Jen

Do you think Abrahams's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? Yes! Proverbs 15B says "but the prayer of the upright is His delight". Abrahams prayer was bold and specific and expressed confidence in God Almighty! What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to Him? When they are prayed in humility with boldness and recognizing that salvation is of God. When I pray that His name is glorified and when I ask difficult things of Him in which His name will be glorified as it should always be. When I speak His Word back to Him in prayer and when my character echos His character so that His name will be glorified. Praying gives God the opportunity to glorify His name for which reason we were redeemed. God bless! Jen Numbers 6 :24-26 We need to pray for each other!! I love you all!!

How does Abraham domonstrate his humility before God? Abraham states that he is but dust and ashes. He speaks of his boldness in pleading with the Lord. Here again is an example of God's condescending grace towards men who are but dust and ashes. Matthew Henry saws that "God is pleased when He is wrestled with." How blessed we are that God is God. Why must boldness be tempered wth humility? That seems like a silly question if you understand who men are and who God is. The fact is that people are presumptuous and think more hightly of themselves than they are for they are dust and ashes and all our righteousness is as dirty rags. Abraham showed his understanding of who the Lord of the universe is and who he was in His prayer and may we who know Him never forget it. God bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? Would God destroy the righteous with the unrighteous. "Shall not the God of all the earth do right" How does it relate to God's character? That God is a righteous God. God Bless Jen Numbers 6:24-26

How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the immutability of God. God's character is always the same. He invites us to come to Him with our requests and He answers in a way that is consistent with His character. Can God answer a prayer for something outside the scope of His will? If it's not in the scope of His will the answer is always no. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6: 24-26

How can a wrong understanding of predestination and determinism keep us from the kind of gutsy prayer that Moses prayed? The wrong understanding would keep us from praying the right things in the right way because we would feel it wouldn't change the outcome. But all through the Bible we find that God graciously condescends to those who are humble and ask for mercy. What do you call a belief that our prayers make no difference to God's response? Ignorance of God's Word and His character God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

How can a prosperity doctrine threaten Christian ministry? I believe we are speaking of wealth here but if we are speaking of prosperity in our riches in knowing Christ Jesus then preach on. If we are speaking of when we know Christ we will be prosperous financially there are no Bible promises to support that. We may lead some into the fold for the benefits but they will leave when the benefits do not materialize or when persecution and suffering occur plus make us to be liars thereby bringing disgrace onto our Lord. To what prime motivation in us does such teaching appeal? Our worldly sinful nature which is at enmity with God. In balance , what does the Bible teach about poverty and riches. Whether we have a lot or a little we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

What aspects of Moses prayer of intercession should we emulate in our prayers? Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? What do you think it means to pray the promises of God? How does knowing the Bible help you to get your prayers answered? How does this help our prayers be within God's will? Moses doesn't wishywashy the sin. He simply uses strategic points with God in His prayer. He is straightforward and honest and talks as a "friend". He recognised the power of prayer. He points out what the enemies will think and reminds God of His promises. I think he did it earnestly because he didn't want to see them perish. That is like the heart of God who is not willing that any should perish. When we pray the promises of God (which we must know if we are to pray them) we repeat back to God His own Word. When we know God's Word we can better understand God and His will. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

What had the people done that was so bad? The people had become corrupt. They turned from the living God who had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea and they saw pharoah's army swallowed up when it tried to follow them. They were led by miraculous signs and they still turned away. They saw the power of God and still turned away! Its hard to understand the depth of corruption in the human heart. And the way they did it is interesting also. Earrings identified people as idolators in that culture (Gen. 35:4) and they took what identified them as idolators and made an idol to satisfy their idolatrous nature. Does it make you wonder what you are doing? It makes me examine myself. And am I willing to change those things that need to be changed. Am I willing to recognise them? How can a loving God be angry. Is God's sentence to destroy Israel and raise up a new nation through Moses justified? I wonder how He can be so patient. And would it have done any good to destroy Israel and start a new nation through Moses since we all have sin in us. Would we not all have done the same thing? For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. How it must have hurt the heart of God to watch this even though He knew ahead of time what these people would do and He knows ahead of time what we will do. How many times have I failed Him and put other things over Him. Matthew Henry says "We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that provocation which God sees every day and still keeps silent". "Those who corrupt themselves not only shame themselves, but even make God himself ashamed of them and of his kindness to them." God Bless, Jen Numbers 6:24-26

