Links for the whole Motivational Gifts Bible Study

One of the most popular post series on my blog is the Motivational Gifts. Here are the links to them.

7 Highly Effective Motivational Spiritual Gifts - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/7-highly-effective-motivational.html

Ministry Gifts - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/ministry-gifts.html

Manifestation Gifts - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/manifestation-gifts.html

Each of the Gifts is of Equal Value - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/each-gift-is-of-equal-value.html

Attributes of the Perceiver - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/attributes-of-perceiver.html

Perceiver Day 2 - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/01/attributes-of-perceiver-day-2.html

Perceiver Day 3 - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-server-day-3.html

Perceiver Day 4 & 5 - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-perceiver-day-4-5.html

Perceiver Day 6 - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-perceiver-day-6.html

Attributes of the Server - http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-server.html

Server Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attriutes-of-server-day-2.html

Server Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-server-day-3.html

Server Day 4 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-server-day-4.html

Server Day 5 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/problems-with-gift-of-server.html

Attributes of the Gift of Teacher – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-teacher.html

Teacher Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-teacher-day-2.html

Teacher Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-teacher-day-3.html

Teacher Day 4 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-teacher-day-4.html

Teacher Day 5 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-teacher-day-5-problems.html

Attributes of the Exhorter – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-exhorter-day-2.html

Exhorter Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-exhorter-day-3.html

Exhorter Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-exhorter-day-3.html

Exhorter Day 4 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-exhorter-day-4.html

Exhorter Day 5 – Problems – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/02/attributes-of-exhorter-day-5-problems.html

Attributes of the Giver – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-giver.html

Giver Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-giver-day-2.html

Giver Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-giver-day-3.html

Giver Day 4 – Problems – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/problems-with-gift-of-giver.html

Attributes of the Administrator – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-administrator.html

Admin Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-administrator-day-2.html

Admin Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-administrator-day-3.html

Admin Day 4 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-administrator-day-4.html

Admin Day 5 – Problems – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-administrator-day-5.html

Attributes of Mercy – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-gift-of-mercy.html

Mercy Day 2 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-gift-of-mercy-day-2.html

Mercy Day 3 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-gift-of-mercy-day-3.html

Mercy Day 4 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-gift-of-mercy-day-4.html

Mercy Day 5 – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/attributes-of-gift-of-mercy-day-5.html

Total up your scores – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/motivational-gifts-biblical.html

Practical application – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/motivational-spiritual-gifts-practical.html

Biblical Application – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/motivational-gifts-biblical.html

How Jesus illustrates them – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/motivational-spiritual-gifts-and-how.html

Every Christian a Minister – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/every-christian-minister-why-we-have.html

The practical application of the Gifts in Church – http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com/2006/03/practical-applications-of-motivational.html

The Lamb's Book of Life

There are several reasons that I believe the Lamb's book and the Book of Life are actually one book.


Psa 69:28 Blot them out from the Book of Life; yea, let them not be written with the righteous.

This tells me that at one time, the unrighteous were written in the Book of Life since they can be blotted out.

On the other hand...
Psalm 139:16: "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them."

I believe this is the same book but is a description of what is in the Book of Life. Our days are ordained by God is what this verse tells me. This is when we see that God has a definite plan of works for each of us to do. He establishes the work of our hands if we are willing to submit to His authority and to obey Him in His perfect will. Because 1 Corinthians 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually even as He wills. We can only do God's work with the power of God's Spirit.

Therefore, from the beginning God had a plan. He wrote every person's name to ever be born into the Book of Life. Every one starts off on the same plain. As David points out, those who embrace iniquity and choose to ignore their innermost knowledge of God and then choose the things of the flesh rather than the things of God, get blotted out of the Book of Life.

Romans 1:18 For God's wrath is revealed from Heaven on all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, holding the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because the thing known of God is clearly known within them, for God revealed it to them.

First, God makes sure that everyone has a yearning for Him. We are created in His image and we have an embedded knowledge of Him.

Second, God doubly makes sure that everyone knows of Him by creation and "...being understood by the things made, both His eternal power and Godhead, for them to be without excuse."

Third, verses 24 & 26 say that God gave them up to their lusts of their hearts and to their own passions. Verse 28, since they refused to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to reprobate minds. This makes them worthy of death= being blotted out of the Book of Life.

Paul says it three times, God gave them up after ...
1. They had other gods before Him making graven images and worshiping them; worshiping the creation instead of the creator.
Because of this, God gave them up...
2. They had dishonorable lusts of the flesh, not just adultery but much more perverted love of man for man and woman for unnatural lusts.
3. They knew the righteous order of God (v.32) but chose to embrace and be filled up with all unrighteousness.

God gave them up... what a chilling statement.

So, we see how people get blotted out of the Book of Life so that they (as David says) will not be written with the righteous.

As I said in a previous post, the word  ζωή zōē dzo-ay' life (literally or figuratively): life the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate every living soul; vitality.

That is the Book of Zoe. It is the Book of Life everywhere (except the Hebrew). Then it becomes the Lamb's Book of Zoe  in Revelation. Why is that? Because until Jesus rose from the dead, death still had sting which was sin and sin still had power and it was the Law that gave it power.
1Co 15:56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law;
1Co 15:57 but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!



1Co 15:54 But when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then will take place the Word that has been written, "Death was swallowed up in victory." Isa. 25:8 55 "O death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?" Hos. 13:14

Jesus paid the price to own the Book. It is His because He not only fulfilled every work that God ordained for Him but He also willingly gave Himself as the Scapegoat for us while we were still wallowing in sin so unworthy. We do not do eveything God has planned for us but Jesus said, "I'll take the responsibility," we are blameless when we give our self and our life over to Him.

Someone asked me a question...

From what I understood, the Psalm's Book referred to God's plan for everyone's life. The OT Book of Life referred to those in the OT who went to Abraham's Bosom (such as Lazarus of Luke 16:19-31). The NT Lamb's Book of Life is the record of the redeemed by the blood of Christ who believe in Him and are thus written into that book as they believe, and when Christ rose again, every name that was in the OT Book of Life who were in Abraham's Bosom had their names converted over into the Lamb's Book of Life on the 3rd day. Any possibility for that?

