Love Never Ends

Sunday, May 31, 2015
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 KJV 

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. 4 Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What seven (7) spiritual gifts are meaningless if one does not have charity (love)? (v.1-3)
2) What eight (8) things does charity (love) do? (v.4-7)
3) what spiritual gifts are temporal? Why? 8b-12
4) What three (3) manifestations of the Holy spirit are eternal and which of the three is the greatest? (v.8a,13)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS 
5) What are your spiritual gifts?
6) What spiritual fruit is manifested through your life?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord blesses His children with spiritual gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit to glorify Him on this earth.
8) Only Love is eternal!

Filled with the Fullness of God

Saturday, May 30, 2015
Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What were the reasons that the Apostle Paul prayed for those believers who would read this epistle? (v.14-19)
2) What is our Lord Jesus able to do? (v.20)
3) What was the apostle's benediction for this passage of Scripture? (v.21)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Are you filled with the fullness of Christ and do you have any idea how much the Lord loves you?

LIFE LESSONS
5) To share the love of Christ with others, we must be filled with His love for us.

Love and Steadfastness

Friday, May 29, 2015
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 KJV

1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have [free] course, and be glorified, even as [it is] with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all [men] have not faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep [you] from evil. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. 5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Apostle Paul ask the readers to do and why? (v.1-2)
2) What did Paul write about the Lord and what He will do for His people? (v.3)
3) What was the apostle confident of concerning his readers' obedience to the apostles commands and the Lord's direction in their lives? (v.4-5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Are you obedient to the direction of your spiritual leader(s) and to the direction of the Lord within your heart?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord directs the hearts of His people to love what He loves and to wait patiently on the coming of the Lord.

Increasing Love for One Another

Thursday, May 28, 2015
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 KJV 

1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have [free] course, and be glorified, even as [it is] with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all [men] have not faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep [you] from evil. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. 5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What three (3) things did Apostle Paul ask his readers to pray for and why? (v.1-2)
2) What does the aposte write about our Lord and what he will do for His followers? (v.3)
3) What else is Paul confident that the Lord will do for His followers? (v.4-5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever been in the company of a professing believer who acted as one who had no faith in God? If so, please describe one such time and what you did in response.

LIFE LESSONS
5) We manifest the love of God toward the faithless when we pray for them and demonstrate God's love for them despite their faithlessness.

Guided by the Spirit

Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Galatians 5:19-26 KJV

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What are the "works of the flesh" and what will become of those whose practice doing such things? (v.19-21)
2) What is the "fruit of the Spirit"? (v.22-23)
3) What are followers of Christ to do and how are we to behave? (v.24-26)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What do you do to crucify the "works of the flesh"?

LIFE LESSONS
5) To live a Holy Spirit-controlled (led) life, believers must crucify (kill) the "works of the flesh" through confession and repentance.

Abounding in Steadfast Love

Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Jonah 3:10-4:1-11 KJV

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did [it] not. 

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou [art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live. 4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made [it] to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death. 10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and [also] much cattle?

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord God do after the people of Ninevah repented? (3:10)
2) How did Jonah respond? (4:1-3)
3) What did the Lord ask Jonah? (4:4)
4) What did Jonah do next? (4:5)
5) What did the Lord do for Jonah and how did Jonah respond? (4:6)
6) What did the Lord do the next morning how did it affect Jonah? (4:7-8)
7) What did the Lord say to Jonah about the plant and how did Jonah respond? (4:9)
8) How did the Lord explain His pity on the people of Ninevah to Jonah? (4:10-11)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) Have you ever failed to show mercy, pity or compassion for a group of people, or an individual, because you believed they deserved the Lord's judgment?

LIFE LESSONS
10) The Lord God demonstrates mercy to all people by giving them the opportunity to repent of their sins against Him.
11) The Lord God expects His children to be loving, compassionate, and merciful toward the lost souls He died to save.

Love and the Knowledge of God

Monday, May 25, 2015
Hosea 6:1-6 KJV 

1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth. 4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness [is] as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. 5 Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments [are as] the light [that] goeth forth. 6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After the Lord's declaration of impending judgment on Judah, how were the people of God to respond? Why? (v.1-3)
2) What does the Lord declare about His people? (v.4)
3) Why did God send the prophets to them? (v.5-6)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How receptive are you to repent when the Lord corrects you?