Why should we continually ask forgiveness? Since we live in a sinful body in a sinful world we should ask forgiveness for that reason alone on a daily basis. Matthew Henry says "Our daily bread does but feed us as lambs for the slaughter, if our sins are not pardoned. It intimates, likewise , that we must pray for daily pardon, as duly as we pray for daily bread". I also think that when we pray for forgiveness of sins it reminds us of who God is in all His purity and Holiness and who we are in our sinful state and what Christ has done for us. I think of the Hymn When I Survey The Wondrous Cross and how prone I am to forget just where I came from and the price that was paid for my sin. How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness? When we don't forgive others it is because our hearts are hardened and so we are not free to receive God's forgiveness and His blessings. First we must be sure there is nothing standing in the way of our relationship with Him and then we are open to receive both forgiveness and the accompaning blessings such as "peace , happiness, satisfaction and even the proper functioning of the body". (John MacArthur commentary on Matthew 1-7). Also think about someone who has been forgiven by you that by so doing they will see God's forgiveness for them by the cross of our Lord. The more grievous the hurt the more the grace of God is manifested in us. John MacArthur also says "In the matter of forgiveness, God deals with us as we deal with others. The Puritan writer Thomas Manton said, "There is none so tender to others as they which have received mercy themselves, for they know how gently God hath dealt with them". As always I have a lot of work to do in this area. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

Why do we seek to be independant of asking for help? Different reasons for different people. I like the verse in 1 Thessalonians that says Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands so as not to be dependant on anyone. But that does not mean we are totally independant and sometimes we need help. I am always grateful when I ask someone for help and it is given with a thank you for asking me. Why should we ask God to give us our daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves? We are totally dependant on God for everything. There is nothing we have or do that he has not given us or enabled us to work for. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

Is rejoicing in the Lord a feeling or an action? It can just be an action or it can be feeling that generates the action automatically. This is another command that God gives us even when we don't see anything to rejoice in. We should always rejoice in who He is regardless of the circumstances. Different things affect our ability to "feel" like rejoicing like stress or medications or some tragedy that befalls us or maybe someone close to us. Therefore it should be an action that we take regardless. How should you seek to fulfill this command if you don't feel like it? Pray!! and then do it because He says! What is the effect of rejoicing? It glorifies Him and lifts our spirits if they are down! As always I have a lot of work to do in this area. When I first started this study I had sinus problems that made me miserable and concentration was hard. I always try to rejoice but sometimes I am prone to let circumstances get me down. It "feels" so much better to know we have a great God we can rejoice in and focus on Him. God Bless!! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

In what sense are we asking that the Fathers Kingdom should come? We are asking in the sense that God's kingdom in which He is Lord and King over all would come. Why are we asking for the Fathers will to be done here on earth? Its obvious that life on earth is not as it is in the heaven of the Bible. We are to ask, pray for for His will to be done. It is a responsiblity of ours as His ambassadors on this earth to pray for it. John MacArthur says "lack of faithful prayer inhibits His will being done." How should this prayer affect our living? Not only does God tell us to pray but he shows us how in simple terms with profound implications. We should spend much time in prayer and pray that God live out His kingdom in us. We must discipline ourselves to show the world the righteousness and goodness of God's kindom so that they too will desire it. As always I have a lot of work to do in this area. God Bless Jen Numbers6:24-26