Why would God go to the trouble of blotting out the names of unrighteous people if the Book of Life would become obsolete after Christ rose from the dead? He could just have easily had a Book of Those Who Lived and then have another Book of Spiritually Alive and that would be the Lamb's Book of Life.

But here's the thing. When we get our glorified bodies (just like Jesus displayed to the over 500 witnesses after He rose from the dead), we will be alive both physically in the physical realm and alive Spiritually in the Spiritual realm. Because of this, it makes most perfect sense that God has one Book of Life which the unrighteous are blotted out of and the blameless are retained. It is Jesus Who makes that distinction between the two.

In Jesus' story (and I believe it is a true life story not a parable) of Lazarus and the Rich Man, we see the Rich Man in torment and Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham in comfort and the Rich Man's request for a drop of water is refused. Torment in Hell had not changed the Rich Man's attitude at all. He was still trying to use Lazarus as a "gofer" or a servant. So Hell didn't teach him any lessons. He thought of himself first (drop of water) and his brothers last ("...send him back to warn my brothers so they won't have to come to this place.")

Since nothing had changed about his heart from his mortal life to when he was in torment this proves to me that God is Just and Right to blot out the names of the unrighteous which is how the Rich Man wound up in torment instead of in Paradise. But Lazarus was found in the Book of Life which is why he wound up in Paradise instead of Hell.

Isaiah 7:15 He shall eat curds and honey until He knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.

This verse tells me (there are others but this will suffice), that when a child finally understands the difference between good and evil and then is old enough to choose evil ways instead of the righteous ways, he is at a crossroads between the Book of Life and the Books of the Dead. RE: Romans 1 for the NT era. In the OT era, if a person died before this age then I believe that person was not blotted out of the Book of Life. But when the person reached this age of understanding and chose to live unrighteously then He was blotted out of the Book of Life. God declared it so in Isaiah.

Isa 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands free from taking the bribe, who stops his ear from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil. 16 He shall live on high; strongholds of rocks will be his retreat; his bread shall be given; his waters are faithful.

And in Ezekiel 18 God declares that each person is responsible for his own iniquity. The man that turns from his wicked ways and live in righteousness will live but if he turns from his righteous ways and again lives in wickeness, he shall surely die. But God pleads for us to make a new heart and a new spirit for
Eze 18:32 For I do not have delight in the death of him who dies, declares the Lord Jehovah. So turn and live.

This tells me that God is very long suffering and that He does not soon blot out a person from the Book of Life. 2Pe 3:9 The Lord of the promise is not slow, as some deem slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not having purposed any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

The Art of Listening

The Queen of Sheba traveled about 2,000 miles to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. Gideon put out fleece to listen to God’s will. Abraham listened and his son Isaac was born, and his servant listened to God and brought Rebecca to Isaac for his bride. The people told Joshua they would listen to God’s voice, and they did all the while Joshua was their judge. God told Samuel to listen to the people and anoint Saul. The king listened to Nehemiah and the walls of Jerusalem were built in 52 days. King Ahasuerus listened to Esther and the Jews in Babylon were saved. Lemuel listened to his mother and found out a good woman’s worth is far above rubies.

Good things happen to those who listen… and take heed. Listening isn’t hard to do, although it seems hard. Listening to God is the same as listening to your spouse, your kids, your parents. The trouble with that is we usually are not good listeners even to our friends or family. I was writing this column and my daughter called. I was in the middle of a thought and I kept typing all while she was telling me something. I should have paid attention to her, which I eventually did. The snag was that I missed those few minutes with her.

Listening is deciding what another person is saying is more important than what you are doing at that precise moment. It also involves a great deal of trust that God

Warnings before worship

 (continued from yesterday's post--see below)

They are the same warning. Jesus was calling those scribes and Pharisees exactly what they were... a brood of vipers. In verse 13 of Isaiah 58, God is saying to refute that way and delight not only in deed but in heart in the LORD.

There are 5 Hebrew words that are translated – Worship, we’ll look at two.
Shachah – (shaw-khaw) to bow down in homage, prostrate oneself before God or false gods or angels.
‘abad – (aw-bad’) to serve, to work, to labor or be enticed to serve.

There are 11 Greek words that are translated – Worship, we’ll look at one.

Proskuneo – (pros – koo – neh – oh) to kiss the hand to/towards one in token of reverence; to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence; kneeling or prostration in homage. From a word that loosely means to kiss like a dog licking his master’s hand.

I was a member of a Lay Renewal team back when I was an older teen. We called it Worship Service back then. I really liked that term. When we would have our "debriefing sessions"...some of us would say, "The Holy Spirit was really working in this!" And others would say, "You really think so? I couldn't see it!" And yes, we were at the same church on the same weekend... I have been to the exact same service as someone else and received such a deep blessing while the person beside me had to cover yawns and fight to keep awake.

What is illustrated here is that worship is definitely a 2-way street. We must work with the Holy Spirit. If we work with Him and prepare our hearts for Him then we have a completely different experience than if we just go through the motions and our heart is not in it. And if you don’t believe me, in the next few minutes, I’ll prove it. Remember the dog licking the master's hand.

Today we call our singing service before the preaching, Praise and Worship. We just spent a Wonder-Full half hour singing praises to my beloved Lord. However, I suggest to you that Worship is far more than singing, raising hands, praying, preaching and anything else we do in our Sunday Morning Worship services.

As I studied this Worship thing, it seems that God was teaching the Israelites in the OT that worshiping was different than anything else mentioned along with it. Uncountable times it reads, “Bow down and worship” or “Sing praises and worshipped.” Starting with Abraham in Genesis through Revelation, Worship or some form of it is mentioned 385 times in Scripture.
Turn with me to Genesis 22:5.

When my girls were young, about 3 and 4 years old, my Mom was so excited at Christmas because they were old enough to actually understand the Christmas story. She gathered them up in her lap and read the story to them from the Bible. When she got through, she said, “Now, that was the story of the very first Christmas almost 2000 years ago and why every year we remember Jesus’ birth at this time.” My older daughter, Lauri Anne looked up at her with her eyes wide and such a look on her face, we thought for sure she was going to say something profound or really sweet about the baby Jesus, when she said, “You’re not going to tell us all the other 2000 Christmas stories are you?”

