Friday, July 31, 2015
Psalm 89:11-18 NIV
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. 12 You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. 13 Your arm is endowed with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD. 16 They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness. 17 For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. 18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What belongs to the Lord God Almighty? (v.11)
2) What did He create and who (or what) sings at the mention of His name? (v.12)
3) What does the psalmish write concerning the Lord's arm and hands? (v.13)
4) What is the foundation of God's throne and what goes before Him? (v.14)
5) Who is blessed among His creation and how do they demonstrate their reverence the Lord? Why? (v.15-18)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) What do you do to reverence and exalt the Lord?
LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord's righteous people rejoice in His Presence and exalt His Person.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Jeremiah 50:28-34 NIV
28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple. 29 "Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day," declares the LORD. 31 "See, I am against you, you arrogant one," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, "for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her." 33 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) The Lord used Babylon to punish Assyria for deporting Israel. He would use another enemy to chasten Babylon. The sins of Israel and Judah would be pardoned and they would be restored. What do the fugitives and refuges from Babylon declare in Zion (v.28)
2) What does the Lord declare about Babylon? (v.29-32)
3) What does the Lord declare about His people and why He defends them? (v.33-34)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What "enemies" do you have in your life?
5) Has the lord ever allowed one, or more, of those "enemies" to overtake you? If so, what was the result?
LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord allows His people to be oppressed by their enemies to bring them to repentance.
7) Though the Lord allows His people to be chasted by their enemies, He defends them against abusive chastening (oppression)
8) The Lord always restore His people after they have confessed and repented of their individual, corporate, and/or national sin.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Isaiah 54:1-8 NIV
1 "Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD. 2 "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. 4 "Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit-- a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God. 7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Lord tell the "barren" and those who were "never in labor to do"? Why? (v.1)
2) What else does the Lord tell His formerly forsaken people to do? Why? (v.2-3)
3) What does the Lord tell His peoople to refrain from doing? Why? (v.4-6)
4) How had the Lord formerly treated His wayward children and how would He treat them after they had been punished? (v.7-8)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever felt forsaken of (distant from) the Lord? If so, what if anything did you do to restore right relations with Him?
LIFE LESSONS
6) Many of the Lord's children have, and will, feel that the Lord is distant from us during certain seasons of our lives.
7) Often, the Lord distances Himself from us when we have unconfessed and/or unrepented sin in our lives.
8) There are times when the Lord distances Himself from us to create a greater longing for His presence within our souls.
9) The Lord loves us and desires to be gracious to us, but unconfessed sin and/or lack of desire for His presence will hinder (disrupt) His presence in our lives.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Isaiah 48:12-19 NIV
12 "Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. 14 "Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD's chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission. 16 "Come near me and listen to this: "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. 17 This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me."
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Lord tell the people He called to do and what does He tell them about Himself? (v.12-13)
2) What does the Lord reveal about His purpose for those who have taken them captive? (v.14-15)
3) What else does the Lord reveal about Himself to His people, through the prophet? (v.16-17)
4) What would have happened to His people if they had heeded His words prior to their captivity? (v.18-19)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever ignored a warning from the Lord? If so, what happened as a result?
6) Do you believe that the Lord has been warning this nation of impending judgment? If not, why not?
LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord never chastens His people without many prior warnings.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Isaiah 59:1-14 NIV
1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. 8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Prophet Isaiah say about the Lord and those who have rebelled against (turned away from) Him? (v.1-3)
2) What else does the prophet accuse transgressors of doing? (v.4-8)
3) What becomes of those who behave wickedly against the Lord? Why? (v.9-14)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you know of any believer who has openly rebelled against the Lord? If so, what has become of them?
LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord is good to the upright in heart, but allows calamity to befall those who rebel against Him.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Micah 7:14-20 NIV
14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. 15 "As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders." 16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. 17 They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the LORD our God and will be afraid of you. 18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Prophet Micah ask the Lord to do for His people? (v.14-15)
2) How would the nations respond? (v.16-17)
3) What does the prophet ask the Lord and say about His relationship with His people? (v.18-20)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) How has the Lord shown His faithfulness to you, despite any spiritual weaknesses, or transgressions, that have manifested in your life/
LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord longs to be gracious to His people and will relent from allowing calamity to befall us when we confess and repent of our transgressions.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Micah 7:8-11 NIV
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. 9 Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD's wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. 10 Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets. 11 The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What do the people of God say to those opposed to them about their spiritual condition and hope? (v.8-9)
2) What do the people of God anticipate will happen to those who opposed them? (v.10)
3) What do the people of God expect to happen after they have repented of their sins and been restored to God? (v.11)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you as an individual, your local church, or this nation ever turned from the Lord? If so, how were you restored back to God.
LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord God longs for His people to return to Him.
6) The people of God can only be restored to God through confession and repentance.
7) The Lord God will restore whatever may have been lost after His people have forsaken their evil doings.
Friday, July 14, 2015
Micah 7:1-7 NIV
1 What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. 2 The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets. 3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire-- they all conspire together. 4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion. 5 Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips. 6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies are the members of his own household. 7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What is the prophet's complaint? (v.1-4a)
2) What day has come and what will happen to the people of God as a result? (v.4b-4c)
3) What does the prophet warn the people of God against doing and why? (v.5-6)
4) What will the Prophet Micah do? (v.7)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Do you believe that this nation is going through the same troubling times that the Prophet Micah warned Israel of? If not, why not?
6) What have you purposed to do during these troubled times?
LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord warns His people of troubling times so that we will be watchful and place our hope wholly on Him.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Ezekiel 34:23-31 NIV
23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. 25 " 'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did God say that He would do for His people who did not have good sheperds? (v.23-27)
2) How else would the Lord provide for His lost sheep (followers)? (v.28-29)
3) Why would the Lord do this for His people and what would He declare to them, as a result? (v.30-31)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever been led by abusive, or self-absorbed, spiritual leaders? If so, what has become of those leaders?
LIFE LESSONS
5) It is not the Lord's will that His people suffer, or be afflicted by, corrupt undershepherds.
6) The Lord will always protect and preserve His oppressed followers.
7) The Lord Himself has, and will, shepherd His mistreated flock.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Ezekiel 34:7-16 NIV
7 " 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. 11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord declare to the shepherds? Why? (v.7-10)
2) What would the Lord do for His sheep? (v.11-15)
3) Who would the Lord search for and who would He destroy? Why? (v.16)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Are you in a position of leadership in your local church? What do you do to watch over, and tend to, the Lord's followers?
LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord expects His leaders to shepherd His followers with the same love and mercy that He has for them.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Ezekiel 34:1-6 NIV
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What happened to the Prophet Ezekiel, in this passage? (v.1)
2) What did the Lord tell the prophet to do? (v.2a)
3) What was the prophet to say to, and ask, the shepherds of Israel? (v.2b)
4) What were the shepherds doing to the Lord's people? (v.3)
5) What were the shepherds refusing to do for the Lord's people and how did they rule over them? (v.4)
6) What happened to God's people, as a result? (v.5-6)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) If you are a leader in your local church, what are you doing to strengthen the members of the body of Christ?
LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord expects His leaders to help those who are weak in the faith so that they will not be taken captive by "wolves in sheep's clothing"!
9) The people of God are strengthened by the Word of God and by His indwelling Spirit.
Monday, July 20, 3015
Psalm 13:1-6 NIV
1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, 4 and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the LORD's praise, for he has been good to me.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What were David's questions to the Lord? (v.1-2)
2) What did the David request of the Lord? Why? (v.3-4)
3) What did, and would, the psalmist do for the Lord? Why? (v.5)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever felt that the Lord's presence was far from you? If so, how did you respond?
LIFE LESSONS
5) Though we may not sense His presence, the Lord is true to His promise to never leave us.
6) The Lord deserves our trust, in every situation, because of His faithfulness.
7) The Lord deserves our praise because He has not given us what our sins deserve.
Sunday, July 18, 2015
Micah 6:3-8 NIV
3 "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4 I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD." 6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What questions does the Lord ask of His people? (v.3)
2) What does the Lord remind them of? Why? (v.4-5)
3) What had the Lord's people asked of Him? (v.6-7)
4) What has the Lord required of His people? (v.8)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you, your family, your local church, and/or your church denomination done what the Lord requires of His people? if not, why not? If so, briefly explain how.
LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord is serious about our covenant with Him and our commitment to other people.