What is the basis of Paul's contentment? The basis of Pauls contentment was his joy in the Lord because he considered all things rubbish for the excellency of knowing Christ! Therefore he could rejoice in all circumstances. I liked that this was something He learned. We have a choice how we view circumstances and Paul's choice was contentment in Christ. Does this contentment undermine ambition. No it just means they don't have to compete with each other. What is necessary for us to achieve this kind of contentment. Loving Christ more that even life itself and if we have life loving Him more than temporary comforts. As always I have a lot of work to do in these areas. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

What about our lives and walk hallows the name of our Father? Micah 6:8 says to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. I think this sums up what our walk and talk should be if we desire to hallow Gods name. What desecrates and besmirches it? When we think or speak of God other than He is and don't treat His name with reverence. How should we hallow the Father when we begin to pray? By ascribing to Him the glory due His name and by confessing our total dependance on Him. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

How is a request in prayer altered by the presence of thanksgiving in prayer? I am learning a lot from my kids about thanksgiving. Sometimes we say thanks just because we feel its nice but God wants heartfelt thanks from us because we know who He is and what He does for us. I have a tendency not to express gratitude enough to Him and I am learning that through my kids. My kids are great teachers for me and sometimes I find the learning to be very painful. Thanksgiving is essential in prayer. We thank Him when we pray, not when we get the answer but for the privilege of coming to Him with our praise, rejoicing, and supplications. It does the heart of God good when we thank Him and give Him His due. When I hear gratitude from my kids I want to do more because it feels so good to see their gratitude. Father Please forgive me for not having an attitude of thnksgiving as often as I should and for the hurt I cause you. I do thank you because you are so wonderful to me when I am so unlovely and undeserving. Thank you Jesus. I am here because of you. Thank you for your grace in my life. In Jesus name, Amen God Bless, Jen Numbers 6: 24-26

Is rejoicing in the Lord a feeling or an action? It can be both but sometimes it begins out of action because we will it when we don't feel like it. How should you seek to fulfill this command if you don't feel like it? I don't know if there is one specific answer for everyone on every occassion. We need to pray and I find turning to the Psalms or a couple other books in the Bible and also hymns can help. What is the effect of rejoicing? It gets you out of the negative and focuses on the joy of our Lord. But it also is appropriate because of all that He has done for us. I remember an old cross stitch sampler I had that said "Faith can break the sky in two and let the face of God shine through". That shows on our face and then it spreads. Its contagious!! God Bless! Jen Jude: 20,21

What does it mean to know Christ? I guess the word know means different things to different people at different times. I can say I know this person or that and it does not mean trust or put my faith in but when I speak of Christ and use the word know it means to me that I learned of my salvation through Him and put my faith (trust) in Him, that He is the Son of God , the Messiah and that He died for my sins and rose from the dead as my Savior. Does this mean to have faith? To me when I say it about Jesus yes Or to have a personal relationship? About Jesus yes Is it possible to have a personal relationship without faith? No we are saved through faith. Is it possible to have faith without a personal relationship? Faith that the history of His existence is accurate yes but a personal relationship with Him requires faith. Matthew 7: 21-23 Where are you on your quest to know Christ? I seem to go through growing spurts sometimes and when I'm not growing enough nothing makes me happy. Only abiding in Him brings true contentment. I need to grow more and more and more. Lets remember to pray for each other until that day when we all meet before the throne of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!! God Bless!! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

How does righteousness obtained through faith differ from righteousness obtained through law observance? Law observance is what I did before I came to know Jesus and I failed miserably thank the Lord or I might not known of my dependance on Him for eternal life but kept on going through thinking I was okay. I would have sailed right past the harbor that is ours in Christ. How seriously does righteouness by law infect your congregation. As I said before I usually just feel like a visitor but I think it infects most congregations to a serious level. WE can get to comfortable with the rituals and routines and forget about our Lord and how much He loves us and died for all of us. It puts an emphasis on being the perfect person and picking and choosing who to choose to hold a little candle at Christmas or who to greet based on who will make the church look good and not based on Christ. It leaves many people, who would love to serve, out when just the favored few are chosen. Societies view of Christians in general? We are no different from them or any other religion or organisation. Why is this concept of justification or righteousness by faith so difficult to grasp? I don't think it comes natural to man to comprehend a God so rich in mercy and forgiveness and love like we know Him to be. It sure caught me by surprise! God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