So, no, we’re not going to explore all 385 times worship or a word like it is mentioned. I’ve whittled it down to several verses, though. So hang on to your hats.

Genesis 22:5
Gen 22:5 And Abraham said to his young men, You stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there that we may worship and may return to you.
Gen 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac; and he took the fire and the knife in his hand. And the two went together.

שׁחה
shâchâh
shaw-khaw'
A primitive root; to depress, that is, prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.

The first time this word is used is a few chapters before in Genesis 18. But this is the first time Shaw-khaw is translated worship. Shaw-khaw. Notice that Abraham takes wood and fire and the knife and the two went together to Moriah (Mo-ree-yaw). Moriah means “Chosen by God.” This mountain that Abraham and Isaac offer sacrifice on is the same mountain where Old Jerusalem stands. The same mountain that David bought in order to build God’s Temple and the same mountain where Solomon built the Temple. It is the same mountain where Jesus died on the cross.

Wood
Fire and a
Knife –

The Cross,
Judgment and the
Nails.

Oh, I wish we had time to camp on that awhile. This is an illustration that we don’t have time to investigate further but can’t just be passed over.

Now look a few verses higher in 22:1. Abraham is being tested. We see here that Abraham is a man of few questions of God. He obeyed. He remembered what God had promised about Isaac so he didn’t fear and he obeyed God without question. He and the boy would go over yonder and worship and return to them, the servants.

What an incredible testimony of faith and worship. He obeyed God no matter the apparent cost.

In the Old Testament, the people bowed low to worship most of the time. What does that literally mean, to bow down or to bow low? Let’s consider this for a moment. If we are proud of something, what is our stance? Standing up straight, chest out, neck back, arms wide sometimes. When we are bragging on our children, grandchildren, husband …. Fill in the blank, we are proud…stiff-necked… focused on “me”, “my” and “mine”. Right?

Here is the problem with that focus; it is inward and earthly. But, when we bow our heads and bow down, we are in the perfect position to take on the yoke of possession of God. Taking on that yoke is part of belonging to Him. It is submission. It is acknowledging that God is greater and higher and mightier than “me”, “my”, “mine”. Idols are earthly things. When we have an earthly focus we leave out God.

Celebrating the Quad Centenial of 1611 King James Bible

            The new year will mark the 4^th Centennial of the KJV. While this was not the first English translation, it has become one of the most widely used, in its modernized form, of all the early English translations. John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into English that was widely circulated in manuscript form (before the printing press). It became illegal because of his stance against the Catholic Church’s teachings on several things in England in 1409. The manuscripts usually had a date before 1409 to circumvent the religious ban. Interestingly, because Wycliffe translated word for word from the Latin Vulgate, there wasn’t any way to distinguish it from other English translations so later Bible commentators from about 1600 through 1799 mistook the banned manuscripts as orthodox translations.

William Tyndale translated the New Testament in 1525 and later began a translation of the Old Testament but did not finish it before his death. Myles Coverdale took Tyndale’s translation and with only minor adaptations made it into the Great Bible version which was adopted as the Authorized Version by the Church of England during the reign of King Henry VIII. After his death, Edward I became king at age eight, and he named Lady Jane Grey as his successor in his will. She was queen for nine days. The movie about her depicts some of her arguments with the religious leaders of the day. She believed in individual salvation by grace, not works based salvation, and she believed the Eucharist did not turn into Christ’s body and blood. She was beheaded in the Tower of London in 1553 and was succeeded by her cousin, Mary I, Queen of Scots who reinstated the Roman Catholicism as the state religion resulting in many English Reformers fleeing the country.

John Calvin led these Reformed Protestants in Geneva where these scholars produced the Geneva Bible. This translation was actually a revision of the Great Bible and Tyndale’s Bible based on the original languages. Then came the Church of England’s Bishop’s Bible which failed to displace the Geneva Bible in the hearts and parlors of the common folk. The Roman Catholics subversively imported the Douay-Rheims translation in 1582.

King James VI of Scotland convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 with instructions that the Bishop’s Bible, then the Authorized Version of the Church of England, as the primary guide so as to keep the words recognizable to readers, and the translation to be true to the ecclesiology of the Church of England.

Forty-seven scholars divided into six groups and translated sections of the book, each completed by 1608. The King’s Printer, Robert Barker published the Authorized Version in 1611 which was sold loose leaf for ten shillings, and bound for twelve shillings.

This volume opened the eyes of many ordinary people like you and me. Suddenly, God’s word was there for all to read, albeit not all people could read. However, it has been one of the most published Bibles since the first day ink was set to paper. However, there have been many modernizations made to the original 1611 text. For example…

1611 version of 1 Corinthians 13:

1. Though I speake with the tongues of men & of Angels, and haue not charity, I am become as sounding brasse or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I haue the gift of prophesie, and vnderstand all mysteries and all knowledge: and though I haue all faith, so that I could remooue mountaines, and haue no charitie, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestowe all my goods to feede the poore, and though I giue my body to bee burned, and haue not charitie, it profiteth me nothing.

1769 version:

1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Comparing the two, besides the punctuation and spelling changes, the word no is substituted erroneously for the word not. In the original Greek the word  μή mē (may) is a primary particle of qualified negation and is adverbially translated not. It is apparent that the 150 something years between the first publication of the King James Version and the 1769 published version the English language had undergone tremendous changes indicated by the nearly 24,000 changes between the first edition and the 1769 Oxford text edition. The substance is the same, no matter what language a person reads. While the words may be spelled differently, and some of the meanings of the words have shifted with modern usage, we can still be astounded that the Bible has remained steadfast since Moses wrote the Law and the Apostles wrote their epistles. 

(A lot of this history came from Wikipedia. While I generally take this source with a huge grain of salt, the sources for this piece on Wikipedia are quite authoritative. You might also want to check out The King James Bible Trust)

Cain and Able: brothers at war

I taped this charming offering from National Geographic channel just to see what the secular world was saying about Biblical things.

They did enlist Bible scholars from Egypt and Israel and they even threw in some Christian scholars from various universities.