7) The greatest sacrifice that we can offer the Lord is the sacrifice of our will for His.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Num 23:1-12 NIV
1 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height. 4 God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram." 5 The LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word." 6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials. 7 Then Balaam spoke his message: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.' 8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced? 9 From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!" 11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!" 12 He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal, what did the prophet tell the Midianite king to do and how did the king respond? (v.1-2)
2) What else did Balaam say to Balak and where did the prophet go after leaving the king's side? Why? (v.3)
3) What did the prophet tell the Lord and what did the Lord do to Balaam? (v.4-5)
4) What did Balaam do and say after leaving the Lord's presence? (v.6-10)
5) What did Balak say in response to the message given him? (v.11)
6) How did Balaam respond to the king? (v.12)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Do you know of any individual(s) who have attempted to curse those whom the Lord has blessed? If so, what was the outcome?
LIFE LESSONS
8) If God is for any individual, or group of individuals, no one and nothing can curse what He has blessed.
9) "Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!"
Friday, July 17, 2015
Numbers 22:31-38 NIV
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. 32 The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it." 34 Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back." 35 The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with Balak's officials. 36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn't you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?" 38 "Well, I have come to you now," Balaam replied. "But I can't say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth."
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After the prophet went with the princes of Moab, the Lord's anger was aroused. What did the Lord allow Balaam to see and what did the prophet do? (v.31)
2) What did the Angel of the Lord ask the prophet and explain to him? (v.32-33)
3) What did Balaam say to the Angel of the Lord? (v.34)
4) What did the Angel of the Lord tell Balaam to do and what did the prophet do? (v.35)
5) What did the king of Moab do when he heard that Balaam was on his way? (v.36)
6) What did he ask the prophet when he met him? (v. 37)
7) What did Balaam say in response to the king's questions? (v.38)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
8) Have you ever rebelled against the Lord's will for your life? If so, what happened?
9) Has the Lord ever refused to grant your petitions, and/or prevented you from doing, or having, what you thought you needed? If so, briefly describe one such time and the outcome.
LIFE LESSONS
10) When the Lord refuses to grant our petitions, He does so to warn us of impending disaster, to protect us from future devastation, and/or to present His divine destiny for our life.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Numbers 22:15-21 NIV
15 Then Balak sent other officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 16 They came to Balaam and said: "This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, 17 because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me." 18 But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. 19 Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the LORD will tell me." 20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you." 21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After the Prophet Balaam delivered the Lord's initial word to Balak, what did the king do? (v.15)
2) What was the king's message to the prophet? (v.16-17)
3) What was Balaam's response? (v.18-19)
4) What did the Lord tell the prophet to do that night? (v.20)
5) What did Balaam do the next morning? (v.21)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) What motivates you to use your God-given talents and resources in your local church and/or ministry?
LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord blesses us with gifts and resources to use for His glory alone.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Numbers 22:1-14 NIV
1 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites. 4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed." 7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said. 8 "Spend the night here," Balaam said to them, "and I will report back to you with the answer the LORD gives me." So the Moabite officials stayed with him. 9 God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?" 10 Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: 11 'A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.' " 12 But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed." 13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's officials, "Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you." 14 So the Moabite officials returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After defeating the king of the Amorites and the king of Bashan, what did the Lord's people do? (v.1)
2) Who had noticed what Israel had done and how did the people and king of Moab respond to the presence of the Israelites in their land? Why? (v.2-6)
3) What did the elders of Moab and Midian do and how did the Prophet Balaam respond to them? (v.7-8)
4) What did the Lord ask the prophet and how did he respond? (v.9-11)
5) What did the Lord forbid Balaam to do? Why? (v.12)
6) What did the prophet tell Balak's elders and what did they do in response? (v.13-14)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Has the Lord ever given you specific instruction concerning your relationship(s) with others? If so, briefly describe one such instance and whether you were obedient to the Lord, or not.
LIFE LESSONS
8) When the Lord God gives His people specific directives concerning our lives, He expects us to obey Him.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Exodus 4:10-17 NIV
10 Moses said to the LORD, "Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." 11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." 13 But Moses said, "Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else." 14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it."
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After the Lord God had called Moses to deliver His people from oppression (bondage), what excuses did Moses make for why he could not serve the Lord? (v.10)
2) What were the Lord's responses to Moses? (v.11-12)
3) What did Moses tell the Lord to do and how did the Lord respond? (v.13-17)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Has the Lord called you to do a seemingly impossible task? If so, briefly explain the Lord's call on your life and your reason(s) for not doing what He asks of you.