Why isn't Paul merely neutral abouthis religious pedigree? Because it put his mind on his own works and who he was and took it off God where our minds should be. Wy does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? He learned true worship and it made pedigree and the pride in it dung and an obstacle to true worship. In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith? By putting reliance on works such as going to church and teaching classes and other works in which these are not only not wrong in and of themselves but quite often a result of a true salvation but they can take your mind off the only one who can save, the Lord Jesus Christ through the fiished work on the cross which isn't taught in many churches. I was taught to go to church but never taught about Jesus and true salvation for me through His shed blood on the cross. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6: 24-26

How does confidence in the flesh show up in your congregation? Have you ever struggled with it? Since we have moved so often I usually feel like I am just visiting a congregation but my observances are that there are always some who put confidence in the flesh on a regular basis with lots of activities and busyness and some who are truly not putting confidence in the flesh but relying on the Spirit. Not that its wrong to be busy but we must not put our confidence in that. Matthew Henry says that "the work of religion is to no purpose any further than the heart is employed in it". I constantly find myself striving in the flesh and then have to give whatever it over to God. I am assuming it might be a struggle until I go home to be with the Lord but the more mature I get the more conscious I am of when I am putting confidence in the flesh when I should be putting it in the Spirit. Frankly right now I feel like I am "spiritually challanged" every day. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

How can the past get in the way of our quest to know Christ? WE can learn from the past both successes and failures but to focus to much on the past is obsessing with it and it prevents us from focusing on Christ and the goal and prize ahead of us. Satan loves to bring up the past so one way to defeat him is to focus on Christ and what He has done for us. As in the words of Susanna Wesley "When I am peevish and morose, it is not because of religion but of my want of it. Help me not be discouraged by my own failures, nor spend to much time in thinking of them, remembering that perfection is my Savior's endowment and sincerity is mine. Help me with firm faith to rely on His merits, joined with my sincere endeavor to obey Thy whole will." As always I have a lot of work in all these areas. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6: 24-26

Who has come alongside to teach you? What potential leader in your church needs someone to come alongside them? Do you have a person or two that you are mentoring? When we fist became believers an elder in the church we attended started a Bible study just for John and I. Even when we left to go back overseas that Bible study continued for other new believers. I don't really have a church that I regularly attend now. Any mentoring right now is mostly in my family and even that I am rather hesitant to push to hard. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26

When I looked argue up in the dictionary one of the definitions is persuade or compel by reasoning so I think its the way we argue and what we argue about that makes the difference. If we are complaining we are not showing gratitude to our heavenly Father for His goodness to us and not shining like the stars we should. As I said once before there is a difference between groaning and grumbling and there is a difference betweeen quarelling and persuading for the gospel in love. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6: 24-26

In what sense are we Christians to hold fast the Word of Life? In what sense are we to hold forth this Word of Life? How does this relate to the purpose of the church? The Word of Life is the gospel by which we are saved. We are to tell others about the gospel either through the way we live our lives or by speaking the truth of the gospel to the unbelieving. The church should proclaim the gospel and the people should act in such a way as to adorn the doctrine of God so others will be attracted to the Word of Life. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6: 24-26 We need to hold each other up in prayer!!

In this passage what does it mean to work out your own salvation? Is this referring to salvation from sin? If not what kind of salvation is it referring to? I believe this passage means we are to live out the Christian life with the godly attitude we should have as Christians and put God first and His work in us instead of our own selfish desires. We are to refrain from the path of sin which we were saved out of slavery from and walk a life of holy reverence to and for our Lord. God Bless! Jen