Good Examples to Follow

Friday, October 23, 2015
Philippians 3:17-21 KJV 

17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) How does the Apostle Paul encourage followers of Christ to live righteously in this world? (v.17)
2) Who are the "enemies of the cross" and what will be their end? (v.18-19)
3) What are disciples of Christ to set their affections on? Why? (v.20-21)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What has captured your attention (allegience) more, temporal (earthly) things or eternal things.

LIFE LESSONS
5) We will not be glorified with Christ unless our lives are wholly surrendered to Him, to the glory of our Heavenly Father.

You Are My Sheep

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.

The Lord Will Shepherd His Sheep

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.