LIFE LESSONS
5) When the Lord God calls an individual believer to serve His people, the call is not based upon our qualifications for the ministry, but upon His power to enable us to lead His people.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Deuteronomy 10:12-22 NIV
12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations--as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. 20 Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What five (5) things does the Lord ask of His people? (v.12-13)
2) What belongs to the Lord and who did He choose to be His people above all nations? (v.14-15)
3) What does the Lord ask His people to do? (v.16)
4) What does the Lord say about Himself? (v.17-18)
5) Who are His people to love? (v.19)
6) How are His people to respond to the Lord and why? (v.20-22)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) How do you worship (revere) the Lord?
LIFE LESSONS
8) After all that the Lord has done for His people, He deserves our adoration, worship and praise.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Micah 3:5-12 NIV
5 This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim 'peace' if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them. 6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them. 7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God." 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD's support and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord have to say about the false prophets? (v.5)
2) What did the Lord say would befall the false prophets, seers, and diviners? (v.6-7)
3) What did the Prophet Micah proclaim about himself (his character)? (v.8)
4) What did Micah proclaim about the wicked leaders (including prophets) of the people of God? (v.9-11)
5) What would happen to the people of God because of their wicked leaders? (v.12)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever encountered, or heard of, a leaders in your church who was more concerned about him/herself than the people of God?
LIFE LESSONS
7) There are leaders among the flock of God who are false because they are more concerned about personal gain than they are about the people of God.
8)Those who listen to (follow) leaders, motived by self serving gain, may be as deceived as they are unless their trust is in God and in His word alone.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Isaiah 45:5-13 NIV
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. 8 "You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it. 9 "Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'? 10 Woe to the one who says to a father, 'What have you begotten?' or to a mother, 'What have you brought to birth?' 11 "This is what the LORD says-- the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? 12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. 13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty."
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Lord declare about Himself? (v.5a)
2) What does the Lord declare that He will do for people despite their failure to acknowledge Him? Why? (v.5b-6)
3) What else does the Lord declare about Himself and His mighty acts? (v.7-8)
4) Who does the Lord declare woe over and why? (v.9-10)
5) What does the Lord ask His people about Himself? (v.11)
6) What else does the Lord declare about Himself and what He will do concerning His people? (v.12-13)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Have you ever questionned, or balked at, the Lord's work in your life? If so, please describe one such time and its outcome.
LIFE LESSONS
8) God can do whatever He pleases in the lives of His people.
9) The Lord expects His people to trust in Him even during the difficult seasons in their lives.
10) God wants His children to trust Him and to obey Him, even when we do not understand what He is doing in our lives.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Matthew 7:15-20 KJV
[Mat 7:15-20 KJV] 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does our Lord Jesus tell His followers to beware of, how does He describe them, and how will we know them? (v.15-16a)
2) How does the Lord explain (compare and contrast) the good tree and the corrupt tree?
3) Why does Jesus compare the fruit of the good tree and of the corrupt tree?
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever encountered a false leader in your local church? If so, how did you know that they were not true servants of God?
LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord places leaders in His church with a heart for Himself as well as for His people.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Psalm 15:1-5 NIV
1 A psalm of David. LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What two questions does David ask the Lord? (v.1)
2) What twelve (12) responses does the psalmist write concerning his question? (v.2-5b)
3) Who will never be shaken? (v.5c)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Are you able to continually abide in the presence of the Lord? If not, ask the Lord what hinders you from doing so.
LIFE LESSONS
5) God is holy and His desire is to abide in those who are holy.
6) To be holy is to be "set apart" from the people of this world.
7) The Lord makes His presence known and felt, through His Holy Spirit, as we consecrate (dedicate or commit) our lives wholly to God's will and to His way.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
2 Chronicles 19:4-10 NIV
4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 6 He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery." 8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. 9 He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD. 10 In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities--whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations--you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Where did King Jehoshaphat live and what did he do for the people of Beersheba? (v.4-5)
2) What did the king tell the judges to do and why? (v.6-7)
3) What did the king do for the people of Jerusalem? (v.8)
4) What orders did the king give to those he appointed to judge the people of Israel and why? (v.9-10)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever had to enforce God's commands in your own home or local church? If so, briefly describe one such occasion.
6) Have the commands of the Lord ever been enforced in your own life, by the Holy Spirit, or those in spiritual authority over you? If so, briefly describe one such instance.
LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord has not only given us His written rules (the Bible), but His Spirit, to convict us of our sins.
8) When we confess and repent of our sins, the Lord forgives and restores us to right relationship with Himself.
