The genuine article of joy can be seen from the counterfeit when one in the midst of great hardship can joyously give praise and worship Our Heavenly Father. ("Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1:8-9))

Q4. (1:6-7) Can you remember any instances in which God used difficult circumstances to refine and purify your faith? What did God accomplish in your life? How, exactly, does genuine, tested faith bring glory to Jesus? Yes. After going through a period when I felt that those around me were oblivious to the pain I was going through; it was God and His word that drew me to Him and caused faith and trust in God to increase. Genuine, tested faith brings glory to God when a child of God is totally captivated by God's sovereignty and His omnipotence.

Q3. (1:5) According to 1 Peter 1:5, what is God's part in securing your salvation? What is your part? God's part in securing my salvation is revealed in His power to complete the process that will secure my salvation even before I was born. My part, by faith given to me by God, is to accept the gift that Christ death on the cross brought. "... Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1:5)

Q2. (1:2) Why do forgiveness (sprinkling) and obedience come together as a package? Why is it deceptive to think you can have one without the other? Extra credit: If true faith requires obedience, how can we say that we are saved by grace rather than works? (Ephesians 2:8-10) I feel forgiveness (sprinkling) and obedience come together as a package because they are a part of the sanctifying work if the Spirit. We come to Christ in faith, the work of the Holy Spirit begins in us we are forgiven, the blood of Jesus cleansing us and the power to live a sanctified life through the empowering of the Spirit causes us to obey the commands and word of God. It is deceptive to think that you can have one without the other because it is not solely dependent on our effort, it is the work of the Spirit of God. True faith does require obedience, It is our obedience through the grace given to us that we are saved. (Almost liken the chicken and the egg. Which came first?)

How would you describe the behavior of a Christian who identifies more with his present homeland than his heavenly one? Have you ever caught yourself doing this? What has to happen to get our spiritual priorities straight? A Christian who identifies more with his present homeland than his heavenly one is laying up treasures here on earth where they will be destroyed. This Christian's heart will follow after earthly treasures instead of preparing for the joys of Heaven. I have caught myself in this situation and am determined by the grace of God to keep my eyes on the prize that I can lay at the Master's feet. (Matthew 6:19-24 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.")

Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites was to serve God rather than man. God seem to challenge me to seek Him continually and rise to newer and deeper levels in Him. He saying move into a deeper commitment and step into a new season. I am praying for clearer directions.

Jesus’ example of “associating” with sinners was to bring the worse of sinners, the outcast of society to an understanding of the love of God and the way to eternal life. He influenced them to receive the life He offered. Jesus' “buddies” with whom he spent most of his time were the Apostles whom He taught and trained to continue the Ministry. We can balance our lives so we can enjoy friendship with non-Christians while not becoming like them by keeping the conversation and acts clean. Every opportunity that is presented, share the love of God with them. The strategic effect of having no friendship with non-Christians is not reaching out to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are lost and if we don't reach them they will go to a Christ-less eternity.

The Israelites had to throw out their foreign gods because they could not serve the one true God and worship the foreign gods. The effect of keeping these images in their houses led to a divided heart. “foreign gods” that contaminate our homes, and our lives are entertainment medias, any thing that robs us of devotion to God. “throwing them out” would allow us to use the time in fellowship, worship and service to God.

Holiness is separation from the world and unto God. We are made holy through Christ. When we receive Him as our Savior, His blood that was shed cleanses us from the filth of sin and we are made holy. Because God has made us holy our lifestyle should reflect holiness and we should strive to live in and by God's holiness that comes to us through His Word.

We are tempted to think that we have accomplished so much by our own strength because we fail to see the hand of God at work in everything. We are tempted to do nothing and expect God to do all the work because we fail to realize that He requires that we put our shoulders to the wheel and work. He promised that He will be with us and when we are in the throes of life He will give us the wisdom and strength to come through victoriously. The balance is o do what we have been gifted to do with God's help and to invite Him to do what we cannot. A daily awareness of God's presence and knowing the abilities that we have will keep us in the balance as we labor in God's vineyard to bring the lost and the unsaved to receive salvation.

From this passage Acsah is seen as a young woman who submits to her father. She knows that her father loves her and will give her what she ask of him. Acsah knows what is necessary for her comfort and she ensures that she gets it. In the Bible there are many strong women of faith. Sarah, Deborah, Esther, Elizabeth, and Mary are a few of the strong woman of faith in the Bible. My mother is also a strong women of faith.