LIFE LESSONS
5) Father God corrects His children to draw us closer to Himself as we seek to know and serve Him.

Building Up Others

Sunday, May 24, 2015
Act 2:1-7, 12;1 Corinthians 14:13-19 KJV

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? ... 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 

13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? 17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: 19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.


OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What happened when the day of Pentecost had fully come? (v.1-4)
2) What did onlookers do and observe after the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost? (v.5-7,12)
3) What did the Apostle Paul encourage disciples speaking in unknown tongues do and why? (v.13-17)
4) What did Paul write concerning his spiritual gift of speaking in tongues? Why? (v.18-19)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) What are your beliefs concerning speaking in tongues? 
6) If possible, please back up your beliefs about speaking in unknown tongues with Scripture.

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Holy Spirit gives the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues to whoever He will.

Excel in Your Gifts

Saturday, May 23, 2015
1 Corinthians 14:6-12 KJV

6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification. 11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me. 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul write concerning the benefit of the gift of speaking in tongues? (v.6)
2) What does the apostle write about any sound made on this earth? (v.7-8)
3) What are the drawbacks of speaking in tongues and what utterance is most beneficial to the body of Christ? Why? (v.9-10)
4) What spiritual gifts should we seek to excel at and why? (v.12)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you received the spiritual gift of speaking in known or unknown tongues? 
6) How are others in your local church blessed, or edified by the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Holy Spirit blesses the people of God with different spiritual gifts. The spiritual gift of speaking in tongues blesses the recipients and the Lord.
8) Every believer can ask the Lord for those spiritual gifts that will not only bless, but edify, the body of Christ.

They Shall Prophesy

Friday, May 22, 2015
Acts 2:14-21 KJV 

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did Peter say to the onlookers after he, and the other disciples, received the Holy Spirit? (v.14-16)
2) What had the Prophet Joel prophesied concerning the end of the age? (v.17-21) 

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
3) Which of Joel's prophesies have already come to pass in your lifetime?
4) What prophesies have yet to manifest, as the prophet foretold?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord God enables His servants to deliver prophecies that will signal the fulfillment of God's word, thousands of years before they ever come to pass. 

We Hear in Our Own Languages

Thursday, May 21, 2015
Acts 2:8-13 KJV

8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) When the Day of Pentecost came, all believers who were assembled on one accord were filled with the Holy Spirit and spake with other tongues. What were the reactions of onlookers? (v.8-13)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
2) Have you received the infilling of the Holy Spirit since you first professed faith in the Lord Jesus? If so, how was that infilling manifested through you?

LIFE LESSONS
3) Every believer, who asks, receives the infilling of the Holy Spirit to witness to the lost, and to experience a more abundant life, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

All Languages, One Loud Voice

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Revelation 7:9-12 KJV 

9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and [about] the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After the angels had sealed the 144,000 from among all the tribes of the children of Israel on their foreheads, what did the Apostle John behold? (v.9)
2) What were the multitude doing? (v.10)
3) What were the angels doing? (v.11-12)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Who will comprise the great multitude of the Lord's servants?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The kingdom of our Lord and God will include people from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and ethnicities.

A Small Member, Great Boasting

Tuesday, May 19, 2015
James 3:1-5 KJV

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though [they be] so great, and [are] driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle James warn believers to refrain from doing? Why? (v.1-2)
2) What three (3) examples does James provide to illustrate that small parts of larger objects are able to control the larger vessel or creature? (v.3-5a)
3) What amount of damage can something as small as a tongue do? (v.5b)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever offended, or been offended by, something that was said by another brother or sister in Christ? If so, describe one such instance and what you did, if anything, to correct the situation.

LIFE LESSONS
5) The words from our mouths flow from whatever is in our hearts. To control what we say, our mouths, and our hearts, must be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Made you Hear God's Voice

Monday, May 18, 2015
Deuteronomy 4:32-40 KJV 

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and [ask] from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been [any such thing] as this great thing [is], or hath been heard like it? 33 Did [ever] people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go [and] take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he [is] God; [there is] none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou [art], to bring thee in, to give thee their land [for] an inheritance, as [it is] this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider [it] in thine heart, that the LORD he [is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: [there is] none else. 40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong [thy] days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What questions does Moses ask the children of Israel concerning God and their relationship to Him? (v.32-38)
2) What does Moses tell the people of God to know? (v.39)
3) What does Moses tell the people of God to do as a result of what they know about God? Why? (v.39-40)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How has the Lord revealed Himself to you since you first believed?
5) How have you responded to what you know about God?

LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord God reveals Himself and His ways to us through His word and through our experiences with Him. 7) God expects His children to respond to what we know about Him by obeying and trusting Him.

Many Members, One Body

Sunday, May 17, 2015
1 Corinthians 12:14-31 KJV 

14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing? If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where [were] the body? 20 But now [are they] many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that [part] which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What is the body of Christ comprised of? (v.14)
2) What members of the body does the Apostle Paul write about? Is any member of the body more important than another? Why, or why not? (v.15-17, 20-21)
3) Who put the members of the body in the body, as it pleased Him? Why? (v.18, 24b-25)
4) What does the apostle write concerning our treatment of the feeble, dishonorable, and uncomely members of the body? Why? (v.22-24a)
5) What should happen in the body when one member suffers, or is honored? (v.26)
6) What are the various gifts and offices that each member of the body has been given? Do all have the same gifts or functions? Why, or why not? (v.27-30)

7) What does the Apostle Paul tell his readers to covet and what will he show his readers? (v.31)


APPLICATION QUESTIONS
8) Have you ever looked down upon another brother or sister in Christ who did not possess the same gifts of office as you? If so, why.
9) Have you ever been treated less than another brother or sister in Christ because you were not considered to be as honorable as they were (are)? If so, how did that make you feel and what, if anything, did you do about it?

LIFE LESSONS
10) The Lord gave every member of His body specific gifts to bless the rest of the body with and to encourage unity between His children.

One in Christ Jesus

Saturday, May 16, 2015
Galatians 3:23-29 KJV 

23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What kept us from transgressing the law when we were spiritual babes in Christ and before we came to a mature faith in the Lord Jesus? (v.23)
2) What is the law to spiritual babes in Christ and why else was it necessary? (v.24)
3) When are spiritual no longer under the law, as children of God? (v.25)
4) Are spiritual babes the children of God as are the spiritually mature? Why? (v.26-27)
5) Who are the heirs of the promise given to Abraham? Are spiritual babes included in that inheritance? (v.28-29)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Are you a spiritual babe, spiritual adolescent, or spiritually mature? How do you know?
7) If you are a spiritually underage in Christ, are you entitled to the same inheritance as the spiritually mature? Why?

LIFE LESSONS
8) When we have faith in Jesus to save us, we become children of God.
9) Just as children in the natural must grow to adulthood, spiritual children must grow in their faith in God to spiritual adulthood.

One Spirit, One Mind

Friday, May 15, 2015
Philippians 1:21-30 KJV

21 For to me to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this [is] the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh [is] more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. 27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear [to be] in me.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After writing that God would be glorified in his body, whether he lived or died, what did the Apostle Paul write about his own life and death? (v.21)
2) What was the Paul's conflict between departing this life and continuing to live? (v. 22-23)
3) What did he write concerning his life and why he should continue to live? (v.24-26)
4) What did Paul exhort the reader to do whether he was present or absent? Why? (v.27-28)
5) What did the apostle write about the conflict that we will all face as followers of Christ? (v.29-30)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Do you fear dying? If so, why?

LIFE LESSONS
7) Only the Lord knows the day that He has appointed for His followers to depart this life. In the meantime, we are to live our lives unto the Lord, for the glory of God.

Living in Harmony

Thursday, May 14, 2015
Romans 15:1-7 KJV 

1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification. 3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind [and] one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul tells his spiritually mature readers to do? (v.1)
2) What are his readers to do for our neighbors? Why? (v.2-3a)
3) What does the Scripture quoted by Paul say and for what reasons does include it in this letter? (v.3b-4)  
4) What else does the apostle encourage his reader(s) to do? Why? (v.5-6)
5) What is Paul's final instruction to the reader(s) in this passage? Why? (v.7)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) How do you typically treat spiritually immature, or weak, brothers and/or sisters in Christ? Please give one recent example.