With all this knowledge at the fingertips for our viewing pleasure, I am astounded at how obtuse some people are who study the Bible. I can forgive archeologists a little when they go down the wrong path, but those who claim to be expert in Biblical studies should always be cautious in interpretations. I will give them that. They were cautious.

The question was thrown up, "Why did God accept one brothers offering and reject the other one's offering?"

First explanation that was offered was that Cain really didn't know what he was doing since there had been no killing or death nor murder up to that point. [insert very loud and long groan here]

Puh-leese. Why do scholars get so close to a passage that they do not see the broad picture? Matthew Henry was excellent at drawing the big picture using related passages from all over the Bible, even using illustrations from the NT to explain parts of the OT. He is truly what I would call a Bible scholar.

Cain knew. I am quite sure that Adam and Eve had told them the story of how God killed innocent animals in order to cover their nakedness. This is how they clothed themselves. Cain knew what death was. The covering of nakedness was actually the very first sacrifice, not the one depicted of Abel and Cain. It was the physical picture of the Spiritual truth that forgiveness and remission never comes without blood, which is why Christ's sacrifice is so precious to us.

I am also quite sure that Adam offered sacrifice in the proper way, the first fruits of the womb. This is precisely how Abel knew what to sacrifice from his own herd.

This is also why God accepted Abel's sacrifice... and why God rejected Cain's. The sacrifice was Abel's acknowledgement that he had sinned, that he needed forgiveness from God, and it was his acknowledgement of the Sovereignty of God, His perfectness.

These scholars offered up another explanation of why Cain murdered Abel. It was over the love of their sister who was married to Abel. Cain wanted her so he killed Abel so he could have her. The narrator said that this explanation made much more sense, after all, we are slaves to our passions, right? I have no doubt that each man had his own wife who literally was his sister. The gene pool was a lot more pure back then. But, I think the murder in Cain's heart was much more than lustful adultery.

Cain's offering was from his own labor. Although, nothing grows without God's blessings, this sacrifice was from the "sweat of his brow". All that sacrifice did was remind God of the Sin and the Curse because of the Sin. Cain in no way acknowledged he was a sinner and needed forgiveness. He did not follow God's example of shed blood to cover sin. He side-stepped the issue and basically told God that he did not need forgiveness or that he would follow his own way rather than the example set by God. The Almighty could not and would not accept that. He had set some rules and ordinances and Cain had disobeyed them.

I tried to watch to the bitter end, but frankly was so astounded by the blindness that I couldn't concentrate anymore on the thing.

One other thing, though. The Land of Nod was mentioned and they broached the topic that these people were not related to Cain and Abel at all. I have to remember that the Bible as inerrant and that Adam and Eve literally procreated all the people of earth is becoming less accepted these days. Scholars tend to become blinded with their knowledge rather than enlightened. They tried to tell us that Egypt had the Cain and Able story first and that Moses was just writing about things he'd heard over the campfire and at the ports, after all Moses was raised by Pharoah's daughter.

I don't see how someone can call himself a Bible scholar when he doesn't believe what he is studying. How can he see any truth if there is no Holy Spirit to explain it? These men, I think, lend great credence to that verse penned by Paul, they are "looking through a glass darkly."

A question of free will

Usually when "one of those passages" keep coming back to my mind, I have found that God is trying to teach me something very important. I have been thinking about the Free Will question.

God created Man and he created Woman. He called His creation Good. This is important to completely understand because at first everything was pristine and good and without sin.

We don't know what kind of fruit the Tree of Knowledge had on it. Someone somewhere decided that it was an apple (shrug) go figure.

Let's look at the Scripture verse by verse: God created the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen. 2:8-9) Then God put Adam into the Garden of Eden that He had made for him so he could work the Garden and keep it in order.

Then: 16 GOD commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, 17 except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead." The Message

Here is the very first commandment. God had not commanded anything of Adam before. Nor had He commanded light or stars or birds. He just spoke and it was. But to Adam, God gave intelligence to understand it was a command, and God expected obedience from him. Not only obedience, but also to have obedience one must understand the "rules" to obey. One must understand the authority that commands obedience, and one must understand there be consequences for rebellion.

Adam had the intelligence to understand all of these things.

Let's consider two things at work in the garden, and two results:

Unbelief was at work. Idolatry was at work. Rebellion took place. Consequences followed.

   1. God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit or you will surely die. God commanded Eve through Adam.

We know that Adam did eat from the Tree. We also know that Adam did not physically drop dead from eating that fruit. So what happened when he took that bite?

Here is something to consider when we study what God did to bring Adam and Eve to life.

Breathed means Naphach -- breathe give up or lose (life).  That means that God gave His Spirit to Adam. God poured part of Himself into Adam and Eve. Adam was the first created human being and he was created saved. His own spirit was given life by God's breath.

Breath is the Hebrew word Nashamah and means breath of God, spirit of man. So God gave Adam and Eve not only a soul, but a spirit as well. Some people believe the soul and spirit are the same. That's a complicated discussion for later. For now, when the couple rebelled/disobeyed God, He removed His Spirit and the separation was intensely felt; they were bereft of God's presence. Spiritual death.

Life is the Hebrew word Chayay which means to live, have life, be quickened to life.

But more than that, God created Adam with a perfect fellowship with Himself. Adam knew God intimately and Adam had God's Spirit abiding within Himself.

Let's remember that Adam and Eve were the only flesh and blood that ever entered God's presence. They could revel in His presence because they were innocent of any sin. They didn't even know what sin was. They did not know what evil was and did not experience evil.

Okay... let's go back and look at another verse.
Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.NASB

 Gen 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.  
   2. God is the authority over all things both in Heaven and on Earth.Short and sweet: God is the Creator and He is all powerful, all knowing, omnipresent, and has control over all things. God is God and greatly to be praised. Isaiah 6:1 ...the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

   3. Rebellion (disobedience) sets in when humans don't believe, forget, or fail to acknowledge #1 and #2.

The serpent asks with a sneer: Did God really say you can't eat of every tree in the garden? (Raising doubt with tone and increasing doubt by suggesting God was withholding something precious.)

Eve says: He told us we may eat the fruit of the trees, but the one in the middle we can't eat from it (true), nor touch it (false) lest we die (true).

