Also, about being punished for sin . . . There is correction and there is punishment. They are very different.

I really need to read my Bible more so I can find the scriptures to back me up. If we are God's children then He does correct us and if we are wise we will listen. "Thy rod and staff, they comfort me" Plus Proverbs talks so much about the wise man taking correction to heart and the fool dispising correction.

While I think we all reap the consequences of our actions only those who have not accepted Christ will be punished (at the end of days) because Christians have had their sins atoned already. So punishment comes only after the judgement and only to those who are not washed in Christ's blood.

But as for living with the consequences of our actions I really think that is what is meant by being blessed with the abundant life God promises. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit who works within us to guide our steps and correct us when we are wrong (our conscience). If we are aware of Him and listen then we will live according to God, the one who created us and knows what is best. Therefore we are generously blessed and have few regrets and consequences of bad choices, thus the abundant life.

To put into perspective, the older woman who has lived according to scripture, her children will surround her and "call her blessed", she will be gracious and so be blessed with many loved ones and enjoy the fruits of her life. The older woman who has lived a hard life filled with bad choices, while she may now be a Christian and all of her sins are definitely forgiven she still lives with the consequences. Maybe she mourns over the children she aborted or the failed marriages and family relationships, those that once loved her but have long ago given up on her. This woman is just as precious in the eyes of God, just as loved. The consequences of sin do not wash away when we receive God's forgiveness. Understand that she will not be punished for her sins at the judgement, not at all. But the abundant life is a blessing to those who live like Christ.

I am not a Bible scholar by any means and have not even read through it entirely so please take what I say with a grain of salt and check it out for yourselves. This is just my understanding of the scriptures I have read. ~Leah

I am glad to have found this site. I had been praying that I would find someone to share things with and discuss scripture with who belonged to the church. I found several. Tonight I went to the building for the first time in a good while. I was scared to death not because of the members but because I did not feel worthy. The main struggle I have had with my walk with God is trust and not feeling loved. Without going into to much detail, mainly because i do not remember, my childhood was not as it should have been. The father I should have been able to trust and should have protectd me when I was young let me downand I believe is the root cause of alot of emotional problems I have to deal with today.If my father could abuse me how could I trust a father I can not see. The good news is I think I am finally getting somewhere in my struggles. I want to thank all of you. Miss Mary I hope you are feeling better.

Heidi, may God bless you and keep you and continue to give you any and everything that you need in friendships, love and fellowship. I'm so thankful to hear that you haven't let your struggles defeat you but you're continuing to press on! You're in my prayers!

Heidi, I'm SO sorry. And I can see how it would be difficult for you to trust. That is a part of faith, and thankfully, faith grows throughout your life. Keep on growing.

Mary, I don't understand the differences between "The Spirit" that confers with "The Divine Spirit" part. Isn't there only one holy spirit? (Eph 4:4There is one body, and one Spirit). And I guess I'll confess even more slowness on my part.....I'm not sure I'm clear on who the morally blameless and what the "covered manner" of God is either. Does this just mean Christians who're blameless as we're in Christ now and covered manner as in covered in His blood? It could just be phrased a little differently than I'm used to so I was slow to get it.

When I say the "Spirit" I am talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit takes it to the Divine Spirit which is the God-Head -- the Spirit of God Himself. And yes, the morally blameless is the baptized Christian that is "covered" by Christ's blood in the manner in which is in accordance with His will. I am not a "scholar" as it has been put, but I do a lot of study and compare our translations with the Strong's exhaustive concordance with the Greek words. It is just a way I have of pulling out what I personally need for a better understanding. I appologize, because I really know no more that the rest of you and shouldn't burden you all with something that confuses or upsets you. Please forgive me.

I'm going to jump in here and say that a lot of times there is a tendency to seperate "God's laws" from "nature's laws" or natural consequences of our actions. But the law of physics, the law of natural consequences and the spiritual law come from the same source.

If a nonchristian follows the laws of physics and the laws of natural consequences his/her life will be blessed by the obedience to those laws... however if they do not obey the spiritual laws of God, they will suffer those consequences.

However the reverse is also true... if a christian follows spiritual laws then they will be blessed accordingly... i.e. recieve eternal life. But if he/she choose to ignore the laws of physics or the laws of natural consequences they will suffer those consequences.

We are called to live wisely... godliness is not separate from the nitty gritty of life.

I'm going to run my mouth a little more here... but as for whether or not or prayers are answered... the answer is yes.

But! While sometimes the thing we are asking for isn't good for us... or we aren't ready yet... so we don't get it yet. Sometimes I think we recieve the no because we aren't willing to do our part...

Sometimes I ask God for something that if I want I need to put some real time, thought or effort into in order to recieve and actually live with that blessing. And I don't really want to work for it, I'm asking God to plop it in my lap.

My Mama would say "too many people confuse God with Santa Claus".

What I want may not be either good or bad for me, but perhaps my thought process and my attitude is!

Anyhow... just a thought.

Thanks for the encouragement ladies ! I would have responded sooner but they put in a new trailer up the road from me and when they dug the water line the cut up the phone line. I thought my poor 16 yr old daughter was going to have a stroke because of not having a phone or the internet..lol