"The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for
your prayers. Above all hold unfailing your love for one another,
since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality
ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift employ it
for one another as good stewards of God's grace"…

I've wanted to send out a follow-up letter to you ever since our Worship/Study Group
ended in <month>. Questions like "How much do you remember ?" and "Are you growing
and applying what you learned, or was the group just another activity/event to show up
to ?" have been going through my mind.  I wanted to send this letter out to encourage you.

In the study group, <leaders> and I presented a sequence of Jesus' commands
from the book of Matthew. We know that God, and our relationship with Him will grow
stronger in our spirit when obedience of these commands becomes a meaningful habit.
Re-read Matthew 4 & 5 to freshen them in your mind.

Lately, i deliberately disobeyed God's Word. He gave me plenty of ways to turn back and
obey, but I refused – I wanted my own way. It's unfortunate that i repetitively get
self-reliant and self-satisfying, because I'm just wasting my life at those times. I'm
sure you know what I'm talking about. Any Christian who places his/her soul in this
position, has just dug a deep, miserable hole. I know it gets deeper & more miserable
too. But it's just at these points, as always, that God wants you & me to understand
how deeply He wants us back. God is jealous – He wants to share our lives with us.
That's what it means to truly have Him in our hearts – we share our life under His rule.
You know that.

But do you know that when we do come back to Him, He wants an even deeper
commitment of our hearts ? Tell me this: If you turned away from God recently, with
all you claim to know & do, what's to stop you from repeating that same mistake over
and over again, unless you become more strongly bonded to Jesus ? Although I'm sure
you know the answer, you may want to read Matthew 12:43-45 as an example of what
is going to happen, I know from experience that this is true.

What do you do when you want to come back to God ? Has it ever been enough to keep
you with Him ?  I have some other questions for you…

1. What are the characteristics of the finest Christian people you know ? Titus 2

2. In addition to your personal time with God, can you continue to mature if exposed
   to an unchanging group of people ? (tell me if you find an answer in the Bible)

3. When is the last time you made an honest attempt to be a truly sincere, caring,
   open & honest friend in social settings ? Philippians 2:1-4

4. Do you actively seek God's will in your life ? Daniel 6:10-11, Luke 22:42

Read God's Word – try to apply what you understand. I think you already know what to
do. Make that deeper commitment, and develop meaningful habits to keep intimacy &
obedience to God always moving & Improving. Do you have goals in your relationship
with God, or are you just drifting along ?

See you Sunday!

<leader>