Serpent sneering more: Oh, come on. You won't die. (Lie) God knows (presumption) that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God (Lie, lie, lie), knowing good and evil (to a degree, but having no real ability without God to resist the evil and embrace the good).

Eve was deceived, but she also didn't believe God's word (unbelief). She also thought it would be a great thing to be a god (idolatry). She disobeyed the command (rebelled).

Now, Adam was standing right there beside her during this whole intercourse with the serpent. He didn't say a word against the deception going on. He, also, didn't believe God, thought it would be a good thing to be a god, and he ate the fruit that Eve gave him. Adam chose Eve over God. He didn't trust God to give him another helpmeet. So he chose to disobey God's command and he ate the fruit.

This fruit was from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Basically, it wasn't solely the fruit that gave them the knowledge, it was the act of disobedience also that gave them the knowledge. They were no longer innocent and they knew they were naked. Consider chapter 3 in Genesis... A lot of finger pointing went on, but if we follow God's leading...we'll see who God considered the real culprit.

3:14 -- The serpent is cursed more than anything created. The woman's seed will bruise its head with His heel... 16 -- The woman's pain in child birth was greatly multiplied and in spite of the pain of childbirth, her desire would be for her husband. She would be ruled by him.
3:17-19 -- The man's labor is greatly increased in order for his family's needs to be provided for; and here is where God decrees Man will physically die. "sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."

3:23 -- God sends Adam out of the Garden, away from His own presence. Spiritual death was immediate. God quickened them to life with His own Spirit, now they had to live, work, procreate without that Spirit inside.

Thus are the physical consequences of the first sin--the sin of unbelief, idolatry, rebellion--was established. Adam and Eve were given Free Will from the very beginning, otherwise they would not have been able to defy God's command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

It was always God's intention for humans to have Free Will because He has never desired Forced Worship. He desires us to desire Him above all things. He desired Adam & Eve to make Him ruler of their hearts just as this is His desire for His children. They exercised their freedom of choice. The sin was disobedience to God's command.

The consequence was loss of the Holy Spirit of God abiding within their hearts. Therefore, Adam & Eve Spiritually died the instant they took that bite of the fruit. They eventually physically died, however the Spiritual death was much more trumatic because God banished them from His presence and set an angel with a firey sword to guard the entrance.

   4. The consequence of this was that all humans ever after are born with a God-sized hole.

Man was created to be Spiritually alive with God's Spirit. When this was taken away, the God-sized hole gives Mankind this intense craving to be filled. Mankind does all kinds of crazy things to fill this hole. He tries everything from work, to money, to drugs, to self-mutilation, to pursuit of knowledge (Ecclesiastes is a good example of all of this) to pursuit of perfect physical appearance, to having as many children as possible, to all kinds of church work, to buying as many toys as possible, clothes, shoes, possessions, big houses... the list goes on and on.

Nothing fills that God-sized void except the Holy Spirit. It took the willing sacrifice of Jesus to reconcile humans to the Living God again legally. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweated drops of blood in His anxiety but He chose to obey God's will. Now, we can freely choose to either accept Jesus as our Savior or to reject Him. (Proof of this choice is in Acts 12--you might note that we are not given a reaction from Drusilla whose father was Herod Agrippa. He's the one that was eaten alive by worms because of his pride and refusal to bend to God's will.)

Here's the wonderful thing about this kind of Freedom. When we accept Jesus as Savior -- That's the last decision we ever have make on our own. (Foolishly, we sometimes make decisions on our own, but we don't have to.) We have much greater wisdom at work in us than mere human wisdom after the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts. Choosing Jesus means choosing Him as Ruler of the Heart and Mind and Body and Soul.

This is how a Christian is known to other Christians...True Believer to other True Believers. The True Believer will desire to obey God and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when he/she sins. Does this mean we won't have periods of rebellion and/or times of seduction into doing ungodly things? No. We most certainly will have those times because we are not perfect and we still reside in our fleshly, carnal, physical bodies.

What it means is that we will be convicted of our sin when we sin and we won't be able to sleep at night or have peace in our minds or be content. We will worry. We will fret. We will do all manner of running away from God until we recognize the sin for what it is. When we confess that sin and repent from that sin...Then God cleanses us, refreshes us, gives us peace in our hearts and minds. Our witness is restored from the shambles it was in and we are stonger in the Lord than ever before.

Our Free Will becomes a trophy for Jesus, a crown at His feet. It is the free will offering that we bestow upon Him.

Difference between the OT saints and NT saints 3

Faith saved them from the 2nd death, but they were not purified or rather justified so they could go into God's presence.

Rom 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. and Acts 13:39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

Faith was not a free pass into the presence of God. Men lost their lives for mishandling the Ark and for offering profane fire and for other things as well. Moses was with God but God hid His face from Moses. The Law provided for the same sacrifices year after year but could never bring the worshippers to perfection for all time. (Heb 10) Then it goes on to say that God did not delight in sacrifices and whole offerings although the Law prescribed them.

verse 10, it is by the will of God that we have been consecrated, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Verse 13 For by one offering, He has perfected for all time those who are thus consecrated. Verse 19 So, my friends, the blood of Jesus makes us free to enter boldly into the sanctuary by the new, living way which He has opened for us through the curtain, the way of His flesh.

Before the Veil of the Temple was torn in two, the people whether living or dead had no direct access to the Living God Almighty. This is why the veil between the Holy of Holies and the Holy was torn from top to bottom opening the way for man to come into God's presence. Not flesh and blood to go into His presence. (Cor 15) But, for the souls of men to be justified and sanctified to go into God's presence.

The OT saints were prisoners per se' in paradise because they could not go into God's presence (Heaven). They had not been consecrated by Jesus' perfect sacrifice yet. But when He willingly laid down His life for us, His perfect blood sacrifice satisfied the Law's requirement in our stead and thus He freed the captives and He conquored death by rising from the dead. It was a legal thing set up by God.

Those saved before the Cross were saved by God's promise of the Cross and those saved after were saved by the literal blood of Jesus. (Of course by faith and belief!!)

The Law required blood sacrifice and yet, there was no blood perfect enough to cover, pay for and release a human from his sins until Jesus' perfect sacrifice whereby God was satisfied that the Law was fulfilled. J

esus is the door into heaven. He said so Himself.

Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door [ Lit knocks, it] will be opened.

Matthew 25:10 "When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. [ Mt 22:2; Lk 13:25;]

John 10:1 [ The Ideal Shepherd ] " I assure you: Anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

John 10:7 [ The Good Shepherd ] So Jesus said again, " I assure you: I am the door of the sheep.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

Until Jesus laid down His life as perfect sacrifice, there was no door into Heaven by which mankind could walk through into God's Holy presence after Adam sinned. It is my understanding that Paradise was the place of comfort designed as a place for the OT saints to go while waiting for God's promised Son, the Messiah, to appear and follow through with God's perfect will.

OT and NT saints are different part deux

Let me ask you this...

Matthew 11:11 "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Why did Jesus say this if there was no difference between OT saints and NT saints? I am not trying to prove a hierarchy, just that Jesus pointed out a difference between OT and NT.

John was the awaited Elijah, Jesus said so.

John died before Jesus did. John died under the Law. Those "least in the kingdom of Heaven" died under grace just as those who die after Jesus rose. Both are saved by faith. Both believed God, believed Jesus is God's Son, but the only thing that is different is that Jesus led captivity captive when He rose from the dead.
(Eph 4) Those things that had imprisoned humans since Adam's fall from grace were sin and death. It was a legal thing set up by God. Those saved before the Cross were saved by God's promise of the Cross and those saved after were saved by the literal blood of Jesus. (Of course by faith and belief!!)

The Law required blood sacrifice and yet, there was no blood perfect enough to cover, pay for and release a human from his sins until Jesus' perfect sacrifice whereby God was satisfied that the Law was fulfilled.

By faith and by God's perfect Grace, the OT saints were held in comfort for the day that Jesus' sacrifice would imprison sin and death and unlock the door to God's presence.

Jesus is that Door! There was no door at all until Jesus rose from the dead and then suddenly the Door was there and was opened and all the OT saints came out from Paradise and went to God's Presence through Jesus the Door. Jesus explains this in John 10, but a word study of "door" is quite revealing.

In reality, all that has changed is the amount of the gospel that has been revealed. The Blood of Christ is eternal, and works both backwards and forwards in time. So, Abraham was saved by faith, and the last christian on earth was saved by faith, both through the power of the atonement. There is no question that this is true.

The Blood of Christ works backward in God's promise that it would happen and foreward from the literal happening. No matter from Adam to right now... no one was saved from God's wrath without belief and trust in God. Faith has been a factor always. However, Faith and Hope will fade away and the only thing that is eternal is Love.

Luke 16:16 Jesus says the Law and the Prophets were until John. So be thinking of exactly what that means.

Luke 16:19-31 The story is more like an eye witness account than a parable, of Lazarus and the Rich Man.

Ex 33:18 Moses asked to see the Glory of God, but he was denied that request. It is very interesting that it took 3 days for God to raise Jesus from the dead. Why so long?

Ephesians 4:8 YLT: So then, the holy writings say, `When Christ went up to heaven he took those he had won with him. And he gave gifts to men.'

That says a lot to me about what Jesus was doing during those 3 days

Matthew 27:50-53 Jesus went to Sheol, Hades but to the Comfort side as described in Luke 16 where Lazarus was. I find zero evidence that He went to the Torment side like the Rich Man. All the OT saints that died before Christ, had to wait to get into Heaven until the blood price had been paid. Why?

Attributes of the Administrator

_________Attributes of the Gift of Administration

Also called the Gift of Organization

Greek word – Proistemi (pro-is'-tay-mee) - to set or place before

• 
  to set over
  to be over, to superintend, preside over
  to be a protector or guardian
  to give aid
  to care for, give attention to
  profess honest occupations
• Histemi (his’-tay-mee) word origin -- to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set
  to bid to stand by, [set up]
  in the presence of others, in the midst, before judges, before members of the Sanhedrin;
  to place
  to make firm, fix establish
  to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place
  to stand, be kept intact (of family, a kingdom), to escape in safety
  to establish a thing, cause it to stand 1b
  to uphold or sustain the authority or force of anything
  1. to set or place in a balance
  to weigh: money to one (because in very early times before the introduction of coinage, the metals used to be weighed)
  to stand
  . to stand by or near
  a. to stop, stand still, to stand immovable of the foundation of a building
  b. to stand
  continue safe and sound, stand unharmed, to stand ready or prepared
  to be of a steadfast mind
  3. of quality, one who does not hesitate, does not waiver

Biblical example of this gift is Nehemiah.
PERSPECTIVE…

A woman hired a contractor to repaint the interior of her house.

The woman walked the man through the second floor of her home and told him what colors she wanted for each room. As they walked through the first room, the woman said, "I think I would like this room in a cream color."

The contractor wrote on his clipboard, walked to the window, opened it and yelled out, "Green side up!"

He then closed the window and continued following the woman to the next room. The woman looked confused, but proceeded with her tour.

"In this room, I was thinking of an off blue." Again, the contractor wrote this down, went to the window, opened it and yelled out, "Green side up!"

This baffled the woman, but she was hesitant to say anything.

In the next room, the woman said she would like it painted in a light rose color. And once more, the contractor opened the window and yelled, "Green side up!"

Struck with curiosity, the woman mustered up the nerve to ask, "Why do you keep yelling 'Green side up' out my window every time I tell you the color I would like the room?"

The contractor replied, "Because I have a crew of blond Texas Aggies
laying sod across the street."

____________ Characteristics Of The Gift Of Administration

People gifted with this gift have the ability to see the big picture and to visualize the final results. In fact, these folks are truly result oriented. They set goals and have a definite a sense of direction.

Another wonderful ability is they will breakdown major goals into small achievable tasks; they are never discouraged by size of task and can delegate “bite-sized” portions to get the job finished.

Whatever they are responsible for, they will organize no matter how small or large the project happens to be. They are self-starters and when faced with something they do not know how to do, they won’t sit still until they have found out how to do it.

