Craig

Made perfect expresses the idea of fulfillment or reaching a goal.

Strong desires erode our faith and corrupt by displacing Jesus in our lives. Desires like wanting to be holy like God; living like Jesus Christ; wanting to be close to God and living out the beatitudes are some desires that can build our faith. In order to have a knowledge of or to to know God, I must have a strong desire or I will permit other temporal things to distract me. What we desire in our lives determines whether we are corrupted or living vigorous, connected lives with God.

To be called by God's own glory and goodness means to me that He is extending an invitation for me to join Him in the redemptive work He is doing on this planet (beginning with me), to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to making disciples of men and women. God's glory and awesome Presence fills me with humility and awe. His goodness and moral excellence inspires me to live a holy life and to permit God to instill His values in my life for others to see in order to testify to the glory and power of God Almighty in my life.

I don't believe there are any boundaries involved in this verse. God has made available all that we need spiritually for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him. Without a personal knowledge and relationship with God, we do not have access to this provision.

It means that all believers have received the same faith that Peter received -- equal with Peter's faith. However, how each Believer lives out his/her faith (to a greater or lesser extent), is according to where that person is in their spiritual maturity.

At times in my life I have questioned my worth and value. However, God Almighty has deemed my worth valuable enough to redeem me through the precious blood of His only unique Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross of Golgotha. God Almighty loves me. My temporal valuables and assets have no real meaning apart from short-term functioning on this planet. My long-term investments entail what I am doing for my Lord Jesus Christ. What lives I am impacting for Jesus Christ and my part in Kingdom-building on this planet. What matters are eternal manners. What I do for Jesus Christ on this planet are the only things that I am taking with me when God takes me home.

Jesus' agony and suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross displayed His obedience to God the Father. He learned to trust in His Father's will through suffering and was made perfect by it. Thus becoming the source of eternal salvation for all humanity. Through suffering He became a blessing for all. Through suffering He could sympathize with human beings to become our High Priest. There is no difference in the learning process between us and Jesus. Jesus was the model. We grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus through carrying out the will of God in our lives. Whether it entails suffering (to whatever degree depends upon God's purpose for our lives), or not. However, suffering is a normal part of the human experience and leads to tremenous individual growth as well as love, empathy and compassion for others.

Anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ has the same access to God as any other believer.

People in our culture want to live in whatever manner they choose and they do not want to feel bad about it. This might reflect an underlying sense of guilt or a rebellious spirit against God. Whatever the cause, people to do not want the life they choose to be judged. Many people stay away from church or Christians for this reason. God is just and God's judgment is just. God's love for the world is expressed in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Humanity brings judgement upon themselves. In God's mercy, He gave us a remedy for sin, forgiveness and eternal fellowship with Him. If people choose not to accept God's free gift, they deserve the judgment they have choosen. If there is no judgment for sin, then what God did for us through Jesus Christ on the cross is meaningness.

Holiness is being obedient to God. It is separating myself from the world's priorities and making God and His priorities the most important things in my life. It is making myself available to God to display His chacteristics in my life. I am holy because of Jesus' personal sacrifice for my sin on the cross. Again, obedience to God leads to purity and holiness. My biggest struggle with holiness is in the area of the **** of the flesh. God is working with me on a daily basis with this issue. Praise God for His love, patience, mercy and grace with me.

Jesus' return should have our undivided attention because He warned us before He left that believers should be watching and prepared for His return lest we be caught by surprise. Without watchfulness, we get sloppy with our spiritual life and physical conduct. Watching for Jesus' return helps us to stay focused on the big picture. The world tends to distract us from spiritual and eternal things to temporal things. Jesus' second coming should inspire hope because it is the goal. It is awesome and amazing. It makes everything that we do for Jesus on this planet have profound eternal meaning and purpose.

Because Jesus Christ our High Priest has experienced human temptation; He stands ready to give immediate and sympathetic help when we are tempted. Believers should courageously approach God in prayer because His is a throne of grace, and our High Priest sits at His right hand interceding for us. Jesus has promised grace, mercy and help in our time of need. His mercy, justice and grace is based on the shedding of Jesus Christ's blood on the cross for our sin and His subsequent resurrection.

Jesus being in a human body was subject to all the temptations humanity is subject. All temptations stem from the pride of life; the **** of the flesh and the **** of the eyes (1 JN 2:15-17). Jesus was tempted in all threee of these realms, i.e. see Matt. 4. Jesus temptations were no easiler than ours. Probably even greater because He was the messiah and had the power to do whatever He wanted to do. It is comforting for me to know that Jesus was tempted and overcame all temptations as a model and a help for me. It's comforting to know that Jesus knows the walk of the human being and is sympathetic to our weaknesses in this flesh, in this satanic world order. It is comforting to know that Jesus is pulling for us and that really reinforces a connection and relationship between Christians and God Almighty.