LIFE LESSONS
7) Our Lord expects His children to glorify Him by bearing the infirmities of the spiritually weak, or immature, through prayer, patience, and encouragement.

Sincere and Pure Devotion

Wednesday, May 13, 2015
2 Corinthians 11:1-5 KJV

1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in [my] folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him]. 5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul ask the reader to do? Why? (v.1-2)
2) What did the apostle fear? (3-4)
3) What does Paul remind the reader(s) of? (v.5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever heard a different gospel than the one that you believe? If so, what, if anything, did you do to correct the false teaching for others who listened to it?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The gospel message is that we are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus' death, burial and ressurrection to save us from our sins.

We Will Be Obedient

Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Exodus 24:1-7 KJV 

1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put [it] in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord tell Moses to do? (v.1-2)
2) What did Moses tell the people of God and how did they respond? (v.3)
3) What five (5) things did Moses do next and how did the people respond when he read from the book of the covenant? (v.4-7)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How do you typically respond when the word of God is read and taught in church, or any other assembly of the people of God?

LIFE LESSONS
5) Our Lord expects His people to hear His word and to do what He says by applying what we hear in our daily lives.

Speaking with One Voice

Sunday, May 11, 2015
Exodus 19:1-8 KJV 

1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come [to] the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. 3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What happened to the children of Israel after the Lord delivered them from the Egyptians? (v.1-2)
2) What did Moses do and what did the Lord tell Him? (v.3-6)
3) How did Moses and the people of God respond to the Lord's commands? (v.7-8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How do you, and/or your local church family, typically respond to the voice of the Lord? 

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord expects His children to hear and to do what He says as one body, united by one Holy Spirit.

One Spirit, a Variety of Gifts

Sunday, May 10, 2015
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 KJV 

1 Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Why did the Apostle Paul write about spiritual gifts in this epistle? (v.1)
2) What does Paul write about the past of his Gentile readers? (v.2)
3) Who, or what, makes it possible for believers to say that Jesus is Lord? (v.3)
4) What does the apostle write concerning the various spiritual gifts that believers have? (v.4-6)
5) Why is the Holy Spirit manifested in the lives of every believer? (v.7)
6) What specific spiritual gifts does the Apostle Paul write about and who, or what, determines what gifts every believer receives? (v.8-11)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) What did you do to receive the spiritual gifts that you have received?

LIFE LESSONS
8) Different spiritual gifts are given to every believer by the Holy Spirit, according to His will.

Gifts That Build Up the Church

Saturday, May 9, 2015
1 Corinthians 14:1-5 KJV 

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy. 2 For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to] edification, and exhortation, and comfort. 4 He that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater [is] he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul encourage the reader to "follow after" and "desire"? (v.1)
2) What does the apostle write concerning speaking in unknown tongues? (v.2, 4a)
3) What does he write concerning the spiritual gift of prophesy? (v.3, 4b-5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What spiritual gift(s) have you been given to build up the body of Christ?

LIFE LESSONS
5) Our Lord gives one or more spiritual gifts to every believer, who has received His Holy Spirit.

Understanding the Gifts God Bestows

Friday, May 8, 2015
1 Corinthians 2:11-16 KJV

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How does the Apostle Paul indicate that we can know about another believer or about God? (v.11)
2) What spirit have we received if we belong to God?What does that spirit enable us to do and have? (v.12-13,15-16)
3) What spirit does the natural man have and can (s)he receive spiritual things from God? Why, or why not? (v.14)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you have the mind of Christ? How do you know?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The mind of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ  is to be renewed so that we may discern the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit

Grace Gifts Given to Us

Thursday, May 7, 2015
Romans 12:1-8 KJV

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our] ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Apostle Paul implore his readers to do with their bodies? Why? (v.1)
2) What does Paul tell the reader to refrain from doing? (v.2a)
3) What does the apostle tell us to do with our minds? Why? (v.2b-2c)
4) What else our we to do and refrain from doing and why? (v.3)
5) What are we members of and how does that affect our relationship with other members? (v.4-5)
6) What does the apostle write concerning the gifts given to each member and how they are to be used? (v.6-8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) What is your spiritual gift and how do you use it to edify the body of Christ?

LIFE LESSONS
8) Every believer is a member of the body of Christ and has been given gifts to build up the body.