Administrators know what resources are available and needed to meet the goal. They know what can and cannot be delegated and in general has a good idea who can handle which task. Therefore, delegation is not a problem for the Administrator as it is with the Server. The Administrator would much rather organize and assign tasks rather than be doing them. For this reason, the Administrator might be looked upon as lazy or trying to “wiggle” out of tasks. This is not true of the Administrator. Organization is the Administrator’s chief ability and he uses it without regard to “what people might think.” The Administrator just removes himself from distracting details in order to get the whole job done which is the goal.

These people have elephant hide. It is a God-given capability so that they can handle any “flack” or criticism. They will withstand any pressure and they will be a Wall to protect those working for them. This is why it is so interesting that Nehemiah’s job was to build the walls. This quality exhibits great loyalty to their fellow workers, thus having this quality, they have a need for loyalty and confidence from those whom they are serving.

An Administrator has a tremendous need for organization in the working environment. They will assume responsibility if no structured leadership exists. A noticeable lack of organization and leadership skills results in great frustration for the Administrator. They have an attitude of “leave me alone and let me do my job” when faced with having to work under poor leaders. (When in this position, the mature Administrator will lean heavily upon God’s direction and it will sometimes seem as though this person is defying earthly authority but in reality is submitting to the greater authority of God.)

The Ford slogan “Quality is Job One” would work well for Administrators. They desire to complete the task as soon as possible without sacrificing quality of work. They desire efficiency and orderliness in the way things work but not necessarily in what their desk looks like.

Administrators do not sit on laurels or have any particular desire for acclaim and applause. Their fulfillment is in seeing all the parts come together and the completion of the project. They have a desire to move on to new challenges when the previous task is complete. In their prayer life, they are results oriented. They have particular joy in hearing about answered prayer.

Continue the Study...

Problems with the Gift of Giver

Problems with the Gift of Giving
Misunderstandings Of The Gift Of Giving


1. The need to deal with large sums of money may seem to be a focus on temporal values


2. Desire to increase effectiveness of ministry by gift may seem an attempt to control.
The Giver needs to resist the tendency to give with a hook to the gift as well.


3. Attempt to encourage others to give may be seen as putting pressure on those who have less to give. They just don’t want anyone to miss out on the blessings of giving.


4. Lack of response to pressure may appear as a lack of generosity.


5. Personal frugality may appear as selfishness to those around them.


6. May use financial giving in place of other responsibilities.


Evident Distinctions Of The Gift Of Giving When Walking…
In the Flesh.................................. In the Spirit
...Extravagant....................................... Thrifty
...Wasteful............................................. Resourceful
...Covetous............................................ Content
...Tardy................................................. Punctual
...Prejudice............................................ Tolerant
...Rashness............................................ Cautious
...Unthankful......................................... Grateful

IMPORTANT POINT TO NOTE…

ALL Christians Need:

The wisdom to listen

The faith to believe

The courage to apply

Our motivations may be different, but the principles that are characteristic of each of the gifts remain the same.


God can change our lives to become dynamic vessels of the life of God Almighty Himself if we are only willing to make application in our own lives! The absolute worst thing that can happen to a believer is to “settle for less” than our God given potential! God is up to something BIG and He is trying to get this outfit moving! What are you doing with your Spiritual Gift?


Continue the Study...

Attributes of the Exhorter day 4

13. Accepts people as they are without judging them.
Do you know anyone like this? I adore people like this. These guys will meet anyone exactly where they are with no judgments, and offer their hand in friendship and help. They'll ask questions to determine where a person is, but no stinging judgment. For them, it is a commitment almost as strong as marriage because this is what God has called them to do... help Spiritual growth though encouragement.


14. Is greatly loved because of his positive attitude.

15. Prefers to witness with life rather than verbal witnessing.
No knocking on doors for this guy. But he'll bring a book to a depressed friend, or teach a lesson by example because to him, actions speak louder than words every time.


Exhorters believe that to be credible in their verbal witnessing, they must be living what they are preaching. Paul gives his personal testimony in writing in Galatians chapter 1. He has not only witnessed verbally to the Galatians, but he recounts to them how he has lived his own message. What is the message he is preaching in Galatians? Read verses 15-16 in chapter 6. The question of circumcision is what invoked this letter, but the message has several points. The major point is all about Jesus Christ and Paul certainly lived Jesus Christ.


16. Makes decisions easily.
There is no “flip-flop” with an Exhorter. They believe God will correct any mistakes or wrong decisions as the Psalmist said in 33:10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The fact is, life is too short to be floundering about decisions. The Exhorter will decide and get on with life, trusting God to guide the way.


17. Always completes what is started.

18. Wants to clear up problems with others quickly.

19. Expects a lot from self and from others.
If I can do it, so can you--is the thought process.


20. Needs a “sounding board” for bouncing off ideas and thoughts.
Paul triumphantly tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 that he has “fought the good fight and “finished the race” and “held firmly the faith”. He uses so much imagery here and he is so much the encourager even when we find out a few verses further that everyone except Luke had forsaken him. I would probably sit down and have a good cry because I was in prison and living the very last few days/months of my life and all my close brothers had left me. I would be eternally grateful to Luke, but still, it would be very disheartening to be left alone especially when all hope of deliverance from prison was gone. But Paul is all encouragement. We also see that Paul asks for Timothy to bring Mark with him to Rome because “he is very helpful to me in ministry”. Remember, Mark is the one that Paul got so angry with for leaving them in the middle of one of their mission trips. Paul exhibited two attributes of the Exhorter here. Take a moment and write them down.


I hope you wrote expects a lot from self and others and accepts others as they are without judging them. It would seem these two attributes would be at war with each other. They are. When an Exhorter accepts others without judging them, this predominantly means that no matter where a Christian is in Spiritual growth or Spiritual inaction, the Exhorter will never judge a person for being “where they are today”. The Exhorter will always expect a Christian to want to grow and to always be taking steps to grow Spiritually especially when the Exhorter has given that person a guideline for growth. The Exhorter can spot a Christian in Spiritual hibernation and will attempt to stimulate that person into wanting to correct that stagnation into growth. He will gently persuade and then encourage with stepping stones to growth with a plan of action. What is interesting about an Exhorter walking in the Spirit is this person will understand instantly if a person needs an entire outline of steps to take for a more mature level of growth or if that person needs to be given baby steps.