Our confession of faith is what we claim to believe. My confesion of faith is my witness and testimony to the world as a follower of Jesus Christ. It is important to hold fast to our confession of faith as a statement for our love for God and because others are watching us as Christians. As a sound and solid witness for Jesus Christ I must hold fast to my confession lest I lead others astray. It important to hold fast to our confession of faith so that we don't permit satan to lead us astray.

Hi, I'm Craig and I Pastor Grace Community Church in Live Oak, FL. USA. This is my fifth course with Pastor Ralph and I think he provides insightful, quality study material. The questions he asks as part of the course are challenging and relevant to my Christian walk.

The living Word of God will help us to discern the truth in our lives and where we are at in our obediance and walk with God. The Word of God will help us from deceiving ourselves in sin. We need to be in God's Word daily to stay focused in our faith and to aid in our daily walk with God in worship and in seeking direction in what God is doing in our lives.

It would affect my life as Jesus is affecting my life right now. The fact is, we don't know when God is going to remove us from this life on this planet. Jesus said to keep watch and be ready because we don't know when He will return. Additionally, I love Jesus Christ and want to be like Him. I want to remove anything that hinters my relationship with Him or that diminishes my witness as a Christian to the community around me. I want to be a Christian man of integrity. So, in my life I am working with the Lord daily to remove anything that takes away from my relationship with Him. Likewise, I am working with the Lord to add things that enhances my relationship with Him. I am permitting the Lord to use me as an instrument in Kingdom building on this planet with an eye to eternity.

Paul writes to the Corinthians that as Christians we are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; we are sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are saved by the grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. However, our God is a Holy God. Holy living reflects the character of God in the Christians' life. Jesus said that a house divided cannot stand. A Christian either serves the Lord or the world. It cannot be both ways. Holy living is an important witness to the world around the Christian. It shows a healthy, whole and complete alternate way of life in Jesus Christ. The bottom line: If I love Jesus Christ and claim to be a follower of His, I am not perfect, but I am not intentionally sinning. If I am, I must question my salvation and where the Holy Spirit is in my life. David prayed that God would keep him from intentional sin. Why permit the evil pedalled by satan to distract me from honoring God. Ultimately, alienating me from God through sin? If we love God we will not intentionally practice what God hates!!

John's vision of the Holy City expresses the love of Jesus Christ for His bride, the Church. Jesus wants to give the very best for His Church.

The water of life is the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Jesus said in John 7:38,39: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were later to receive." Th Church should be out sharing the gospel with the lost in the community.

Believers cease their efforts to earn their salvation by works and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Also, ultimately, the believer's final rest may also be in view here as revealed in Revelation 14:13: "...Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." The writer urges us to make every effort to enter that rest because human beings seem to be so easily distracted by the world. People seem to easily displace Jesus and their spiritual lives with temporal things. People are easily distracted as those Israelites with Moses were, despite God's active intervention in their lives. Apostasy is an outright rejection and turning away from Jesus Christ. Christians sin everyday, but repent to God, and continue to grow in the faith; continue to serve God; continue their Christian walk and fellowship.

Faith entails believing that what Jesus taught was the truth. That what Jesus said He meant. Our relationship with Jesus is based on what Jesus proclaimed. If I am not exercising my faith I have no relationship with Jesus. Sin tricks or deceives us in that we can convince ourselves that the sin we are committing is okay -- it's somehow justified. Before we know it, our hearts are hardened and their is no conviction of that sin. No activitiy of the Holy Spirit because we have hardened our hearts. Daily Christian fellowship encourages us and keeps us focused on the Lord and our Christian walk.

Those who hold on to Christ will live with Him eternally. Continuing in faith reveals that a person is actually a child of God. Persevering in the faith is a hallmark of God's children. If a person does not endure in the faith he/she is not a part of the house of God and there is no eternal fellowship with God in heaven.

The Water of Live may be recalling what Jesus said to the woman at the well during His earthly ministry: "...Whoever drinks of this water will thrist again, but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thrist. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." Jn 4:13,14. And "On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Jn 7:37,38. Not only will believers be satisified themselves, but they will also become a river so others may drink and be satisified. The water of life represents eternal life and the life giving refreshment and power of the Holy Spirit. The water of life is a part of our hope and salvation and can only be given by God Almighty. Believeres should be sharing the gospel in word and deed throughout their communities and world with a sense of urgency for lost souls.

The curse is over and the saints will be with the Lord eternally - in His direct presence. This recalls the Incarnation, the fact that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among humanity - John 1:14. It also is a fulfillment of the promise in Rev. 7:15/16 that God will dwell among His redeemed people. A virtually identical promise was given to Israel in Ezek. 37:27/28. It is only in the eternal state that God will make all things new. I look forward most to be in the presence of the living God as one who loves Him and wants to worship and serve Him. I want to be a part of the praise team in Heaven.