From what we have read we can deduce that Othniel’s is well respected, very courageous and he is ambitious. Caleb offer his daughter in marriage because she was at the age for marriage and the opportunity to make the selection of a husband was presented in taking the attack and capture of Kiriath Sepher. As leader, Caleb know the availability of young men in his tribe. He also knew who would take him up on the challenge to attack and capture attack and capture Kiriath Sepher. The power behind Othniel’s judgeship according to Judges 3:10 was his submission and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Caleb is boastful in verse 12 because he had proven that God would be with him and see him come through victoriously. This is indeed a character trait to be emulated because it maintains faith in God. I think he claimed the hill country of Hebron for his inheritance because he remembered the victory God brought to them there and it was fertile land that produced much fruit. A strong leader can be truly humble when he diverts all attention away from himself and exalt the heavenly Father for the things he had done. strong leaders often tempted towards pride when they take the praise of their followers. The followers are not being told that the battle was won by God and not anything the leader did.

To follow the Lord “wholly” or “wholeheartedly” means to submit fully to His commandments with strict observance of all that God requires of you. With faith fully trusting in His power to complete what He has promised. Caleb and Joshua differ from the other spies because they knew their God and that He would deliver them no matter what the obstacle or challenge might be. Fear in leaders keep God’s people from doing his will because the trust in God is faulty, they begin to question God and when the answers don't come when they think it should they make their own provisions. God was angry with Israel for their unwillingness to enter the Promised Land because they had forgotten all that He had done for them in the past, delivering them out of the hands of Pharaoh and providing for them as they journeyed through the wilderness.

Bob Munger’s “My Heart, Christ’s Home” explain the process of surrender to Christ, as we surrender totally our lives to Him allowing Him to enter and wash us clean. When we surrender to Christ, the ugly things in our lives that displease God, we have no desire to do them. Instead we want to please God in everything that we do. The effect on us is a continuous consciousness of living holy.

Failing to drive out the Canaanites correspond to compromising with sin in our lives because like the Canaanites we will face the consequence again and again. The consequence of this compromise is disobedience to God and until we repent and get it right the consequence is blaring in our face. To end the compromise we must repent and follow Christ in obedience.

God told the Israelites to drive out the Canaanites completely because they were a people who worship idols and their presence among the Israelites could be influential. The short-term result of failing completely destroying the Canaanites is Israel's having to face them again. The long-term result was leads to syncretism in the following generation.

In the Battle of the Five Kings, God fought with supernatural power and means The Israelites fought with swords. God fulfill his promise to Joshua that “no one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life” (Joshua 1:5) by guiding Joshua to victory. Joshua needed only to hear the voice of God and obey the instructions, and he was sure of a victory. God does expect us to be prepared to fight in the battle with our enemy the devil, but to do this we must be daily listen to his directing and follow obediently to secure the victory over the enemy.

Joshua’s failure to consult God before making decisions hurt Israel because they moved forward trusting in the "arm of flesh". Jesus model close communication with God before making major decisions as we see Him in continuous prayer to His Father. He tells his disciples that He does nothing except what His Father does and this he knows by keeping communication with God. To hear God’s voice or to get confirmation from God for a course of action we need to be consistent in our communication with God. As we communicate with God we learn to recognize how He speaks to us.

To “take the Lord’s name in vain” is to utter the name with disrespect and not in awe of his Sovereignty. We are tempted to “take the Lord’s name in vain” when we take an oath for that which is meaningless. We tend to take our promises so lightly we do so not sincerely determine to keep it. Being careful to use the name of God reverently, reflect on God’s holiness.

It is possible for both rich and poor to suffer from greed. The rich seeks more and the poor desires to have what the rich has. Our greed can affect our giving to the church when we hold back on the tithe and offering. Americans are captives of greed to the degree that they seek richest more than they seek God. Finding themselves in the marketplace beyond the normal requirement and less in the presence of God. We repent and free ourselves from greed by gravitating daily to the presence of God rather than to seeking more mammon.

The sin of one person affects a country in that the country of that person will receive the judgment that the individual will reap. The sin of one person affect a congregation as we are reminded by the Apostle paul to the Corinthian church. To do nothing is share in the sins of others and bear the judgment of God. As a congregation the church deal with sin that affects the body by coming together in corporate prayer. We can take sin seriously without developing a judgmental, legalistic spirit in our churches by counseling, forgiving and embracing the individual with love. The importance of confessing sins on behalf a congregation, a denomination, or a nation brings awareness, repentance and a brokenness before God.

God ordered it the slaughter of the people of Jericho as punishment for sin. I am “devoted to the Lord” in the sense that I know that I am not my owner. I have been bought with a price so priceless that to disown it brings damnation. Metaphorically, this relate to Jesus’ teaching to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him, and Paul’s teaching on the crucified life because Jesus paid the price, sacrifice His life so that I can come under the umbrella of redeemed, washed in the Blood, sins forgiven, a child of God.

The seven days of marching with the ark signifies obedience to the command of the Lord. Whether they knew the outcome or not, they obeyed the command of the Lord. The ark represented the presence of the Lord. God used an earthquake to make the walls fall down.

The significance of the Commander of God’s Armies being with you is having the victory even before the battle begins. As God fights my battles, my job consist of trusting in His power to deliver the victory. In the midst of it all give His worship.