Paul uses this technique when he writes to the Corinthians that they should by now be “eating meat” instead of still needing the “milk” like babies. The mature Exhorter instinctively knows when the person they are mentoring should move up to the next level and will push for this to happen. Sometimes it will seem to the person being mentored that their mentor is way too pushy and expects far too much. That isn’t so. 


The mature Exhorter has Biblical principles embedded into every fiber of their being—even though the Exhorter prefers Life Applications over Biblical Applications, that does not mean the Exhorter does not know the importance of Bible study—therefore the mature Exhorter knows when a person has finally mastered a principle and is ready for the next higher level. It is disheartening to the Exhorters when no growth is seen and when their few, simple steps are not attempted. They will back up and try different tactics, but the Encourager is sensitive to the Holy Spirit and will not waste time with a person that has no intention to change. We only have to look as far as Galatians 1:9 and Titus 1:16 to see this.


Continue the Study...

Attributes of the Exhorter day 3

We're in Galatians this week. Paul is such an excellent example of Exhorter. His letters are full of encouragement, instruction, Biblical principles with practical applications. Today is a long day, so savor Galatians chapter 1 first.




9. Loves to do personal counseling.
This is one on one... the Exhorter preference. The Exhorter will counsel a group, but the first love is one on one coaching and encouragement. It is easier to measure results when the counseling is one on one and that is a must fuel for the Exhorter--results. (When I learned this, I finally understood why is was so necessary for me to find out results of my prayers. It took a while for me to understand that prayers don't always have immediate results. God uses prayer to draw us into His plan as well as a way to test our hearts. After I learned that, it was okay not to have an immediate result to a prayer. I no longer got depressed when I prayed and prayed with no evident answer. God was in control and His will be done regardless of a result. Results are not answers, results are evidence, but not answers.)


10. Will discontinue personal counseling if no effort to change is seen.

11. Is fluent in communication.

12. Views trials as opportunities to produce growth.


Now that you have read the whole book of Galatians, it should be easier for you to identify chapter and verses to illustrate the different aspects of an Exhorter. Also, by now, if you are strong in the gift of Exhortation, you should be extremely frustrated because there have not been Life Lessons in this week. You are asking yourself, “Yes, I understand these principles already; where are the Life applications? How is anyone to know how to apply this to their life? Where is the 1—2—3, step-by-step?” In fact you may have already jumped ahead and read this page because of your frustration.


In order to satisfy that need in the Exhorters taking this study and also to satisfy the teachers taking this study, we will focus on two things. The first is this: Write down a few of the different illustrations that Paul used in his writings to the churches. Galatians is full of them. I’ll start you off with one.


1.Last Will and Testament Gal 2:15


I just love Galatians because we find out lot of personal information about Paul. It is here we find out that Paul studied under Jesus Christ for three years in Arabia. It is here we find out that Paul met first with Peter and stayed with him for two weeks only seeing one other apostle, James— Jesus’ brother, when he went up to Jerusalem. We also find out he waited another fourteen years before meeting with the Christians in Jerusalem.


Paul did not need any authority from any of the apostles to spread the Gospel. He only recognized the authority from Jesus, Himself (Gal 1:11- 2:8). I am pointing this out because I want you to recognize this is not a quality or attribute of an Exhorter. It is a strong attribute of an Administrator. This is important because in Galatians we see Paul exhibit several attributes of the other gifts, too. This is very important because all we Christians have all the gifts, just in different proportions. The least of my gifts is Service, the greatest is Administrator.


This is a crucial point in our study. The reason is because we all are strong in one particular gift and we all have several attributes of other gifts. This is what makes us unique and uniquely fitted specifically for God’s purposes and His plan for our life. Look how God molded and taught Paul. God uniquely fitted Paul for his ministry to the Gentiles. Only Paul could fit perfectly into the work that God had prepared for him. And Paul understood motivational Spiritual gifts and his own ministry very clearly. He also understood why he was gifted with the attributes he had. No one can say Paul was a clear and straight forward writer. Some of his sentences do wander around a bit before getting to the point, however, Paul always had a strong point. He consistently used imagery and illustrations as did Jesus. Paul was “running the race” or “harvesting the harvest” or “being a slave for Jesus”. I hope you recognize these as life applications for Biblical principles. An excellent example of this is Paul’s recognition of God’s own allegory in Genesis. 


Read Galatians 4:21-5:1 This is a most excellent example of real life depicting God’s principle except it actually happened about 4500 years ago. This story that Paul retells along with his explanation should satisfy the teacher’s interest in accuracy and history, the Perceiver’s interest in God’s Word and the Exhorter’s interest in real life applications.


Never = 0
Seldom = 1
Sometimes = 2
Usually = 3
Mostly = 4
Always = 5
Total _______________


Continue the Study...

Attributes of the Exhorter day 2

_____________________ Characteristics of the Exhorter


Day One
We will be hearing a lot from Paul this week because he is our Biblical example of an Exhorter.


For the rest of the week we will walk through Galatians, so put a marker there in your Bible or take a few moments today and read the book of Galatians. It is only 6 chapters long, but rich in exhortation.


Today we will focus on Galatians chapter 4. Read that chapter first, then put the verse numbers beside the statement that proves the statements as true.


1. Loves to encourage others to live victoriously.

2. Wants a visible response when teaching or speaking.

3. Prefers to apply truth rather than research it.

4. Prefers systems of information that have practical application.


What that actually means is that an Exhorter will listen all day to someone teaching principles using everyday, practical examples. This would be like Jesus when he used parables to teach. A person with the gift of teaching would much rather listen to facts with Biblical examples for emphasis. The Exhorter would rather hear a speaker preaching the Bible and the Teacher would rather have a Biblical encyclopedia; both are excellent “systems of information”.


Read Galatians chapter 5 and identify verses that prove the truth of the statements below.




5. Loves to prescribe precise steps of action to aid personal growth.

6. Focuses on working with people.


7. Encourages others to develop in their personal ministries.

8. Finds truth in experience and then validates it with Scripture


Never = 0
Seldom = 1
Sometimes = 2
Usually = 3
Mostly = 4
Always = 5
Total _______________


Grade yourself on how true each statement is about you then at the end of the week add up your totals. That will show you how much of the gift of Exhorter you have.


Continue the Study...