Walking in the Way

Thursday, August 20, 2015
Judges 2:16-23 NIV

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the LORD's commands. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their ancestors did." 23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After Joshua's death, the children of Israel became increasingly rebellious against the Lord and His hand was heavy upon them causing them much distress. What did the Lord do to save His people from their ways? (v.16)
2) What did the people of God do, despite the Lord's provision for them? (v.17)
3) What did the Lord continually do to deliver His people from their enemies and how did His people continually respond to His provisions? (v.18-19)
4) What was the Lord's response to their continual rebellion? (v.20)
5) What did the Lord purpose to do to His people instead of delivering them? Why? (v.21-23)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) What "enemies" are you presently facing in your life (e.g., financial, relational, marital, or health challenges)? 
7) What, if anything, are you doing to eliminate those enemies from your life?

LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord allows His people to be tested to determine if we will continue to obey His will or do as we please.
9) When we refuse to accept the Lord's correction, He will allow our "enemies" to remain in our lives.

God Abandoned Shiloh

Saturday, August 8, 2015
Psalm 78:56-62 NIV

56 But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes. 57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow. 58 They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols. 59 When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely. 60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans. 61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy. 62 He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How did the people of God "put God to the test"? (v.56)
2) Who did the psalmish compare them to? Why? (v.57)
3) How did the Lord feel when His people rebelled against Him and what did He do about their transgressions? (v.58-62)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What difficulties (hardships) has the Lord allowed in your life when you willfully rebelled against Him?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord allows His rebellious people to be afflicted to correct us (to bring us back into alignment with His will for our lives).

Our Sins Testify Against Us

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. 

To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice

Thursday, June 11, 2015
1 Samuel 15:17-23 KJV 

17 And Samuel said, When thou [wast] little in thine own sight, [wast] thou not [made] the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Prophet Samuel remind King Saul of after the king disobeyed the Lord? (v.17-18)
2) What question did the prophet ask King Saul? (v.19)
3) How did the king respond to Samuel? (v.20-21)
4) What else did the prophet say to Saul? (v.22-23)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever willfully disobeyed the Lord?
6) If so, what were the consequences for your rebellion?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The blessings of obedience to the Lord are great, as are the consequences for disobedience.

No One to Comfort Me

Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Lamentations 1:17-21 KJV 

17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, [and there is] none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, [that] his adversaries [should be] round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them. 18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. 19 I called for my lovers, [but] they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. 20 Behold, O LORD; for I [am] in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home [there is] as death. 21 They have heard that I sigh: [there is] none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done [it]: thou wilt bring the day [that] thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Prophet Jeremiah proclaim about Zion (Jerusalem; the habitation of God's people)? (v.17)
2) What does the prophet declare about the Lord? (v.18a)
3) Why were the people of God in sorrow? (v.18b)
4) Who did the people of God call upon in their time of sorrow (during their exile and Jerusalem's devastation)? Did they find anyone to help? (v.19-20)
5) What did their enemies observe about the people of God and how did they treat them? (v.21)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever experienced the chastening of the Lord because of willful disobedience or rebellion? If so, briefly explain what happened?
7) Do you know of a community, church body or nation that has, or is, suffering as a result of willful rebellion against the Lord? If so, briefly explain how they have rebelled against God.

LIFE LESSONS
8) There are always consequences for willful and deliberate rebellion against the Lord.
9) While the Lord allows people to experience the ramifications of their rebellion against Him, in His mercy, God always delivers or restores those who turn from their sins and turn to Him.

Help Me, O Lord My God

Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Psalm 109:21-27 KJV 

21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy [is] good, deliver thou me. 22 For I [am] poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25 I became also a reproach unto them: [when] they looked upon me they shaked their heads. 26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this [is] thy hand; [that] thou, LORD, hast done it.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) In this psalm, David asks the Lord to judge his accusers, what does he ask of the Lord? Why? (v.21-25)
2) What does David ask of the Lord for himself? (v.26-27)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
3) Have you ever asked the Lord to judge your adversaries? If so, why?
4) How have you reacted when your opponents experienced difficult times in their lives? Why?
5) What doors have you unwittingly opened to the enemy, in the lives of your spiritual brothers and sisters, because of your unforgiveness?

LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord vindicates His people. His people are those who live in His love, even for our enemies.
7) As believers, we are to forgive and pray for those who mistreat, or otherwise oppose, us.
8) When we react in unforgiveness and/or bitterness toward others, we open doors to the accuser to wreak havoc in their lives. 
9) We will always reap what we sow in this life. To reap kindness, sow kindness. 
10) The Lord often chastens His children by withdrawing His hand of loving protection from us to allow the enemy to wreak havoc in our lives.

How Are You Silent?

Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Habakkuk 1:12-17

12 [Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 
13 [Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth [the man that is] more righteous than he? 
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them? 
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. 
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous. 
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who had the Lord ordained to bring judgment (correction) to His people? (v.6, 12)
2) How did the prophet describe the Lord? (v.13)
3) What did the prophet ask of the Lord? (v.13-14)
4) How did the prophet describe the enemies of God's people? (v.15-16)
5) What was the prophet's final question of the Lord in this Scripture passage (v.17)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Has the Lord ever allowed prolong periods of distress in your life? If so, please describe one such time.
7) If you answered positively to the previous question, what was your response to the Lord if your distress did not lessen, but increased?

PRINCIPLES
8) The Lord may, at times,  allow our chastisement to be more severe than our transgressions.
9) The Lord's actions (or inaction) are (is) always just and righteous, whether we understand them or not.
10) The Lord owes no one any explanation for judgment against His disobedient children.

The Steadfast Love of God

Monday, September 15, 2014
Jeremiah 32:16-23 

16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying, 
17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, [and] there is nothing too hard for thee: 
18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, [is] his name, 
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes [are] open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: 
20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, [even] unto this day, and in Israel, and among [other] men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day; 
21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; 22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; 
23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1)Though Judah and Jerusalem were on the brink of captivity, Jeremiah purchased a field, in obedience to the Lord. What did the prophet do after obeying God? (v.16)
2) How did Jeremiah describe the Lord? (v.17-19a)
3) What did the prophet say the Lord had done? (v.19b-22)
4) Why were God's people being taken captive, according to Jeremiah? (v.23)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) What is the likelihood that the Lord will allow the United States to go into captivity because of our rebellion against Him? Please provide a brief explanation for your answer.
6) Do you personally know of anyone who has been overwhelmed by troubles as a result of their rebellion against God? If so, please explain what happened.
7) If you answered affirmatively to the above question, how was the rebellious individual reconciled to God?

PRINCIPLES
8) God expects His people to obey Him whether they understand Him, or not.
9) The Lord allows trouble(s) to overwhelm the rebellious.
10) In His mercy and love, the Lord will never allow our trouble(s) to be overly burdensome.

Set Up Road Markers

Saturday, September 13, 2014
Jeremiah 31:18-25 

18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus]; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed [to the yoke]: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou [art] the LORD my God. 
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon [my] thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 
20 [Is] Ephraim my dear son? [is he] a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. 
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, [even] the way [which] thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 
22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. 
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, [and] mountain of holiness. 
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they [that] go forth with flocks. 
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did Ephraim say that demonstrated remorse over their sin? (v.18-19)
2) What did the Lord say about Ephraim and how did He feel about him? (v.20)
3) What did the Lord instruct His people to do? (v.21)
4) What was the "new thing" that the Lord promised His people? (v.22)
5) How did the Lord say His people would respond after He ended their captivity and why? (v.23-25)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever had to punish a rebellious child? If so, how did you feel about that child while you were punishing him (her)?
7) Have you ever rebelled against the Lord? If so, how did you feel, and what did you do, after realizing that you were in error?
8) Do you record your journey of faith with the Lord? If not, why not. 

PRINCIPLES
9) Repentance is the only way back to God.
10) Godly sorrow leads to repentance.
11) The Lord restores and satisfies the penitent hearts of His backsliding children.
12) Markers on our journey of faith in God are reminders of God's goodness to us when we did not deserve it.